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.”
19:7 He broke down 8 their strongholds 9 and devastated their cities.
The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.
1 tc The MT reads “he set up the beauty of his ornament as pride.” The verb may be repointed as plural without changing the consonantal text. The Syriac reads “their ornaments” (plural), implying עֶדְיָם (’edyam) rather than עֶדְיוֹ (’edyo) and meaning “they were proud of their beautiful ornaments.” This understands “ornaments” in the common sense of women’s jewelry, which then were used to make idols. The singular suffix “his ornaments” would refer to using items from the temple treasury to make idols. D. I. Block points out the foreshadowing of Ezek 16:17 which, with Rashi and the Targum, supports the understanding that this is a reference to temple items. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:265.
2 tc The text as written in the MT is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (lo’) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (va’ot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (va’t). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:228, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:486, n. 137.
3 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.
4 sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).
5 tn Heb “and he all of these did not do.” The parenthetical note refers back to the father described in the preceding verses.
6 sn See note on “mountains” in v. 6.
7 tn Heb “for them” or “because of them.”
8 tc The Hebrew text reads “knew,” but is apparently the result of a ר-ד (dalet-resh) confusion. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. However, Allen retains the reading “widows” as the object of the verb, which he understands in the sense of “do harm to,” and translates the line: “He did harm to women by making them widows” (p. 282). The line also appears to be lacking a beat for the meter of the poem.
9 tc The Hebrew text reads “widows” instead of “strongholds,” apparently due to a confusion of ר (resh) and ל (lamed). L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284) favors the traditional text, understanding “widows” in the sense of “women made widows.” D. I. Block, (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:602) also defends the Hebrew text, arguing that the image is that of a dominant male lion who takes over the pride and by copulating with the females lays claim to his predecessor’s “widows.”
10 tn Heb “for which he worked,” referring to the assault on Tyre (v. 18).
11 tn Heb “ways.”
12 tn Heb “stand.”
13 tn Heb “against.”
14 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gog, cf. v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
16 sn This same title appears in 8:4; 9:3; 10:19; and 11:22.
17 sn Earlier Ezekiel had observed God leaving the temple to the east (11:23).
18 sn See Ezek 1:24; Rev 1:15; 14:2; 19:6.
19 tn Heb “shone from.”