Yehezkiel 7:7

7:7 Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day ¹  is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains. ² 

Yehezkiel 24:25

24:25 “And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take ³  from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, ⁴  as well as their sons and daughters: ⁵ 

[7:7]  ¹ sn The day refers to the day of the Lord, a concept which, beginning in Amos 5:18-20, became a common theme in the OT prophetic books. It refers to a time when the Lord intervenes in human affairs as warrior and judge.

[7:7]  ² tc The LXX reads “neither tumult nor birth pains.” The LXX varies at many points from the MT in this chapter. The context suggests that one or both of these would be present on a day of judgment, thus favoring the MT. Perhaps more significant is the absence of “the mountains” in the LXX. If the ר (resh) in הָרִים (harim, “the mountains” not “on the mountains”) were a ד (dalet), which is a common letter confusion, then it could be from the same root as the previous word, הֵד (hed), meaning “the day is near – with destruction, not joyful shouting.”

[24:25]  ³ tn Heb “(Will) it not (be) in the day I take?”

[24:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “the uplifting of their soul.” According to BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא 2, the term “uplifting” refers to “that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire.” However, this text is the only one listed for this use. It seems more likely that the term has its well-attested nuance of “burden, load,” here and refers to that which weighs them down emotionally and is a constant source of concern or worry.

[24:25]  ⁵ tn In the Hebrew text there is no conjunction before “their sons and daughters.” For this reason one might assume that the preceding descriptive phrases refer to the sons and daughters, but verse 21 suggests otherwise. The descriptive phrases appear to refer to the “stronghold,” which parallels “my sanctuary” in verse 21. The children constitute a separate category.