Ezekiel 33:1-6

Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 1"Son of man, speak to 2your people and say to them, If 3I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their 4watchman,
3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and 5blows the trumpet and warns the people,
4 then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, 6his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 7He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.
6 8But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, 9that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

Ezekiel 33:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 33

This chapter treats of the prophet's duty, and the people's sins; contains a vindication of the justice of God; a threatening of destruction to those who remained in the land after the taking of the city; and a detection of the hypocrisy of the prophet's hearers. The duty of a watchman in general is declared, Eze 33:1-6, an application of this to the prophet, Eze 33:7: the sum of whose business is to warn the wicked man of his wickedness; and the consequence of doing, or not doing it, is expressed, Eze 33:8,9, an objection of the people, and the prophet's answer to it, Eze 33:10,11, who is bid to acquaint them, that a righteous man trusting to his righteousness, and sinning, should not live; and that a sinner repenting of his sins should not die, Eze 33:12-16, the people's charge of inequality in the ways of God is retorted upon them, and removed from the Lord, and proved against them, Eze 33:17-20, then follows a prophecy, delivered out after the news was brought of the taking of the city, threatening with ruin those that remained in the land, confident of safety, and that for their sins, which are particularly enumerated, Eze 33:21-29, and the chapter is closed with a discovery of the hypocrisy of those that attended the prophet's ministry, Eze 33:30-33.

Cross References 9

  • 1. See Ezekiel 2:1
  • 2. ver. 12, 17, 30; Ezekiel 3:11; Ezekiel 37:18
  • 3. See Ezekiel 14:17
  • 4. [Micah 7:4]
  • 5. [Amos 3:6]
  • 6. Ezekiel 18:13; See Ezekiel 3:18
  • 7. [Ezekiel 3:19]
  • 8. [Ezekiel 3:18]
  • 9. [Ezekiel 3:18]
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.