CHAPTER XXI _The prophet goes on to denounce the fate of Jerusalem and_ _Judea; using signs of vehement grief, to denote the greatness_ _of the calamity_, 2-7. _He then changes the emblem to that of a sharp and bright sword,_ _still denoting the same sad event_, 8-17; _and, becoming yet more e... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:2. _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_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:3. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:4. _FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH_] The whole land shall be ravaged from one end to the other.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:5. _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_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:6. _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.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:7. _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_] Ezekiel 7:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:10. _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 ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:11. _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.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:12. _SMITE - UPON THY THIGH._] See on Jeremiah 31:19. So HOMER, Il. xv. ver. 113: - Ὡς εφατ'· αυταρ Αρης θαλερω πεπληγετο μηρω Χερσι καταπρηνεσσ,ολοφυρομενος δε προσηυδα. "She spake; and, with expanded arms his thighs Smiting, thus sorrowful the god exclaimed." COWPER.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:13. _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 g... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:14. _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 no... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:15. _WRAPPED UP_] It is not a blunt sword, it is carefully sharpened and preserved for the slaughter.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:16. _GO THEE ONE WAY OR OTHER_] Thou shalt prosper, O sword, whithersoever thou turnest; against Ammon, or Judea, or Egypt.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:19. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:21. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:22. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:23. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:25. _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.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:26. _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.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:27. _I WILL OVERTURN_] I will utterly destroy the Jewish government. Perverted will I make it. See the margin. _UNTIL HE COME WHOSE - IS_] משפט _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 t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:28. _CONCERNING THE AMMONITES_] They had reproached and insulted Judea in its low estate, see Ezekiel 25:3; Ezekiel 25:6. This prophecy against them was fulfilled about _five_ years after the taking of Jerusalem. See Joseph. Ant. lib. x. c. 11; and Jeremiah 27, Jeremiah 48, Jeremiah... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:30. _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.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 21:32. _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 t... [ Continue Reading ]