Ezekiel 21:9

9 Son of man, prophesy thou; and thou shalt say, The Lord God saith these things, Speak thou, The sword, the sword is made sharp, and is made bright;

Ezekiel 21:9 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 21:9

Son of man, prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord
Deliver out the following prophecy in the name of the Lord: say, a sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished;
it is not only drawn out of its sheath, as before, but is made sharp and bright, and ready for use. It is repeated, either to show the certainty of it, or to express the terror and anguish of mind on account of it; persons in distress generally repeating that which is the occasion of it. The Targum interprets it of two swords, the sword of the Babylonians, and the sword of the Ammonites; first the one was to be used, and then the other: this latter, Jarchi and Kimchi observe, was fulfilled by Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slaying Gedaliah, sent for that purpose by Baalis king of the Ammonites, ( Jeremiah 40:14 ) ( Jeremiah 41:2 Jeremiah 41:10 ) , but if two distinct swords are meant, I should rather think the sword of the Chaldeans, and the sword of the Romans, are intended. Cocceius, before observed, interprets it only of the latter; but Abendana both of the sword of the king of Babylon, and of the sword of the Romans.

Ezekiel 21:9 In-Context

7 And when they shall say to thee, Why wailest thou? thou shalt say, For [the] hearing (For the news), for it cometh; and each heart shall fail, and all hands shall be benumbed, and each spirit shall be feeble, and waters shall flow down by all knees; lo! it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord God.

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

9 Son of man, prophesy thou; and thou shalt say, The Lord God saith these things, Speak thou, The sword, the sword is made sharp, and is made bright;

10 it is made sharp to slay sacrifices; it is made bright, (so) that it shine. Thou that movest the sceptre of my son, hast cut down each tree.

11 And I gave it to be furbished, that it be holden with hand; this sword is made sharp, and this is made bright (and it is made bright), that it be in the hand of the slayer.