Ezekiel 21:16

16 Go one way or other, either on the right hand or on the left, wherever thy face is set.

Ezekiel 21:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 21:16

Go thee one way or another
Go to some one place: or "unite thyself" F1; to other swords, or join other soldiers holding swords; the address is to the sword, to steer its course some one way, and slay as it goes along, sparing none: either on the right, or on the left; or south, or north;
so the Targum,

``unsheathe, and slay on the south, and destroy on the north:''
whithersoever thy face is set;
or prepared, as the Targum, or appointed for destruction; this is the usual interpretation: but why may not the words be an apostrophe to the prophet, to go alone or single, either to the right or left, south or north, as his face was set, ( Ezekiel 21:2 ) , sighing and crying, smiting his hands together, in order to affect the minds of the people with the sense of their calamities coming upon them?
FOOTNOTES:

F1 (ydxath) "unito Montanus", Piscator, Polanus; "unitor te", Starckius; "in unum dirigitor", Cocceius.

Ezekiel 21:16 In-Context

14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain; this is the sword of great slaughter that shall pierce them.
15 I have set the fear of the sword in all their gates, that their heart may faint and their ruins be multiplied; ah! it is made so that it might shine; it is prepared for the slaughter.
16 Go one way or other, either on the right hand or on the left, wherever thy face is set.
17 I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest; I the LORD have spoken.
18 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010