Ezekiel 21:28

28 And thou son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach, and thou shalt say: O sword, O sword, come out of the scabbard to kill, be furbished to destroy, and to glitter,

Ezekiel 21:28 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 21:28

And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say
Here begins a new prophecy, or rather an enlargement on part of the former; two ways being marked out for the sword of the Chaldeans to come in; the one leading to Jerusalem, the other to Rabbath of the Ammonites; the prophecy being finished concerning the former, here an account is given of the latter; how the sword should move that way, and what execution it would do: thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their
reproach;
Nebuchadnezzar, agreeably to the above prophecy, having taken his route to Jerusalem, as his divination directed him, and destroyed that, returned to Babylon, without making any attempt upon the Ammonites; which so flushed them, that they insulted the Jews, and laughed at their destruction, as if their God whom they served could not save them; attributing their safety and prosperity to the idols they worshipped; see ( Ezekiel 25:1-7 ) ( Zephaniah 2:8-10 ) : even say thou, the sword, the sword is drawn for the slaughter;
the same sword of the Chaldeans, which was drawn for the slaughter of the Jews, is now drawn for the slaughter of the Ammonites; and which is repeated for the certainty of it, and to inject terror; and this, as Josephus ^F21 says, was accomplished five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, in the twenty third year of Nebuchadnezzar: it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering; being brightened
and made sharp,
it not only terrified with its glittering, but was more fit and prepared to cut and destroy; see ( Ezekiel 21:9 Ezekiel 21:10 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Antiqu. Jud. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.

Ezekiel 21:28 In-Context

26 Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, take off the crown: is it not this that hath exalted the low one, and brought down him that was high?

27 I will shew it to be iniquity, iniquity, iniquity: but this was not done till he came to whom judgment belongeth, and I will give it him.

28 And thou son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach, and thou shalt say: O sword, O sword, come out of the scabbard to kill, be furbished to destroy, and to glitter,

29 Whilst they see vain things in thy regard, and they divine lies: to bring thee upon the necks of the wicked that are wounded, whose appointed day is come in the time of iniquity.

30 Return into thy sheath. I will judge thee in the place wherein thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.