Ezekiel 21:16

16 Gather together, strike to the right; cause [to] go to the left, where your {edge} [is] directed.

Ezekiel 21:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 21:16

Go thee one way or another
Go to some one place: or "unite thyself" F1; to other swords, or join other soldiers holding swords; the address is to the sword, to steer its course some one way, and slay as it goes along, sparing none: either on the right, or on the left; or south, or north;
so the Targum,

``unsheathe, and slay on the south, and destroy on the north:''
whithersoever thy face is set;
or prepared, as the Targum, or appointed for destruction; this is the usual interpretation: but why may not the words be an apostrophe to the prophet, to go alone or single, either to the right or left, south or north, as his face was set, ( Ezekiel 21:2 ) , sighing and crying, smiting his hands together, in order to affect the minds of the people with the sense of their calamities coming upon them?
FOOTNOTES:

F1 (ydxath) "unito Montanus", Piscator, Polanus; "unitor te", Starckius; "in unum dirigitor", Cocceius.

Ezekiel 21:16 In-Context

14 And you, son of man, prophesy {and clap your hands}. And the sword will {strike twice}; let it happen a third time. It [is] a sword of the dead, [the] sword of the great dead that [is] surrounding them,
15 so that a heart melts, and the fallen {multiply} at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, [and] alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped for slaughtering.
16 Gather together, strike to the right; cause [to] go to the left, where your {edge} [is] directed.
17 And also {I myself} will {clap my hands}, and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken."
18 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},

Footnotes 1

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.