Ezekiel 7:13

13 For the seller will not return to what he sold, even if he is still alive; for though the vision was brought to all her many people, nobody repented. Each kept living his own wicked life; they weren't strong enough [to repent].

Ezekiel 7:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 7:13

For the seller shall not return to that which is sold
In the year of jubilee, because he shall be in captivity: according to the law in ( Leviticus 25:13 ) , when a man had sold his possession, he returned to it again, if alive, in the year of jubilee; let it come sooner or later, within thirty, or twenty, or ten years after the sale, be it as it will: now the Babylonish captivity being seventy years, in that time there must be a jubilee; and yet those that had sold their estates, being captives in another land, could not return to them: although they were yet alive:
either though what they have sold is in being, and in good condition; or rather, though they that have sold them are in the land of the living, but, not being in their own land, cannot possess: for the vision [is] touching the whole multitude thereof;
the prophecy of the destruction of the Jews is general, and respects the whole body of the people; men of all ranks and degrees, the buyer and the seller, the rich and the poor: [which] shall not return;
void and of no effect, but shall be fully accomplished; see ( Isaiah 54:11 ) ; though some think this refers not to prophecy, but to the people, who did not upon it return by repentance; in this sense it is taken by Jarchi and Kimchi; and so the Targum,

``for the prophets prophesied to the whole multitude of them to return by repentance, and they returned not:''
neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life:
either secure himself from danger by his unrighteous mammon, his ill gotten goods; or think to escape by his daring impiety, and vicious course of life, continued in without repentance.

Ezekiel 7:13 In-Context

11 Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. Nothing is left of them, nothing of their crowds, nothing of their wealth - there is nothing of importance in them.
12 The time has come, the day has arrived; let neither buyer rejoice nor seller regret; for wrath is coming to all her many people.
13 For the seller will not return to what he sold, even if he is still alive; for though the vision was brought to all her many people, nobody repented. Each kept living his own wicked life; they weren't strong enough [to repent].
14 The shofar has sounded, everything is ready, but no one goes out to the battle, for my wrath is coming to all her many people.
15 "'Outside is the sword, inside plague and famine. Those in the country will die by the sword. And as for those in the city, plague and famine will eat them up.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.