Ezekiel 7 Footnotes

7:1-4 Using emphatic language, Ezekiel announced the impending “day” of the Lord’s judgment (vv. 1-2,7-10,19; see Am 5:18; 8:3). He also used a grammatical device called the “prophetic perfect” (of the verb bo’), speaking of a future event as though it had already occurred. In this way he declared the absolute certainty of his prophecy against the “four corners of the earth,” which included the entire nation (Ezk 7:2).

7:18-22 Shaved heads and sackcloth were ordinarily signs of mourning (as in 5:1,12). In this passage they were not signs of repentance but of sorrow for the discomfort of judgment and invasion by a foreign enemy. Silver, gold, jewelry, and other physical resources were objects of plunder for invading armies.