Ezekiel 14:21

21 For the Lord God saith these things, That though I send in my four worst dooms, sword, and hunger, and evil beasts, and pestilence, into Jerusalem, that I slay of it man and beast, (For the Lord God saith these things, Even though I send in my four worst judgements, sword, and famine, and wild beasts, and pestilence, into Jerusalem, so that I kill the people and the animals in it,)

Ezekiel 14:21 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 14:21

For thus saith the Lord God, how much more
If the Lord would not be entreated by such good men as those mentioned, for a land that had sinned against him, to whom he only sends some one of the above judgments, either famine, or noisome beasts, or the sword, or the pestilence, how much more inexorable and deaf to all entreaties must he be; or if anyone of those judgments makes so great a desolation in the land, then how much greater must that detraction be, when I send my four sore judgments on Jerusalem:
or "evil" ^F1 ones; as they are to men, though righteously inflicted by the Lord; when all these four are sent together, what a devastation must they make! namely, the sword, and the famine, and the, noisome beast, and the pestilence,
to cut off from it man and beast;
three of them, it is evident, were sent upon Jerusalem at the time of its siege by Nebuchadnezzar, the sword, famine, and pestilence; and no doubt the other, even the noisome beasts; and if not literally, yet figuratively, for Nebuchadnezzar himself is compared to a lion, ( Jeremiah 4:7 ) ( 50:17 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Myerh) "mala", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Starckius; "pessima", Junius & Tremellius, Vatablus.

Ezekiel 14:21 In-Context

19 Forsooth if I bring in also pestilence on that land, and I shed out mine indignation on it in blood, that I do away from it man and beast, (And if I also bring in pestilence upon that land, and I pour out my indignation upon it in blood, so that I do away man and beast from it,)

20 and Noe, and Daniel, and Job, be in the midst thereof, I live, saith the Lord God, for they shall not deliver a son and a daughter, but they by their rightfulness shall deliver their souls. (and if Noah, and Daniel, and Job, were in its midst, as I live, saith the Lord God, they would not be able to save even their own son, or their own daughter, but they would save only their own souls, or their own lives, by their righteousness.)

21 For the Lord God saith these things, That though I send in my four worst dooms, sword, and hunger, and evil beasts, and pestilence, into Jerusalem, that I slay of it man and beast, (For the Lord God saith these things, Even though I send in my four worst judgements, sword, and famine, and wild beasts, and pestilence, into Jerusalem, so that I kill the people and the animals in it,)

22 nevertheless salvation of them that led out sons and daughters, shall be left therein. Lo! they shall go out to you, and ye shall see the way of them, and the findings of them; and ye shall be comforted on the evil, which I brought in on Jerusalem, in all things which I bare in on it. (nevertheless some of them shall be left alive there, and they shall be brought out, both sons and daughters. Lo! they shall go out to you, and ye shall see their ways, and their deeds; and ye shall be comforted, or satisfied, for all the evil, which I brought in upon Jerusalem, yea, for all the things which I brought in upon it.)

23 And they shall comfort you, when ye shall see the way of them, and the findings of them; and ye shall know, that not in vain I did all things, whatever things I did therein, saith the Lord Almighty. (And they shall comfort you, when ye shall see their ways, and their deeds; and ye shall know, that I have not done all these things in vain, or without justification, whatever things I did there, saith the Lord Almighty.)