Ezekiel 7:17

17 'All ¹hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water.

Ezekiel 7:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 7:17

All hands shall be feeble
No strength in them, to lay hold on weapons of war to defend themselves, or fight the enemy; no heart nor courage in them, to go forth and meet him; and even afraid to lift up their voice in mourning, lest they should be heard, and pursued, and taken: and all knees shall be weak [as] water;
tremble and beat one against another, for fear of the enemy; or,

``shall flow with water,''

as the Targum; either with sweat or urine, which are sometimes both caused by fear.

Ezekiel 7:17 In-Context

15 'The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city.

16 'Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity.

17 'All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water.

18 'They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads.

19 'They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD . They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 13:7; Ezekiel 21:7; Ezekiel 22:14; Hebrews 12:12

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "run with water"