Ezekiel 13:18

13:18 and say ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to those who sew bands ¹  on all their wrists ²  and make headbands ³  for heads of every size to entrap people’s lives! ⁴  Will you entrap my people’s lives, yet preserve your own lives?

Ezekiel 23:24

23:24 They will attack ⁵  you with weapons, ⁶  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; ⁷  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; ⁸  they will punish you according to their laws.

Ezekiel 28:13

28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. ⁹ 

Every precious stone was your covering,

the ruby, topaz, and emerald,

the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper,

the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; ¹⁰ 

your settings and mounts were made of gold.

On the day you were created they were prepared.

Ezekiel 38:20

38:20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake ¹¹  at my presence. The mountains will topple, the cliffs ¹²  will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground.

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¹ sn The wristbands mentioned here probably represented magic bands or charms. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:413.

² tn Heb “joints of the hands.” This may include the elbow and shoulder joints.

³ tn The Hebrew term occurs in the Bible only here and in v. 21. It has also been understood as a veil or type of head covering. D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:414) suggests that given the context of magical devices, the expected parallel to the magical arm bands, and the meaning of this Hebrew root (סָפַח [safakh, “to attach” or “join”]), it may refer to headbands or necklaces on which magical amulets were worn.

⁴ tn Heb “human lives” or “souls” (three times in v. 18 and twice in v. 19).

⁵ tn Heb “come against.”

⁶ tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

⁷ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

⁸ tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

⁹ sn The imagery of the lament appears to draw upon an extrabiblical Eden tradition about the expulsion of the first man (see v. 14 and the note there) from the garden due to his pride. The biblical Eden tradition speaks of cherubs placed as guardians at the garden entrance following the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:24), but no guardian cherub like the one described in verse 14 is depicted or mentioned in the biblical account. Ezekiel’s imagery also appears to reflect Mesopotamian and Canaanite mythology at certain points. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:119-20.

¹⁰ tn The exact identification of each gemstone is uncertain. The list should be compared to that of the priest in Exod 28:17-20, which lists twelve stones in rows of three. The LXX apparently imports the Exod 28 list. See reference to the types of stones in L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.

¹¹ tn Or “tremble.”

¹² tn The term occurs only here and in Song of Songs 2:14.