Yechezkel 14:17

17 Or if I bring a cherev upon that land, and say, Cherev, pass through ha’aretz; so that I cut off adam and behemah from it;

Yechezkel 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.

Yechezkel 14:17 In-Context

15 If I cause chayyah ra’ah (wild beasts) to pass through ha’aretz, and they bereave it of children, so that it be desolate, that no one may pass through because of the beasts;

16 Though these sheloshet ha’anashim were in the midst of it, as I live, saith Adonoi Hashem, they shall deliver neither banim nor banot; only they shall be delivered, but ha’aretz shall be desolate.

17 Or if I bring a cherev upon that land, and say, Cherev, pass through ha’aretz; so that I cut off adam and behemah from it;

18 Though these sheloshet ha’anashim were in it, as I live, saith Adonoi Hashem, they would deliver neither banim nor banot, but they only themselves would be delivered.

19 Or if I send a dever (plague) into that land, and pour out My chemah (fury) upon it in dahm, to cut off from it adam and behemah;