Discovery BoxEzekiel 11:3 
Context11:3 They say, 1 ‘The time is not near to build houses; 2 the city 3 is a cooking pot 4 and we are the meat in it.’
Ezekiel 20:32
Context20:32 “‘What you plan 5 will never happen. You say, “We will be 6 like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.” 7
Ezekiel 21:10
Context21:10 It is sharpened for slaughter,
it is polished to flash like lightning!
“‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree! 8
Ezekiel 35:10
Context35:10 “‘You said, “These two nations, these two lands 9 will be mine, and we will possess them,” 10 – although the Lord was there –
1 tn The Hebrew verb may mean “think” in this context. This content of what they say (or think) represents their point of view.
2 sn The expression build houses may mean “establish families” (Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; Prov 24:27).
3 tn Heb “she” or “it”; the feminine pronoun refers here to Jerusalem.
4 sn Jerusalem is also compared to a pot in Ezek 24:3-8. The siege of the city is pictured as heating up the pot.
5 tn Heb “what comes upon your mind.”
6 tn The Hebrew could also read: “Let us be.”
7 tn Heb “serving wood and stone.”
sn This verse echoes the content of 1 Sam 8:20.
8 tn Heb “Or shall we rejoice, scepter of my son, it despises every tree.” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned just before this. Alternatively, the line may be understood as “let us not rejoice, O tribe of my son; it despises every tree.” The same word in Hebrew may be either “rod,” “scepter,” or “tribe.” The word sometimes translated as “or” or taken as an interrogative particle may be a negative particle. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:672, n. 79.
sn The people of Judah should not place false hope in their king, symbolized by his royal scepter, for God’s judgment (symbolized by fire and then a sword) would destroy every tree (see 20:47), symbolizing the righteous and wicked (see 21:3-4).
9 sn The reference is to Israel and Judah.
10 tn Heb “it.”
