Ezekiel 7:17

17 1All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to 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 without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour.
16 And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity.
17 All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water.
18 They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
19 They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Ezekiel 21:7; Isaiah 13:7; Jeremiah 6:24
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.