Font Size
Ezekiel 21:3-4
New English Translation
Ezekiel 21:3-4
New English Translation
3 and say to them,[a] ‘This is what the Lord says: Look,[b] I am against you.[c] I will draw my sword[d] from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.[e] 4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone[f] from the south[g] to the north.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 21:3 tn Heb “the land of Israel.”
- Ezekiel 21:3 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 21:3 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘hinnenî ’êlékâ’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
- Ezekiel 21:3 sn This is the sword of judgment; see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.
- Ezekiel 21:3 sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25. The words do not require all the people in each category to be cut off.
- Ezekiel 21:4 tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).
- Ezekiel 21:4 tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.