Ezekiel 33:21-22

The Fall of Jerusalem

33:21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, ¹  a refugee came to me from Jerusalem ²  saying, “The city has been defeated!” ³  33:22 Now the hand of the Lord had been on me ⁴  the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord ⁵  opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived ⁶  in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was no longer unable to speak. ⁷ 

Ezekiel 33:1

Ezekiel Israel’s Watchman

33:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 4:12

4:12 And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.” ⁸ 

Job 1:15-19

1:15 and the Sabeans ⁹  swooped down ¹⁰  and carried them all away, and they killed ¹¹  the servants with the sword! ¹²  And I – only I alone ¹³  – escaped to tell you!”

1:16 While this one was still speaking, ¹⁴  another messenger arrived ¹⁵  and said, “The fire of God ¹⁶  has fallen from heaven ¹⁷  and has burned up the sheep and the servants – it has consumed them! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

1:17 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “The Chaldeans ¹⁸  formed three bands and made a raid ¹⁹  on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! ²⁰  And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

1:18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 1:19 and suddenly ²¹  a great wind ²²  swept across ²³  the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

[33:21]  ¹ tn January 19, 585 b.c.

[33:21]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[33:21]  ³ tn Heb “smitten.”

[33:22]  ⁴ tn The other occurrences of the phrase “the hand of the Lord” in Ezekiel are in the context of prophetic visions.

[33:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “by the time of the arrival to me.” For clarity the translation specifies the refugee as the one who arrived.

[33:22]  ⁷ sn Ezekiel’s God-imposed muteness was lifted (see 3:26).

[4:12]  ⁸ sn Human waste was to remain outside the camp of the Israelites according to Deut 23:15.

[1:15]  ⁹ tn The LXX has “the spoilers spoiled them” instead of “the Sabeans swooped down.” The translators might have connected the word to שְָׁבָה (shavah, “to take captive”) rather than שְׁבָא (shÿva’, “Sabeans”), or they may have understood the name as general reference to all types of Bedouin invaders from southern Arabia (HALOT 1381 s.v. שְׁבָא 2.c).

[1:15]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew is simply “fell” (from נָפַל, nafal). To “fall upon” something in war means to attack quickly and suddenly.

[1:15]  ¹¹ sn Job’s servants were probably armed and gave resistance, which would be the normal case in that time. This was probably why they were “killed with the sword.”

[1:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the edge/mouth of the sword”; see T. J. Meek, “Archaeology and a Point of Hebrew Syntax,” BASOR 122 (1951): 31-33.

[1:15]  ¹³ tn The pleonasms in the verse emphasize the emotional excitement of the messenger.

[1:16]  ¹⁴ tn The particle עוֹד (’od, “still”) is used with the participle to express the past circumstances when something else happened (IBHS 625-26 §37.6d).

[1:16]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew expression is literally “yet/this/speaking/and this/ arrived.” The sentence uses the two demonstratives as a contrasting pair. It means “this one was still speaking when that one arrived” (IBHS 308-9 §17.3c). The word “messenger” has been supplied in the translation in vv. 16, 17, and 18 for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[1:16]  ¹⁶ sn The “fire of God” would refer to lightning (1 Kgs 18:38; 2 Kgs 1:12; cf. NAB, NCV, TEV). The LXX simply has “fire.” The first blow came from enemies; the second from heaven, which might have confused Job more as to the cause of his troubles. The use of the divine epithet could also be an indication of the superlative degree; see D. W. Thomas, “A Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953): 209-24.

[1:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “from the sky.” The Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven[s]” or “sky” depending on the context.

[1:17]  ¹⁸ sn The name may have been given to the tribes that roamed between the Euphrates and the lands east of the Jordan. These are possibly the nomadic Kaldu who are part of the ethnic Aramaeans. The LXX simply has “horsemen.”

[1:17]  ¹⁹ tn The verb פָּשַׁט (pashat) means “to hurl themselves” upon something (see Judg 9:33, 41). It was a quick, plundering raid to carry off the camels.

[1:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with the edge/mouth of the sword.”

[1:19]  ²¹ tn The use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) in this sentence is deictic, pointing out with excitement the events that happened as if the listener was there.

[1:19]  ²² sn Both wind and lightning (v. 16) were employed by Satan as his tools. God can permit him such control over factors of the weather when it suits the divine purpose, but God retains ultimate control (see 28:23-27; Prov 3:4; Luke 8:24-25).

[1:19]  ²³ tn The word מֵעֵבֶר (me’ever) is simply “from the direction of”; the word עֵבֶר (’ever) indicates the area the whirlwind came across.