Ezekiel 19:11

19:11 Its boughs were strong, fit ¹  for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds.

It stood out because of its height and its many branches. ² 

Ezekiel 22:14

22:14 Can your heart endure, ³  or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? ⁴  I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!

Ezekiel 23:20

23:20 She lusted after their genitals – as large as those of donkeys, ⁵  and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions.

Ezekiel 26:11

26:11 With his horses’ hoofs he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will tumble down to the ground.

---

¹ tn The word “fit” does not occur in the Hebrew text.

² tn Heb “and it was seen by its height and by the abundance of its branches.”

³ tn Heb “stand.” The heart here stands for the emotions; Jerusalem would panic in the face of God’s judgment.

⁴ tn Heb “in the days when I act against you.”

⁵ tn Heb “She lusted after their concubines (?) whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys.” The phrase “their concubines” is extremely problematic here. The pronoun is masculine plural, suggesting that the Egyptian men are in view, but how concubines would fit into the picture envisioned here is not clear. Some suggest that Ezekiel uses the term in an idiomatic sense of “paramour,” but this still fails to explain how the pronoun relates to the noun. It is more likely that the term refers here to the Egyptians’ genitals. The relative pronoun that follows introduces a more specific description of their genitals.