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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?

This verse in Ezekiel 12

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The 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

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(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

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

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,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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 & Brown

1802–1910

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 words

Every 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.

  • 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 stops

Each 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 6:3

    You 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.’

  • 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.

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

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.