Yehezkiel 21:25-27

21:25 “‘As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, ¹ 

whose day has come, the time of final punishment,

21:26 this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Tear off the turban, ² 

take off the crown!

Things must change! ³ 

Exalt the lowly,

bring down the proud! ⁴ 

21:27 A total ruin I will make it! ⁵ 

It will come to an end

when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.’ ⁶ 

[21:25]  ¹ tn This probably refers to King Zedekiah.

[21:26]  ² tn Elsewhere in the Bible the turban is worn by priests (Exod 28:4, 37, 39; 29:6; 39:28, 31; Lev 8:9; 16:4), but here a royal crown is in view.

[21:26]  ³ tn Heb “This not this.”

[21:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “the high one.”

[21:27]  ⁵ 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.

[21:27]  ⁶ 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.”