2:3 He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house 5 of Israel, to rebellious nations 6 who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted 7 against me to this very day.
3:3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, 8 and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.
4:16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply 10 in Jerusalem. 11 They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror
8:5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward 13 the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.
8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people 14 of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”
11:13 Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I threw myself face down and cried out with a loud voice, “Alas, sovereign Lord! You are completely wiping out the remnant of Israel!” 15
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.
21:12 Cry out and moan, son of man,
for it is wielded against my people;
against all the princes of Israel.
They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people.
Therefore, strike your thigh. 21
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.
21:28 “As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; 22 say:
“‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume, 23 to flash like lightning –
“‘You were the sealer 33 of perfection,
full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman 41 for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf.
33:30 “But as for you, son of man, your people 42 (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, 43 ‘Come hear the word that comes 44 from the Lord.’
37:11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
38:14 “Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will take notice 46
39:1 “As for you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal!
1 sn The prophet’s name, Ezekiel, means in Hebrew “May God strengthen.”
2 tn Or “to Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest.”
3 tn Heb “Chaldeans.” The name of the tribal group ruling Babylon, “Chaldeans” is used as metonymy for the whole empire of Babylon. The Babylonians worked with the Medes to destroy the Assyrian Empire near the end of the 7th century
4 tn Or “power.”
sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s “hand” being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
5 tc The Hebrew reads “sons of,” while the LXX reads “house,” implying the more common phrase in Ezekiel. Either could be abbreviated with the first letter ב (bet). In preparation for the characterization “house of rebellion,” in vv. 5, 6, and 8, “house” is preferred (L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:10 and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel [Hermeneia], 2:564-65).
6 tc Heb “to the rebellious nations.” The phrase “to the rebellious nations” is omitted in the LXX. Elsewhere in Ezekiel the singular word “nation” is used for Israel (36:13-15; 37:22). Here “nations” may have the meaning of “tribes” or refer to the two nations of Israel and Judah.
7 tc This word is omitted from the LXX.
tn The Hebrew term used here is the strongest word available for expressing a covenant violation. The word is used in the diplomatic arena to express a treaty violation (2 Kgs 1:1; 3:5, 7).
8 tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.
sn I ate it. A similar idea of consuming God’s word is found in Jer 15:16 and Rev 10:10, where it is also compared to honey and may be specifically reminiscent of this text.
9 tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.
10 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
11 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
12 tn Or “earth.” Elsewhere the expression “four corners of the earth” figuratively refers to the whole earth (Isa 11:12).
13 tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”
14 tn Heb “house.”
15 tc The LXX reads this statement as a question. Compare this to the question in 9:8. It is possible that the interrogative particle has been omitted by haplography. However, an exclamatory statement as in the MT also makes sense and the LXX may have simply tried to harmonize this passage with 9:8.
16 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).
17 sn This verse is very similar to Isa 6:9-10.
18 tn Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.
19 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).
20 tn Heb “break its staff of bread.”
21 sn This physical action was part of an expression of grief. Cp. Jer. 31:19.
22 tn Heb “their reproach.”
23 tn Heb “to contain, endure.” Since the Hebrew text as it stands makes little, if any, sense, most emend the text to read either “to consume” or “for destruction.” For discussion of options see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:693.
24 tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment upon the city. See 20:4.
25 tn The phrase “bloody city” is used of Nineveh in Nah 3:1.
26 tn For similar imagery, see Isa 1:21-26; Jer 6:27-30.
27 tn Heb “a strike.”
28 sn Tyre was located on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel.
29 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
30 tn Heb “I will be filled.”
31 sn That is, Jerusalem.
32 tn Heb “lift up.”
33 tn For a discussion of possible nuances of this phrase, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:580-81.
34 sn The expression “breaking the arm” indicates the removal of power (Ps 10:15; 37:17; Job 38:15; Jer 48:25).
35 sn This may refer to the event recorded in Jer 37:5.
36 tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16).
37 sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37.
38 tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style.
39 tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt.
40 tn Heb “sons of your people.”
41 sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.
42 tn Heb “sons of your people.”
43 tn Heb “one to one, a man to his brother.”
44 tn Heb “comes out.”
45 tn Heb “way.”
46 tn The Hebrew text is framed as a rhetorical question: “will you not take notice?”