Ezekiel 21:2-3

21:2 “Son of man, turn toward 1  Jerusalem 2  and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 21:3 and say to them, 3  ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, 4  I am against you. 5  I will draw my sword 6  from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 7 

1 tn Heb “set your face toward.”

2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

3 tn Heb “the land of Israel.”

4 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.

5 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.

6 sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.

7 sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25.