Ezekiel 21:1-9

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

2 Thou, son of man, set thy face to Jerusalem, and drop thou (thy word) to the saintuaries, and prophesy thou against the earth of Israel. (Thou, son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thou thy word against the sanctuaries, and prophesy thou against the land of Israel.)

3 And thou shalt say to the land of Israel, The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I to thee, and I shall cast my sword out of his sheath, and I shall slay in thee a just man and a wicked man. (And thou shalt say to the land of Israel, The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I am against thee, and I shall draw my sword out of its sheath, and I shall kill there the righteous and the wicked.)

4 Forsooth for that that I have slain in thee a just man and a wicked man, therefore my sword shall go out of his sheath to each man, from the south till to the north; (Yea, because I shall kill there the righteous and the wicked, and so my sword shall go out of its sheath against every person, from the south unto the north;)

5 that each man know, that I the Lord have drawn out my sword from his sheath, that shall not be called again. (so that every person know, that I the Lord have drawn out my sword from its sheath, and it shall not be called back, or recalled.)

6 And thou, son of man, wail in [the] sorrow of loins, and in bitternesses thou shalt wail before them.

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;

Ezekiel 21:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 21

This chapter contains an explanation of a prophecy in the latter part of the preceding chapter; and a new one, concerning the sword of the Chaldeans, and the destruction of the Jews and Ammonites by it. The prophecy of the fire in the forest is explained, Eze 21:1-5, upon which the prophet is directed to show his concern at it by sighing, in order to awaken the attention of the people to it, Eze 21:6,7, then follows a prophecy of a very sharp and bright sword, which should do great execution upon the people and princes of Israel; and therefore the prophet, in order to affect them, with it, is bid to howl and cry, and smite on his thigh; and smite his hands together, and the Lord says he would do so; all which is designed to set forth the greatness of the calamity and the distress, Eze 21:8-17, next the prophet is ordered to represent the king of Babylon as at a place where two ways met, and as at a loss which way to take, and as determined by divination to go to Jerusalem first, Eze 21:18-24, and then Zedekiah, the then reigning prince of Israel, has his doom pronounced on him, and he is ordered to be stripped of his regalia; and an intimation is given that there should be no more king over Israel of the house of David until the Messiah came, Eze 21:26,27 and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of the destruction of the Ammonites in their own land, which should certainly be, though their diviners might, say the contrary, Eze 21:28-31.

above excuse or complaint about speaking in parables; wherefore the prophet is ordered to speak in plainer language to the people. It is very probable that the prophet delivered the prophecy recorded in the latter part of the preceding chapter in the figurative terms in which he received it; and he here is bid to explain it to the people, or to repeat it to them in clearer expressions. 28904-950610-1207-Eze21.2