Ezekiel 19:7

He broke down ¹  their strongholds ²  and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.

‘He destroyed their fortified towers And laid waste their cities; And the land and its fullness were appalled Because of the sound of his roaring.

He demolished fortresses in nearby nations and destroyed their towns and cities. Their farms were desolated, and their crops were destroyed. Everyone in the land trembled in fear when they heard him roar.

He rampaged through their defenses, left their cities in ruins. The country and everyone in it was terrorized by the roars of the lion.

And he sent destruction on their widows and made waste their towns; and the land and everything in it became waste because of the loud sound of his voice.

And he ravaged their strongholds, and laid waste their towns; the land was appalled, and all in it, at the sound of his roaring.

He knew their desolate places, And laid waste their cities; The land with its fullness was desolated By the noise of his roaring.

He broke down ¹  their strongholds ²  and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

¹ 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.

² 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.”