Ezekiel 5:13

5:13 Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased. ¹  Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy ²  when I have fully vented my rage against them.

Ezekiel 8:1-18

A Desecrated Temple

8:1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, ³  as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand ⁴  of the sovereign Lord seized me. ⁵  8:2 As I watched, I noticed ⁶  a form that appeared to be a man. ⁷  From his waist downward was something like fire, ⁸  and from his waist upward something like a brightness, ⁹  like an amber glow. ¹⁰  8:3 He stretched out the form ¹¹  of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind ¹²  lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem ¹³  by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue ¹⁴  which provokes to jealousy was located. 8:4 Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.

8:5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward ¹⁵  the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.

8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people ¹⁶  of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”

8:7 He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall. 8:8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway.

8:9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ¹⁷  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ¹⁸  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ¹⁹  8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel ²⁰  (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant ²¹  vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.

8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? ²²  For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’” 8:13 He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”

8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed ²³  women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. ²⁴  8:15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”

8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there ²⁵  at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, ²⁶  were about twenty-five ²⁷  men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, ²⁸  facing east – they were worshiping the sun ²⁹  toward the east!

8:17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! ³⁰  8:18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare ³¹  them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

Ezekiel 16:38-42

16:38 I will punish you as an adulteress and murderer deserves. ³²  I will avenge your bloody deeds with furious rage. ³³  16:39 I will give you into their hands and they will destroy your chambers and tear down your pavilions. They will strip you of your clothing and take your beautiful jewelry and leave you naked and bare. 16:40 They will summon a mob who will stone you and hack you in pieces with their swords. 16:41 They will burn down your houses and execute judgments on you in front of many women. Thus I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer give gifts to your clients. ³⁴  16:42 I will exhaust my rage on you, and then my fury will turn from you. I will calm down and no longer be angry.

Exodus 34:14

34:14 For you must not worship ³⁵  any other god, ³⁶  for the Lord, whose name ³⁷  is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 29:20

29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger ³⁸  will rage ³⁹  against that man; all the curses ⁴⁰  written in this scroll will fall upon him ⁴¹  and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. ⁴² 

Deuteronomy 32:21-22

32:21 They have made me jealous ⁴³  with false gods, ⁴⁴ 

enraging me with their worthless gods; ⁴⁵ 

so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, ⁴⁶ 

with a nation slow to learn ⁴⁷  I will enrage them.

32:22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger,

and it burns to lowest Sheol; ⁴⁸ 

it consumes the earth and its produce,

and ignites the foundations of the mountains.

Proverbs 6:34

6:34 for jealousy kindles ⁴⁹  a husband’s ⁵⁰  rage,

and he will not show mercy ⁵¹  when he takes revenge.

The Song of Songs 8:6

The Nature of True Love

The Beloved to Her Lover:

8:6 Set me like a cylinder seal ⁵²  over your heart, ⁵³ 

like a signet ⁵⁴  on your arm. ⁵⁵ 

For love is as strong as death, ⁵⁶ 

passion ⁵⁷  is as unrelenting ⁵⁸  as Sheol.

Its flames burst forth, ⁵⁹ 

it is a blazing flame. ⁶⁰ 

Zephaniah 1:18

1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

The whole earth ⁶¹  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ⁶² 

Indeed, ⁶³  he will bring terrifying destruction ⁶⁴  on all who live on the earth.” ⁶⁵ 

[5:13]  ¹ tn Or “calm myself.”

[5:13]  ² tn The Hebrew noun translated “jealousy” is used in the human realm to describe suspicion of adultery (Num 5:14ff.; Prov 6:34). Since Israel’s relationship with God was often compared to a marriage this term is appropriate here. The term occurs elsewhere in Ezekiel in 8:3, 5; 16:38, 42; 23:25.

[8:1]  ³ tc The LXX reads “In the sixth year, in the fifth month, on the fifth of the month.”

[8:1]  ⁴ tn Or “power.”

[8:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “fell upon me there,” that is, God’s influence came over him.

[8:2]  ⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb (so also throughout the chapter).

[8:2]  ⁷ tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.

[8:2]  ⁸ tc The MT reads “what appeared to be his waist and downwards was fire.” The LXX omits “what appeared to be,” reading “from his waist to below was fire.” Suggesting that “like what appeared to be” belongs before “fire,” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:277) points out the resulting poetic symmetry of form with the next line as followed in the translation here.

[8:2]  ⁹ tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”

[8:2]  ¹⁰ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[8:3]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).

[8:3]  ¹² tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.

[8:3]  ¹³ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “image.”

[8:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”

[8:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[8:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “pattern.”

[8:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.

[8:10]  ¹⁹ sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).

[8:11]  ²⁰ sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).

[8:11]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[8:12]  ²² tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ²³ tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”

[8:14]  ²⁴ sn The worship of Tammuz included the observation of the annual death and descent into the netherworld of the god Dumuzi. The practice was observed by women in the ancient Near East over a period of centuries.

[8:16]  ²⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.

[8:16]  ²⁶ sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).

[8:16]  ²⁷ tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.

[8:16]  ²⁸ sn The temple faced east.

[8:16]  ²⁹ tn Or “the sun god.”

[8:17]  ³⁰ tn It is not clear what the practice of “holding a branch to the nose” indicates. A possible parallel is the Syrian relief of a king holding a flower to his nose as he worships the stars (ANEP 281). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:145-46. The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.”

[8:18]  ³¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[16:38]  ³² tn Heb “and I will judge you (with) the judgments of adulteresses and of those who shed blood.”

[16:38]  ³³ tn Heb “and I will give you the blood of rage and zeal.”

[16:41]  ³⁴ tn The words “to your clients” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.

[34:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “bow down.”

[34:14]  ³⁶ sn In Exod 20:3 it was “gods.”

[34:14]  ³⁷ sn Here, too, the emphasis on God’s being a jealous God is repeated (see Exod 20:5). The use of “name” here is to stress that this is his nature, his character.

[29:20]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the wrath of the Lord and his zeal.” The expression is a hendiadys, a figure in which the second noun becomes adjectival to the first.

[29:20]  ³⁹ tn Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”

[29:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the entire oath.”

[29:20]  ⁴¹ tn Or “will lie in wait against him.”

[29:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”

[32:21]  ⁴³ sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.

[32:21]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”

[32:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).

[32:21]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).

[32:21]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”

[32:22]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “to the lowest depths of the earth”; cf. NAB “to the depths of the nether world”; NIV “to the realm of death below”; NLT “to the depths of the grave.”

[6:34]  ⁴⁹ tn The word “kindles” was supplied in the translation; both “rage” and “jealousy” have meanings connected to heat.

[6:34]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “a man’s.”

[6:34]  ⁵¹ tn The verb חָמַל (khamal) means “to show mercy; to show compassion; to show pity,” usually with the outcome of sparing or delivering someone. The idea here is that the husband will not spare the guilty man any of the punishment (cf. NRSV “he shows no restraint”).

[8:6]  ⁵² sn In the ancient Near East חוֹתָם (khotam, “seal”) was used to denote ownership and was thus very valuable (Jer 22:24; Hag 2:23; Eccl 17:22). Seals were used to make a stamp impression to identify the object as the property of the seal’s owner (HALOT 300 s.v. I חוֹתָם). Seals were made of semi-precious stone upon which was engraved a unique design and an inscription, e.g., LMLK [PN] “belonging to king […].” The impression could be placed upon wet clay of a jar or on a writing tablet by rolling the seal across the clay. Because it was a valuable possession its owner would take careful precautions to not lose it and would keep it close to him at all times.

[8:6]  ⁵³ tn The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) is used figuratively here as (1) a metonymy (container for the thing contained) for his chest over which the cylinder seal was hung or (2) a metonymy (concrete body part for the abstract emotions with which it is associated) for his emotions, such as love and loyalty to the Beloved (e.g., Judg 16:25; Ruth 3:7; 1 Sam 25:36; 2 Sam 13:28; 1 Kgs 8:66) (HALOT 514-15 s.v. לֵב) (see H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 40-58).

[8:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Literally “cylinder-seal” or “seal.” The term חוֹתָם (khotam, “cylinder-seal”) is repeated in 8:6 for emphasis. The translation above uses the terms “cylinder seal” and “signet” simply for the sake of poetic variation. The Beloved wanted to be as safe and secure as a cylinder seal worn on the arm or around the neck, hanging down over the heart. She also wanted to be placed on his heart (emotions), like the impression of a cylinder seal is written on a document. She wanted to be “written” on his heart like the impression of a cylinder seal, and kept secure in his love as a signet ring is worn around his arm/hand to keep it safe.

[8:6]  ⁵⁵ tn Alternately, “wrist.” In Palestine cylinder seals were often hung on a bracelet worn around one’s wrist. The cylinder seal was mounted on a pin hanging from a bracelet. The cylinder seal in view in Song 8:6 could be a stamp seal hung from a bracelet of a type known from excavations in Israel. See W. W. Hallo, “‘As the Seal Upon Thy Heart’: Glyptic Roles in the Biblical World,” BRev 2 (1985): 26.

[8:6]  ⁵⁶ sn It was a common practice in the ancient world to compare intense feelings to death. The point of the expression “love is as strong as death” means that love is extremely strong. The expression “love is as cruel as Sheol” may simply mean that love can be profoundly cruel. For example: “His soul was vexed to death,” means that he could not stand it any longer (Judg 16:16). “I do well to be angry to death,” means that he was extremely angry (Jonah 4:9). “My soul is sorrowful to death,” means that he was exceedingly sorrowful (Matt 26:38 = Mark 14:34) (D. W. Thomas, “A Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 [1953]: 220-21).

[8:6]  ⁵⁷ tn Alternately, “jealousy.” The noun קִנְאָה (qin’ah) has a wide range of meanings: “jealousy” (Prov 6:34; 14:30; 27:4), “competitiveness” (Eccl 4:4; 9:6), “anger” (Num 5:14, 30), “zeal” (2 Kgs 10:16; Pss 69:10; 119:139; Job 5:2; Sir 30:24), and “passion” (Song 8:6). The Hebrew noun is related to the Akkadian and Arabic roots that mean “to become intensely red” or “become red with passion,” suggesting that the root denotes strong emotion. Although קִנְאָה is traditionally rendered “jealousy” (KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV), the parallelism with אַהֲבָה (’ahavah, “love”) suggests the nuance “passion” (NJPS). Coppes notes, “This word is translated in the KJV in a bad sense in Song 8:6, ‘jealousy is as cruel as the grave,’ but it could be taken in a good sense in parallel with the preceding, ‘ardent zeal is as strong as the grave’” (TWOT 2:803).

[8:6]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “harsh” or “severe.”

[8:6]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “Its flames are flames of fire.”

[8:6]  ⁶⁰ tn The noun שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה (shalhevetyah, “mighty flame”) is related to the nouns שַׁלְהֶבֶת (shalhevet, “flame”), לֶהָבָה (lehavah, “flame”), and לַהַב (lahav, “flame”), all of which are derived from the root להב “to burn, blaze, flame up” (HALOT 520 s.v. לַהַב). The form שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה is an unusual noun pattern with (1) a prefix ־שׁ that is common in Akkadian but rare in Hebrew; it has an intensive adjective meaning, (2) a feminine ־ת ending, and (3) a suffix ־יָה whose meaning is debated. The suffix ־יָה has been taken in three ways by scholars and translators: (1) יָה is an abbreviated form of the divine name יהוה (“Yahweh”), functioning as a genitive of source: “the flame of the Lord” (NASB). The abbreviated form יָהּ is used only in poetic texts as a poetic variation of יהוה (e.g., Exod 15:2; 17:16; Pss 68:5, 19; 77:12; 89:9; 94:7, 12; 102:19; 104:35; 105:45; 106:1, 48; 111:1; 112:1; 113:1, 9; 115:17, 18; 116:19; 117:2; 118:5, 14, 17-19; 122:4; 130:3; 135:1, 3, 4, 21; 146:1, 10; 147:1, 20; 148:1, 14; 149:1, 9; 150:1, 6; Isa 12:2; 26:4; 38:11). However, the Masoretes did not point the text as שַׁלְהֶבֶת־יָהּ (shalhevet-yah) with maqqep and daghesh in the הּ, as would be the case with the divine name. (2) Thomas suggests that, just as אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) and אֵל (’el) are sometimes used to express superlatives or intensive ideas, so יָה expresses the superlative/intensive: “a mighty flame” (D. W. Thomas, “A Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 [1953]: 209-24). Examples of אֱלֹהִים (’elohim): “a mighty wind” (Gen 1:2), “a mighty prince” (Gen 23:6), “a great struggle” (Gen 30:8), “a great fire” (Job 1:16), “an exceeding great city” (Jonah 3:3). Examples of אֵל (’el): “the mighty mountains” (Ps 36:7) and “the mighty cedars” (Ps 80:11). Examples of יָה (yah) suffixed: “darkest gloom” (Jer 2:31), “mighty deeds” (Jer 32:19), and “mighty deeds” (Ps 77:12). (3) The most likely view is that יָה is an intensive adjectival suffix, similar to –iy and –ay and –awi in Aramaic, Akkadian, and Arabic: “a most vehement flame” (KJV), “a mighty flame” (RSV, NIV), and “a blazing flame” (NJPS). This also best explains “darkest gloom” (Jer 2:31), and “mighty deeds” (Jer 32:19) (see S. Moscati, Comparative Grammar, 81, §12.18, and 83, §12.23).

[1:18]  ⁶¹ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ⁶² tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ⁶³ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ⁶⁵ tn It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).