Yehezkiel 9:1--12:28
Konteks9:1 Then he shouted in my ears, “Approach, 1 you who are to visit destruction on the city, each with his destructive weapon in his hand!” 9:2 Next, I noticed 2 six men 3 coming from the direction of the upper gate 4 which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit 5 at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.
9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. 6 He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem 7 and put a mark 8 on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”
9:5 While I listened, he said to the others, 9 “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do no let your eye pity nor spare 10 anyone! 9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.
9:7 He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courtyards with corpses. Go!” So they went out and struck people down throughout the city. 9:8 While they were striking them down, I was left alone, and I threw myself face down and cried out, “Ah, sovereign Lord! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?”
9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, 11 for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 12 9:10 But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare 13 them; I hereby repay them for what they have done.” 14
9:11 Next I noticed the man dressed in linen with the writing kit at his side bringing back word: “I have done just as you commanded me.”
10:1 As I watched, I saw 15 on the platform 16 above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them. 10:2 The Lord 17 said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork 18 underneath the cherubim. 19 Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” He went as I watched.
10:3 (The cherubim were standing on the south side 20 of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.) 10:4 Then the glory of the Lord arose from the cherub and moved to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud while the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory. 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God 21 when he speaks.
10:6 When the Lord 22 commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man 23 went in and stood by one of the wheels. 24 10:7 Then one of the cherubim 25 stretched out his hand 26 toward the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left. 10:8 (The cherubim appeared to have the form 27 of human hands under their wings.)
10:9 As I watched, I noticed 28 four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; 29 the wheels gleamed like jasper. 30 10:10 As for their appearance, all four of them looked the same, something like a wheel within a wheel. 31 10:11 When they 32 moved, they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved; in the direction the head would turn they would follow 33 without turning as they moved, 10:12 along with their entire bodies, 34 their backs, their hands, and their wings. The wheels of the four of them were full of eyes all around. 10:13 As for their wheels, they were called “the wheelwork” 35 as I listened. 10:14 Each of the cherubim 36 had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub, 37 the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.
10:15 The cherubim rose up; these were the living beings 38 I saw at the Kebar River. 10:16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them; when the cherubim spread 39 their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not move from their side. 10:17 When the cherubim 40 stood still, the wheels 41 stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels 42 rose up with them, for the spirit 43 of the living beings 44 was in the wheels. 45
10:18 Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 10:19 The cherubim spread 46 their wings, and they rose up from the earth 47 while I watched (when they went the wheels went alongside them). They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord’s temple as the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.
10:20 These were the living creatures 48 which I saw at the Kebar River underneath the God of Israel; I knew that they were cherubim. 10:21 Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings. 10:22 As for the form of their faces, they were the faces whose appearance I had seen at the Kebar River. Each one moved straight ahead.
11:1 A wind 49 lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. 50 11:2 The Lord 51 said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city. 11:3 They say, 52 ‘The time is not near to build houses; 53 the city 54 is a cooking pot 55 and we are the meat in it.’ 11:4 Therefore, prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”
11:5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came 56 upon me and said to me, “Say: This is what the Lord says: ‘This is what you are thinking, 57 O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds. 58 11:6 You have killed many people in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses.’ 11:7 Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The corpses you have dumped 59 in the midst of the city 60 are the meat, and this city 61 is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it. 62 11:8 You fear the sword, so the sword I will bring against you,’ declares the sovereign Lord. 11:9 ‘But I will take you out of the city. 63 And I will hand you over to foreigners. I will execute judgments on you. 11:10 You will die by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11:11 This city will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not 64 be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. 11:12 Then you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not carried out. Instead you have behaved according to the regulations of the nations around you!’”
11:13 Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I threw myself face down and cried out with a loud voice, “Alas, sovereign Lord! You are completely wiping out the remnant of Israel!” 65
11:14 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 11:15 “Son of man, your brothers, 66 your relatives, 67 and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem 68 have said, ‘They have gone 69 far away from the Lord; to us this land has been given as a possession.’
11:16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little 70 sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’
11:17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been dispersed, I will give you back the country of Israel.’
11:18 “When they return to it, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 11:19 I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; 71 I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies 72 and I will give them tender hearts, 73 11:20 so that they may follow my statutes and observe my regulations and carry them out. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 74 11:21 But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I hereby repay them for what they have done, 75 says the sovereign Lord.”
11:22 Then the cherubim spread 76 their wings with their wheels alongside them while the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 11:23 The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped 77 over the mountain east of it. 11:24 Then a wind 78 lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, 79 in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God.
Then the vision I had seen went up from me. 11:25 So I told the exiles everything 80 the Lord had shown me.
12:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:2 “Son of man, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house. 81 They have eyes to see, but do not see, and ears to hear, but do not hear, 82 because they are a rebellious house.
12:3 “Therefore, son of man, pack up your belongings as if for exile. During the day, while they are watching, pretend to go into exile. Go from where you live to another place. Perhaps they will understand, 83 although they are a rebellious house. 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. 12:5 While they are watching, dig a hole in the wall and carry your belongings out through it. 12:6 While they are watching, raise your baggage onto your shoulder and carry it out in the dark. 84 You must cover your face so that you cannot see the ground 85 because I have made you an object lesson 86 to the house of Israel.”
12:7 So I did just as I was commanded. I carried out my belongings packed for exile during the day, and at evening I dug myself a hole through the wall with my hands. I went out in the darkness, carrying my baggage 87 on my shoulder while they watched.
12:8 The word of the Lord came to me in the morning: 12:9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 12:10 Say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The prince will raise this burden in Jerusalem, 88 and all the house of Israel within it.’ 89 12:11 Say, ‘I am an object lesson for you. Just as I have done, it will be done to them; they will go into exile and captivity.’
12:12 “The prince 90 who is among them will raise his belongings 91 onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He 92 will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. 12:13 But I will throw my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans 93 (but he will not see it), 94 and there he will die. 95 12:14 All his retinue – his attendants and his troops – I will scatter to every wind; I will unleash a sword behind them.
12:15 “Then they will know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among foreign countries. 12:16 But I will let a small number of them survive the sword, famine, and pestilence, so that they can confess all their abominable practices to the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
12:17 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:18 “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, 96 and drink your water with anxious shaking. 12:19 Then say to the people of the land, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says about the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in fright, for their land will be stripped bare of all it contains because of the violence of all who live in it. 12:20 The inhabited towns will be left in ruins and the land will be devastated. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
12:21 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, ‘The days pass slowly, and every vision fails’? 12:23 Therefore tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: I hereby end this proverb; they will not recite it in Israel any longer.’ But say to them, ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. 97 12:24 For there will no longer be any false visions or flattering omens amidst the house of Israel. 12:25 For I, the Lord, will speak. Whatever word I speak will be accomplished. It will not be delayed any longer. Indeed in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and accomplish it, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
12:26 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:27 “Take note, son of man, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for distant days; he is prophesying about the far future.’ 12:28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer! The word I speak will come to pass, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
[9:1] 1 tc Heb “they approached.” Reading the imperative assumes the same consonantal text but different vowels.
[9:2] 2 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[9:2] 3 sn The six men plus the scribe would equal seven, which was believed by the Babylonians to be the number of planetary deities.
[9:2] 4 sn The upper gate was built by Jotham (2 Kgs 15:35).
[9:2] 5 tn Or “a scribe’s inkhorn.” The Hebrew term occurs in the OT only in Ezek 9 and is believed to be an Egyptian loanword.
[9:4] 7 tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”
[9:4] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[9:4] 8 tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.
[9:4] sn For a similar concept in the Bible, see Rev 7:2-4; 13:16; 14:9, 11; 20:4; 22:4.
[9:5] 9 tn Heb “to these he said in my ears.”
[9:5] 10 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[9:9] 11 tn Or “lawlessness” (NAB); “perversity” (NRSV). The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT, and its meaning is uncertain. The similar phrase in 7:23 has a common word for “violence.”
[9:9] 12 sn The saying is virtually identical to that of the elders in Ezek 8:12.
[9:10] 13 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[9:10] 14 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.” The same expression occurs in 1 Kgs 8:32; Ezek 11:21; 16:43; 22:31.
[10:1] 15 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[10:1] 16 tn Or “like a dome.” See 1:22-26.
[10:2] 17 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[10:2] 18 tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).
[10:2] 19 tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum
[10:3] 20 tn Heb “right side.”
[10:5] 21 tn The name (“El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72.
[10:6] 22 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[10:6] 23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:7] 25 tn Heb “the cherub.”
[10:7] 26 tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”
[10:8] 27 tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the plan or pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).
[10:9] 28 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[10:9] 29 tn The MT repeats this phrase, a clear case of dittography.
[10:9] 30 tn Heb “Tarshish stone.” The meaning is uncertain. The term has also been translated “topaz” (NEB), “beryl” (KJV, NASB, NRSV), and “chrysolite” (RSV, NIV).
[10:10] 31 tn Or “like a wheel at right angles to another wheel.” Some envision concentric wheels here, while others propose “a globe-like structure in which two wheels stand at right angles” (L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:33-34). See also 1:16.
[10:11] 32 sn That is, the cherubim.
[10:11] 33 tn Many interpreters assume that the human face of each cherub was the one that looked forward.
[10:12] 34 tc The phrase “along with their entire bodies” is absent from the LXX and may be a gloss explaining the following words.
[10:13] 35 tn Or “the whirling wheels.”
[10:14] 36 tn Heb “each one”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:14] 37 sn The living creature described here is thus slightly different from the one described in Ezek 1:10, where a bull’s face appeared instead of a cherub’s. Note that some English versions harmonize the two descriptions and read the same here as in 1:10 (cf. NAB, NLT “an ox”; TEV, CEV “a bull”). This may be justified based on v. 22, which states the creatures’ appearance was the same.
[10:15] 38 tn Heb “it was the living creature.”
[10:17] 40 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 41 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 42 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 44 tn Heb “living creature.”
[10:17] 45 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:19] 47 tn Or “the ground” (NIV, NCV).
[10:20] 48 tn Heb “That was the living creature.”
[11:1] 49 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
[11:1] 50 sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.
[11:2] 51 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[11:3] 52 tn The Hebrew verb may mean “think” in this context. This content of what they say (or think) represents their point of view.
[11:3] 53 sn The expression build houses may mean “establish families” (Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; Prov 24:27).
[11:3] 54 tn Heb “she” or “it”; the feminine pronoun refers here to Jerusalem.
[11:3] 55 sn Jerusalem is also compared to a pot in Ezek 24:3-8. The siege of the city is pictured as heating up the pot.
[11:5] 57 tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say,” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).
[11:5] 58 tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”
[11:7] 60 tn Heb “in its midst.”
[11:7] 61 tn Heb “she/it.” See v. 3.
[11:7] 62 tc Many of the versions read “I will bring you out” (active) rather than “he brought out” (the reading of MT).
[11:11] 64 tn The Hebrew text does not have the negative particle, but it is implied. The negative particle in the previous line does double duty here.
[11:13] 65 tc The LXX reads this statement as a question. Compare this to the question in 9:8. It is possible that the interrogative particle has been omitted by haplography. However, an exclamatory statement as in the MT also makes sense and the LXX may have simply tried to harmonize this passage with 9:8.
[11:15] 66 tc The MT reads “your brothers, your brothers” either for empahsis (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:341, n. 1; 346) or as a result of dittography.
[11:15] 67 tc The MT reads גְאֻלָּתֶךָ (gÿ’ullatekha, “your redemption-men”), referring to the relatives responsible for deliverance in times of hardship (see Lev 25:25-55). The LXX and Syriac read “your fellow exiles,” assuming an underlying Hebrew text of גָלוּתֶךָ (galutekha) or having read the א (aleph) as an internal mater lectionis for holem.
[11:15] 68 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[11:15] 69 tc The MT has an imperative form (“go far!”), but it may be read with different vowels as a perfect verb (“they have gone far”).
[11:16] 70 tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).
[11:19] 71 tc The MT reads “you”; many Hebrew
[11:19] 72 tn Heb “their flesh.”
[11:19] 73 tn Heb “heart of flesh.”
[11:20] 74 sn The expression They will be my people, and I will be their God occurs as a promise to Abraham (Gen 17:8), Moses (Exod 6:7), and the nation (Exod 29:45).
[11:21] 75 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
[11:24] 78 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
[11:24] 79 tn Heb “to Chaldea.”
[11:25] 80 tn Heb “all the words of.”
[12:2] 81 sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).
[12:2] 82 sn This verse is very similar to Isa 6:9-10.
[12:3] 83 tn Heb “see.” This plays on the uses of “see” in v. 2. They will see his actions with their eyes and perhaps they will “see” with their mind, that is, understand or grasp the point.
[12:6] 84 tn Apart from this context the Hebrew term occurs only in Gen 15:17 in reference to the darkness after sunset. It may mean twilight.
[12:6] 85 tn Or “land” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[12:6] 86 sn See also Ezek 12:11, 24:24, 27.
[12:7] 87 tn The words “my baggage” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied from the context.
[12:10] 88 tc The nearly incoherent Hebrew reads “The prince is this burden (prophetic oracle?) in Jerusalem.” The Targum, which may only be trying to make sense of a very difficult text, says “Concerning the prince is this oracle,” assuming the addition of a preposition. This would be the only case where Ezekiel uses this term for a prophetic oracle. The LXX reads the word for “burden” as a synonym for leader, as both words are built on the same root (נָשִׂיא, nasi’), but the verse is still incoherent because it is only a phrase with no verb. The current translation assumes that the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) from the root נָשִׂיא has dropped out due to homoioteleuton. If indeed the verb has dropped out (the syntax of the verbless clause being the problem), then context clearly suggests that it be a form of נָשִׂיא (see vv. 7 and 12). Placing the verb between the subject and object would result in three consecutive words based on the root נָשִׂיא and an environment conducive to an omission in copying: הַנָּשִׂיא יִשָּׁא הַמַּשָּׂא הַזֶּה (hannasi’ yisha’ hammasa’ hazzeh, “the Prince will raise this burden”).
[12:10] sn The prince in Jerusalem refers to King Zedekiah.
[12:10] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[12:10] 89 tc The MT reads “within them.” Possibly a scribe copied this form from the following verse “among them,” but only “within it” makes sense in this context.
[12:12] 90 sn The prince is a reference to Zedekiah.
[12:12] 91 tn The words “his belongings” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.
[12:12] 92 tc The MT reads “they”; the LXX and Syriac read “he.”
[12:13] 93 tn Or “Babylonians” (NCV, NLT).
[12:13] sn The Chaldeans were a group of people in the country south of Babylon from which Nebuchadnezzar came. The Chaldean dynasty his father established became the name by which the Babylonians are regularly referred to in the book of Jeremiah, while Jeremiah’s contemporary, Ezekiel, uses both terms.
[12:13] 94 sn He will not see it. This prediction was fulfilled in 2 Kgs 25:7 and Jer 52:11, which recount how Zedekiah was blinded before being deported to Babylon.
[12:13] 95 sn There he will die. This was fulfilled when King Zedekiah died in exile (Jer 52:11).
[12:18] 96 tn The Hebrew term normally refers to an earthquake (see 1 Kgs 19:11; Amos 1:1).
[12:23] 97 tn Heb “the days draw near and the word of every vision (draws near).”
