28:7 I am about to bring foreigners 6 against you, the most terrifying of nations.
They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, 7
and they will defile your splendor.
30:11 He and his people with him,
the most terrifying of the nations, 8
will be brought there to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt,
and fill the land with corpses.
1 tn Heb “the land of Israel.”
2 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.
3 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.
4 sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.
5 sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25.
6 sn This is probably a reference to the Babylonians.
7 tn Heb “they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom.”
8 tn The Babylonians were known for their cruelty (2 Kgs 25:7).