Yehezkiel 21:9-11

21:9 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘A sword, a sword is sharpened,

and also polished.

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 

21:11 “‘He gave it to be polished,

to be grasped in the hand –

the sword is sharpened, it is polished –

giving it into the hand of the executioner.

Yehezkiel 21:23

21:23 But those in Jerusalem ²  will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, ³  but the king of Babylon ⁴  will accuse them of violations ⁵  in order to seize them. ⁶ 

[21:10]  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.

[21:10]  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).

[21:23]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people in Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:23]  ³ sn When the people of Judah realized the Babylonians’ intentions, they would object on grounds that they had made a treaty with the Babylonian king (see 17:13).

[21:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:23]  ⁵ tn Or “iniquity.”

[21:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he will remind of guilt for the purpose of being captured.” The king would counter their objections by pointing out that they had violated their treaty with him (see 17:18).