18:3 “As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, 1 you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore!
28:10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised 2 by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
1 tn This expression occurs often in Ezekiel (5:11; 14:16, 18, 20; 16:48; 17:16, 19; 20:3, 31, 33; 33:11, 27; 34:8; 35:6, 11).
2 sn The Phoenicians practiced circumcision, so the language here must be figurative, indicating that they would be treated in a disgraceful manner. Uncircumcised peoples were viewed as inferior, unclean, and perhaps even sub-human. See 31:18 and 32:17-32, as well as the discussion in D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:99.