4:6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days 7 – I have assigned one day for each year.
11:5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came 13 upon me and said to me, “Say: This is what the Lord says: ‘This is what you are thinking, 14 O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds. 15
16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity 17 of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help 18 the poor and needy.
18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, 21 O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent 22 and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. 23
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. 25
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.
23:35 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, 32 you must bear now the punishment 33 for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”
24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. 34
I tried to cleanse you, 35 but you are not clean.
You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness 36
until I have exhausted my anger on you.
27:9 The elders of Gebal 38 and her skilled men were within you, mending cracks; 39
all the ships of the sea and their mariners were within you to trade for your merchandise. 40
28:16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, 41 and you sinned;
so I defiled you and banished you 42 from the mountain of God –
the guardian cherub expelled you 43 from the midst of the stones of fire.
32:10 I will shock many peoples with you,
and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.
When I brandish my sword before them,
every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.
32:12 By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall –
all of them are the most terrifying among the nations.
They will devastate the pride of Egypt,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
33:30 “But as for you, son of man, your people 53 (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, 54 ‘Come hear the word that comes 55 from the Lord.’ 33:31 They come to you in crowds, 56 and they sit in front of you as 57 my people. They hear your words, but do not obey 58 them. For they talk lustfully, 59 and their heart is set on 60 their own advantage. 61
45:9 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, 70 declares the sovereign Lord.
1 tn The Hebrew term translated “diamond” is parallel to “iron” in Jer 17:1. The Hebrew uses two terms which are both translated at times as “flint,” but here one is clearly harder than the other. The translation “diamond” attempts to reflect this distinction in English.
2 tn Heb “of their faces.”
3 tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.
4 tn Heb “the righteous man.”
5 tn Heb “open your mouth.”
6 tn Heb “the listener will listen, the refuser will refuse.” Because the word for listening can also mean obeying, the nuance may be that the obedient will listen, or that the one who listens will obey. Also, although the verbs are not jussive as pointed in the MT, some translate them with a volitive sense: “the one who listens – let that one listen, the one who refuses – let that one refuse.”
7 sn The number 40 may refer in general to the period of Judah’s exile using the number of years Israel was punished in the wilderness. In this case, however, one would need to translate, “you will bear the punishment of the house of Judah.”
8 tn Heb “will bereave you.”
9 tn Heb “will pass through you.” This threat recalls the warning of Lev 26:22, 25 and Deut 32:24-25.
10 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
11 tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).
12 tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum
13 tn Heb “fell.”
14 tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say,” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).
15 tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”
16 tn Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. CEV, NLT).
17 tn Or “guilt.”
18 tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”
19 tn Or “you have multiplied your abominable deeds beyond them.”
20 tc So MT, LXX, and Vulgate; many Hebrew
21 tn Heb “ways.”
22 tn The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.
23 tn Or “leading to punishment.”
24 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.
25 sn This physical action was part of an expression of grief. Cp. Jer. 31:19.
26 tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.
27 sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.
28 tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.
29 tn The Hebrew term means “labor,” but by extension it can also refer to that for which one works.
30 tn Heb “The nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, and your obscene conduct and your harlotry.”
31 sn The image of a deep and wide cup suggests the degree of punishment; it will be extensive and leave the victim helpless.
32 tn Heb “and you cast me behind your back.” The expression pictures her rejection of the Lord (see 1 Kgs 14:9).
33 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text but is demanded by the context.
34 tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”
35 tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.
36 tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”
37 tn Heb “a strike.”
38 sn Another Phoenician coastal city located between Sidon and Arvad.
39 tn Heb “strengthening damages.” Here “to strengthen” means to repair. The word for “damages” occurs several times in 1 Kgs 12 about some type of damage to the temple, which may have referred to or included cracks. Since the context describes Tyre in its glory, we do not expect this reference to damages to be of significant scale, even if there are repairmen. This may refer to using pitch to seal the seams of the ship, which had to be done periodically and could be considered routine maintenance rather than repair of damage.
40 sn The reference to “all the ships of the sea…within you” suggests that the metaphor is changing; previously Tyre had been described as a magnificent ship, but now the description shifts back to an actual city. The “ships of the sea” were within Tyre’s harbor. Verse 11 refers to “walls” and “towers” of the city.
41 tn Heb “they filled your midst with violence.”
42 tn Heb “I defiled you.” The presence of the preposition “from” following the verb indicates that a verb of motion is implied as well. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
43 tn Heb “and I expelled you, O guardian cherub.” The Hebrew text takes the verb as first person and understands “guardian cherub” as a vocative, in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the verb. However, if the emendation in verse 14a is accepted (see the note above), then one may follow the LXX here as well and emend the verb to a third person perfect. In this case the subject of the verb is the guardian cherub. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:91.
44 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
45 sn This may refer to a site in the Egyptian Delta which served as a refuge for Jews (Jer 44:1; 46:14).
46 sn Syene is known today as Aswan.
47 tn Heb “sons of your people.”
48 tn Heb “from his way to turn from it.”
49 tn Heb “and he does not turn from his way.”
50 sn This practice was a violation of Levitical law (see Lev 19:26).
51 tn Heb “lift up your eyes.”
52 tn Heb “Will you possess?”
53 tn Heb “sons of your people.”
54 tn Heb “one to one, a man to his brother.”
55 tn Heb “comes out.”
56 tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.
57 tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.
58 tn Heb “do.”
59 tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”
60 tn Heb “goes after.”
61 tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.
62 tn Heb “cause you to hear.”
63 tc The MT reads תַכְשִׁלִי (takhshiliy), a metathesis for תַשְׁכִלִי (tashkhiliy) from the root שָׁכַל (shakhal) which is used in each of the previous verses.
64 sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).
65 sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.
66 tn Or “spirit.” This is likely an allusion to Gen 2 and God’s breath which creates life.
67 tn Heb “go up.”
68 tn Heb “to desecrate.”
69 tc The Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions read “you.” The Masoretic text reads “they.”
70 sn Evictions of the less fortunate by the powerful are described in 1 Kgs 21:1-16; Jer 22:1-5, 13-17; Ezek 22:25.