19:9 They put him in a collar with hooks; 6
they brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him to prison 7
so that his voice would not be heard
any longer on the mountains of Israel.
44:24 “‘In a controversy they will act as judges; 10 they will judge according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe 11 my Sabbaths.
1 tn Heb “Shaddai” (probably meaning “one of the mountain”), a title that depicts God as the sovereign ruler of the world who dispenses justice. The Old Greek translation omitted the phrase “voice of the Almighty.”
2 tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew word translated “tumult” is in Jer 11:16. It indicates a noise like that of the turmoil of a military camp or the sound of an army on the march.
3 sn The same description of a false prophet is found in Micah 2:11.
4 sn The
5 tn Or “confirmed”; NIV “to be fulfilled”; TEV “to come true.”
6 tn Or “They put him in a neck stock with hooks.” The noun סּוּגַר (sugar), translated “collar,” occurs only here in the Bible. L. C. Allen and D. I. Block point out a Babylonian cognate that refers to a device for transporting prisoners of war that held them by their necks (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:597, n. 35; L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284). Based on the Hebrew root, the traditional rendering had been “cage” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
7 tc The term in the MT occurs only here and in Eccl 9:12 where it refers to a net for catching fish. The LXX translates this as “prison,” which assumes a confusion of dalet and resh took place in the MT.
8 tn Heb “a conspiracy of her prophets is in her midst.” The LXX reads “whose princes” rather than “a conspiracy of prophets.” The prophets are mentioned later in the paragraph (v. 28). If one follows the LXX in verse 25, then five distinct groups are mentioned in vv. 25-29: princes, priests, officials, prophets, and the people of the land. For a defense of the Septuagintal reading, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:720, n. 4.
9 tn Heb “her widows they have multiplied.” The statement alludes to their murderous acts.
10 sn For a historical illustration of the priest carrying out this function, see 2 Chr 19:9-11.
11 tn Heb “sanctify, set apart.”