Ezekiel 21:10

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! ¹ 

2Sa 7:14; Es 3:15; Ps 2:7-9; Ps 89:26-32,38-45; Ps 110:5,6; Ec 3:4; Isa 5:12-14; Isa 22:12-14; Jer 46:4; Eze 19:11-14; Eze 20:47; Eze 21:25-27; Am 6:3-7; Na 1:10; Na 3:3; Hab 3:11; Lu 21:34,35; Re 2:27

¹ 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).