16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them 30 as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough,
“‘A great eagle 33 with broad wings, long feathers, 34
with full plumage which was multi-hued, 35
came to Lebanon 36 and took the top of the cedar.
18:19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer 37 for his father’s iniquity?’ When the son does what is just and right, and observes all my statutes and carries them out, he will surely live.
19:12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind 38 dried up its fruit;
its strong branches broke off and withered –
a fire consumed them.
20:27 “Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In this way too your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me.
21:14 “And you, son of man, prophesy,
and clap your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice, even three times!
It is a sword for slaughter,
a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.
22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. 52
23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, 53 I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:
“‘Set on the pot, 55 set it on,
pour water in it too;
28:24 “‘No longer will Israel suffer from the sharp briers 57 or painful thorns of all who surround and scorn them. 58 Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.
30:9 On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten overly confident Ethiopia; panic will overtake them on the day of Egypt’s doom; 62 for beware – it is coming!
32:10 I will shock many peoples with you,
and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.
When I brandish my sword before them,
every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.
32:12 By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall –
all of them are the most terrifying among the nations.
They will devastate the pride of Egypt,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
32:26 “Meshech-Tubal is there, along with all her hordes around her grave. 65 All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living.
33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman 67 for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf.
34:25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and will rid the land of wild beasts, so that they can live securely 80 in the wilderness and even sleep in the woods. 81 34:26 I will turn them and the regions around my hill into a blessing. I will make showers come down in their season; they will be showers that bring blessing. 82
36:37 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: 85 I will multiply their people like sheep. 86
38:17 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants 89 the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days 90 that I would bring you against them?
39:9 “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and use the weapons for kindling 91 – the shields, 92 bows and arrows, war clubs and spears – they will burn them for seven years.
44:17 “‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear linen garments; they must not have any wool on them when they minister in the inner gates of the court and in the temple.
1 tn The Hebrew term translated “diamond” is parallel to “iron” in Jer 17:1. The Hebrew uses two terms which are both translated at times as “flint,” but here one is clearly harder than the other. The translation “diamond” attempts to reflect this distinction in English.
2 tn Heb “of their faces.”
3 tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.
4 tn Heb “you will not be to them a reprover.” In Isa 29:21 and Amos 5:10 “a reprover” issued rebuke at the city gate.
5 tn Heb “open your mouth.”
6 tn Heb “the listener will listen, the refuser will refuse.” Because the word for listening can also mean obeying, the nuance may be that the obedient will listen, or that the one who listens will obey. Also, although the verbs are not jussive as pointed in the MT, some translate them with a volitive sense: “the one who listens – let that one listen, the one who refuses – let that one refuse.”
7 tn The Hebrew word carries the basic idea of “bad, displeasing, injurious,” but when used of weapons has the nuance “deadly” (see Ps 144:10).
8 tn Heb “which are/were to destroy.”
9 tn The language of this verse may have been influenced by Deut 32:23.
10 tn Or “which were to destroy those whom I will send to destroy you” (cf. NASB).
11 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support. See 4:16, as well as the covenant curse in Lev 26:26.
12 tn Heb “the one who is left, the one who is spared.”
13 sn I will stretch out my hand against them is a common expression in the book of Ezekiel (14:9, 13; 16:27; 25:7; 35:3).
14 tc The Vulgate reads the name as “Riblah,” a city north of Damascus. The MT reads Diblah, a city otherwise unknown. The letters resh (ר) and dalet (ד) may have been confused in the Hebrew text. The town of Riblah was in the land of Hamath (2 Kgs 23:33) which represented the northern border of Israel (Ezek 47:14).
15 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
16 tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).
17 tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum
18 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn Or “wind.”
22 tn Heb “living creature.”
23 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 sn The same description of a false prophet is found in Micah 2:11.
25 sn The
26 tn Or “confirmed”; NIV “to be fulfilled”; TEV “to come true.”
27 tn Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.
28 tn Or “I will not reveal myself to them.” The Hebrew word is used in a technical sense here of seeking an oracle from a prophet (2 Kgs 1:16; 3:11; 8:8).
29 tn Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. CEV, NLT).
30 sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.
31 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
32 tn The parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.
33 sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).
34 tn Hebrew has two words for wings; it is unknown whether they are fully synonymous or whether one term distinguishes a particular part of the wing such as the wing coverts (nearest the shoulder), secondaries (mid-feathers of the wing) or primaries (last and longest section of the wing).
35 tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.
36 sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).
37 tn Heb “lift up, bear.”
38 sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.
39 tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of his eyes, throw away.” The Pentateuch does not refer to the Israelites worshiping idols in Egypt, but Josh 24:14 appears to suggest that they did so.
40 tn Heb “for the sake of my name.”
41 tn Heb “before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were.”
42 tn Heb “to whom I made myself known before their eyes to bring them out from the land of Egypt.” The translation understands the infinitive construct (“to bring them out”) as indicating manner. God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt was an act of self-revelation in that it displayed his power and his commitment to his promises.
43 tn Heb “drew my hand back.” This idiom also occurs in Lam 2:8 and Ps 74:11.
44 tn Heb “the land of Israel.”
45 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.
46 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.
47 sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.
48 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.
49 tn For similar imagery, see Isa 1:21-26; Jer 6:27-30.
50 tn Heb “I will put.” No object is supplied in the Hebrew, prompting many to emend the text to “I will blow.” See BHS and verse 21.
51 tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.
52 tn Heb “I did not find.”
53 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
54 sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).
55 sn See Ezek 11:3-12.
56 tn Heb “your mouth will open.”
57 sn Similar language is used in reference to Israel’s adversaries in Num 33:55; Josh 23:13.
58 tn Heb “and there will not be for the house of Israel a brier that pricks and a thorn that inflicts pain from all the ones who surround them, the ones who scorn them.”
59 tc Thus the Masoretic Text. The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate translate as though the Hebrew read “cause to inhabit.”
60 tn Heb “I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel.” The horn is used as a figure for military power in the OT (Ps 92:10). A similar expression is made about the Davidic dynasty in Ps 132:17.
61 tn Heb “I will grant you an open mouth.”
62 tn Heb “in the day of Egypt.” The word “doom” has been added in the translation to clarify the nature of this day.
63 tn Heb “whose.”
64 tn The only other occurrence of the phrase “remote slopes of the pit” is in Isa 14:15.
65 tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
66 tn Heb “sons of your people.”
67 sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.
68 sn This practice was a violation of Levitical law (see Lev 19:26).
69 tn Heb “lift up your eyes.”
70 tn Heb “Will you possess?”
71 tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.
72 tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.
73 tn Heb “do.”
74 tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”
75 tn Heb “goes after.”
76 tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.
77 tn The term translated “harshness” is used to describe the oppression the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt (Exod 1:13).
78 sn The imagery may reflect the overthrow of the Israelites by the Babylonians in 587/6
79 tn Heb “good.”
80 tn The phrase “live securely” occurs in Ezek 28:26; 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26 as an expression of freedom from fear. It is a promised blessing resulting from obedience (see Lev 26:5-6).
81 sn The woods were typically considered to be places of danger (Ps 104:20-21; Jer 5:6).
82 tn Heb “showers of blessing.” Abundant rain, which in turn produces fruit and crops (v. 27), is a covenantal blessing for obedience (Lev 26:4).
83 tc The MT reads לְשֵׁם (lÿshem, “for a name”), meaning perhaps a renowned planting (place). The translation takes this to be a metathesis of שָׁלֹם (shalom) as was read by the LXX.
84 tn Heb “those gathered” for famine.
85 tn The Niphal verb may have a tolerative function here, “Again (for) this I will allow myself to be sought by the house of Israel to act for them.” Or it may be reflexive: “I will reveal myself to the house of Israel by doing this also.”
86 sn Heb “I will multiply them like sheep, human(s).”
87 tn Heb “go up against.”
88 tn Heb “come (to).”
89 tn Heb “by the hand of my servants.”
90 tn The Hebrew text adds “years” here, but this is probably a scribal gloss on the preceding phrase. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:201.
91 tn Heb “burn and kindle the weapons.”
92 tn Two different types of shields are specified in the Hebrew text.
93 sn See Rev 19:17-18.
94 tn Heb “one and a half cubits” (i.e., 78.75 cm).
95 tn Heb “one and a half cubits” (i.e., 78.75 cm).
96 tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).