Yehezkiel 5:8

5:8 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: I – even I – am against you, ¹  and I will execute judgment ²  among you while the nations watch. ³ 

Yehezkiel 12:4

12:4 Bring out your belongings packed for exile during the day while they are watching. And go out at evening, while they are watching, as if for exile.

Yehezkiel 15:7

15:7 I will set ⁴  my face against them – although they have escaped from the fire, ⁵  the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them.

Yehezkiel 16:34

16:34 You were different from other prostitutes ⁶  because no one solicited you. When you gave payment and no payment was given to you, you became the opposite!

Yehezkiel 22:3

22:3 Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), ⁷  and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity),

Yehezkiel 23:35

23:35 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, ⁸  you must bear now the punishment ⁹  for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”

Yehezkiel 34:22

34:22 I will save my sheep; they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another.

[5:8]  ¹ tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8. The Hebrew text switches to a second feminine singular form here, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed (see vv. 5-6a). The address to Jerusalem continues through v. 15. In vv. 16-17 the second masculine plural is used, as the people are addressed.

[5:8]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses wordplay here to bring out the appropriate nature of God’s judgment. “Execute” translates the same Hebrew verb translated “carried out” (literally meaning “do”) in v. 7, while “judgment” in v. 8 and “regulations” in v. 7 translate the same Hebrew noun (meaning “regulations” or in some cases “judgments” executed on those who break laws). The point seems to be this: God would “carry out judgments” against those who refused to “carry out” his “laws.”

[5:8]  ³ tn Heb “in the sight of the nations.”

[5:8]  sn This is one of the ironies of the passage. The Lord set Israel among the nations for honor and praise as they would be holy and obey God’s law as told in Ezek 5:5 and Deut 26:16-19. The practice of these laws and statutes would make the peoples consider Israel wise. (See Deut 4:5-8, where the words for laws and statutes are the same as those used here). Since Israel did not obey, they are made a different kind of object lesson to the nations, not by their obedience but in their punishment as told in Ezek 5:8 and Deut 29:24-29. Yet Deut 30 goes on to say that when they remember the cursings and blessings of the covenant and repent, God will restore them from the nations to which they have been scattered.

[15:7]  ⁴ tn The word translated “set” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in the previous verse.

[15:7]  ⁵ sn This escape refers to the exile of Ezekiel and others in 597 b.c. (Ezek 1:2; 2 Kgs 24:10-16).

[16:34]  ⁶ tn Heb “With you it was opposite of women in your prostitution.”

[22:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).

[23:35]  ⁸ tn Heb “and you cast me behind your back.” The expression pictures her rejection of the Lord (see 1 Kgs 14:9).

[23:35]  ⁹ tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text but is demanded by the context.