16:43 “‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth and have enraged me with all these deeds, I hereby repay you for what you have done, 17 declares the sovereign Lord. Have you not engaged in prostitution on top of all your other abominable practices?
24:25 “And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take 41 from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, 42 as well as their sons and daughters: 43
36:6 “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I have spoken in my zeal and in my anger, because you have endured the insults of the nations.
36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation 50 which you profaned among the nations where you went.
39:11 “‘On that day I will assign Gog a grave in Israel. It will be the valley of those who travel east of the sea; it will block the way of the travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde; they will call it the valley of Hamon-Gog. 51
39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter 52 which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood.
47:1 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple. I noticed 57 that water was flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from under the right side of the temple, from south of the altar.
1 tn The words “they will realize” are not in the Hebrew text; they are added here for stylistic reasons since this clause assumes the previous verb “to remember” or “to take into account.”
2 tn Heb “how I was broken by their adulterous heart.” The image of God being “broken” is startling, but perfectly natural within the metaphorical framework of God as offended husband. The idiom must refer to the intense grief that Israel’s unfaithfulness caused God. For a discussion of the syntax and semantics of the Hebrew text, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:134.
3 tn Heb adds “in their faces.”
4 sn By referring to every high hill…all the mountaintops…under every green tree and every leafy oak Ezekiel may be expanding on the phraseology of Deut 12:2 (see 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 16:4; 17:10; Jer 2:20; 3:6, 13; 2 Chr 28:4).
5 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
6 sn The six men plus the scribe would equal seven, which was believed by the Babylonians to be the number of planetary deities.
7 sn The upper gate was built by Jotham (2 Kgs 15:35).
8 tn Or “a scribe’s inkhorn.” The Hebrew term occurs in the OT only in Ezek 9 and is believed to be an Egyptian loanword.
9 tn Heb “lifted.”
10 tn Or “the ground” (NIV, NCV).
11 tn Apart from this context the Hebrew term occurs only in Gen 15:17 in reference to the darkness after sunset. It may mean twilight.
12 tn Or “land” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
13 sn See also Ezek 12:11, 24:24, 27.
14 tn The Hebrew term may refer to the secret council of the
15 tn The reference here is probably to a civil list (as in Ezra 2:16; Neh 7:64) rather than to a “book of life” (Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Ps 69:29; Dan 12:1). This registry may have been established at the making of David’s census (2 Sam 24:2, 9).
16 tn Heb “in accordance with the multitude of his idols.”
17 tn Heb “your way on (your) head I have placed.”
18 tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of their eyes did not throw away.”
19 tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”
20 tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”
21 tn Heb “to bring them to an end.”
22 tn Heb “sons.”
23 tn Or “carries them out.”
24 tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”
25 tn Heb “you have brought near your days.” The expression “bring near your days” appears to be an adaptation of the idiom “days draw near,” which is used to indicate that an event, such as death, is imminent (see Gen 27:41; 47:29; Deut 31:14; 1 Kgs 2:1; Ezek 12:23). Here “your days” probably refers to the days of the personified city’s life, which was about to come to an end through God’s judgment.
26 tn Heb “and you have come to your years.” This appears to mean that she has arrived at the time when her years (i.e., life) would end, though it may mean that her years of punishment will begin. Because “day” and “time” are so closely associated in the immediate context (see 21:25, 29) some prefer to emend the text and read “you have brought near your time.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:31, as well as the translator’s note on verse 3.
27 tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.
28 tn Or “between the consecrated and the common.”
29 tn Heb “hide their eyes from.” The idiom means to disregard or ignore something or someone (see Lev 20:4; 1 Sam 12:3; Prov 28:27; Isa 1:15).
30 tn Heb “come against.”
31 tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.
32 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
33 tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”
34 tn Heb “give.”
35 tn Heb “they will remove.”
sn This method of punishment is attested among ancient Egyptian and Hittite civilizations. See W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:489.
36 tn Heb “fall.”
37 tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”
38 sn Heb “the delight of your eyes.” Just as Ezekiel was deprived of his beloved wife (v. 16, the “desire” of his “eyes”) so the Lord would be forced to remove the object of his devotion, the temple, which symbolized his close relationship to his covenant people.
39 tn Heb “the object of compassion of your soul.” The accentuation in the traditional Hebrew text indicates that the descriptive phrases (“the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life’s passion”) modify the preceding “my sanctuary.”
40 tn Heb “fall.”
41 tn Heb “(Will) it not (be) in the day I take?”
42 tn Heb “the uplifting of their soul.” According to BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא 2, the term “uplifting” refers to “that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire.” However, this text is the only one listed for this use. It seems more likely that the term has its well-attested nuance of “burden, load,” here and refers to that which weighs them down emotionally and is a constant source of concern or worry.
43 tn In the Hebrew text there is no conjunction before “their sons and daughters.” For this reason one might assume that the preceding descriptive phrases refer to the sons and daughters, but verse 21 suggests otherwise. The descriptive phrases appear to refer to the “stronghold,” which parallels “my sanctuary” in verse 21. The children constitute a separate category.
44 tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.
45 tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”
46 tn The other occurrences of the phrase “the hand of the
47 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
48 tn Heb “by the time of the arrival to me.” For clarity the translation specifies the refugee as the one who arrived.
49 sn Ezekiel’s God-imposed muteness was lifted (see 3:26).
50 sn In Ezek 20:22 God refrained from punishment for the sake of his holy name. Here God’s reputation is the basis for Israel’s restoration.
51 tn The name means “horde of Gog.”
52 tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).
53 tn Or “in their punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.
54 tn Heb “set your heart” (so also in the latter part of the verse).
55 tn Heb “Set your mind, look with your eyes, and with your ears hear.”
56 tc The Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum read the plural. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:618.
57 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.