2:3 He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house 1 of Israel, to rebellious nations 2 who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted 3 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, 4 and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.
4:14 And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat 5 has never entered my mouth.”
4:16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply 6 in Jerusalem. 7 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 8 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 9 of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”
11:5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came 15 upon me and said to me, “Say: This is what the Lord says: ‘This is what you are thinking, 16 O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds. 17
“‘O Tyre, you have said, “I am perfectly beautiful.”
Because he said, “The Nile is mine and I made it,”
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.’
1 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).
2 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.
3 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).
4 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.
5 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
6 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”
9 tn Heb “house.”
10 tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”
map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
11 tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.
sn For a similar concept in the Bible, see Rev 7:2-4; 13:16; 14:9, 11; 20:4; 22:4.
12 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
13 tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).
14 tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum
15 tn Heb “fell.”
16 tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say,” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).
17 tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”
18 tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of his eyes, throw away.” The Pentateuch does not refer to the Israelites worshiping idols in Egypt, but Josh 24:14 appears to suggest that they did so.
19 sn Tyre was located on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel.
20 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
21 tn Heb “I will be filled.”
22 sn That is, Jerusalem.
23 tn Heb “entrances.” The plural noun may reflect the fact that Tyre had two main harbors.
24 sn Rome, another economic power, is described in a similar way in Rev 17:1.
25 tn Heb “three cubits” (i.e., 1.575 meters).
26 tn Heb “two cubits” (i.e., 1.05 meters).
27 tc So the Masoretic text. The LXX reads “base.”
28 tn Heb “the sea,” referring to the Dead Sea. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29 tn Heb “to the sea, those which are brought out.” The reading makes no sense. The text is best emended to read “filthy” (i.e., stagnant). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:273.
30 tn Heb “the waters become healed.”