Ezekiel 21:13-23

13 for it is proved; and this when it hath destroyed the sceptre, and it shall not be, saith the Lord God.

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy thou, and smite thou hand to hand (and strike thou one hand to the other, that is, clap thy hands), and the sword be doubled, and the sword of the slayers be trebled; this is the sword of great slaying, that shall make them astonied, and to fail in heart, and multiplieth fallings.

15 In all the gates of them I gave (the) troubling of a sword, sharp and made bright to shine, girded to slaying.

16 Be thou made sharp, go thou to the right side, either to the left side, whither ever the desire of thy face is (wherever the desire of thy face is/wherever thou desireth).

17 Certainly and I shall smite with hand to hand (Truly I shall clap my hands), and I shall [ful]fill mine indignation; I the Lord spake.

18 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,

19 And thou, son of man, set to thee two ways, (so) that the sword of the king of Babylon (may) come; both shall go out of one land, and by the hand he shall take conjecturing; he shall conjecture in the head of the way of the city (and so carve a signpost, and then place it at the head of the ways to two cities),

20 setting a way, that the sword come to Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into Jerusalem most strong. (pointing the way, so that the sword come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah into the fortified Jerusalem.)

21 For the king of Babylon stood in the meeting of two ways, in the head of two ways, and sought divining, and meddled arrows; he asked idols, and took counsel at entrails. (For the king of Babylon stood at the meeting of two ways, at the head of two ways, and sought divining, and mixed, or mingled, the arrows; he asked idols, and received counsel, or advice, from entrails.)

22 Divining was made to his right side on Jerusalem, that he set engines, that he open [the] mouth in slaying, that he raise [the] voice in yelling, that he set engines against the gates, that he bear together [an heap of] earth, that he build strongholds. (Divining was made at his right hand for Jerusalem, that he set up battering-rams, and that he open his mouth in killing, and that he raise up his voice in yelling, yea, that he set up battering-rams against the gates, and that he bear together heaps of earth, and that he build strongholds.)

23 And he shall be as counselling in (a) vain god's answer before the eyes of them, and serving (on) the rest of sabbaths; but he shall have mind on (their) wickedness, to take (them). (And he shall be like the counselling in an idol's answer before their eyes, and serving on the rest of the sabbaths; but he shall remember their wickedness, to take them captive.)

Ezekiel 21:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 21

This chapter contains an explanation of a prophecy in the latter part of the preceding chapter; and a new one, concerning the sword of the Chaldeans, and the destruction of the Jews and Ammonites by it. The prophecy of the fire in the forest is explained, Eze 21:1-5, upon which the prophet is directed to show his concern at it by sighing, in order to awaken the attention of the people to it, Eze 21:6,7, then follows a prophecy of a very sharp and bright sword, which should do great execution upon the people and princes of Israel; and therefore the prophet, in order to affect them, with it, is bid to howl and cry, and smite on his thigh; and smite his hands together, and the Lord says he would do so; all which is designed to set forth the greatness of the calamity and the distress, Eze 21:8-17, next the prophet is ordered to represent the king of Babylon as at a place where two ways met, and as at a loss which way to take, and as determined by divination to go to Jerusalem first, Eze 21:18-24, and then Zedekiah, the then reigning prince of Israel, has his doom pronounced on him, and he is ordered to be stripped of his regalia; and an intimation is given that there should be no more king over Israel of the house of David until the Messiah came, Eze 21:26,27 and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of the destruction of the Ammonites in their own land, which should certainly be, though their diviners might, say the contrary, Eze 21:28-31.

above excuse or complaint about speaking in parables; wherefore the prophet is ordered to speak in plainer language to the people. It is very probable that the prophet delivered the prophecy recorded in the latter part of the preceding chapter in the figurative terms in which he received it; and he here is bid to explain it to the people, or to repeat it to them in clearer expressions. 28904-950610-1207-Eze21.2