Ezekiel 21:2

Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, DROP THY WORD TOWARD THE HOLY PLACES - the three parts of the temple: the courts, the holy place, and the holiest. If "synagogues" existed before the Babylonian captivity, as Psalms 74:8 seems to imply, they and the proseuchai (G4335), or oratories, may be included in the "holy places" here....

1-17 Here is an explanation of the parable in the last chapter. It is declared that the Lord was about to cut off Jerusalem and the whole land, that all might know it was his decree against a wicked and rebellious people. It behoves those who denounce the awful wrath of God against sinners, to show that they do not desire the woful day. The example of Christ teaches us to lament over those whose ruin we declare. Whatever instruments God uses in executing his judgments, he will strengthen them according to the service they are employed in. The sword glitters to the terror of those against whom it is drawn. It is a sword to others, a rod to the people of the Lord. God is in earnest in pronouncing this sentence, and the prophet must show himself in earnest in publishing it....

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_....

The first word of judgment Ezekiel 21:1. Ezekiel speaks first to the people of Israel, shows the universality of the coming destructions, and indicates by a sign (that of sighing) the sadness of the calamity. The words and order of words are identical with Ezekiel 20:45, except that for “south,” there are substituted: (1) “Jerusalem;” (2) “the holy place,” i. e., the temple and its various parts; (3) “the land of Israel.” No subterfuge is left for the people to pretend misunderstanding....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 21:2, EZEKIEL 21:3 The opening words, reproducing those of Ezekiel 20:46, indicate that the interpretation of that parable is coming. So the three variants of "south" are shown to mean respectively Jerusalem, the holy places, and the land of Israel. So, in Ezekiel 20:3, the RIGHTEOUS and the WICKED take the place of the "green" and the "dry" tree, and the fire is explained as meaning the sword of the invader. The teaching of Ezekiel

SON OF MAN, SET THY FACE TOWARD JERUSALEM,.... Which shows that this city was meant by "the south", Ezekiel 20:46: AND DROP THY WORD TOWARD THE HOLY PLACES; which also are meant by the south in the passage referred to, even the holy land, holy city, and holy temple; or the temple itself is only meant, with the courts adjoining to it; or as consisting of three parts, as Kimchi, the porch, the temple, and the oracle; or the outward court, the holy place, and the holy of holies; and it may respect all other places for sacred worship, as their synagogues, both in city and country; which were not to be spared any more than the temple, nor were they, Psalms 74:7. Jarchi thinks that the destruction both of the first and second temple is here intended; and which sense Kimchi also mentions....

Ezekiel 21:1. A solemn message is given to the prophet: “Behold I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.” It was to be a widespread judgment, against all flesh. Ezekiel was commanded to sigh with bitterness before their eyes and was to tell them the cause of his grief (Ezekiel 21:1). The sharpening of the sword of judgment is given in Ezekiel 21:8. It was hanging over their heads, ready to strike at any moment. The question is asked, “Should we then make mirth?” is this the time of mirth, worldly pleasures and enjoyment? Not for the faithful in Israel. Nor is the present solemn time a time of mirth for those who know the signs of the times and

EZEKIEL 20:45 TO EZEKIEL 21:32. THE TERRIBLE SWORD OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. Here again, as shortly before (chs. 18f.), a piece of theological oratory is followed by a poem this time a wild irregular dithyramb (esp. Ezekiel 21:8), the text of which is, unhappily, corrupt in places to the point of desperation. But perhaps its very perplexities reflect the tumult of the prophet's soul. The nearer the doom approaches, the more vividly does he conceive it. EZEKIEL 20:5. He begins by announcing a supernatural conflagration in the south, which is to scorch the land bare. On Ezekiel's audience objecting to his allegorical descript

SON OF MAN. See note on Ezekiel 2:1. HOLY. See note on Exodus 3:5. THE LAND OF ISRAEL. the soil of Israel, Hebrew. _'admath Israel_. See note on Ezekiel 11:17....

Ezekiel 21:1-5. These verses, though still figurative, are plainer than the preceding, of which they furnish the explanation. The sword of the Lord is drawn finally from its sheath, to which it shall not return (Ezekiel 21:5); it is drawn against Jerusalem and its sanctuaries (Ezekiel 21:2); it shall slay indiscriminately righteous and wicked (Ezekiel 21:3, cf. Ezekiel 20:47), and all flesh shall know that it is the sword of the Lord, and that it is his hand that wields it (Eze