Ezekiel 17:9

17:9 “‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Will it prosper?

Will he not rip out its roots

and cause its fruit to rot ¹  and wither?

All its foliage ²  will wither.

No strong arm or large army

will be needed to pull it out by its roots. ³ 

Ezekiel 26:17

26:17 They will sing this lament over you: ⁴ 

“‘How you have perished – you have vanished ⁵  from the seas,

O renowned city, once mighty in the sea,

she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror! ⁶ 

[17:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew root occurs only here in the OT and appears to have the meaning of “strip off.” In application to fruit the meaning may be “cause to rot.”

[17:9]  ² tn Heb “all the טַרְפֵּי (tarpey) of branches.” The word טַרְפֵּי occurs only here in the Bible; its precise meaning is uncertain.

[17:9]  ³ tn Or “there will be no strong arm or large army when it is pulled up by the roots.”

[26:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they will lift up over you a lament and they will say to you.”

[26:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “O inhabitant.” The translation follows the LXX and understands a different Hebrew verb, meaning “cease,” behind the consonantal text. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:72, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:43.

[26:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “she and her inhabitants who placed their terror to all her inhabitants.” The relationship of the final prepositional phrase to what precedes is unclear. The preposition probably has a specifying function here, drawing attention to Tyre’s inhabitants as the source of the terror mentioned prior to this. In this case, one might paraphrase verse 17b: “she and her inhabitants, who spread their terror; yes, her inhabitants (were the source of this terror).”