Ezekiel 20:47

47 And thou shalt say to the midday, [or south(ern),] forest, Hear thou the word of the Lord. The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall kindle a fire in thee, and I shall burn in thee each green tree, and each dry tree; the flame of burning shall not be quenched, and each face shall be burnt therein, from the south till to the north. (And thou shalt say to the southern forest, or to the Negeb, Hear thou the word of the Lord. The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall kindle a fire in thee, and I shall burn each green tree, and each dry tree, in thee; the flame of burning shall not be quenched, and each face shall be burned there, from the south unto the north.)

Ezekiel 20:47 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:47

And say to the forest of the south
To the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea: hear the word of the Lord;
attend to it, and receive it, believe it, and take warning from it: thus saith the Lord God, behold, I will kindle a fire in thee;
in Jerusalem; meaning that he would send great calamities among them, the sword of the Chaldean army, famine, and pestilence; and that at last it should be burnt with fire, and the remainder of the inhabitants be carried captive: and it shall devour every green tree, and every dry tree;
all sorts of persons should be consumed by one or other of the above calamities, high and low, rich and poor, good and bad; and if good men should suffer, comparable to green trees, which fire will not so easily burn, not being fit fuel for it; then much more bad men, who were by far the most numerous, comparable to dry trees, and so fit fuel for the flames, and easily consumed thereby: the flaming flame shall not be quenched
or, the "flame, flame"; or, "the flame of flame" ^F15; signifying either the succession of these calamities one after another; or the force and strength of them, which should not be abated until the ruin of the city was completed: and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt therein;
which some understand of an utter destruction of the Jews, either by sword, famine, and pestilence, or by captivity from Jerusalem or Judea unto Babylon; but rather the meaning is, that all the inhabitants thereof should suffer, from one end of it to the other, from Beersheba to Dan, the country lying in such a position.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (tbhlv tbhl) "flamma flamma, pro flamma continua et perpetua", Vatablus; "flamma inflamatissima", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus "flamma flammae", Montanus, Piscator.

Ezekiel 20:47 In-Context

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

46 Thou, son of man, set thy face against the way of the south, and drop thou (thy word) to the south, and prophesy thou to the forest of the midday, [or south,] field. (Thou, son of man, set thy face toward the way of the south, and drop thou thy word to the south, and prophesy thou to the forest of the south, or to the Negeb.)

47 And thou shalt say to the midday, [or south(ern),] forest, Hear thou the word of the Lord. The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall kindle a fire in thee, and I shall burn in thee each green tree, and each dry tree; the flame of burning shall not be quenched, and each face shall be burnt therein, from the south till to the north. (And thou shalt say to the southern forest, or to the Negeb, Hear thou the word of the Lord. The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall kindle a fire in thee, and I shall burn each green tree, and each dry tree, in thee; the flame of burning shall not be quenched, and each face shall be burned there, from the south unto the north.)

48 And each man shall see (And each person shall see), that I the Lord have kindled it, and it shall not be quenched.

49 And I said, A! A! A! Lord God, they say of me, Whether this man speaketh not by parables? (And I said, O! O! O! Lord God, they say of me, Speaketh this man only by parables?)