Yehezkiel 1:1

A Vision of God’s Glory

1:1 In the thirtieth year, ¹  on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles ²  at the Kebar River, ³  the heavens opened ⁴  and I saw a divine vision. ⁵ 

Yehezkiel 5:6-7

5:6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations ⁶  and the countries around her. ⁷  Indeed, they ⁸  have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.

5:7 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant ⁹  than the nations around you, ¹⁰  you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even ¹¹  carried out the regulations of the nations around you!

Yehezkiel 5:17

5:17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they will take your children from you. ¹²  Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you, ¹³  and I will bring a sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Yehezkiel 11:7

11:7 Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The corpses you have dumped ¹⁴  in the midst of the city ¹⁵  are the meat, and this city ¹⁶  is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it. ¹⁷ 

Yehezkiel 14:20

14:20 Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.

Yehezkiel 20:27

20:27 “Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In this way too your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me.

Yehezkiel 20:38

20:38 I will eliminate from among you the rebels and those who revolt ¹⁸  against me. I will bring them out from the land where they have been residing, but they will not come to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Yehezkiel 21:19

21:19 “You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

Yehezkiel 21:29

21:29 while seeing false visions for you

and reading lying omens for you ¹⁹  –

to place that sword ²⁰  on the necks of the profane wicked, ²¹ 

whose day has come,

the time of final punishment.

Yehezkiel 23:40

23:40 “They even sent for men from far away; when the messenger arrived, those men set out. ²²  For them you bathed, ²³  painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry.

Yehezkiel 24:14

24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment ²⁴  is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! ²⁵  I will judge you ²⁶  according to your conduct ²⁷  and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Yehezkiel 31:12

31:12 Foreigners from the most terrifying nations have cut it down and left it to lie there on the mountains. In all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land ²⁸  have departed ²⁹  from its shade and left it.

Yehezkiel 32:25

32:25 Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave. ³⁰  All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the pit; they are placed among the dead.

Yehezkiel 32:27

32:27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times, ³¹  who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones, ³²  when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.

Yehezkiel 34:10

34:10 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; ³³  the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.

Yehezkiel 34:18

34:18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? When you drink clean water, must you muddy the rest of the water by trampling it with your feet?

Yehezkiel 36:11

36:11 I will increase the number of people and animals on you; they will increase and be fruitful. ³⁴  I will cause you to be inhabited as in ancient times, and will do more good for you than at the beginning of your history. ³⁵  Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Yehezkiel 39:10

39:10 They will not need to take ³⁶  wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, ³⁷  declares the sovereign Lord.

Yehezkiel 39:17

39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter ³⁸  which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood.

Yehezkiel 40:42

40:42 The four tables for the burnt offering were of carved stone, 32 inches ³⁹  long, 32 inches ⁴⁰  wide, and 21 inches ⁴¹  high. They would put the instruments which they used to slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them.

Yehezkiel 41:7-8

41:7 The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story; ⁴²  for the structure ⁴³  surrounding the temple went up story by story all around the temple. For this reason the width of the temple increased as it went up, and one went up from the lowest story to the highest by the way of the middle story.

41:8 I saw that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full measuring stick ⁴⁴  of 10½ feet ⁴⁵  high.

Yehezkiel 44:11

44:11 Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them.

Yehezkiel 46:5

46:5 The grain offering will be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs will be as much as he is able to give, ⁴⁶  and a gallon ⁴⁷  of olive oil with an ephah.

Yehezkiel 46:7

46:7 He will provide a grain offering: an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wishes, ⁴⁸  and a gallon ⁴⁹  of olive oil with each ephah of grain. ⁵⁰ 

Yehezkiel 47:9

47:9 Every living creature which swarms where the river ⁵¹  flows will live; there will be many fish, for these waters flow there. It will become fresh ⁵²  and everything will live where the river flows.

[1:1]  ¹ sn The meaning of the thirtieth year is problematic. Some take it to mean the age of Ezekiel when he prophesied (e.g., Origen). The Aramaic Targum explains the thirtieth year as the thirtieth year dated from the recovery of the book of the Torah in the temple in Jerusalem (2 Kgs 22:3-9). The number seems somehow to be equated with the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile in 1:2, i.e., 593 b.c.

[1:1]  ² sn The Assyrians started the tactic of deportation, the large-scale forced displacement of conquered populations, in order to stifle rebellions. The task of uniting groups of deportees, gaining freedom from one’s overlords and returning to retake one’s own country would be considerably more complicated than living in one’s homeland and waiting for an opportune moment to drive out the enemy’s soldiers. The Babylonians adopted this practice also, after defeating the Assyrians. The Babylonians deported Judeans on three occasions. The practice of deportation was reversed by the Persian conquerors of Babylon, who gained favor from their subjects for allowing them to return to their homeland and, as polytheists, sought the favor of the gods of the various countries which had come under their control.

[1:1]  ³ sn The Kebar River is mentioned in Babylonian texts from the city of Nippur in the fifth century b.c. It provided artificial irrigation from the Euphrates.

[1:1]  ⁴ sn For the concept of the heavens opened in later literature, see 3 Macc 6:18; 2 Bar. 22:1; T. Levi 5:1; Matt 3:16; Acts 7:56; Rev 19:11.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Or “saw visions from God.” References to divine visions occur also in Ezek 8:3; 40:2

[5:6]  ⁶ sn The nations are subject to a natural law according to Gen 9; see also Amos 1:3-2:3; Jonah 1:2.

[5:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “she defied my laws, becoming wicked more than the nations, and [she defied] my statutes [becoming wicked] more than the countries around her.”

[5:6]  ⁸ sn One might conclude that the subject of the plural verbs is the nations/countries, but the context (vv. 5-6a) indicates that the people of Jerusalem are in view. The text shifts from using the feminine singular (referring to personified Jerusalem) to the plural (referring to Jerusalem’s residents). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:73.

[5:7]  ⁹ tn Traditionally this difficult form has been derived from a hypothetical root הָמוֹן (hamon), supposedly meaning “be in tumult/uproar,” but such a verb occurs nowhere else. It is more likely that it is to be derived from a root מָנוֹן (manon), meaning “disdain” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:52). A derivative from this root is used in Prov 29:21 of a rebellious servant. See HALOT 600 s.v. מָנוֹן.

[5:7]  ¹⁰ sn You are more arrogant than the nations around you. Israel is accused of being worse than the nations in Ezek 16:27; 2 Kgs 21:11; Jer 2:11.

[5:7]  ¹¹ tc Some Hebrew mss and the Syriac omit the words “not even.” In this case they are being accused of following the practices of the surrounding nations. See Ezek 11:12.

[5:17]  ¹² tn Heb “will bereave you.”

[5:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “will pass through you.” This threat recalls the warning of Lev 26:22, 25 and Deut 32:24-25.

[11:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “placed.”

[11:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in its midst.”

[11:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “she/it.” See v. 3.

[11:7]  ¹⁷ tc Many of the versions read “I will bring you out” (active) rather than “he brought out” (the reading of MT).

[20:38]  ¹⁸ tn See the note at 2:3.

[21:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the seeing concerning you falsehood, in divining concerning you a lie.” This probably refers to the attempts of the Ammonites to ward off judgment through prophetic visions and divination.

[21:29]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:29]  ²¹ sn The second half of the verse appears to state that the sword of judgment would fall upon the wicked, despite their efforts to prevent it.

[23:40]  ²² tn Heb “to whom a messenger was sent, and look, they came.” Foreign alliances are in view here.

[23:40]  ²³ tn The Hebrew verb form is feminine singular, indicating that Oholibah (Judah) is specifically addressed here. This address continues through verse 42a (note “her”), but then both sisters are described in verse 42b, where the feminine pronouns are again plural.

[24:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:14]  ²⁵ tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”

[24:14]  ²⁶ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss and the major ancient versions read a first person verb here. Most Hebrew mss read have an indefinite subject, “they will judge you,” which could be translated, “you will be judged.”

[24:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “ways.”

[31:12]  ²⁸ tn Or “earth” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[31:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “gone down.”

[32:25]  ³⁰ tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).

[32:27]  ³¹ tc Heb “of the uncircumcised.” The LXX reads, probably correctly, “from of old” rather than “of the uncircumcised.” The phrases are very similar in spelling. The warriors of Meshech-Tubal are described as uncircumcised, so it would be odd for them to not be buried with the uncircumcised. Verse 28 specifically says that they would lie with the uncircumcised.

[32:27]  ³² tn Heb “and their iniquities were over their bones.” The meaning of this statement is unclear; in light of the parallelism (see “swords”) it is preferable to emend “their iniquities” to “their swords.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:135.

[34:10]  ³³ tn Heb “I will cause them to cease from feeding sheep.”

[36:11]  ³⁴ sn These verbs occur together in Gen 1:22, 28; 9:1.

[36:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your beginning.”

[39:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “they will not carry.”

[39:10]  ³⁷ tn Heb “loot their looters and plunder their plunderers.”

[39:17]  ³⁸ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

[40:42]  ³⁹ tn Heb “one and a half cubits” (i.e., 78.75 cm).

[40:42]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “one and a half cubits” (i.e., 78.75 cm).

[40:42]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “one cubit” (i.e., 52.5 cm).

[41:7]  ⁴² tc The Hebrew is difficult here. The Targum envisions a winding ramp or set of stairs, which entails reading the first word as a noun rather than a verb and reading the second word also not as a verb, supposing that an initial mem has been read as vav and nun. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:549.

[41:7]  ⁴³ tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

[41:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “reed.”

[41:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “six cubits” (i.e., 3.15 meters).

[46:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “as much as he wishes.” Heb “a gift of his hand.”

[46:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.

[46:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “with the lambs as his hand can reach.”

[46:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “a hin of oil.” A hin was about 1/16 of a bath. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:266, and O. R. Sellers, “Weights,” IDB 4:835 g.

[46:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “ephah.” The words “of grain” are supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[47:9]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “two rivers,” perhaps under the influence of Zech 14:8. The translation follows the LXX and other ancient versions in reading the singular, which is demanded by the context (see vv. 5-7, 9b, 12).

[47:9]  ⁵² tn Heb “will be healed.”