Ezekiel 14:17

17 “Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals,

Ezekiel 14:17 in Other Translations

17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:

17 "Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast,

17 “Or suppose I were to bring war against the land, and I sent enemy armies to destroy both people and animals.

17 "Or, if I bring war on that country and give the order, 'Let the killing begin!' leaving both people and animals dead,

17 "Or if I bring a sword against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out [both] man and animal from it,

Ezekiel 14:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 14:17

Or [if] I bring a sword upon that land
The land which had grievously sinned; the same land into which a famine should come, and through which evil beasts should pass; to which, if the Lord should add, as he would, a third judgment, the sword; suffer a foreign enemy to come in among them, and destroy them. So the Targum,

``or if those that slay with the sword I should bring upon that land;''

the Chaldean army, as he did; the sword has its commission from God; war is not by chance; the invasion of a foreign enemy is from the Lord; and all the mischiefs and ravages of a tumultuous army are all by divine order: and say, sword, go through the land;
not only enter the borders of it, or proceed far in it, but even go through it; which is terrible indeed! but if the Lord bids it go, it must go, and does; it is a servant of his, and punctually obeys his commands; that is, such are those that use it, however profane and wicked they may be in themselves, as generally armies consist of dissolute persons; yet these are under a divine direction, and are obedient to the will of God, though they may know it not. So the Targum,

``and I say that they that kill with the sword pass through the land:''

so that I cut off man and beast from it;
by the sword; the one being destroyed as an enemy, the other for food.

Ezekiel 14:17 In-Context

15 “Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts,

16 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.

17 “Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals,

18 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.

19 “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals,

Cross References

• 1. S Leviticus 26:25; S Jeremiah 25:27; S Jeremiah 42:16; Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 21:3-4
• 2. Ezekiel 25:13; Zephaniah 1:3