Ezekiel 21:28

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, The Lord God saith these things to the sons of Ammon, and to the shame of them; and thou shalt say, A! thou sword, A! thou sword, drawn out to slay, made bright, that thou slay and shine, (And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, The Lord God saith these things to the Ammonites, yea, for their shame; and thou shalt say, O! thou sword, O! thou sword, drawn out to kill, made bright, that thou shine and kill,)

Ezekiel 21:28 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 21:28

And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say
Here begins a new prophecy, or rather an enlargement on part of the former; two ways being marked out for the sword of the Chaldeans to come in; the one leading to Jerusalem, the other to Rabbath of the Ammonites; the prophecy being finished concerning the former, here an account is given of the latter; how the sword should move that way, and what execution it would do: thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their
reproach;
Nebuchadnezzar, agreeably to the above prophecy, having taken his route to Jerusalem, as his divination directed him, and destroyed that, returned to Babylon, without making any attempt upon the Ammonites; which so flushed them, that they insulted the Jews, and laughed at their destruction, as if their God whom they served could not save them; attributing their safety and prosperity to the idols they worshipped; see ( Ezekiel 25:1-7 ) ( Zephaniah 2:8-10 ) : even say thou, the sword, the sword is drawn for the slaughter;
the same sword of the Chaldeans, which was drawn for the slaughter of the Jews, is now drawn for the slaughter of the Ammonites; and which is repeated for the certainty of it, and to inject terror; and this, as Josephus ^F21 says, was accomplished five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, in the twenty third year of Nebuchadnezzar: it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering; being brightened
and made sharp,
it not only terrified with its glittering, but was more fit and prepared to cut and destroy; see ( Ezekiel 21:9 Ezekiel 21:10 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Antiqu. Jud. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.

Ezekiel 21:28 In-Context

26 the Lord God saith these things, Do away the mitre, take away the crown; whether it is not this that raised the meek man, and made low the high man?

27 Wickedness, wickedness, wickedness, I shall put it; and this shall not be done till he come, whose the doom (it) is, and I shall betake (it) to him. (Ruin, ruin, ruin, so I shall make it; but this shall not be done until he come, who shall render the judgement, and I shall deliver it to him.)

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, The Lord God saith these things to the sons of Ammon, and to the shame of them; and thou shalt say, A! thou sword, A! thou sword, drawn out to slay, made bright, that thou slay and shine, (And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, The Lord God saith these things to the Ammonites, yea, for their shame; and thou shalt say, O! thou sword, O! thou sword, drawn out to kill, made bright, that thou shine and kill,)

29 when vain things were seen to thee, and leasings were divined, that thou shouldest be given on the necks of wicked men wounded, the day of which before-determined shall come in the time of wickedness, (when false things were seen by thee, and lies were divined, so that thou shouldest be brought down upon the necks of the wicked who be killed, the which predetermined day hath come in the time of wickedness,)

30 turn thou again into thy sheath, into the place in which thou were made. I shall deem thee in the land of thy birth, (turn thou again into thy sheath. And in the place where thou were made, I shall judge thee, yea, in the land of thy birth,)