33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman 7 for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf.
3:3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, 10 and it was sweet like honey in my mouth.
4:14 And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat 21 has never entered my mouth.”
29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws
and stick the fish of your waterways to your scales.
I will haul you up from the midst of your waterways,
and all the fish of your waterways will stick to your scales.
1 tn Or “pride.”
2 tn The other occurrences of the phrase “the hand of the
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “by the time of the arrival to me.” For clarity the translation specifies the refugee as the one who arrived.
5 sn Ezekiel’s God-imposed muteness was lifted (see 3:26).
6 tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24; 2 Kgs 9:17.
7 sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.
8 tn Heb “your mouth.”
9 tn Heb “and you multiplied against me your words.” The Hebrew verb occurs only here and in Prov 27:6, where it refers to the “excessive” kisses of an enemy. The basic idea of the verb appears to be “to be abundant.” Here it occurs in the causative (Hiphil) stem.
10 tc Heb “I ate,” a first common singular preterite plus paragogic he (ה). The ancient versions read “I ate it,” which is certainly the meaning in the context, and indicates they read the he as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix. The Masoretes typically wrote a mappiq in the he for the pronominal suffix but apparently missed this one.
sn I ate it. A similar idea of consuming God’s word is found in Jer 15:16 and Rev 10:10, where it is also compared to honey and may be specifically reminiscent of this text.
11 tn Heb “and your mouth will not be open any longer.”
12 tn Heb “when I make atonement for you for all which you have done.”
13 tn Heb “I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel.” The horn is used as a figure for military power in the OT (Ps 92:10). A similar expression is made about the Davidic dynasty in Ps 132:17.
14 tn Heb “I will grant you an open mouth.”
15 tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.
16 tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.
17 tn Heb “do.”
18 tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”
19 tn Heb “goes after.”
20 tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.
21 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
22 tn Heb “your mouth will open.”
23 tn Heb “lip of the tongue.”
24 tn Heb “open your mouth.”
25 tn Heb “the listener will listen, the refuser will refuse.” Because the word for listening can also mean obeying, the nuance may be that the obedient will listen, or that the one who listens will obey. Also, although the verbs are not jussive as pointed in the MT, some translate them with a volitive sense: “the one who listens – let that one listen, the one who refuses – let that one refuse.”
26 tn Heb “I will cause them to cease from feeding sheep.”
27 tn See v. 17.
28 tn Or “Groan silently. As to the dead….” Cf. M. Greenberg’s suggestion that דֹּם מֵתִים (dom metim) be taken together and דֹּם be derived from ָדּמַם (damam, “to moan, murmur”). See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:508.
29 tn Heb “(For) the dead mourning you shall not conduct.” In the Hebrew text the word translated “dead” is plural, indicating that mourning rites are in view. Such rites would involve outward demonstrations of one’s sorrow, including wailing and weeping.
30 sn The turban would normally be removed for mourning (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12).
31 sn Mourning rites included covering the lower part of the face. See Lev 13:45.
32 tn Heb “the bread of men.” The translation follows the suggestion accepted by M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 2:509) that this refers to a meal brought by comforters to the one mourning. Some repoint the consonantal text to read “the bread of despair” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:56), while others, with support from the Targum and Vulgate, emend the consonantal text to read “the bread of mourners” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:784).
33 tn Heb “you will not be to them a reprover.” In Isa 29:21 and Amos 5:10 “a reprover” issued rebuke at the city gate.
34 tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.
35 tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.
36 tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”
37 sn The image of a deep and wide cup suggests the degree of punishment; it will be extensive and leave the victim helpless.
38 sn The Hebrew text mentions two different types of shields here.