5:7 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant 1 than the nations around you, 2 you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even 3 carried out the regulations of the nations around you!
11:16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little 8 sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’
13:20 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note 13 that I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people’s lives 14 like birds. I will tear them from your arms and will release the people’s lives, which you hunt like birds.
17:9 “‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘Will it prosper?
Will he not rip out its roots
and cause its fruit to rot 17 and wither?
All its foliage 18 will wither.
No strong arm or large army
will be needed to pull it out by its roots. 19
17:22 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will take a sprig 20 from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. 21
I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs;
I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel I swore 23 to the descendants 24 of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore 25 to them, “I am the Lord your God.”
20:39 “‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Each of you go and serve your idols, 26 if you will not listen to me. 27 But my holy name will not be profaned 28 again by your sacrifices 29 and your idols.
“‘Your heart is proud 37 and you said, “I am a god; 38
I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas” –
yet you are a man and not a god,
though you think you are godlike. 39
“‘Look, I am against you, 40 Sidon,
and I will magnify myself in your midst.
Then they will know that I am the Lord
when I execute judgments on her
and reveal my sovereign power 41 in her.
28:25 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power 42 over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob.
“‘Look, I am against 43 you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great monster 44 lying in the midst of its waterways,
who has said, “My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.” 45
30:13 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
I will destroy the idols,
and put an end to the gods of Memphis.
There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so I will make the land of Egypt fearful. 46
31:15 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day it 47 went down to Sheol I caused observers to lament. 48 I covered it with the deep and held back its rivers; its plentiful water was restrained. I clothed Lebanon in black for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it.
33:27 “This is what you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die 49 by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of disease.
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 53 which you profaned among the nations where you went.
37:9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, 54 – prophesy, son of man – and say to the breath: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’”
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 57 which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood.
43:18 Then he said to me: “Son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: These are the statutes of the altar: On the day it is built to offer up burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it, 58
46:1 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court that faces east 59 will be closed six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened.
1 tn Traditionally this difficult form has been derived from a hypothetical root הָמוֹן (hamon), supposedly meaning “be in tumult/uproar,” but such a verb occurs nowhere else. It is more likely that it is to be derived from a root מָנוֹן (manon), meaning “disdain” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:52). A derivative from this root is used in Prov 29:21 of a rebellious servant. See HALOT 600 s.v. מָנוֹן.
2 sn You are more arrogant than the nations around you. Israel is accused of being worse than the nations in Ezek 16:27; 2 Kgs 21:11; Jer 2:11.
3 tc Some Hebrew
4 tn The phrase “mountains of Israel” occurs only in the book of Ezekiel (6:2, 3; 19:9; 33:28; 34:13, 14; 35:12; 36:1, 4, 8; 37:22; 38:8; 39:2, 4, 17). The expression refers to the whole land of Israel.
sn The mountainous terrain of Israel would contrast with the exiles’ habitat in the river valley of Babylonia.
5 tn The introductory formula “Hear the word of the sovereign
6 tn Heb “Look I, I am bringing.” The repetition of the pronoun draws attention to the speaker. The construction also indicates that the action is soon to come; the Lord is “about to bring a sword against” them.
7 tn The Hebrew term refers to elevated platforms where pagan sacrifices were performed.
8 tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).
9 sn The wristbands mentioned here probably represented magic bands or charms. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:413.
10 tn Heb “joints of the hands.” This may include the elbow and shoulder joints.
11 tn The Hebrew term occurs in the Bible only here and in v. 21. It has also been understood as a veil or type of head covering. D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:414) suggests that given the context of magical devices, the expected parallel to the magical arm bands, and the meaning of this Hebrew root (סָפַח [safakh, “to attach” or “join”]), it may refer to headbands or necklaces on which magical amulets were worn.
12 tn Heb “human lives” or “souls” (three times in v. 18 and twice in v. 19).
13 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
14 tn Heb “human lives” or “souls.”
15 tn Heb “in accordance with the multitude of his idols.”
16 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
17 tn The Hebrew root occurs only here in the OT and appears to have the meaning of “strip off.” In application to fruit the meaning may be “cause to rot.”
18 tn Heb “all the טַרְפֵּי (tarpey) of branches.” The word טַרְפֵּי occurs only here in the Bible; its precise meaning is uncertain.
19 tn Or “there will be no strong arm or large army when it is pulled up by the roots.”
20 sn The language is analogous to messianic imagery in Isa 11:1; Zech 3:8; 6:4 although the technical terminology is not the same.
21 tc The LXX lacks “and plant it.”
22 tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”
23 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
24 tn Heb “seed.”
25 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
26 sn Compare the irony here to Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25.
27 tn Heb “and after, if you will not listen to me.” The translation leaves out “and after” for smoothness. The text is difficult. M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:374) suggests that it may mean “but afterwards, if you will not listen to me…” with an unspoken threat.
28 sn A similar concept may be found in Lev 18:21; 20:3.
29 tn Or “gifts.”
30 tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”
31 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.
32 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.”
33 tn Heb “fall.”
34 tn Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”
35 tn Heb “fall.”
36 tn Or “ruler” (NIV, NCV).
37 tn Heb “lifted up.”
sn See Prov 16:5.
38 tn Or “I am divine.”
39 tn Heb “and you made your heart (mind) like the heart (mind) of gods.”
40 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.
41 tn Or “reveal my holiness.” God’s “holiness” is fundamentally his transcendence as sovereign ruler of the world. The revelation of his authority and power through judgment is in view in this context.
42 tn Or “reveal my holiness.” See verse 22.
43 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.
44 tn Heb “jackals,” but many medieval Hebrew
45 sn In Egyptian theology Pharaoh owned and controlled the Nile. See J. D. Currid, Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament, 240-44.
46 tn Heb “I will put fear in the land of Egypt.”
47 tn Or “he.”
48 tn Heb “I caused lamentation.” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 2:194-95) proposes an alternative root which would give the meaning “I gated back the waters,” i.e., shut off the water supply.
49 tn Heb “fall.”
50 tn The term shepherd is applied to kings in the ancient Near East. In the OT the
51 tn Heb “I will cause them to cease from feeding sheep.”
52 tn Heb “lip of the tongue.”
53 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.
54 tn Or “spirit,” and several times in this verse.
55 tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”
56 sn The reunification of Israel and Judah is envisioned as well in Ezek 33:23, 29; Jer 3:18; 23:5-6; Hos 1:11; Amos 9:11.
57 tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).
58 sn For the “sprinkling of blood,” see Lev 1:5, 11; 8:19; 9:12.
59 sn The east gate of the outer court was permanently closed (Ezek 44:2).