Chapter Twenty-One

The Sword of Jehovah

The chapter contains three prophetic speeches, pronounced, probably (see explanation Ezek 20:45) after Nebuchadnezzar set out on a campaign against Judea and breathing a sense of moral satisfaction in the prophet that the judgment of God over Judea, which it deserved and which he had foretold, had already begun to come to pass. In the first speech (verses 1-7) the prophet expresses a general view of the approaching war as the sword of God hanging over Judea (the coming calamity – God’s punishment); in the second speech (verses 8-17) he proves that this sword is now completely ready (the immediate nearness of punishment); in the third (verses 13-32) he foretells that although the Ammonites, together with Judea having risen against Nebuchadnezzar, lie in the path of the latter to Judea and should take the first blow of the conqueror on themselves (which would have made it possible for Judea to gather its forces), nevertheless the latter will occupy Judea first; although the punishment will not pass by the Ammonites either.

Ezekiel 21:2. Son of man! Turn your face toward Jerusalem and speak a word against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel, “Sanctuaries” – the Temple; the plural is used to denote the aggregate of all its holy things (Slavonic: “sanctities”) or because of its three parts.

Ezekiel 21:3. And say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and will draw My sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. The prophet explains the allegory of the burning forest with another allegory – the sword of God. But the second allegory is clear in itself, because the coming judgment of God is indeed a judgment by the sword through the agency of Nebuchadnezzar; that he, or rather his war against Judea, is meant by the sword of God is clearly shown in verses 19, 30. – “Both the righteous and the wicked.” That calamities sent by God make no distinction between the righteous and the wicked is a mystery of Providence, noted more than once in Holy Scripture: Job 9:22; Ps 78:2-3. The prophet Ezekiel did not see in this circumstance a contradiction to the views expressed in Ezek 18 chapter (Consequently, there the righteous is promised a life beyond the earth). But the LXX, to remove this apparent contradiction and avoid the confusion about the paths of Providence that arises from this passage, put here: “the unrighteous and lawless”, while the Targum: “will remove your righteous from your midst, so as to destroy your sinners.” It is noteworthy that, in the view of the prophet Ezekiel, who thus denounced Jerusalem, there were righteous ones in it (not only Jeremiah).

Ezekiel 21:4. And in order to cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, My sword shall come out from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. The sword of God will make no distinction: it will act so intensely. – “From south to north” see explanation Ezek 20:47.

Ezekiel 21:6. And you, son of man, moan, breaking your loins, and moan in bitterness before their eyes. That what has been described will come to pass, the prophet must make known even more strikingly by moaning and grieving now, as his listeners will soon do (upon receiving news of the fall of Jerusalem) (compare Ezek 12:17 and onward): “the coming calamity is already reality for the prophet” (Bertholet). – “Moan.” The prophet receives such a command from God for the first time; compare Ezek 6:11, where the prophet was commanded to laugh scornfully at the people. – “Breaking your loins” – see Deut 33:11.

Ezekiel 21:7. And when they say to you: ‘Why are you moaning?’, say: ‘At the news that comes,’ – and every heart will melt, and all hands will hang down, and every spirit will grow faint, and all knees will tremble like water. Behold, it comes and will come to pass, says the Lord God. “And every heart will melt” – Isa 19:1. – “And all hands will hang down” – Ezek 7:17. – “And every spirit will grow faint.” No one will be able to find a way out of the horrible situation, having lost all reasoning and determination; Ezek 7:26. Slavonic: “and every flesh will wail and every spirit.” – “And all knees will tremble” – Ezek 7:17. – “All this comes and will come to pass.” Attention is drawn to the inevitability of the calamity, which thereby strengthens the threat.

Ezekiel 21:9. Son of man! Prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Say: A sword, a sword is sharpened and polished; In the new prophetic speech the prophet develops the image of the unsheathed sword, lyrically describing its terrible qualities. – “A sword, a sword.” An emphatic repetition. Slavonic – vocative case and further imperative mood – “Polished”, to terrify enemies from afar by its very gleaming. Slavonic: “enraged”.

Ezekiel 21:10. It is sharpened to slay with more violence; it is polished to flash like lightning. Shall we rejoice that the scepter of My Son despises every rod? “Here too the enemy is depicted only in vague outlines; the indefiniteness of the expressions increases the horror of his appearance.” (Kraetzschmar). – “Shall we rejoice that the scepter of My Son despises every rod?” A very unclear expression going beyond the context, rendered differently by the LXX and other ancient translations. The Hebrew text of this passage is usually explained as follows: here there is, as it were, a protest by the prophet on behalf of the people against the divine threat of the sword of vengeance, a protest based on the promises given to the tribe of Judah in the blessing of Jacob: “The scepter will not depart from Judah.” – “Shall we rejoice” – cannot we be at peace in view of the coming calamities on the ground that the scepter of Judah “despises every rod”, that is, that no other kingly might, no other royal scepter is comparable to that of mighty Judah. This understanding is confirmed by an unmistakable reference to the prophecy of Jacob in verse 27 of this chapter.

Ezekiel 21:11. I have given it to be polished, to be held in hand; the sword is sharpened and polished, to be put into the hand of the slayer. Once the sword is polished, it goes into action: it is not polished for nothing. – “The slayer.” The executioner – Nebuchadnezzar; according to Jerome – the devil.

Ezekiel 21:12. Cry out and wail, son of man, because it is against My people, against all the princes of Israel; they will be delivered to the sword with My people; therefore strike your loins. The horror of the sword of God is all the greater because it will make no distinction among its victims; the princes, the flower and support of the people, will fall under it like everyone else. A blow on the loins is a sign of sorrow Jer 31:19.

Ezekiel 21:13. For he is tested. And what if he despises the rod? It will not stand, says the Lord God. “For he (the sword) is tested” – Nebuchadnezzar has proven his might. Slavonic the same: “for it was justified.” – “And what if he despises the rod” – see explanation of verse 10. The kingdom of Judah, this scepter of Judah, to which such promises were given and which so surpasses other kingdoms, will prove weaker than the Chaldean monarchy. Slavonic gives a different thought: “and what (a figure of omission, compare Exod 16:7), if the tribe (of Judah, such a significant one) is cast off? (completely by God after Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat) it will not be (this: completely the kingdom of Judah will not perish), says the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 21:14. And you, son of man, prophesy and strike hand against hand; and let the sword be doubled and tripled, the sword of slaughter, the sword of great slaughter, piercing into the depths of their dwellings. In the prophecy about the sword the prophet must express or rather confirm by gesture – to give it greater force and reality: to show that the sword, that is, the force, the army of Nebuchadnezzar will grow and multiply as if by itself, the prophet by double and triple clapping of his hands must double and triple the foretold sword. “Against the great one” – the king (Zedekiah).

Ezekiel 21:15. That hearts may melt and many may fall, I will set the glittering sword at all their gates, ah! gleaming like lightning, sharpened for slaughter. If in verse 14 the prophet foretells that the sword of God will of itself be doubled and tripled, then here God says that He Himself will “set the sword at each gate”, consequently will multiply it infinitely, “so that many will fall” (Slavonic: “and the weak will increase”) and so that “hearts may melt” (Slavonic: “that their heart may be crushed”) – in repentance. – “Ah”, Slavonic “well”, in Hebrew “ah” – an interjection of angry satisfaction (in a burst of holy indignation at the lawlessness of the prophet).

Ezekiel 21:16. Gather yourself and go right, or go left, wherever your face is turned. “Gather yourself” – a conditional meaning of the Hebrew word (ahad), presumably a military term; Slavonic: “pass like lightning.” “Go right or go left” – toward Jerusalem or against the Ammonites, as is evident from verses 19, 22.

Ezekiel 21:17. And I will clap My hands, and I will satisfy My wrath; I, the Lord, have spoken. Even God Himself, like the prophet in verse 14, will clap His hands (a strong anthropomorphism) at the successes of the enemies of Israel: so much has He broken with His people and so great is His wrath against them.

Ezekiel 21:19. And you, son of man, appoint two ways by which the sword of the king of Babylon should go – both ways shall branch from one land; and mark a signpost, mark at the head of the ways in the towns. The prophet leaves the figurative speech. The sword of God – this is the army of the king of Babylon, who has already moved to suppress the Palestinian rebels – Judea and Ammon – and stands at the fork of the roads in indecision, whether to go to Jerusalem or against the Ammonites. He asks about this from an oracle (divines). “God will care for the needful answer” (Smend). All this the prophet must present in a symbolic action: perhaps on those sands on which Tel Aviv was later built (Ezek 3:15), he should draw two lines, meaning two roads branching from one land (Babylon). – “And mark a signpost.” The Hebrew word here means, probably, not a hand, but, as in 1 Sam 15:22; 2 Sam 18:18; Isa 56:5, a pillar at crossroads with a mark showing which way each of the branching roads leads, such pillars as are set up at crossroads now and were in use, as this passage shows, in that distant antiquity. – “In the towns” – Jerusalem and Rabbah – verse 22.

Ezekiel 21:20. Mark a way by which the sword would come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon and to Judea, to fortified Jerusalem; “The sword” – the army of Nebuchadnezzar (verse 19). “To Rabbah of the sons of Ammon” – the capital of the Ammonite kingdom, which is so called here, in 2 Sam 12:26; Jer 49:2; Deut 3:11, while in other places it is simply called Rabbah (Ezek 25:5, and others); in Polybius (V, 7, 4) – Ραββαταμανα; later renamed Philadelphia; now – ruins bearing the name “Amman”, to the east of the Jordan on the upper course of the Jabbok (Nar-Amana). – “And to Judea.” Judea is placed after Rabbah, because it was the ultimate, though main, goal of Nebuchadnezzar’s campaign. – “Fortified Jerusalem”, that is, celebrated everywhere for its fortifications; this epithet is applied to it also in Isa 25:2. But the LXX, reading the word somewhat differently, have: “in the midst of her”, that is, of Judea; in Slavonic incorrectly: “of him”.

Ezekiel 21:21. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the ways, at the head of the two ways, to practice divination: he shook the arrows, consulted the household gods, examined the liver. “At the parting of the ways” – literally from Hebrew: “at the mother of roads”; Slavonic: “on the old (traveled?) way.” – “To practice divination” regarding which should come first: against the Ammonites or Jerusalem. Three methods of divination are enumerated further: 1) “He shook the arrows.” “This kind of divination,” says Maldonatus, “was used even now (in the sixteenth century): arrows with inscriptions of what should be chosen were placed in a quiver or helmet; usually a boy would draw one, and what was written on it would be carried out.” In this case two arrows were used: on one was written, as verse 22 shows, “to Jerusalem”, and on the other, of course, “to Rabbah”; what was drawn by the king’s right hand – verse 22 – was chosen. This method of divination was in use among the Arabs (Bertholet), as it was among the Babylonians (Lenormant, La magie chez Les Chaldeens 430 and onward) and was called belomancy or rhabdomancy, which is why Slavonic: “as if shaken by the rod” (αναβρασαι ανακινειν – to shake). 2) “Consulted the household gods” – household idols, penates, which Nebuchadnezzar, like once Rachel (Gen 31:19), took with him on the campaign. How the household gods were consulted and how they gave an answer is unknown: perhaps they simply practiced belomancy before them. 3) “Examined the liver”, namely of a sacrificial animal. The sacrifice in general was to accompany divination, as is evident from the story of Balaam. The liver was considered the seat of life (Prov 7:23) and feeling (Lam 2:11). Divination by the liver, “hepatoscopy” (LXX: ηπατοσκοπσασθαι), was in great use among all ancient peoples: the Babylonians (Diodorus II, 29; Lenormant, cited work, which indicates all the details and proves that it was borrowed by the Chaldeans from the first inhabitants of Mesopotamia – the Akkadians), the Romans (Cicero, De divinat. I, 16; II, 12, 13), the Greeks, the Etruscans.

Ezekiel 21:22. In his right hand lies the divination: “to Jerusalem”, where he should set up rams, open the mouth for slaughter, lift up the voice for a war cry, set rams against the gates, heap up a ramp, and build siege towers. “In the right hand lies the divination: to Jerusalem.” With his right hand (which brings fortune) Nebuchadnezzar drew out the lot (arrow – verse 21) with the inscription: “to Jerusalem.” – After this, the campaign against Judea, as decided, is not described, and the prophet proceeds directly to the depiction of the siege of Jerusalem. Since Jehovah directed the divination, He wishes all the terrible things planned by Nebuchadnezzar to be carried out. – “Set up rams” – Ezek 4:2. – “Open the mouth for slaughter.” Nebuchadnezzar will address the warriors with a speech before the battle; or else: the warriors will fight with piercing cries. – “Lift up the voice for a war cry.” This is not a tautology (Hitzig), but a strengthening of the preceding thought. About the loud cries of the besiegers during city sieges say Josh 6:19; Amos 1:14; Jer 49:2. – “Set rams”. An inexplicable repetition of what was said earlier, confirmed by the LXX. To avoid the repetition some translate “sharim” (rams, battering-rams) here as “military commanders”: Nebuchadnezzar will appoint military commanders; but they should have been appointed before the campaign, not before the siege itself. – “Heap up a ramp” – Ezek 4:2.

Ezekiel 21:23. This divination appears false in their eyes; but since they are bound by an oath, he, remembering their treachery, determined to take it. “This divination appears false in their eyes.” It is curious that news of Nebuchadnezzar’s indecision on the campaign and even of his divination reached the Jerusalemites so quickly, who, being generally so credulous toward sorcery, in this case, when the divination was not in their favor, did not hesitate to declare it false, that is, that the answer came not from God. Slavonic: “and he, as if sorcering them a spell before them”, that is, Nebuchadnezzar appeared as if an evil sorcerer upon Judea, invoking calamities upon it by his divination. – “But since they are bound by an oath.” The solemn promise of vassalage to Nebuchadnezzar on the part of Zedekiah is meant, the violation of which brought all the calamities upon Judea. The Hebrew text with a different vocalization also permits such a translation as the Slavonic gives according to Aquila and Theodotion (in the LXX in most manuscripts this expression is absent): “multiplying sevens”: literally: “their sevens to sevens”, or: “Sabbaths to Sabbaths”; with such a translation this passage would give either the thought that in the opinion of the Jews Nebuchadnezzar, due to his indecision, which forced him to resort to sorcery, will delay whole weeks with his siege of Jerusalem, which will give them time to prepare for resistance; or the expression may refer to some sorcery rites in which the number 7 played a great role (Sellin, Beitrage zur isr. u. jud. Relig. – Geschichte 11, 121). “Then he (Nebuchadnezzar), remembering such treachery (the alliance of Zedekiah with other rebellious vassals), determined to take it” (Jerusalem). Slavonic: “and he remembering his wrongs to remember” gives a different thought: Nebuchadnezzar will remind Jerusalem (by destroying it) of its wrongs.

Ezekiel 21:24. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have brought your iniquity to remembrance, in that your transgressions are uncovered and your sins appear in all your doings; because you have brought this to remembrance, you shall be taken by the hand. By her treachery toward Nebuchadnezzar, Judea reminded God of all her former sins, which He, under the influence perhaps of the pious reign of Josiah and in general the weakening of idolatry in recent times, as if began to forget. However, “bringing iniquity to remembrance”, transgression – is juridically a term equivalent to drawing up an indictment (Ezek 29:16; Num 5:15; 1 Sam 8:47). The same thought is repeated rhetorically in three expressions, all strengthening it. – “Shall be taken by the hand” – also perhaps a legal expression, like: arrested. A hint at captivity.

Ezekiel 21:25. And you, worthless, wicked ruler of Israel, whose day has come, at the time when iniquity reaches its end! The speech now turns to the first culprit of the coming destruction – the wicked Zedekiah, whose treachery brought a storm upon Judea. – “Whose day has come now” – the eschatological day, that known one in which the reckoning for sins comes, having already reached its final point. This is the first place where there is mention of “the day” of a single man, and not of a whole people (compare Amos 5:18. The individualism of Ezekiel; compare Ezek 18 chapter). – “When iniquity reaches its end.” Slavonic more precisely: “in the time of iniquity the end”, that is, at iniquity having reached the extreme limits.

Ezekiel 21:26. Thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown; this will not remain as it is; exalt the lowly and humble the lofty. “Remove”, like “take off”, in Hebrew is the infinitive to express the decisiveness of the command. The address is of course to Zedekiah. – “Turban”, Slavonic “kitar” – the priestly headband (tiara). Perhaps they were worn, unlawfully appropriating them or as an ancient and universal attribute of royal power, and the kings of Judah; or perhaps it is a synonym of the crown; or finally, perhaps this indicates the destruction of the priesthood as well. “This will not remain as it is.” Literally: “this will not be this.” Slavonic: “this will not be such”: the crown (of Zedekiah) will not be a crown. – In the coming catastrophe there will follow a complete change in the order of things, one of the particulars of which is indicated further: the lowly will be exalted and the lofty will be humbled. “Exalt the lowly and humble the lofty.” Here is expressed not so much the general truth found in Scripture: Prov 3:34; Luke 1:52; Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5, as this expression refers to the Messiah and Zedekiah, placed face to face (Ezek 17:24; Isa 53:2). It is characteristic that the lowly is mentioned first, and in particular, Ezekiel might have had in mind Jehoiachin, who was soon to be brought out from prison to the throne and become the ancestor of the Messiah. Targum: “Godolias, son of Ahikam, will take the crown, which does not belong to him, and it will be taken from Zedekiah, to whom it belonged.”

Ezekiel 21:27. Overthrow, overthrow, overthrow! I will make it so. And it shall not be until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him. “Overthrow” – three times, for the same reason as in Ezek 7:5, that is, Zedekiah and his kingdom. According to Hebrew “avva”, from the root “ava” in Lam 3:9 and Isa 24:1 “to destroy”, should be “destruction”. The LXX and Vulgate read as “avon”, “sin”, which is why Slavonic: “I will lay iniquity (three times) upon him”: the calamities which follow iniquity will be exhausted by Israel only after the victory of Nebuchadnezzar. – “And it shall not be” – in Hebrew past tense, which should be past prophetic; Slavonic “and he will not be such” should mean the same as the similar expression of the preceding verse; but Slavonic here does not agree with Greek: woe to the kingdom of Judah: it in such destruction will remain, until… – “Until He comes whose (right it is)” (the crown). One of the so rare in Ezekiel (hitherto only in Ezek 17:22-24) direct messianic prophecies. An evident dependence on Gen 49:10, as in Ezek 19:10-11. The prophet expects that only the Messiah will restore the now destroyed kingdom; so the Jews think: “urim and thummim and a king from the house of David ceased to exist with the destruction and their restoration can be expected only with the resurrection of the dead, when the Messiah, son of David, shall appear” (Sota, ed. Wagenseil, p. 1669). – “And I will give it to Him.” A closer placing of the Messiah in dependence on God than in Isaiah, in accordance with Ezekiel’s general view of all divine action.

Ezekiel 21:28. And you, son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach; and say: A sword, a sword is drawn for slaughter, polished for destruction, to gleam like lightning, Although Nebuchadnezzar, having decided to deal with Jerusalem and Judea first, will pass by the Ammonites, this will not save them: on the contrary their destruction is not only as inevitable as that of Judea, but, in contrast to Judea, is moreover final, without hope of restoration, which Jerusalem may have. Such destruction is the punishment of God for malicious gloating at the fall of Judea, for the “reproach” (Slavonic “reproach”) of Judea. This reproach is the reason why the speech against the Ammonites is placed outside and before its proper order, being repeated later in chapter XXV among the speeches against pagan nations. “The sword” of Jehovah – Nebuchadnezzar and his army. – “For slaughter” – “for destruction.” The second strengthens the first; of Judea the second is not said. – “To gleam” – verse 15.

Ezekiel 21:29. while they see for you vain visions and divine false divinations, to bring you to the slain among the wicked, whose day has come, at the time when iniquity reaches its end. “They see for you vain visions.” Consequently, the Ammonites, like Judea, had no lack of false prophets, who assured them as to the danger from Nebuchadnezzar and perhaps even said that they will become in the hands of God an instrument (“by the sword” compare verse 30) for the punishment of Nebuchadnezzar: such reassuring prophecies could be successful especially from the time when Nebuchadnezzar passed by the Ammonites straight to Judea. – “To bring you to the slain among the wicked” – the Jews; but so named in verse 24 only Zedekiah, the main violator of God’s will in Judea; comparison with him is, of course, not flattering for the Ammonites. – “Whose day has come” – verse 25.

Ezekiel 21:30. Return the sword to its sheath? On the place where you were created, in the land of your origin I will judge you: “Return the sword to its sheath?” Will the Ammonites be spared and will Nebuchadnezzar be forced to return to Babylon after subduing Judea? asks God as if of Himself. But in Hebrew imperative mood, so Slavonic is more accurate: “return to your sheath”, that is, the sword of the Ammonites: it is useless for them to defend themselves against the sword of God. Greek: αποστρέφε μη καταλυης (turn around, so as not to stop striking?). “In the land of your origin I will judge you”, where each nation is especially strong; compare Hos 2:21; Ezek 11:10.

Ezekiel 21:31. And I will pour out My indignation upon you, I will blow upon you with the fire of My wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men, skilled in destruction. “I will blow upon you with the fire of My wrath.” A powerful, eastern force of expression (Isa 42:25). – “Brutal men” Hebrew “bogarim”, literally “bestial” (Ps 93:8), Slavonic: “barbarians.” – “Skilled in destruction”; Slavonic “causing ruin”, Vulgate fabricantium interitum. Both epithets refer to the Chaldeans and are characteristic of Ezekiel’s attitude toward them, whom, while considering them an instrument (scourge) of God, he held just opinion of and was far from being well-disposed toward.

Ezekiel 21:32. You will be food for the fire, your blood will remain in the land; you will not be remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken. “You will be food for the fire” – perhaps a reference to fires of the cities of the Ammonites, just as “your blood will remain in the land” (Slavonic “will be in the midst of your land”), that is, will cover all the land, – a reference to the multitude of the slain. – “You will not be remembered.” The Ammonites will be so destroyed that the few who remain from their nation will mix with neighboring peoples and not bear a special name. From the time of the Maccabees the Ammonites and Moabites indeed disappear from history. Not so is the fate of Israel: verse 27. Even Egypt is promised not so terrible a future: Ezek 29:13 and onward. The reason for such a severe punishment is the cruel, constant, and stubborn enmity toward the chosen, moreover fraternal people without provocation on their part, which was also enmity toward the God who chose it. – “For I, the Lord, have spoken” – compare Ezek 5:13.