Discovery BoxEzekiel 21:28-32
Context21:28 “As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; 1 say:
“‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume, 2 to flash like lightning –
21:29 while seeing false visions for you
and reading lying omens for you 3 –
to place that sword 4 on the necks of the profane wicked, 5
whose day has come,
the time of final punishment.
21:30 Return it to its sheath! 6
In the place where you were created, 7
in your native land, I will judge you.
21:31 I will pour out my anger on you;
the fire of my fury I will blow on you.
I will hand you over to brutal men,
who are skilled in destruction.
21:32 You will become fuel for the fire –
your blood will stain the middle of the land; 8
you will no longer be remembered,
for I, the Lord, have spoken.’”
Genesis 19:38
Context19:38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. 9 He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.
Jeremiah 9:25-26
Context9:25 The Lord says, “Watch out! 10 The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. 11 9:26 That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. 12 I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. 13 Moreover, none of the people of Israel 14 are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.” 15
Jeremiah 25:21
Context25:21 all the people of Edom, 16 Moab, 17 Ammon; 18
Jeremiah 27:3
Context27:3 Use it to send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, 19 and Sidon. 20 Send them through 21 the envoys who have come to Jerusalem 22 to King Zedekiah of Judah.
Jeremiah 49:1-6
Context49:1 The Lord spoke about the Ammonites. 23
“Do you think there are not any people of the nation of Israel remaining?
Do you think there are not any of them remaining to reinherit their land?
Is that why you people who worship the god Milcom 24
have taken possession of the territory of Gad and live in his cities? 25
49:2 Because you did that,
I, the Lord, affirm that 26 a time is coming
when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,
hear the sound of the battle cry.
It will become a mound covered with ruins. 27
Its villages will be burned to the ground. 28
Then Israel will take back its land
from those who took their land from them.
I, the Lord, affirm it! 29
49:3 Wail, you people in Heshbon, because Ai in Ammon is destroyed.
Cry out in anguish, you people in the villages surrounding 30 Rabbah.
Put on sackcloth and cry out in mourning.
Run about covered with gashes. 31
For your god Milcom will go into exile
along with his priests and officials. 32
49:4 Why do you brag about your great power?
Your power is ebbing away, 33 you rebellious people of Ammon, 34
who trust in your riches and say,
‘Who would dare to attack us?’
49:5 I will bring terror on you from every side,”
says the Lord God who rules over all. 35
“You will be scattered in every direction. 36
No one will gather the fugitives back together.
49:6 Yet in days to come
I will reverse Ammon’s ill fortune.” 37
says the Lord. 38
Amos 1:13-15
Context1:13 This is what the Lord says:
“Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes 39 –
make that four! 40 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 41
They ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women 42
so they could expand their territory.
1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s 43 city wall; 44
fire 45 will consume her fortresses.
War cries will be heard on the day of battle; 46
a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. 47
1:15 Ammon’s 48 king will be deported; 49
he and his officials 50 will be carried off 51 together.”
The Lord has spoken!
Zephaniah 2:8-11
Context2:8 “I have heard Moab’s taunts
and the Ammonites’ insults.
They 52 taunted my people
and verbally harassed those living in Judah. 53
2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel,
“be certain that Moab will become like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah.
They will be overrun by weeds, 54
filled with salt pits, 55
and permanently desolate.
Those of my people who are left 56 will plunder their belongings; 57
those who are left in Judah 58 will take possession of their land.”
2:10 This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, 59
for they taunted and verbally harassed 60 the people of the Lord who commands armies.
2:11 The Lord will terrify them, 61
for 62 he will weaken 63 all the gods of the earth.
All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. 64
[21:28] 1 tn Heb “their reproach.”
[21:28] 2 tn Heb “to contain, endure.” Since the Hebrew text as it stands makes little, if any, sense, most emend the text to read either “to consume” or “for destruction.” For discussion of options see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:693.
[21:29] 3 tn Heb “in the seeing concerning you falsehood, in divining concerning you a lie.” This probably refers to the attempts of the Ammonites to ward off judgment through prophetic visions and divination.
[21:29] 4 tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:29] 5 sn The second half of the verse appears to state that the sword of judgment would fall upon the wicked, despite their efforts to prevent it.
[21:30] 6 sn Once the Babylonian king’s sword (vv. 19-20) has carried out its assigned task, the Lord commands it to halt and announces that Babylon itself will also experience his judgment. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:28.
[21:30] 7 tn In the Hebrew text of vv. 30-32 the second person verbal and pronominal forms are feminine singular. This may indicate that the personified Babylonian sword is being addressed. The Hebrew word for “sword” (see v. 28) is feminine. However, it may refer to the Ammonites.
[21:32] 8 tn Heb “your blood will be in the middle of the land.”
[19:38] 9 sn The name Ben-Ammi means “son of my people.” Like the account of Moab’s birth, this story is probably included in the narrative to portray the Ammonites, another perennial enemy of Israel, in a negative light.
[9:25] 11 tn Heb “punish all who are circumcised in the flesh.” The translation is contextually motivated to better bring out the contrast that follows.
[9:26] 12 tn Heb “all those who are cut off on the side of the head who live in the desert.” KJV and some other English versions (e.g., NIV “who live in the desert in distant places”; NLT “who live in distant places”) have followed the interpretation that this is a biform of an expression meaning “end or remote parts of the [far] corners [of the earth].” This interpretation is generally abandoned by the more recent commentaries and lexicons (see, e.g. BDB 802 s.v. פֵּאָה 1 and HALOT 858 s.v. פֵּאָה 1.β). It occurs also in 25:33; 49:32.
[9:26] 13 tn Heb “For all of these nations are uncircumcised.” The words “I will do so” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection with the preceding statement.
[9:26] 14 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
[9:26] 15 tn Heb “And all the house of Israel is uncircumcised of heart.”
[25:21] 16 sn See further Jer 49:7-22 for the judgment against Edom. Edom, Moab, and Ammon were east of Judah.
[25:21] 17 sn See further Jer 48:1-47 for the judgment against Moab.
[25:21] 18 sn See further Jer 49:1-6 for the judgment against Ammon.
[27:3] 19 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[27:3] 20 sn The nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon were east of Judah. They were sometimes allies and sometimes enemies. The nations of Tyre and Sidon were on the sea coast north and west of Judah. They are best known for their maritime trade during the reign of Solomon. They were more commonly allies of Israel and Judah than enemies.
[27:3] 21 tn Heb “send by means of them” [i.e., the straps and crossbars made into a yoke] to…through.” The text is broken up in conformity with contemporary English style. Many English versions ignore the suffix on the end of “send” and find some support for this on the basis of its absence in the Lucianic Greek text. However, it is probably functioning metonymically here for the message which they see symbolized before them and is now explained clearly to them.
[27:3] 22 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[49:1] 23 sn Ammonites. Ammon was a small kingdom to the north and east of Moab which was in constant conflict with the Transjordanian tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh over territorial rights to the lands north and south of the Jabbok River. Ammon mainly centered on the city of Rabbah which is modern Amman. According to Judg 11:13 the Ammonites claimed the land between the Jabbok and the Arnon but this was land taken from them by Sihon and Og and land that the Israelites captured from the latter two kings. The Ammonites attempted to expand into the territory of Israel in the Transjordan in the time of Jephthah (Judg 10-11) and the time of Saul (1 Sam 11). Apparently when Tiglath Pileser carried away the Israelite tribes in Transjordan in 733
[49:1] 24 tc The reading here and in v. 3 follows the reading of the Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions and 1 Kgs 11:5, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13. The Hebrew reads “Malcom” both here, in v. 3, and Zeph 1:5. This god is to be identified with the god known elsewhere as Molech (cf. 1 Kgs 11:7).
[49:1] 25 tn Heb “Does not Israel have any sons? Does not he have any heir [or “heirs” as a collective]? Why [then] has Malcom taken possession of Gad and [why] do his [Malcom’s] people live in his [Gad’s] land?” A literal translation here will not produce any meaning without major commentary. Hence the meaning that is generally agreed on is reflected in an admittedly paraphrastic translation. The reference is to the fact that the Ammonites had taken possession of the cities that had been deserted when the Assyrians carried off the Transjordanian tribes in 733
[49:2] 26 tn Heb “oracle of the
[49:2] 27 tn Heb “a desolate tel.” For the explanation of what a “tel” is see the study note on 30:18.
[49:2] 28 tn Heb “Its daughters will be burned with fire.” For the use of the word “daughters” to refer to the villages surrounding a larger city see BDB 123 s.v. I בַּת 4 and compare the usage in Judg 1:27.
[49:2] 29 tn Heb “says the
[49:3] 30 tn Or “you women of Rabbah”; Heb “daughters of Rabbah.” It is difficult to tell whether the word “daughters” is used here in the same sense that it has in v. 2 (see the translator’s note there) or in the literal sense of “daughters.” The former has been preferred because the cities themselves (e.g., Heshbon) are called to wail in the earlier part of the verse and the term “daughters” has been used in the previous verse of the surrounding villages.
[49:3] 31 tc Or “Run back and forth inside the walls of your towns.” Or “slash yourselves with gashes.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The Hebrew text reads “run back and forth among the walls.” The word “run back and forth” is generally taken as a Hitpolel of a verb that means to “go about” in the Qal and to “go back and forth” in the Polel (cf. BDB 1002 s.v. I שׁוּט). The noun that follows in the Hebrew means “wall, hedge” and is quite commonly modified by the noun צֹאן (tso’n, “sheep”) referring to sheepfolds (cf., e.g., Num 32:36; 1 Sam 24:3). But the phrase “run back and forth among the sheepfolds” yields little meaning here. In Ps 89:40 (89:41 HT) the word “wall” is used in parallelism with fortified cities and refers to the walls of the city. That is the sense that is assumed in one of the alternate translations with the words “of your towns” being supplied in the translation for clarification. However, that figure is a little odd in a context which speaks of mourning rites. Hence, some emend the word “walls” (גְּדֵרוֹת, gÿderot) to “gashes” (גְּדֻדוֹת, gÿdudot), a word that has occurred in a similar context in Jer 48:37. That would involve only the common confusion of ר and ד. That is the reading adopted here and fits the context nicely. NRSV appears to go one step further and read the verb as a Hitpolel from a root that is otherwise used only as a noun to mean “whip” or “scourge.” NRSV reads “slash yourselves with whips” which also makes excellent sense in the context but is not supported by any parallel use of the verb.
[49:3] 32 sn Compare Jer 48:7 and the study note there.
[49:4] 33 tn Or “Why do you brag about your valleys, about the fruitfulness of your valleys.” The meaning of the first two lines of this verse are uncertain primarily due to the ambiguity of the expression זָב עִמְקֵךְ (zav ’imqekh). The form זָב (zav) is either a Qal perfect or Qal participle of a verb meaning flow. It is common in the expression “a land flowing with milk and honey” and is also common to refer to the seminal discharge or discharge of blood which makes a man or woman unclean. BDB 264 s.v. זוּב Qal.2 sees it as an abbreviation of the idea of “flowing with milk and honey” and sees it as referring to the fertility of Ammon’s valley. However, there are no other examples of such an ellipsis. Several of the modern English versions and commentaries have taken the word עֵמֶק (’emeq) not as a reference to a valley but to the homonym cited in the note on 47:5 and see the reference here to the flowing away of Ammon’s strength. That interpretation is followed here. Instead of explaining the plural ending on עֲמָקִים (’amaqim) as being an enclitic ם (mem) as others who follow this interpretation (e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 325), the present translation understands the plural as a plural of amplification (cf. GKC 397-98 §124.e and compare the noun “might” in Isa 40:26).
[49:4] 34 tn Heb “apostate daughter.” This same term is applied to Israel in Jer 31:22 but seems inappropriate here to Ammon because she had never been loyal to the
[49:5] 35 tn Heb “The Lord Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of the rendering here and of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.
[49:5] 36 tn Heb “You will be scattered each man [straight] before him.”
[49:6] 37 tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.
[49:6] 38 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[1:13] 39 tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.
[1:13] 40 tn Heb “Because of three violations of the Ammonites, even because of four.”
On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.
[1:13] 41 tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.
[1:13] 42 sn The Ammonites ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women in conjunction with a military invasion designed to expand their territory. Such atrocities, although repugnant, were not uncommon in ancient Near Eastern warfare.
[1:14] 43 sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.
[1:14] 44 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
[1:14] 45 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:14] 46 tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”
[1:14] 47 tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”
[1:15] 48 tn Heb “their”; the referent (Ammon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:15] 49 tn Heb “will go into exile.”
[1:15] 50 tn Or “princes” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT); TEV “officers”; CEV “leaders.”
[1:15] 51 tn The words “will be carried off” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[2:8] 52 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[2:8] 53 tn Heb “and they made great [their mouth?] against their territory.” Other possible translation options include (1) “they enlarged their own territory” (cf. NEB) and (2) “they bragged about [the size] of their own territory.”
[2:9] 54 tn The Hebrew text reads מִמְשַׁק חָרוּל (mimshaq kharul, “[?] of weeds”). The meaning of the first word is unknown. The present translation (“They will be overrun by weeds”) is speculative, based on the general sense of the context. For a defense of “overrun” on linguistic grounds, see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 347. Cf. NEB “a pile of weeds”; NIV “a place of weeds”; NRSV “a land possessed by nettles.”
[2:9] 55 tn The Hebrew text reads וּמִכְרֵה־מֶלַח (umikhreh-melakh, “and a [?] of salt”). The meaning of the first word is unclear, though “pit” (NASB, NIV, NRSV; NKJV “saltpit”), “mine,” and “heap” (cf. NEB “a rotting heap of saltwort”) are all options. The words “filled with” are supplied for clarification.
[2:9] 56 tn Or “The remnant of my people.”
[2:9] 57 tn Heb “them.” The actual object of the plundering, “their belongings,” has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:9] 58 tn Heb “[the] nation.” For clarity the “nation” has been specified as “Judah” in the translation.
[2:10] 59 tn Heb “this is for them in place of their arrogance.”
[2:10] 60 tn Heb “made great [their mouth?] against” (cf. the last phrase of v. 8).
[2:11] 61 tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”
[2:11] 63 tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”
[2:11] 64 tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”
