Ezekiel · Chapter 21

Verses 1-5. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem — Here God directs the prophet to declare in plain language, what he had ordered him to speak allegorically, from the 46th to the 48th verses of the foregoing chapter. And say to the land of Israel — The prophet’s face being turned toward Judea and Jerusalem, he addresses them as if they were present before him. Behold, I am against thee — I am become thine enemy because of thy sins; I hate thy practices, and will punish thee for them. And will draw forth my sword out of his sheath — By the sword here is meant the same as by the fire in the foregoing chapter, namely, every thing which destroys. It may, however, be taken in a rather more literal sense than the fire is there to be understood, as the calamities of Judea were chiefly to arise from the sword of the king of Babylon, who was God’s instrument to execute his purpose on Judea. And will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked — I will take away from thee the righteous by sending them into captivity; and the wicked by destroying them, either by the sword, or famine, or pestilence. My sword shall go forth against all flesh — Against all the Jews that dwell in the land. It shall not return any more — That is, into its sheath, till it hath executed all my purposes.

V. 2. The holy places-The temple and all parts of it.

Verse 2. Set thy face toward Jerusalem] This is a continuation of the preceding prophecy; and in this chapter the prophet sets before them, in the plainest language, what the foregoing metaphors meant, so that they could not complain of his parables.

Verses 1-5. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem — Here God directs the prophet to declare in plain language, what he had ordered him to speak allegorically, from the 46th to the 48th verses of the foregoing chapter. And say to the land of Israel — The prophet’s face being turned toward Judea and Jerusalem, he addresses them as if they were present before him. Behold, I am against thee — I am become thine enemy because of thy sins; I hate thy practices, and will punish thee for them. And will draw forth my sword out of his sheath — By the sword here is meant the same as by the fire in the foregoing chapter, namely, every thing which destroys. It may, however, be taken in a rather more literal sense than the fire is there to be understood, as the calamities of Judea were chiefly to arise from the sword of the king of Babylon, who was God’s instrument to execute his purpose on Judea. And will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked — I will take away from thee the righteous by sending them into captivity; and the wicked by destroying them, either by the sword, or famine, or pestilence. My sword shall go forth against all flesh — Against all the Jews that dwell in the land. It shall not return any more — That is, into its sheath, till it hath executed all my purposes.

Verse 2. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places. In the Latin bibles, this chapter begins at ver. 45 of the preseding, which preserves unity in the subject. The prophecy is against the land of the south—against Israel, which was southward of Mesopotamia, where Ezekiel then exercised his ministry. He must preach against the woods and groves, the seats of idolatry, and of utter ruin to the nation.

2. Drop thy word — See Deuteronomy 32:2; Isaiah 55:11. This word of the prophet did not drop as the dew, but fell like the blow of a sword. (Compare also Amos 7:16; Hebrews 4:12.) The holy places — Peshito, their holy place. Reference is made to the temple building in Jerusalem (7:24; Lamentations 2:6).

V. 3. The righteous-It is no unusual thing, that in publick calamities, those who are indeed righteous should be involved with others.

Verse 3. Behold, I am against thee] Dismal news! When God is against us, who can be for us?

And will draw forth my sword] War.

And will cut off from thee] The land of Judea.

The righteous and the wicked.] All shall be removed from thee. Some shall be cut off-removed by the sword; shall be slain in battle, or by the pestilence; and some shall be cut off-die by the famine; and some shall be cut off-removed from the land by captivity. Now, among the two latter classes there might be many righteous as well as wicked. And when all the provisions were consumed, so that there was no more bread in the city, during the siege by Nebuchadnezzar, the righteous must have suffered as well as the wicked; for they could not be preserved alive, but by miracle, when there was no bread; nor was their perishing for want any loss to them, because the Lord would take them straight to his glory. And however men in general are unwilling to die, yet there is no instance, nor can there be, of any man’s complaint that he got to heaven too soon. Again, if God had permitted none to be carried off captive but the wicked, the case of these would be utterly hopeless, as there would be none to set a good example, to preach repentance, to reprove sin, or to show God’s willingness to forgive sinners. But God, in his mercy, permitted many of the righteous to be carried off also, that the wicked might not be totally abandoned, or put beyond the reach of being saved. Hence, both Ezekiel and Daniel, and indeed several others, prophets and righteous men, were thus cut off from the land, and carried into captivity. And how much was God’s glory and the good of men promoted by this! What a seed of salvation was sown, even in the heathen countries, by thus cutting off the righteous with the wicked! To this we owe, under God, many of the Psalms, the whole of the Book of Ezekiel, all the prophecies of Daniel, the bright example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, the decrees passed in favour of the religion of the true God by Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Darius, &c. And to this dispensation of God’s merciful providence we owe the Books and example of Ezra and Nehemiah. Where then is the injustice, so loudly declaimed against, of God’s thus cutting off from the land of Judea the righteous with the wicked? The righteous were not cut off for the crimes of the wicked, (see Ezekiel 18:20, &c.,) nor were these crimes visited upon them, yet several of them shared in the common calamity, but none perished. Those that were removed by a violent death, (and I believe we shall find few such,) got a speedier entrance into eternal glory.

Verses 1-5. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem — Here God directs the prophet to declare in plain language, what he had ordered him to speak allegorically, from the 46th to the 48th verses of the foregoing chapter. And say to the land of Israel — The prophet’s face being turned toward Judea and Jerusalem, he addresses them as if they were present before him. Behold, I am against thee — I am become thine enemy because of thy sins; I hate thy practices, and will punish thee for them. And will draw forth my sword out of his sheath — By the sword here is meant the same as by the fire in the foregoing chapter, namely, every thing which destroys. It may, however, be taken in a rather more literal sense than the fire is there to be understood, as the calamities of Judea were chiefly to arise from the sword of the king of Babylon, who was God’s instrument to execute his purpose on Judea. And will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked — I will take away from thee the righteous by sending them into captivity; and the wicked by destroying them, either by the sword, or famine, or pestilence. My sword shall go forth against all flesh — Against all the Jews that dwell in the land. It shall not return any more — That is, into its sheath, till it hath executed all my purposes.

Ver. 3. I will cut off. Hebrews I will slay in thee, the righteous and the wicked. The LXX read, I will destroy from thee, the righteous and the wicked. How is this reconciled with the divine declaration to Abraham, that he would not destroy the righteous with the wicked. Genesis 18:23. Answer: in the unsearchable visitations of providence good men may sometimes be involved in temporal deaths with the wicked; yet he watches over his saints. When the Romans burned Jerusalem, the christians, when their army was called away to Egypt, fled beyond the Jordan. Also when Alaric, king of the Goths stormed the city of Rome, the followers of Christ were spared, being found at prayer in their churches. Anno 412, and eleven hundred and ten years after the building of Rome.

V. 4. All flesh-All the Jews that dwell in the land.

Verse 4. From the south to the north] The whole land shall be ravaged from one end to the other.

Verses 1-5. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem — Here God directs the prophet to declare in plain language, what he had ordered him to speak allegorically, from the 46th to the 48th verses of the foregoing chapter. And say to the land of Israel — The prophet’s face being turned toward Judea and Jerusalem, he addresses them as if they were present before him. Behold, I am against thee — I am become thine enemy because of thy sins; I hate thy practices, and will punish thee for them. And will draw forth my sword out of his sheath — By the sword here is meant the same as by the fire in the foregoing chapter, namely, every thing which destroys. It may, however, be taken in a rather more literal sense than the fire is there to be understood, as the calamities of Judea were chiefly to arise from the sword of the king of Babylon, who was God’s instrument to execute his purpose on Judea. And will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked — I will take away from thee the righteous by sending them into captivity; and the wicked by destroying them, either by the sword, or famine, or pestilence. My sword shall go forth against all flesh — Against all the Jews that dwell in the land. It shall not return any more — That is, into its sheath, till it hath executed all my purposes.

V. 5. Shall not return-It shall not return into the scabbard ‘till it hath done full execution.

Verse 5. It shall not return any more.] That is, till all the work that I have designed for it is done. Nor did it; for Nebuchadnezzar never rested till he had subdued all the lands from the south to the north, from the Euphrates to the Nile.

Verses 1-5. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem — Here God directs the prophet to declare in plain language, what he had ordered him to speak allegorically, from the 46th to the 48th verses of the foregoing chapter. And say to the land of Israel — The prophet’s face being turned toward Judea and Jerusalem, he addresses them as if they were present before him. Behold, I am against thee — I am become thine enemy because of thy sins; I hate thy practices, and will punish thee for them. And will draw forth my sword out of his sheath — By the sword here is meant the same as by the fire in the foregoing chapter, namely, every thing which destroys. It may, however, be taken in a rather more literal sense than the fire is there to be understood, as the calamities of Judea were chiefly to arise from the sword of the king of Babylon, who was God’s instrument to execute his purpose on Judea. And will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked — I will take away from thee the righteous by sending them into captivity; and the wicked by destroying them, either by the sword, or famine, or pestilence. My sword shall go forth against all flesh — Against all the Jews that dwell in the land. It shall not return any more — That is, into its sheath, till it hath executed all my purposes.

Ver. 5. I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath. The Assyrian power is called the rod of God’s anger; but here it is his sword. This whole passage is a sublime description of the terrors of the invading army, of the sword unsheathed against every green tree and pleasant abode. It was drunk with the fury of the Lord.

V. 6. Sigh therefore-Thereby express deep sorrow. Breaking of thy loins-Like a woman in travail.

Verse 6. Sigh—with the breaking of thy loins] Let thy mourning for this sore calamity be like that of a woman in the pains of travail.

Verses 6, 7. Sigh, therefore, with the breaking of thy loins, &c. — Show all the tokens of grief and concern; sigh and groan deeply; let the sense of these impending judgments so greatly affect thee, as to make thee stoop like one quite borne down under the weight of them. God’s judgments, as they were represented to the minds of the prophets, very often affected them with dreadful apprehensions, especially when they concerned their own people: see the margin. With bitterness sigh before their eyes — Before the eyes of the elders of Israel, mentioned Ezekiel 20:1, or of the Jewish captives, who could not but be touched with a tender sense of the calamities ready to befall their brethren in Judea. Every heart shall melt, &c. — Men’s hearts and strength shall fail them for fear.

6. Sigh… with the breaking of thy loins — This expression of speechless grief, which seems as if it will tear the body asunder, is the picture prophecy of the anguish which all shall feel when the news of the downfall of the holy city — which Ezekiel has so long been prophesying — shall be brought to the captives at Tel-abib.

V. 7. Because-The saddest news you ever heard is coming.

Verse 7. Wherefore sighest thou?] The prophet was a sign unto them. His sighing and mourning showed them how they should act. All knees shall be weak as water] See Clarke’s note on “Ezekiel 7:17”.

Verses 6, 7. Sigh, therefore, with the breaking of thy loins, &c. — Show all the tokens of grief and concern; sigh and groan deeply; let the sense of these impending judgments so greatly affect thee, as to make thee stoop like one quite borne down under the weight of them. God’s judgments, as they were represented to the minds of the prophets, very often affected them with dreadful apprehensions, especially when they concerned their own people: see the margin. With bitterness sigh before their eyes — Before the eyes of the elders of Israel, mentioned Ezekiel 20:1, or of the Jewish captives, who could not but be touched with a tender sense of the calamities ready to befall their brethren in Judea. Every heart shall melt, &c. — Men’s hearts and strength shall fail them for fear.

7. Faint — Rather, dulled. Weak as water — Rather, melt into waters. THE ODE OF THE SWORD, 8-22.

This is a wild and irregular song of war, and, as Dr. Muller says, is one of the most powerful passages which we possess from the pen of Ezekiel. It is a “cry” rather than a poem (verse 12). Yet it not only shows the parallelism common to Hebrew poetry, but evident traces of meter (D.H. Muller, Die Propheten, 1896).

The niceties of grammar are neglected, and to those who cannot see the singer’s gestures and hear his wails (verses 6, 12) there may seem a lack of connection between the lines and considerable obscurity of meaning. Dr. Skinner has given a good idea “both of the structure and the rugged vigor of the original,” though there are some phrases which he does not attempt to translate: —

I.

A sword, a sword! It is sharpened and burnished withal.

For a work of slaughter is it sharpened!

To gleam like lightning burnished!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

And ‘twas given to be smoothed for the grip of the hand,

Sharpened is it, and furbished —

To put in the hand of the slayer

(verses 14-16).

II.

Cry and howl, son of man!

For it has come among my people;

Come among all the princes of Israel!

Victims of the sword are they, they and my people;

Therefore smite upon thy thigh!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It shall not be, saith Jehovah the Lord

(verses 17, 18).

III.

But, thou son of man, prophesy, and smite hand on hand;

Let the sword be doubled and tripled (?)

A sword of the slain is it,

the great sword of the slain whirling around them —

That hearts may fail, and many be the fallen in all their gates. * * * * * * * * * * * *

It is made like lightning, furbished for slaughter!

(verses 19, 20.)

IV.

Gather thee together! Smite to the right, to the left,

Whithersoever thine edge is appointed!

And I also will smite hand on hand,

And appease my wrath:

I Jehovah have spoken it

(verses 21, 22).

As Dr. Skinner remarks, this ode, in spite of its obscurity and its abrupt transitions, exhibits a definite poetic form and a real progress of thought from the beginning to the close. “The prophet’s gaze is fascinated by the glittering sword which symbolized the instrument of Jehovah’s vengeance.” In the opening stanza he describes the preparation of the sword, then (II) he announces the purpose for which it is prepared. In the next stanza (III) he sees the sword in action, and at length, having accomplished its work, it is seen at rest (IV).

Ver. 8-11. The word of the Lord came unto me saying, a sword, a sword is sharpened. Should we then make mirth? Nay, on the contrary, should we not howl and cry? A rebel nation exposed to fury: slaughter is diversion. Silent leges inter arma. The laws are silent in war. “It contemneth the rod of my Son as wood, or as every green tree.” By this highest title, my Son, the king of Judah cannot well be understood here, he being impeached and utterly condemned in the strongest language. The question is difficult; quomodo gaudebimus? How shall we rejoice at the intoxicated fury of a bloody sword? Yet some do make it an apostrophe, “And thou, oh sword of Nebuchadnezzar, that takest the sceptre from Judah, my son.” Be it so; but who commissioned and sent the Assyrians? It was the Christ, the Son of God. Isaiah 10:5, 6. Therefore, nothing can obstruct our belief of the generally received opinion of christian doctors, that the Father speaks here to the Son, as in the second psalm, when he placed him over the nations, with a rod of iron in his hand. This is the rod which despises every other sceptre, as a sceptre of wood. The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, and seated him in Zion at his own right hand.

V. 9. Furbished-Made clean and bright.

Verses 9, 10. Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened — The sword was unsheathed in the foregoing verses; here it is fitted to do execution, which the prophet is commanded to lament. 1. It is sharpened, that it may cut, and wound, and make sore slaughter. The wrath of God will put an edge upon it; and whatever instruments he shall be pleased to use in executing his judgments, he will fill them with strength, courage, and fury, according to the service they are employed in. 2. It is furbished, that it may glitter, to the terror of those against whom it is drawn. It shall be a kind of flaming sword. Though the glory of God’s justice may seem to have been eclipsed for a while, (like a sword rusting in the scabbard,) during the day of his patience, and the delay of his judgments; yet it will shine out again, and be made to glitter. 3. It is a victorious sword, nothing shall stand before it. It contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree — It makes no distinction between the sceptre and common wood; between the branches of the royal family, descended from David and Solomon, (who were honoured with the title of God’s sons,) and the meanest of the people. This seems to be the meaning of the clause, provided our translation be just; but it is rendered very differently in some other versions. The Vulgate reads, Qui moves sceptrum filii mei, succidisti omne lignum, Thou who removest the sceptre of my son, hast cut down every tree; which Capellus understands of Nebuchadnezzar, who took away the sceptre, and overturned the kingdom. The marginal reading, It is the rod of my son, it despiseth every tree, may be understood in two senses. It may either mean, It is the rod whereby I chastise my son, namely, my people Israel. These, collectively considered, are termed God’s son, Exodus 4:22, 23; Hosea 11:1; as being selected and chosen from all others, to stand to him in the relation of sons and daughters. Or, it may signify, It is the rod of my son, the Messiah, appointed by me to be the judge of the world, and invested with authority to execute judgment. This rod despiseth every tree; for it is the rod of iron, whereby the Son of God breaks the power of his enemies, Psalm 2:9, and dashes them in pieces like a potter’s vessel, without respect of persons.

Ver. 8-11. The word of the Lord came unto me saying, a sword, a sword is sharpened. Should we then make mirth? Nay, on the contrary, should we not howl and cry? A rebel nation exposed to fury: slaughter is diversion. Silent leges inter arma. The laws are silent in war. “It contemneth the rod of my Son as wood, or as every green tree.” By this highest title, my Son, the king of Judah cannot well be understood here, he being impeached and utterly condemned in the strongest language. The question is difficult; quomodo gaudebimus? How shall we rejoice at the intoxicated fury of a bloody sword? Yet some do make it an apostrophe, “And thou, oh sword of Nebuchadnezzar, that takest the sceptre from Judah, my son.” Be it so; but who commissioned and sent the Assyrians? It was the Christ, the Son of God. Isaiah 10:5, 6. Therefore, nothing can obstruct our belief of the generally received opinion of christian doctors, that the Father speaks here to the Son, as in the second psalm, when he placed him over the nations, with a rod of iron in his hand. This is the rod which despises every other sceptre, as a sceptre of wood. The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, and seated him in Zion at his own right hand.

V. 10. Of my son-To whom God saith, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Psalm 2:9. This sword is that rod of iron, which despiseth every tree, and will bear it down.

Verse 10. It contemneth the rod of my son] “It,” the sword of Nebuchadnezzar, “contemneth the rod,” despises the power and influence of my son—Israel, the Jewish people: “Out of Egypt have I called MY SON.”

As every tree.] As all the stocks, kindreds, and nations, over which I have already given him commission. Can the rod of Israel be spared, when the trees of Assyria, Egypt, &c., have been cut down?

Verses 9, 10. Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened — The sword was unsheathed in the foregoing verses; here it is fitted to do execution, which the prophet is commanded to lament. 1. It is sharpened, that it may cut, and wound, and make sore slaughter. The wrath of God will put an edge upon it; and whatever instruments he shall be pleased to use in executing his judgments, he will fill them with strength, courage, and fury, according to the service they are employed in. 2. It is furbished, that it may glitter, to the terror of those against whom it is drawn. It shall be a kind of flaming sword. Though the glory of God’s justice may seem to have been eclipsed for a while, (like a sword rusting in the scabbard,) during the day of his patience, and the delay of his judgments; yet it will shine out again, and be made to glitter. 3. It is a victorious sword, nothing shall stand before it. It contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree — It makes no distinction between the sceptre and common wood; between the branches of the royal family, descended from David and Solomon, (who were honoured with the title of God’s sons,) and the meanest of the people. This seems to be the meaning of the clause, provided our translation be just; but it is rendered very differently in some other versions. The Vulgate reads, Qui moves sceptrum filii mei, succidisti omne lignum, Thou who removest the sceptre of my son, hast cut down every tree; which Capellus understands of Nebuchadnezzar, who took away the sceptre, and overturned the kingdom. The marginal reading, It is the rod of my son, it despiseth every tree, may be understood in two senses. It may either mean, It is the rod whereby I chastise my son, namely, my people Israel. These, collectively considered, are termed God’s son, Exodus 4:22, 23; Hosea 11:1; as being selected and chosen from all others, to stand to him in the relation of sons and daughters. Or, it may signify, It is the rod of my son, the Messiah, appointed by me to be the judge of the world, and invested with authority to execute judgment. This rod despiseth every tree; for it is the rod of iron, whereby the Son of God breaks the power of his enemies, Psalm 2:9, and dashes them in pieces like a potter’s vessel, without respect of persons.

Ver. 8-11. The word of the Lord came unto me saying, a sword, a sword is sharpened. Should we then make mirth? Nay, on the contrary, should we not howl and cry? A rebel nation exposed to fury: slaughter is diversion. Silent leges inter arma. The laws are silent in war. “It contemneth the rod of my Son as wood, or as every green tree.” By this highest title, my Son, the king of Judah cannot well be understood here, he being impeached and utterly condemned in the strongest language. The question is difficult; quomodo gaudebimus? How shall we rejoice at the intoxicated fury of a bloody sword? Yet some do make it an apostrophe, “And thou, oh sword of Nebuchadnezzar, that takest the sceptre from Judah, my son.” Be it so; but who commissioned and sent the Assyrians? It was the Christ, the Son of God. Isaiah 10:5, 6. Therefore, nothing can obstruct our belief of the generally received opinion of christian doctors, that the Father speaks here to the Son, as in the second psalm, when he placed him over the nations, with a rod of iron in his hand. This is the rod which despises every other sceptre, as a sceptre of wood. The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, and seated him in Zion at his own right hand.

10. Should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree — Literally, shall we make mirth, saying, The scepter of my son contemneth all wood? Dr. Kautzsch and Professor Toy give up the text as hopelessly corrupt and without sensible meaning. The last clause may mean possibly either that the scepter of my son (Israel) defies every other scepter, or that his rod (punishment) exceeds all ordinary punishment. Smend emends the text so as to read, “Woe to the prince! thou hast despised the rod, hast contemned all wood.”

Verse 11. This sword is sharpened] It is prepared for the slaughter, it is furbished; from the French, foubir, to polish, brighten. He shall have splendid victories every where. Some complain of corruption in the original in this place; but I think without sufficient reason.

Ver. 8-11. The word of the Lord came unto me saying, a sword, a sword is sharpened. Should we then make mirth? Nay, on the contrary, should we not howl and cry? A rebel nation exposed to fury: slaughter is diversion. Silent leges inter arma. The laws are silent in war. “It contemneth the rod of my Son as wood, or as every green tree.” By this highest title, my Son, the king of Judah cannot well be understood here, he being impeached and utterly condemned in the strongest language. The question is difficult; quomodo gaudebimus? How shall we rejoice at the intoxicated fury of a bloody sword? Yet some do make it an apostrophe, “And thou, oh sword of Nebuchadnezzar, that takest the sceptre from Judah, my son.” Be it so; but who commissioned and sent the Assyrians? It was the Christ, the Son of God. Isaiah 10:5, 6. Therefore, nothing can obstruct our belief of the generally received opinion of christian doctors, that the Father speaks here to the Son, as in the second psalm, when he placed him over the nations, with a rod of iron in his hand. This is the rod which despises every other sceptre, as a sceptre of wood. The Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, and seated him in Zion at his own right hand.

V. 12. It-The devouring sword. Upon thy thigh-In token of thy sense of what they must suffer.

Verse 12. Smite—upon thy thigh.] See on Jeremiah 31:19. So HOMER, Il. xv. ver. 113:—

~Wv efat~, autar Arhv qalerw peplhgeto mhrw Cersi kataprhness~, olofuromenov de proshuda. “She spake; and, with expanded arms his thighs Smiting, thus sorrowful the god exclaimed.” COWPER.

Verses 12, 13. Cry and howl, son of man — As a mark of the vehemence of thy grief. For it shall be upon my people — Namely, the devouring sword; upon all the princes of Israel — Both princes and people shall be involved in one common destruction. Smite therefore upon thy thigh — Use all the outward expressions of grief and mourning. Because it is a trial — As all great calamities are often styled: see the margin. And what if the sword contemn even the rod? — Namely, the sceptre and royal family. The Hebrew, µn µa hmw tsam cbv, it seems, should rather be rendered, And what if even the rod, or sceptre, contemn? — That is, if the king and kingdom of Judah despise this trial. It shall be no more, saith the Lord — Both shall be destroyed, and be no more. The word rendered rod here, is continually put in Scripture for governor, or government; a rod, staff, or sceptre, being the usual signs of government. God, therefore, here foretels, that if the sceptre of Judah should despise, or not profit by, the correction or punishment brought upon it by the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar, it should be entirely broken, and be no more; which came to pass accordingly. The royal family was not amended by this severe judgment, and therefore was laid aside. “The sceptre here only means the kingly power in the house of David, and not that supreme authority which Jacob foretold should not forsake Judah till the coming of the Messiah.”

Ver. 12. Smite therefore upon thy thigh. Homer makes Achilles to smite on his thigh, when he saw the city of Troy in flames, because he was attached to Polixena, daughter of Priam. It is a custom mentioned by Cicero, and seems much the same as smiting on the breast. It was a somewhat stronger expression of anguish than locking of the hands, mentioned at the fourteenth verse.

12. Terrors by reason of the sword — Rather, they [the princes of Israel] with my people are delivered unto the sword. Smite therefore upon thy thigh — A gesture naturally expressing either antagonism or despair. Perhaps implying here “the sense of a terrible and irreparable evil happening.” (Compare Jeremiah 31:19.)

V. 13. If-But if the king and kingdom of Judah despise this trial, both shall be destroyed and be no more.

Verse 13. Because it is a trial] This will be a trial of strength and skill between the Chaldeans and the Jews; and a trial of faith and patience to the righteous.

And what if the sword, (Nebuchadnezzar,) contemn even the rod?] Overthrow Zedekiah? It will do so; for the regal government of Judea shall be no more. Or, it is tried; that is, the sword. Nebuchadnezzar has already shown himself strong and skilful.

Verses 12, 13. Cry and howl, son of man — As a mark of the vehemence of thy grief. For it shall be upon my people — Namely, the devouring sword; upon all the princes of Israel — Both princes and people shall be involved in one common destruction. Smite therefore upon thy thigh — Use all the outward expressions of grief and mourning. Because it is a trial — As all great calamities are often styled: see the margin. And what if the sword contemn even the rod? — Namely, the sceptre and royal family. The Hebrew, µn µa hmw tsam cbv, it seems, should rather be rendered, And what if even the rod, or sceptre, contemn? — That is, if the king and kingdom of Judah despise this trial. It shall be no more, saith the Lord — Both shall be destroyed, and be no more. The word rendered rod here, is continually put in Scripture for governor, or government; a rod, staff, or sceptre, being the usual signs of government. God, therefore, here foretels, that if the sceptre of Judah should despise, or not profit by, the correction or punishment brought upon it by the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar, it should be entirely broken, and be no more; which came to pass accordingly. The royal family was not amended by this severe judgment, and therefore was laid aside. “The sceptre here only means the kingly power in the house of David, and not that supreme authority which Jacob foretold should not forsake Judah till the coming of the Messiah.”

13. Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more — Perhaps, for the trial hath been made, and what if even the contemning scepter should be no more? (Kliefoth, Schroder, R.V.) This would refer to the destruction of the royal house of Judah. (See verses 10, 25-27.) The corruption of the text is seen from the fact that with a few changes Cornill can read, “for by favor what (can I accomplish)? Have they turned from their uncleanness? It shall not be.”

V. 14. And smite-In token of amazement and sorrow. Of the slain-Wherewith many shall be slain. Privy chambers-Where they were hidden in hope to escape.

Verse 14. Let the sword be doubled the third time] The sword has been doubled, and it shall come the third time. Nebuchadnezzar came against Judea THRICE. 1. Against Jehoiakim. 2. Against Jeconiah. 3. Against Zedekiah. The sword had already been doubled; it is to come now the third time, i.e., against Zedekiah.

The sword of the slain] חללים חרב chereb chalalim, “the sword of the soldiers,” of the Chaldeans. So in the next clause, lwdgh llj brj ayh hi chereb chalal haggadol, “it is the sword of that great soldier,” that eminent king and conqueror. This is the meaning of the word llj chalal, that is so ill rendered in almost every place of its occurrence, in our Version. See Dr. Kennicott.

Verses 14, 17. Prophesy, and smite thy hands together — In token of amazement and sorrow. And let the sword be doubled the third time — Bishop Newcome reads, Bring the sword twice; yea, bring it thrice; namely, that God’s judgments might be fully executed, and his justice satisfied. It is probable that the three great slaughters which should be made of the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem are here intended, namely, 1st, During the siege, in which, undoubtedly, great numbers fell who were without the walls of the city, and many within: 2dly, When the city was taken by assault, which certainly was not without great slaughter: and 3dly, The massacre of Gedaliah, and those that sided with him. The sword of the slain — Wherewith many shall be slain. It is the sword of the great men, &c. — Appointed for the slaughter of the great men, namely, the princes, rulers, and captains; which entereth into their privy chambers — Where they were hidden in hopes of escaping. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates — I have gathered together the Chaldeans round about Jerusalem, with their swords sharpened and drawn at every gate, to meet and slay all that shall attempt to come out, or to slay all they find on entering the city. Ah! it is made bright — Hebrew, qrbl hywc[, is made like lightning. The same metaphor which occurs in Virgil: “Vaginaque eripit, ensem fulmineum.” — ÆN. 4. 50:579.

“He drew his sword, which did like lightning blaze.”

It is wrapped — Or rather, It is sharpened for the slaughter. So Kimchius and some others translate hc[m, deriving the word from c[, a style, or iron pen: see Buxtorf. Go thee one way or other — God is here represented as speaking, by way of apostrophe, to the sword, and giving it an unlimited commission to destroy wherever it should be drawn. I will also smite my hands together — In token of my approbation. I will animate and encourage the slayers to go on. And I will cause my fury to rest — I will satisfy my anger by a full execution of my judgments.

Ver. 14. Let the sword be doubled the third time. The people were carried to Babylon at three different times. First, when Jehoiakim was taken; secondly, when Jeconiah was taken; but the third time was doubly severe when the city was burnt, and all the poor carried to Babylon.

14. Smite thine hands together — Verse 17; see notes Ezekiel 6:11. Let the sword be doubled the third time — Let it fall with a doubled and tripled power. Great men that are slain — Rather, “the great one that is slain;” that is, Zedekiah. Entereth into their privy chambers — Rather, compasseth them about.

V. 15. All their gates-Both of cities, of palaces, and of private houses. Wrapt up-And hath been carefully kept in the scabbard, that it might not be blunted.

Verse 15. Wrapped up] It is not a blunt sword, it is carefully sharpened and preserved for the slaughter.

Verses 14, 17. Prophesy, and smite thy hands together — In token of amazement and sorrow. And let the sword be doubled the third time — Bishop Newcome reads, Bring the sword twice; yea, bring it thrice; namely, that God’s judgments might be fully executed, and his justice satisfied. It is probable that the three great slaughters which should be made of the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem are here intended, namely, 1st, During the siege, in which, undoubtedly, great numbers fell who were without the walls of the city, and many within: 2dly, When the city was taken by assault, which certainly was not without great slaughter: and 3dly, The massacre of Gedaliah, and those that sided with him. The sword of the slain — Wherewith many shall be slain. It is the sword of the great men, &c. — Appointed for the slaughter of the great men, namely, the princes, rulers, and captains; which entereth into their privy chambers — Where they were hidden in hopes of escaping. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates — I have gathered together the Chaldeans round about Jerusalem, with their swords sharpened and drawn at every gate, to meet and slay all that shall attempt to come out, or to slay all they find on entering the city. Ah! it is made bright — Hebrew, qrbl hywc[, is made like lightning. The same metaphor which occurs in Virgil: “Vaginaque eripit, ensem fulmineum.” — ÆN. 4. 50:579.

“He drew his sword, which did like lightning blaze.”

It is wrapped — Or rather, It is sharpened for the slaughter. So Kimchius and some others translate hc[m, deriving the word from c[, a style, or iron pen: see Buxtorf. Go thee one way or other — God is here represented as speaking, by way of apostrophe, to the sword, and giving it an unlimited commission to destroy wherever it should be drawn. I will also smite my hands together — In token of my approbation. I will animate and encourage the slayers to go on. And I will cause my fury to rest — I will satisfy my anger by a full execution of my judgments.

15. Point — The word has been supposed to mean “threatening,” “terror,” “shouting,” “waving.” Glitter — It literally means whirl. “Almost exactly the same word in Assyrian means slaughter.” — W.A.I., 2:23, 9. Their ruins be multiplied — Rather, there be many to stumble over (Jeremiah 6:21), or, by a slight change, those overthrown may be multiplied.

V. 16. Go-O sword, take thy own course.

Verse 16. Go thee one way or other] Thou shalt prosper, O sword, whithersoever thou turnest; against Ammon, or Judea, or Egypt.

Verses 14, 17. Prophesy, and smite thy hands together — In token of amazement and sorrow. And let the sword be doubled the third time — Bishop Newcome reads, Bring the sword twice; yea, bring it thrice; namely, that God’s judgments might be fully executed, and his justice satisfied. It is probable that the three great slaughters which should be made of the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem are here intended, namely, 1st, During the siege, in which, undoubtedly, great numbers fell who were without the walls of the city, and many within: 2dly, When the city was taken by assault, which certainly was not without great slaughter: and 3dly, The massacre of Gedaliah, and those that sided with him. The sword of the slain — Wherewith many shall be slain. It is the sword of the great men, &c. — Appointed for the slaughter of the great men, namely, the princes, rulers, and captains; which entereth into their privy chambers — Where they were hidden in hopes of escaping. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates — I have gathered together the Chaldeans round about Jerusalem, with their swords sharpened and drawn at every gate, to meet and slay all that shall attempt to come out, or to slay all they find on entering the city. Ah! it is made bright — Hebrew, qrbl hywc[, is made like lightning. The same metaphor which occurs in Virgil: “Vaginaque eripit, ensem fulmineum.” — ÆN. 4. 50:579.

“He drew his sword, which did like lightning blaze.”

It is wrapped — Or rather, It is sharpened for the slaughter. So Kimchius and some others translate hc[m, deriving the word from c[, a style, or iron pen: see Buxtorf. Go thee one way or other — God is here represented as speaking, by way of apostrophe, to the sword, and giving it an unlimited commission to destroy wherever it should be drawn. I will also smite my hands together — In token of my approbation. I will animate and encourage the slayers to go on. And I will cause my fury to rest — I will satisfy my anger by a full execution of my judgments.

16. Go thee one way or other, etc. — R.V., “Gather thee together, go to the right; set thyself in array, go to the left; whithersoever thy face is set.” Toy changes text slightly so as to read, “Turn thee, O sword, to the rear, to the right, to the front, to the left, whithersoever thine edge is appointed to turn.”

The prophet is commanded to make a mimic representation, perhaps upon a brick (Ezekiel 4:1-3), or on the floor of his house, of the great highway leading out of Babylon, which at a certain point divided into two roads, the one to Rabbah, the other to Jerusalem. He then pictures the king of Babylon coming to the parting of the ways, where he consults the oracle as to which road he shall take, and is led to the right hand toward Jerusalem. Even the divination of the heathen is overruled by Jehovah and used for the chastisement of his sinning people (verses 18-27).

V. 17. Smite my hands-In token of my approbation.

Verses 14, 17. Prophesy, and smite thy hands together — In token of amazement and sorrow. And let the sword be doubled the third time — Bishop Newcome reads, Bring the sword twice; yea, bring it thrice; namely, that God’s judgments might be fully executed, and his justice satisfied. It is probable that the three great slaughters which should be made of the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem are here intended, namely, 1st, During the siege, in which, undoubtedly, great numbers fell who were without the walls of the city, and many within: 2dly, When the city was taken by assault, which certainly was not without great slaughter: and 3dly, The massacre of Gedaliah, and those that sided with him. The sword of the slain — Wherewith many shall be slain. It is the sword of the great men, &c. — Appointed for the slaughter of the great men, namely, the princes, rulers, and captains; which entereth into their privy chambers — Where they were hidden in hopes of escaping. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates — I have gathered together the Chaldeans round about Jerusalem, with their swords sharpened and drawn at every gate, to meet and slay all that shall attempt to come out, or to slay all they find on entering the city. Ah! it is made bright — Hebrew, qrbl hywc[, is made like lightning. The same metaphor which occurs in Virgil: “Vaginaque eripit, ensem fulmineum.” — ÆN. 4. 50:579.

“He drew his sword, which did like lightning blaze.”

It is wrapped — Or rather, It is sharpened for the slaughter. So Kimchius and some others translate hc[m, deriving the word from c[, a style, or iron pen: see Buxtorf. Go thee one way or other — God is here represented as speaking, by way of apostrophe, to the sword, and giving it an unlimited commission to destroy wherever it should be drawn. I will also smite my hands together — In token of my approbation. I will animate and encourage the slayers to go on. And I will cause my fury to rest — I will satisfy my anger by a full execution of my judgments.

V. 19. Appoint-Paint, or describe them on a tile. One land-That is, Babylon. Chuse-Pitch on some convenient place, where thou mayest place Nebuchadnezzar’s army, consulting where this one way divides into two, which was on the edge of the desert of Arabia. At the head-Where each way runs, toward either Rabbath, or Jerusalem; for there Nebuchadnezzar will cast lots.

Verse 19. Appoint thee two ways] Set off from Babylon, and lay down two ways, either of which thou mayest take; that to the right, which leads to Jerusalem; or that to the left, which leads to Rabbath of the Ammonites, Ezekiel 21:20. But why against the Ammonites? Because both they and the Moabites were united with Zedekiah against the Chaldeans, (see Jeremiah 27:3,) though they afterwards fought against Judea, chap. xii. 6.

Verses 19, 20. Appoint thee two ways — So as to represent them to the eyes of thy countrymen: see Ezekiel 4:1; “Designa in tabella, lapide, aut terra.” Mark on a map, a stone, or on the earth. — Vatablus. That the sword of the king of Babylon may come — Dr. Waterland translates this, “Appoint thee two roads for the king of Babylon’s sword to come by; let both go forth out of one land; and choose thou a way-mark; choose it at the head of the road toward the city: verse 20, Point out a road for the sword to go to Rabbath, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.” Instead of the defenced, Houbigant reads, that he may besiege it. God here foreshows his prophet, that when the king of Babylon should come with his army into Syria, and find the Ammonites had entered into a confederacy with Egypt as well as Zedekiah, he would be in doubt against which of the two people he should first make war, and would commit the decision of the matter to his arts of divination, described verse 21; and that God should direct the divination to be for taking the road that leads to Jerusalem. The words, Let both go forth out of one land, seem to mean, that the single way should divide itself into two, leading to different places. This, as appears from what follows, was the road coming out of Arabia, which afterward parted into two, one leading to Rabbath, and the other to Jerusalem.

19. Appoint thee — Rather, make thee. Choose thou a place — Rather, engrave thee a signpost (literally, hand). This signpost was placed “at the head of the way to each city.” Such engravings or outline maps were not at all uncommon in Babylon and Egypt in Ezekiel’s day or a thousand years earlier. (See Ezekiel 4:1-3.)

V. 20. To Judah-The Jews.

Verses 19, 20. Appoint thee two ways — So as to represent them to the eyes of thy countrymen: see Ezekiel 4:1; “Designa in tabella, lapide, aut terra.” Mark on a map, a stone, or on the earth. — Vatablus. That the sword of the king of Babylon may come — Dr. Waterland translates this, “Appoint thee two roads for the king of Babylon’s sword to come by; let both go forth out of one land; and choose thou a way-mark; choose it at the head of the road toward the city: verse 20, Point out a road for the sword to go to Rabbath, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.” Instead of the defenced, Houbigant reads, that he may besiege it. God here foreshows his prophet, that when the king of Babylon should come with his army into Syria, and find the Ammonites had entered into a confederacy with Egypt as well as Zedekiah, he would be in doubt against which of the two people he should first make war, and would commit the decision of the matter to his arts of divination, described verse 21; and that God should direct the divination to be for taking the road that leads to Jerusalem. The words, Let both go forth out of one land, seem to mean, that the single way should divide itself into two, leading to different places. This, as appears from what follows, was the road coming out of Arabia, which afterward parted into two, one leading to Rabbath, and the other to Jerusalem.

20. Rabbath (R.V., “Rabbah”) was the capital of the Ammonites (Amos 1:14), later called Philadelphia. (See also Ezekiel 25:5.) The king can hardly decide whether to first carry his arms against this city or Jerusalem, but the magic arrow settles the question. In Jerusalem the defensed — LXX., and Jerusalem in her midst.

V. 21. Stood-The prophet speaks of what shall be, as if it were already. To use-To consult with his gods, and to cast lots. Arrows-Writing on them the names of the cities, then putting them into a quiver, and thence drawing them out and concluding, according to the name which was drawn. He consulted-Perhaps by a divine permission, the devil gave them answers from those images. In the liver-They judged of future events, by the entrails, and more especially by the liver.

Verse 21. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way] He was in doubt which way he should first take; whether to humble the Ammonites by taking their metropolis, Riblath, or go at once against Jerusalem. In this case of uncertainty, he made use of divination. And this was of three kinds: 1. By arrows. 2. By images or talismans. 3. By inspecting the entrails of a sacrifice offered on the occasion.

1. He made bright his arrows. This might be after the manner in which the divination is still practiced among the Arabs. These arrows were without head or wing. They took three. On one they wrote, Command me, Lord. On the second, Forbid me, Lord. The third was blank. These were put in a bag, and the querist put in his hand and took one out. If it was Command me, he set about the business immediately; if it was Forbid me, he rested for a whole year; if it was the blank one, he drew again. On all occasions the Arabs consulted futurity by such arrows. See D’Herbelot, under the word ACDAH.

2. As to the images, the Hebrew calls them תרפים teraphim. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 31:19”.

3. And as to the liver, I believe it was only inspected to see whether the animal offered in sacrifice were sound and healthy, of which the state of the liver is the most especial indication. When the liver is sound, the animal is healthy; and it would have been a bad omen to any who offered sacrifice, to find that the animal they had offered to their gods was diseased; as, in that case, they would have taken for granted that the sacrifice was not accepted.

Verses 21, 22. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way — The prophet here expresses what was future as if it were past, according to the usual style of the prophets, when speaking of things soon to come to pass. And he explains the symbolical action spoken of in the two foregoing verses; he shows that it was designed to represent what the king of Babylon would do when he was on his march, and came to the place where the road was divided; that he would use divination to determine which of the roads he should take. He made his arrows bright — The Vulgate reads, Commiscens sagittas, Mingling his arrows; which sense of the verb lqlq, agrees better with the accounts given us by ancient writers of this kind of divination, and therefore is preferred by Dr. Pocock, who confirms it by the Arabic use of the word. It is also adopted by Bishop Newcome. The way of divining by arrows is thus described by St. Jerome in his commentary on this place: “They wrote on several arrows the names of the cities they intended to assault; and then, putting them all together promiscuously in a quiver, they drew them out thence as lots are drawn; and that city whose name was written on the arrow first drawn was the city they first made war upon.” A method of divining by arrows is still in use, it appears, among the idolatrous Arabs. Of this we read the following description, in Sale’s Preliminary Discourse to the Koran, p. 126: “Seven divining arrows were kept at the temple of Mecca; but generally, in divination, the idolatrous Arabs made use of three only, on one of which was written, My Lord hath commanded me; on another, My Lord hath forbidden me; and the third was blank. If the first was drawn, they looked on it as an approbation of the enterprise in question; if the second, they made a contrary conclusion; but if the third happened to be drawn, they mixed them, and drew over again, till a decisive answer was given by one of the others.” He consulted with images — The Hebrew word here is teraphim, the name given to the images, or gods, which Rachel stole from Laban, Genesis 31:19. In what way these were consulted cannot now be said, and all conjectures about it are vain. He looked in the liver — This was another way of divination used among these heathen; they determined for or against certain things, according to the state of the liver of sacrificed animals, whether mutilated or complete, sound or unsound, or from its colour, or some marks appearing in particular places of it, and this by rules laid down among them. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem — When the king of Babylon stood at the head of the two ways, to consult which of the two he should take, the tokens that were shown him, God so ordering it, induced him to march with his army to the right, that is, toward Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar must be considered as coming from Dan, and marching along the river Jordan. Rabbath was therefore situated to the left hand, and Jerusalem to the right: see Michaelis. From this, and many other instances in the Scriptures, we may conclude, that things apparently the most fortuitous, such as the coming up of lots, and the like, are subject to the direction of Divine Providence, and, when occasion requires it, are ordered to answer its purposes; to open the mouth in the slaughter — Or, to the slaughter; that is, to animate the soldiers to slay. To lift up the voice with shouting — To make the military cry, in order to strike the inhabitants with terror. We find it was usual, in almost all armies, to begin the attack of their enemies with a loud cry, which served to animate their own men, and to intimidate the enemy. To cast a mount — See note on Jeremiah 22:24.

Ver. 21. To use divination. According to Jerome, it was the custom of the heathen, when an attack was proposed on several nations, to write the name of each nation on an arrow. Then they put them in a quiver, and the nation first drawn was the first object of attack. So Nebuchadnezzar, when he came to a place where the road divided, being undecided whether to go against Jerusalem or Rabbah, is here said to do. The second kind of divination here mentioned, was universal among the heathen. He looked in the liver, he inspected the liver of the victims for the altar. These were slain to render the gods propitious to the expedition. “If the liver,” says Dr. Potter, “had a pleasing and natural redness; if it was sound, without spot or blemish; if its head was large; if it had two heads, or there were two livers; then prosperity and success were expected. On the other hand, if there appeared on it any blisters, wheals or ulcers; if there was too much dryness, or a ligament between the parts; if any part was misplaced, or the liver itself altogether wanting, nothing but dangers and disappointments were expected.” The druids were far-famed for inspecting the liver of victims. Thank God, christianity has delivered us from these follies.

21. Stood — Literally, standeth. The prophet sees what shall come to pass as if it had already happened. Made his arrows bright, etc. — Rather, he shaketh with the arrows, he inquireth of the teraphim (images); he looketh in the liver. His arrows — The Babylonians practiced five principal methods of divination: by the flight of arrows, by the flight of birds, by the livers of dogs, by divining cups, by terra cotta images. This practice of belomancy, or presaging the future with arrows, though mentioned nowhere else in the Old Testament, was the most common and simple form of martial divination in Babylon. As Professor Toy says, “Reference to this custom seems very natural in the mouth of Ezekiel, who might have seen the ceremony performed as we now have it figured on the Assyrian and Babylonian monuments.” (See Society of Biblical Literature, vol. 1.) Perhaps these were arrows which were about to be used in the campaign. One text says, “The arrows are lances in the town and in the country, the terror of the earth” (W.A.I., 3:52). The method of using the arrows is not explained on the monuments. Tacitus describes the Germans as cutting into several pieces a rod from a fruit-bearing tree, marking the different pieces according to the different plans proposed and then casting them at hazard and deciding the issue by the way in which the sticks lay. So several arrows might be thrown into the air at the junction of two roads and the way taken to which the arrows inclined in falling; or inscribed arrows might be shaken in a vessel and one selected at random (Lenormant, La Divination, chap. ii). Doubtless, divination was practiced in Babylon by shooting the arrow (Laurent, La Magie et La Divination, 1894, p. 83, etc.); but the mention of the king shaking the arrows would favor here some other method. These arrows or spears are often seen represented, on the cylinders, carried in the hands to the number of eight by Asshur, Marduk, and Ishtar. Consulted with images — This practice is again mentioned (Zechariah 10:2). These images seem to have been figures of Mul-lil, or Eu-lil, the ghost-god. The habit of consulting them dates back to the most remote date of Babylonian civilization. Some of these which were brought from Khorsabad can be seen to-day in the British Museum. These images are called by the Semitic name, teraphim. (See Genesis 31:19.) He looked in the liver — This is thoroughly Babylonian. A cuneiform text at Berlin says, “Incantation: The liver of a dog, the liver of a black dog, the utuk of fortune, the utuk of Mul-lil, I see.”

V. 22. The divination-The divination which concerned Jerusalem, was managed on his right hand.

Verse 22. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem] He had probably written on two arrows; one, Jerusalem; the other, Riblath; the third, left blank. He drew, and that on which Jerusalem was written came to his hand; in consequence of which he marched immediately against that city. It was ripe for destruction; and had he marched before or after, it would have fallen; but he never considered himself as sure of the conquest till now.

Verses 21, 22. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way — The prophet here expresses what was future as if it were past, according to the usual style of the prophets, when speaking of things soon to come to pass. And he explains the symbolical action spoken of in the two foregoing verses; he shows that it was designed to represent what the king of Babylon would do when he was on his march, and came to the place where the road was divided; that he would use divination to determine which of the roads he should take. He made his arrows bright — The Vulgate reads, Commiscens sagittas, Mingling his arrows; which sense of the verb lqlq, agrees better with the accounts given us by ancient writers of this kind of divination, and therefore is preferred by Dr. Pocock, who confirms it by the Arabic use of the word. It is also adopted by Bishop Newcome. The way of divining by arrows is thus described by St. Jerome in his commentary on this place: “They wrote on several arrows the names of the cities they intended to assault; and then, putting them all together promiscuously in a quiver, they drew them out thence as lots are drawn; and that city whose name was written on the arrow first drawn was the city they first made war upon.” A method of divining by arrows is still in use, it appears, among the idolatrous Arabs. Of this we read the following description, in Sale’s Preliminary Discourse to the Koran, p. 126: “Seven divining arrows were kept at the temple of Mecca; but generally, in divination, the idolatrous Arabs made use of three only, on one of which was written, My Lord hath commanded me; on another, My Lord hath forbidden me; and the third was blank. If the first was drawn, they looked on it as an approbation of the enterprise in question; if the second, they made a contrary conclusion; but if the third happened to be drawn, they mixed them, and drew over again, till a decisive answer was given by one of the others.” He consulted with images — The Hebrew word here is teraphim, the name given to the images, or gods, which Rachel stole from Laban, Genesis 31:19. In what way these were consulted cannot now be said, and all conjectures about it are vain. He looked in the liver — This was another way of divination used among these heathen; they determined for or against certain things, according to the state of the liver of sacrificed animals, whether mutilated or complete, sound or unsound, or from its colour, or some marks appearing in particular places of it, and this by rules laid down among them. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem — When the king of Babylon stood at the head of the two ways, to consult which of the two he should take, the tokens that were shown him, God so ordering it, induced him to march with his army to the right, that is, toward Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar must be considered as coming from Dan, and marching along the river Jordan. Rabbath was therefore situated to the left hand, and Jerusalem to the right: see Michaelis. From this, and many other instances in the Scriptures, we may conclude, that things apparently the most fortuitous, such as the coming up of lots, and the like, are subject to the direction of Divine Providence, and, when occasion requires it, are ordered to answer its purposes; to open the mouth in the slaughter — Or, to the slaughter; that is, to animate the soldiers to slay. To lift up the voice with shouting — To make the military cry, in order to strike the inhabitants with terror. We find it was usual, in almost all armies, to begin the attack of their enemies with a loud cry, which served to animate their own men, and to intimidate the enemy. To cast a mount — See note on Jeremiah 22:24.

22. At his right hand, etc. — Rather, in his right hand is the lot Jerusalem, to set battering-rams, etc. The oracle has decided that his siege implements shall be set against Jerusalem instead of Rabbah. The capture of the Ammonite city may come later (Ezekiel 25:4).

V. 23. Them-The Jews. That have sworn-Zedekiah, his princes, and nobles, who swore allegiance to the king of Babylon, these perjured persons will contemn all predictions of the prophet. He-Nebuchadnezzar. The iniquity-The wickedness of their perjury and rebellion. They-Zedekiah, and the Jews with him

Verse 23. To them that have sworn oaths] To Zedekiah and his ministers, who had bound themselves by the oath of the Lord to be faithful to the Chaldeans, and to pay them the promised tribute. The oaths may refer, farther, to the alliances formed with the Egyptians, Ammonites, and others. They will not believe that Nebuchadnezzar shall suceeed against them, while they expect the powerful assistance of the Egyptians.

Verses 23, 24. And it shall be as a false divination to them that have sworn oaths — That is, the Jews, when they shall hear of it, shall deride and despise it as a vain, lying divination, and so shall consider themselves as being unconcerned in it; and that though they have sworn homage to the king of Babylon, and afterward perfidiously broken their covenant with him. But he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken — Nebuchadnezzar will remember Zedekiah’s breach of his oath, and all his and his people’s treacheries, and will avenge himself by taking the city, and making him and his subjects prisoners of war. The form of expression seems to imply that the king of Babylon had had it chiefly in his mind to go against Rabbath; but the divinations all signifying that he should go against Jerusalem, caused him to reflect on the perfidious behaviour of the Jewish nation toward him, and so determined him to take the way to Jerusalem, in order severely to punish the inhabitants of it. Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered — Not by yourselves, that it might be repented of, but by me, that it might be punished: because by your open and manifest continuance in your former sinful courses against me, and rebellions against the king of Babylon, you cause both me and him to call your iniquitous conduct to mind, and punish you for it: ye shall be taken by the hand — As birds or beasts, entangled in the net, are easily taken with the hand, so shall you be taken in the easiest manner, and fall into the hands of the king of Babylon, whose anger you have justly provoked.

23. To them that have sworn oaths — Rather, to them who have received oaths (Keil). The meaning is obscure, but seems to be that although the Hebrews call this a “false divination” because of the oath of help which they have received from Egypt (Ezekiel 17:18) or possibly from God (Ezekiel 20:42), yet it will prove a true omen and Israel’s sins shall be openly exposed and openly punished. (See Ezekiel 29:16.)

V. 24. Your transgressions-Against God, and against the king of Babylon. Discovered-To all in court, city, and country. With the hand-As birds, or beasts in the net, are taken with the hands, so shall you, and be carried into Babylon.

Verses 23, 24. And it shall be as a false divination to them that have sworn oaths — That is, the Jews, when they shall hear of it, shall deride and despise it as a vain, lying divination, and so shall consider themselves as being unconcerned in it; and that though they have sworn homage to the king of Babylon, and afterward perfidiously broken their covenant with him. But he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken — Nebuchadnezzar will remember Zedekiah’s breach of his oath, and all his and his people’s treacheries, and will avenge himself by taking the city, and making him and his subjects prisoners of war. The form of expression seems to imply that the king of Babylon had had it chiefly in his mind to go against Rabbath; but the divinations all signifying that he should go against Jerusalem, caused him to reflect on the perfidious behaviour of the Jewish nation toward him, and so determined him to take the way to Jerusalem, in order severely to punish the inhabitants of it. Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered — Not by yourselves, that it might be repented of, but by me, that it might be punished: because by your open and manifest continuance in your former sinful courses against me, and rebellions against the king of Babylon, you cause both me and him to call your iniquitous conduct to mind, and punish you for it: ye shall be taken by the hand — As birds or beasts, entangled in the net, are easily taken with the hand, so shall you be taken in the easiest manner, and fall into the hands of the king of Babylon, whose anger you have justly provoked.

24. With the hand — Does this mean that they shall be taken in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar or that they shall be seized by the hand so as to be unable to escape? Or is the reading of the Septuagint to be preferred, “Ye shall be taken in them;” that is, the nation’s sins are the net in which she has become ensnared?

V. 25. And thou-Zedekiah. Whose day-The day of sorrows, and sufferings, and punishment is at hand. Shall have an end-Shall bring the ruin of king and kingdom, and with the overthrow of your state, the means of sinning shall end too.

Verse 25. And thou profane wicked prince of Israel] Zedekiah, called here profane, because he had broken his oath; and wicked, because of his opposition to God and his prophet.

Whose day is come] Who in a short time shalt be delivered into the hands of thy enemies.

Verses 25, 26. And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel — The words are directed to Zedekiah, whom the prophet calls profane and wicked, chiefly with respect to his breaking that solemn oath, uttered in the name of God, whereby he had engaged himself to be tributary to the king of Babylon. By this action he and his courtiers did great dishonour to the true God. The king of Babylon, it appears, kept the oath which he sware to them by his false gods, while they broke the oath which they sware to him by Jehovah! Thus disgracing the true God before the Babylonians and other heathen, who must needs entertain a contemptible opinion of that being, whose worshippers durst break the oath which they had sworn by him. Therefore with respect to this, as well as his unalterable regard to truth and the due observance of oaths, God could not but look with indignation upon the breach of their oath, and inflict punishment upon them for it. See note on Ezekiel 17:15. Whose day is come — The day of whose calamity is near at hand, when he shall receive the due punishment of his iniquity. Remove the diadem — The original word is often used for the priestly mitre, but here it means some kingly ornament, probably the royal tire of the head. Take off the crown — Depose him from his kingly dignity. This shall not be the same — The kingdom shall never be what it has been. Exalt him that is low — This seems to be spoken of Jehoiachin, who was many years kept in prison at Babylon; but at length, as we read 2 Kings 25:27, was taken out of prison, kindly treated, and advanced to great honour by Evil-merodach, king of Babylon. And abase him that is high — Namely, Zedekiah; who was to be pulled down from his throne, have his eyes put out, and be kept in prison the remainder of his days.

Ver. 25. Thou profane and wicked prince of Israel. The name of the king is omitted; some respect is due to the diadem, though in gross error. He had patronized the worship of Moloch, attended with infant victims, and had violated the oath he had sworn to Nebuchadnezzar. He had persecuted Jeremiah, and refused to hear him when speaking from the mouth of the Lord. Therefore he lost his crown; and with his crown he lost his kingdom. The Lord, as David said to Solomon, “cast him off for ever.” 2 Chronicles 28:10.

25. Thou, profane wicked prince of Israel — Rather, “O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel” (R.V.). When iniquity shall have an end — Rather, “in the time of the iniquity [or, punishment] of the end” (R.V.). Then Zedekiah shall be captured and the state overthrown “in the time of the end” (Ezekiel 35:5). “The end” with Ezekiel was the “now” in which wickedness had reached its climax. It is a vital truth that every generation lives in the end of time.

V. 26. The diadem-The royal attire of the head, which the king daily wore. Shall not be the same-The kingdom shall never be what it hath been. Him that is low-Jeconiah. The advance of this captive king, came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of his captivity.

Verse 26. Exalt him that is low] Give Gedaliah the government of Judea. Abase him that is high] Depose Zedekiah—remove his diadem, and take off his crown.

Verses 25, 26. And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel — The words are directed to Zedekiah, whom the prophet calls profane and wicked, chiefly with respect to his breaking that solemn oath, uttered in the name of God, whereby he had engaged himself to be tributary to the king of Babylon. By this action he and his courtiers did great dishonour to the true God. The king of Babylon, it appears, kept the oath which he sware to them by his false gods, while they broke the oath which they sware to him by Jehovah! Thus disgracing the true God before the Babylonians and other heathen, who must needs entertain a contemptible opinion of that being, whose worshippers durst break the oath which they had sworn by him. Therefore with respect to this, as well as his unalterable regard to truth and the due observance of oaths, God could not but look with indignation upon the breach of their oath, and inflict punishment upon them for it. See note on Ezekiel 17:15. Whose day is come — The day of whose calamity is near at hand, when he shall receive the due punishment of his iniquity. Remove the diadem — The original word is often used for the priestly mitre, but here it means some kingly ornament, probably the royal tire of the head. Take off the crown — Depose him from his kingly dignity. This shall not be the same — The kingdom shall never be what it has been. Exalt him that is low — This seems to be spoken of Jehoiachin, who was many years kept in prison at Babylon; but at length, as we read 2 Kings 25:27, was taken out of prison, kindly treated, and advanced to great honour by Evil-merodach, king of Babylon. And abase him that is high — Namely, Zedekiah; who was to be pulled down from his throne, have his eyes put out, and be kept in prison the remainder of his days.

Ver. 26, 27. Remove the diadem. Let it never more be worn, either by son or brother. Let it revert into his hands, who gave it to David when keeping his father’s sheep. Let him be crowned,

WHOSE RIGHT IT IS.

My servant David shall again feed my sheep, and be a prince among them: chap. 34. Yea, Israel in the latter day shall remember and turn unto the Lord. I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen. I will raise up his ruins, and build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11. Messiah is the horn of salvation in the house of David.

We must remark here, that Ezekiel saw the humble and abject state of the Saviour before his elevation. Exalt him that is low; give him a name above every creature in heaven and earth. We remark also, that Messiah the prince is constituted the judge and ruler of all the nations of the earth. Give the king thy judgments, oh Lord; and thy righteousness to the king’s son. Psalm 72:1. All judgment is committed to the Son, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. John 5:22. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and of his government there shall be no end. Oh Zion, this is thy Messiah, without beginning of days or end of life.

26. Diadem — “Miter” (Exodus 28:4). This shall not be the same — Dr. Davidson remarks that these enigmatical words probably mean, “This is not that;” that is, the present royal house and regime is not that which shall be (the Messianic), as verse 27 explains; or “this shall not remain this;” that is, what it is; it shall be removed and give place to something higher to come (verse 27). Exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high — Rather, the low shall be exalted and the high abased. (See verse 27; 17:24.)

V. 27. Shall be no more-Never recover its former glory, ‘till the scepter be quite taken away from Judah, and way be made for the Messiah. He hath an incontestable right to the dominion both in the church and in the world. And in due time he shall have the possession of it, all adverse power being overturned.

Verse 27. I will overturn] I will utterly destroy the Jewish government. Perverted will I make it. See the margin.

Until he come whose—is] cpvm mishpat, the judgment; i.e., till the coming of the son of David, the Lord Jesus; who, in a mystic and spiritual sense, shall have the throne of Israel, and whose right it is. See the famous prophecy, Genesis 49:10, and Luke 1:32. The hw[ avah, which we translate overturn, is thrice repeated here; to point out, say the rabbins, the three conquests of Jerusalem, in which Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah were overthrown.

Verse 27. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it — By several degrees I will utterly overthrow the kingdom of Judah; and it shall be no more — It shall never recover its former lustre and dignity; until he come, &c. — Till the Messiah come to take his kingdom. To the same purpose is Lowth’s paraphrase on the verse: “After that Zedekiah is deprived of his regal authority, there shall be no more kings of that family till Christ come, the King so often foretold and promised, who in due time shall reign upon the throne of his father David, and of whose kingdom there shall be no end, Luke 1:32, 33. After the captivity, some of the priests of the Asmonean race assumed the style and title of kings; but not being of the tribe of Judah, they could have no just right to that honour. The expression, Whose right it is, seems to be peculiarly characteristic of the Messiah, who is always spoken of by the prophets as the true and right heir to the throne of David, and as one who was in an eminent manner to inherit the kingdom. His indeed the right was; for him was reserved the kingly dominion, not only over Judea, but the whole earth. The repetition of the word overturn, in the beginning of this verse, or, as the Hebrew expression hw[ may be more literally rendered, an overturning, may probably be intended to predict the repeated subversions which the Jewish state was to undergo in future times, by the Chaldeans, Macedonians, Romans, and many others, and the multiplied destructions of their nation, by which they would be punished for their sins; which subversions and destructions will not come to any happy termination, till they submit to the easy yoke of their long-rejected Messiah, and in humility, faith, and gratitude, accept the salvation which he waits to confer upon them. Nay, and the expression might be intended “to predict all the convulsions in states and kingdoms, which shall make way for the establishment of his kingdom throughout the earth.” — Scott.

Ver. 26, 27. Remove the diadem. Let it never more be worn, either by son or brother. Let it revert into his hands, who gave it to David when keeping his father’s sheep. Let him be crowned,

WHOSE RIGHT IT IS.

My servant David shall again feed my sheep, and be a prince among them: chap. 34. Yea, Israel in the latter day shall remember and turn unto the Lord. I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen. I will raise up his ruins, and build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11. Messiah is the horn of salvation in the house of David.

We must remark here, that Ezekiel saw the humble and abject state of the Saviour before his elevation. Exalt him that is low; give him a name above every creature in heaven and earth. We remark also, that Messiah the prince is constituted the judge and ruler of all the nations of the earth. Give the king thy judgments, oh Lord; and thy righteousness to the king’s son. Psalm 72:1. All judgment is committed to the Son, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. John 5:22. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and of his government there shall be no end. Oh Zion, this is thy Messiah, without beginning of days or end of life.

27. I will overturn, overturn, overturn — The threefold repetition of divine emphasis. It is not Nebuchadnezzar who overturns the throne of Judah, but Jehovah. And it shall be no more — Or, yea, this — it is gone (Davidson). The upheaval is sure! The present order of things is looked upon as having already passed away. Prince Zedekiah has lost his high place and another has taken it, but he in turn shall disappear and the kingdoms of Judah shall have no permanent ruler until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him (Genesis 49:10). THE AMMONITES, REJOICING IN JERUSALEM’S CALAMITY, SHALL

V. 28. Their reproach-Wherewith they reproached Israel in the day of Israel’s afflictions.

Verse 28. Concerning the Ammonites] They had reproached and insulted Judea in its low estate, see Ezekiel 25:3, 6. This prophecy against them was fulfilled about five years after the taking of Jerusalem. See Joseph. Ant. lib. x. c. 11; and Jer. xxvii., xlviii., xlix.; Eze. xxv.

Verses 28, 29. Thus saith the Lord concerning the Ammonites — Because the Ammonites were reprieved by Nebuchadnezzar’s decision to besiege Jerusalem, they were ready to promise themselves security, and to insult over the calamities brought on the Jews; a practice for which they are often reproved very severely by the prophets, and threatened with the like judgments. And concerning their reproach — Wherewith they reproached Israel in the day of Israel’s afflictions; say thou, The sword is drawn, is drawn — Warlike preparations are made against you, the war is declared, and your enemy hath drawn the sword. For the slaughter it is furbished — It is prepared to make dreadful destruction, to lay waste your country, and consume its inhabitants. While they see vanity unto thee — While the soothsayers and pretenders to divination foretel nothing but happy events to thee, O Ammon! the sword is preparing to destroy thee. To bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain — To add thy people to the number of those who are slain in Judea, (verses 14, 15,) and to make thy condition like theirs; whose day is come — See verse 25. When their iniquity shall have an end — When their deserved punishment, coming upon them, shall put a stop to their wickedness. This prophecy concerning the Ammonites was fulfilled by the Babylonians, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, because the Ammonites assisted Ishmael to wrest the government of Judea out of the hands of Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had fixed there as his deputy.

THEMSELVES SUFFER EVEN MORE BITTERLY, 28-32.

The Ammonites who have rejoiced because Nebuchadnezzar has taken the road to Jerusalem instead of to their own capital (verse 20) cannot boast long against the Lord’s people, for against them also is the sword drawn.

28. The sword — This description of the sword which falls upon the Ammonites strikingly resembles that which fell upon Jerusalem (verses 8-11). It is the same sword; it is the sword of the Lord! (verse 15.) The passage is very obscure. The R.V. reads: “A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning: whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine lies unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are deadly wounded, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity [or, punishment] of the end. Cause it to return into its sheath.”

V. 29. While-While thy astrologers, and soothsayers, deceive thee with fair, but false divinations. To bring thee-To bring thee under the sword of the Chaldeans, and destroy thee as the Jews; to make thee stumble and fall on their necks, as men that fall among a multitude of slain.

Verses 28, 29. Thus saith the Lord concerning the Ammonites — Because the Ammonites were reprieved by Nebuchadnezzar’s decision to besiege Jerusalem, they were ready to promise themselves security, and to insult over the calamities brought on the Jews; a practice for which they are often reproved very severely by the prophets, and threatened with the like judgments. And concerning their reproach — Wherewith they reproached Israel in the day of Israel’s afflictions; say thou, The sword is drawn, is drawn — Warlike preparations are made against you, the war is declared, and your enemy hath drawn the sword. For the slaughter it is furbished — It is prepared to make dreadful destruction, to lay waste your country, and consume its inhabitants. While they see vanity unto thee — While the soothsayers and pretenders to divination foretel nothing but happy events to thee, O Ammon! the sword is preparing to destroy thee. To bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain — To add thy people to the number of those who are slain in Judea, (verses 14, 15,) and to make thy condition like theirs; whose day is come — See verse 25. When their iniquity shall have an end — When their deserved punishment, coming upon them, shall put a stop to their wickedness. This prophecy concerning the Ammonites was fulfilled by the Babylonians, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, because the Ammonites assisted Ishmael to wrest the government of Judea out of the hands of Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had fixed there as his deputy.

29. While they see vanity… divine a lie — This seems to refer to the “reproach” of Israel indulged in by the Ammonites (verse 28) and to their fallen oracles in which they boasted while they sneered and laughed at Jerusalem’s calamity (Ezekiel 25:3-6). To bring [or, lay] thee, etc. — This text is very obscure, but may mean that while “they” (the false prophets of Ammon) “see vanity” and “divine a lie” the sword flashes upon the nation like lightning and its rulers and people fall slain upon the bodies of the dead Israelites against whom they have scoffed. (See verse 25.)

V. 30. Shall I cause it-God will by no means suffer the sword to be sheathed. Judge thee-Condemn, and execute.

Verse 30. I will judge thee] This seems to refer to Nebuchadnezzar, who, after his return from Jerusalem, became insane, and lived like a beast for seven years; but was afterwards restored, and acknowledged the Lord.

Verses 30-32. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? — Shall the sword that is drawn to execute the judgments of God upon Ammon be put up in its sheath before it has done its work? Surely not. I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created — That is, where thy nation first received its existence: thou shalt not be carried captive, but shalt be destroyed in thy own land. I will pour out mine indignation upon thee — Which shall overwhelm thee as with a flood, and sweep thy nation into ruin. I will blow against thee, &c. — To melt thee as it were in a furnace. See Ezekiel 22:20, 21. And deliver thee into the hand of brutish men — The LXX. read, andrwn barbarwn tektainontwn diafqorav, of barbarous men, artificers of destruction; or, as we render it, skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire — Thy country and cities shall be destroyed by fire. Thy blood shall be in the midst of the land — A slaughter shall be made of thee in every part of thy country, and thy blood shall appear everywhere. Thou shalt be no more remembered — The Jewish people still subsist, but the Ammonites are lost in the mass of mankind, and have been long forgotten.

THEMSELVES SUFFER EVEN MORE BITTERLY, 28-32.

The Ammonites who have rejoiced because Nebuchadnezzar has taken the road to Jerusalem instead of to their own capital (verse 20) cannot boast long against the Lord’s people, for against them also is the sword drawn.

28. The sword — This description of the sword which falls upon the Ammonites strikingly resembles that which fell upon Jerusalem (verses 8-11). It is the same sword; it is the sword of the Lord! (verse 15.) The passage is very obscure. The R.V. reads: “A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning: whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine lies unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are deadly wounded, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity [or, punishment] of the end. Cause it to return into its sheath.”

V. 31. I will blow-As those who melt down metals blow upon the metal in the fire, that the fire may burn the fiercer.

Verses 30-32. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? — Shall the sword that is drawn to execute the judgments of God upon Ammon be put up in its sheath before it has done its work? Surely not. I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created — That is, where thy nation first received its existence: thou shalt not be carried captive, but shalt be destroyed in thy own land. I will pour out mine indignation upon thee — Which shall overwhelm thee as with a flood, and sweep thy nation into ruin. I will blow against thee, &c. — To melt thee as it were in a furnace. See Ezekiel 22:20, 21. And deliver thee into the hand of brutish men — The LXX. read, andrwn barbarwn tektainontwn diafqorav, of barbarous men, artificers of destruction; or, as we render it, skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire — Thy country and cities shall be destroyed by fire. Thy blood shall be in the midst of the land — A slaughter shall be made of thee in every part of thy country, and thy blood shall appear everywhere. Thou shalt be no more remembered — The Jewish people still subsist, but the Ammonites are lost in the mass of mankind, and have been long forgotten.

THEMSELVES SUFFER EVEN MORE BITTERLY, 28-32.

The Ammonites who have rejoiced because Nebuchadnezzar has taken the road to Jerusalem instead of to their own capital (verse 20) cannot boast long against the Lord’s people, for against them also is the sword drawn.

28. The sword — This description of the sword which falls upon the Ammonites strikingly resembles that which fell upon Jerusalem (verses 8-11). It is the same sword; it is the sword of the Lord! (verse 15.) The passage is very obscure. The R.V. reads: “A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning: whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine lies unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are deadly wounded, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity [or, punishment] of the end. Cause it to return into its sheath.”

Verse 32. Thou shalt be no more remembered] The empire of the Chaldeans was destroyed, and the power transferred to the Persians; the Persian empire was destroyed, and given to the Greeks; the Grecian empire was destroyed, and given to the Mohammedans; and the destruction of the Mohammedans is at no great distance.

EZEKIEL

Verses 30-32. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? — Shall the sword that is drawn to execute the judgments of God upon Ammon be put up in its sheath before it has done its work? Surely not. I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created — That is, where thy nation first received its existence: thou shalt not be carried captive, but shalt be destroyed in thy own land. I will pour out mine indignation upon thee — Which shall overwhelm thee as with a flood, and sweep thy nation into ruin. I will blow against thee, &c. — To melt thee as it were in a furnace. See Ezekiel 22:20, 21. And deliver thee into the hand of brutish men — The LXX. read, andrwn barbarwn tektainontwn diafqorav, of barbarous men, artificers of destruction; or, as we render it, skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire — Thy country and cities shall be destroyed by fire. Thy blood shall be in the midst of the land — A slaughter shall be made of thee in every part of thy country, and thy blood shall appear everywhere. Thou shalt be no more remembered — The Jewish people still subsist, but the Ammonites are lost in the mass of mankind, and have been long forgotten.

THEMSELVES SUFFER EVEN MORE BITTERLY, 28-32.

The Ammonites who have rejoiced because Nebuchadnezzar has taken the road to Jerusalem instead of to their own capital (verse 20) cannot boast long against the Lord’s people, for against them also is the sword drawn.

28. The sword — This description of the sword which falls upon the Ammonites strikingly resembles that which fell upon Jerusalem (verses 8-11). It is the same sword; it is the sword of the Lord! (verse 15.) The passage is very obscure. The R.V. reads: “A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning: whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine lies unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are deadly wounded, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity [or, punishment] of the end. Cause it to return into its sheath.”