Ezekiel 21:20

Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. APPOINT A WAY, THAT THE SWORD MAY COME TO RABBATH OF THE AMMONITES - distinct from Rabbath in Judah (). Rabbath is put first, as it was from her that Jerusalem, the doomed city, had borrowed many of her idols. AND TO JUDAH IN JERUSALEM - instead of simply putting "Jerusalem," to imply the sword was to come not merely to Judah, but to its people within Jerusalem: "defensed" though it was, its defenses, on which the Jews relied so much, would not keep the foe out....

18-27 By the Spirit of prophecy Ezekiel foresaw Nebuchadnezzar's march from Babylon, which he would determine by divination. The Lord would overturn the government of Judah, till the coming of Him whose right it is. This seems to foretell the overturnings of the Jewish nation to the present day, and the troubles of states and kingdoms, which shall make way for establishing the Messiah's kingdom throughout the earth. The Lord secretly leads all to adopt his wise designs. And in the midst of the most tremendous warnings of wrath, we still hear of mercy, and some mention of Him through whom mercy is shown to sinful men....

The third word of judgment. The king of Babylon’s march upon Judaea and upon the Ammonites. Destruction is to go forth not on Judah only, but also on such neighboring tribes as the Ammonites (compare Jeremiah 27:2). Ezekiel 21:19 APPOINT THEE - Set before thee. CHOOSE THOU A PLACE, CHOOSE IT - Rather, “mark a spot, mark it,” as upon a map, at the head of the two roads, one leading to Jerusalem, the other to Ammon. These were the two roads by one or other of which an invading army must march from Babylon to Egypt. Ezekiel 21:21 The Chaldaean king is depicted

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

APPOINT A WAY,.... Mark out a way, describe a road, draw one out upon the ground, or point out one upon a table, or tile: THAT THE SWORD MAY COME; in which the sword will come; or those that kill with the sword, as the Targum, even the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar: TO RABBATH OF THE AMMONITES; which was the metropolis of the Ammonites, and is now called Philadelphia, as Jerom writes; it is so called, to distinguish it from others of the same name; see 2 Samuel 12:26: AND TO JUDAH IN JERUSALEM, THE DEFENCED CITY; which was so both by nature and art; it had mountains round about it, and had been fortified by several kings from the time of David, as Solomon, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. Judah is said to be in it; though it would seem more properly that Jerusalem was in Judah, because that people from all parts of Judah, upon heari

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

Ezekiel 20:45 to Ezekiel 21:32. The avenging sword of the Lord The passage Ezekiel 20:45-49 belongs to ch. 21 (as in Heb.). The time to which the chapter is to be assigned is the early period of Nebuchadnezzar's movements westwards. The prophet foresees the coming desolation of Israel by the conqueror, which he expresses under the figure of a devouring fire, consuming all indiscriminately. The passage has two divisions, ch. Ezekiel 20:45 to Ezekiel 21:27, and...

APPOINT THEE TWO WAYS, &C.— _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 towards the city._ Ezekiel 21:20. _Point out a road for the sword to go to Rabbath,_ &c. Instead of _To Judah in Jerusalem, the defenced;_ Houbigant reads, _To Judah in Jerusalem, that he may besiege it._...

C. The Sword of the King of Babylon 21:18-27 TRANSLATION (18) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (19) Now as for you, son of man, make for yourself two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; the two of them shall come forth out of one land; and fashion it. (20) You shall make a way that the sword may come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in the fortress of Jerusalem. (21) For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to employ divination; he shakes the arrows, he inquires of the teraphim, he observes the liver. (22) In his right hand is the divination of Jerusalem to set battering rams to open the mouth for the slaughter, to lift the voice in a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to construct mounds, to build siege forts. (23) And it shall be unto them as false divination in their sight,...