Ezekiel 12:22
in Ezekiel 12“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Son of man, what is this proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
KJV
Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
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This verse in Ezekiel 12
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? - These are the words of the infidels and scoffers, who, because vengeance was not speedily executed on an evil work, set their heart to do iniquity. “These predictions either will not come in our days, or will wholly fail; why then should we disquiet ourselves about them?” Strange, that the very means used by the most gracious God to bring sinners to repentance, should be made by them the very instruments of their own destruction! See 2Pe 3:4.
This site's exposition
the word of the LORD came to me
on Ezekiel 12:21-25
A new oracle answers a proverb, “The days go by, and every vision fails,” a saying that made every delay a reason to ignore prophecy. Keil sets this saying beside the sour grapes proverb of chapter 18.
This site's exposition
every vision fails
The people repeat a proverb that time passes and every vision fails. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain that the judgment had been delayed so long that scoffers said it would never come. Their repeated jest had hardened into a saying.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 21 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying: The days are prolonged, and every vision fails? Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, and it shall be used no more in Israel. Speak to them, and say: The days are at hand, and every vision shall be fulfilled. For there shall no longer be any false vision, nor ambiguous divination in the midst of the children of Israel.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
That proverb - That short saying commonly used. Days - Of wrath and vengeance, are to come a great while hence. Every vision - Threatening vision, which Jeremiah and Ezekiel would fright us with, comes to nothing.
Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel,....
How they flattered themselves with hopes that the judgments should be delayed. One saying they had, which had become proverbial in the land of Israel,
Faith comes by hearing that word of prophecy which is more sure than vision. We may keep up our communion with God without raptures and ecstasies. In these verses the prophet is directed, I.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
proverb--The infidel scoff, that the threatened judgment was so long in coming, it would not come at all, had by frequent repetition come to be a "proverb" with them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֶּן־ | ben- | O son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָ֗ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| מָֽה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| הַמָּשָׁ֤ל | hamashal | [is] the proverb | H4912 → | 39 times |
| הַזֶּה֙ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| לָכֶ֔ם | lakhem | to you | ||
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַדְמַ֥ת | ʾadmat | [the] land of | H127 → | 225 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יַֽאַרְכוּ֙ | yaarkhu | they are long | H748 → | |
| הַיָּמִ֔ים | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְאָבַ֖ד | veavad | and it perishes | H6 → | 184 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חָזֽוֹן׃ | chazon | vision | H2377 → | 35 times |
בֶּן־O son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָ֗םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
מָֽה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
הַמָּשָׁ֤ל[is] the proverb
hamashalH4912 →39 times
הַזֶּה֙<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
לָכֶ֔םto you
lakhem
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַדְמַ֥ת[the] land of
ʾadmatH127 →225 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
יַֽאַרְכוּ֙they are long
yaarkhuH748 →
הַיָּמִ֔יםthe days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 times
וְאָבַ֖דand it perishes
veavadH6 →184 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
חָזֽוֹן׃vision
chazonH2377 →35 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Amos 6:3You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 12:27
“Son of man, take note that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now; he prophesies about the distant future.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 9:10
All the sinners among My people will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”
- Isaiah 56:12
“Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”
- Amos 3:10
“For they know not how to do right,” declares the LORD. “They store up violence and destruction in their citadels.”
- Matthew 24:48
But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’
- Ezekiel 12:27
Through
Ezekiel 12:27“Son of man, take note that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now; he prophesies about the distant future.’
it leads to
- Daniel 10:14
Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”
- 2 Peter 3:4
“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
- Isaiah 28:14–15
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
- Daniel 10:14
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
