Ezekiel 14:17

17 "Or if I bring a sword against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out [both] man and animal from it,

Ezekiel 14:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 14:17

Or [if] I bring a sword upon that land
The land which had grievously sinned; the same land into which a famine should come, and through which evil beasts should pass; to which, if the Lord should add, as he would, a third judgment, the sword; suffer a foreign enemy to come in among them, and destroy them. So the Targum,

``or if those that slay with the sword I should bring upon that land;''

the Chaldean army, as he did; the sword has its commission from God; war is not by chance; the invasion of a foreign enemy is from the Lord; and all the mischiefs and ravages of a tumultuous army are all by divine order: and say, sword, go through the land;
not only enter the borders of it, or proceed far in it, but even go through it; which is terrible indeed! but if the Lord bids it go, it must go, and does; it is a servant of his, and punctually obeys his commands; that is, such are those that use it, however profane and wicked they may be in themselves, as generally armies consist of dissolute persons; yet these are under a divine direction, and are obedient to the will of God, though they may know it not. So the Targum,

``and I say that they that kill with the sword pass through the land:''

so that I cut off man and beast from it;
by the sword; the one being destroyed as an enemy, the other for food.

Ezekiel 14:17 In-Context

15 "If I allow dangerous animals to pass through the land and depopulate it so that it becomes desolate, with no one passing through [it] for [fear of] the animals,

16 even [if] these three men were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

17 "Or if I bring a sword against that land and say: Let a sword pass through it, so that I wipe out [both] man and animal from it,

18 even [if] these three men were in it, as I live"-the declaration of the Lord God -"they could not deliver [their] sons or daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

19 "Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath on it with bloodshed to wipe out [both] man and animal from it,