7:14 “They have blown the trumpet and everyone is ready, but no one goes to battle, because my anger is against their whole crowd. 2
9:11 Next I noticed the man dressed in linen with the writing kit at his side bringing back word: “I have done just as you commanded me.”
13:8 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have spoken false words and forecast delusion, look, 6 I am against you, 7 declares the sovereign Lord.
16:59 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant.
21:27 A total ruin I will make it! 13
It will come to an end
when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.’ 14
21:32 You will become fuel for the fire –
your blood will stain the middle of the land; 15
you will no longer be remembered,
for I, the Lord, have spoken.’”
24:8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance,
I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.
25:12 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom 23 has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable 24 by taking vengeance 25 on them. 26
25:15 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines 27 have exacted merciless revenge, 28 showing intense scorn 29 in their effort to destroy Judah 30 with unrelenting hostility. 31
27:34 Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters;
your merchandise and all your company have sunk 32 along with you. 33
28:10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised 34 by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
1 tn Or “abominable idols.”
2 tn The Hebrew word refers to the din or noise made by a crowd, and by extension may refer to the crowd itself.
3 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
4 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.” The same expression occurs in 1 Kgs 8:32; Ezek 11:21; 16:43; 22:31.
5 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
6 tn The word h!nn@h indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
7 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.
8 tn Heb “walked in their ways.”
9 tn The Hebrew expression has a temporal meaning as illustrated by the use of the phrase in 2 Chr 12:7.
10 tn Heb “and your mouth will not be open any longer.”
11 tn Heb “when I make atonement for you for all which you have done.”
12 sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.
13 tn Heb “A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it.” The threefold repetition of the noun “ruin” is for emphasis and draws attention to the degree of ruin that would take place. See IBHS 233 §12.5a and GKC 431-32 §133.k. The pronominal suffix (translated “it”) on the verb “make” is feminine in Hebrew. The probable antecedent is the “turban/crown” (both nouns are feminine in form) mentioned in verse 26. The point is that the king’s royal splendor would be completely devastated as judgment overtook his realm and brought his reign to a violent end.
14 tn Heb “Also this, he was not, until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it.” The Hebrew text, as it stands, is grammatically difficult. The pronoun “this” is feminine, while the following negated verb (“was not”) is masculine. Some emend the verb to a feminine form (see BHS). In this case the statement refers to the destiny of the king’s turban/crown (symbolizing his reign). See the previous note. The preposition translated “when” normally means “until,” but here it seems to refer to the period during which the preceding situation is realized, rather than its termination point. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:19, 21. The second part of the statement, though awkward, probably refers to the arrival of the Babylonian king, to whom the Lord had assigned the task of judgment (see 23:24). Or the verse may read “A total ruin I will make, even this. It will not be until the one comes to whom is (the task of) judgment and I have assigned it.”
15 tn Heb “your blood will be in the middle of the land.”
16 tn Heb “stand.” The heart here stands for the emotions; Jerusalem would panic in the face of God’s judgment.
17 tn Heb “in the days when I act against you.”
18 tn The Hebrew second person pronoun is masculine plural here and in vv. 19b-21, indicating that the people are being addressed.
19 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
20 tn Heb “You will drink it and drain (it).”
21 tn D. I. Block compares this to the idiom of “licking the plate” (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:754, n. 137). The text is difficult as the word translated “gnaw” is rare. The noun is used of the shattered pieces of pottery and so could envision a broken cup. But the Piel verb form is used in only one other place (Num 24:8), where it is a denominative from the noun “bone” and seems to mean to “break (bones).” Why it would be collocated with “sherds” is not clear. For this reason some emend the phrase to read “consume its dregs” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:44) or emend the verb to read “swallow,” as if the intoxicated Oholibah breaks the cup and then eats the very sherds in an effort to get every last drop of the beverage that dampens them.
22 sn The severe action is more extreme than beating the breasts in anguish (Isa 32:12; Nah 2:7). It is also ironic for these are the very breasts she so blatantly offered to her lovers (vv. 3, 21).
23 sn Edom was located south of Moab.
24 tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.
25 tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”
26 sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6
27 sn The Philistines inhabited the coastal plain by the Mediterranean Sea, west of Judah.
28 tn Heb “have acted with vengeance and taken vengeance with vengeance.” The repetition emphasizes the degree of vengeance which they exhibited, presumably toward Judah.
29 tn Heb “with scorn in (the) soul.”
30 tn The object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but has been clarified as “Judah” in the translation.
31 tn Heb “to destroy (with) perpetual hostility.” Joel 3:4-8 also speaks of the Philistines taking advantage of the fall of Judah.
32 tn Heb “fallen.”
33 tn Heb “in the midst of you.”
34 sn The Phoenicians practiced circumcision, so the language here must be figurative, indicating that they would be treated in a disgraceful manner. Uncircumcised peoples were viewed as inferior, unclean, and perhaps even sub-human. See 31:18 and 32:17-32, as well as the discussion in D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:99.
35 tn Heb “for which he worked,” referring to the assault on Tyre (v. 18).
36 sn The judgments of vv. 27-29 echo the judgments of Lev 26:22, 25.
37 sn The messianic king (“David”) is called both “king” and “prince” in 37:24-25. The use of the term “prince” for this king facilitates the contrast between this ideal ruler and the Davidic “princes” denounced in earlier prophecies (see 7:27; 12:10, 12; 19:1; 21:25; 22:6, 25).
38 tn Or “high places.”
39 sn Eating the fat and drinking blood were God’s exclusive rights in Israelite sacrifices (Lev 3:17).
40 tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).