Ezekiel 14:21
in Ezekiel 14For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beasts, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!
KJV
For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verseConcerning all these, neither the teaching of spiritual parents, whom we understand as masters, nor the rulers will be able to free them, unless there is agreement of the sons, and their petitions have aided their efforts. For the justice of the just person will be upon him, and the iniquity of the wicked person will dwell in him: Each person will die for their own sin, and their righteousness will save them (Deut. XXIV, 16).
This site's exposition
My four dire judgments
on Ezekiel 14:21-23
The principle lands on Jerusalem, struck by “My four dire judgments” at once. Yet “some survivors will be left in it,” sons and daughters who come to the exiles. Their conduct will show the exiles “that it was not without cause that I have done all these things.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
All those who are sinners in the church, who have tasted the Word of God and have transgressed it, deserve prayers, but each one will be punished in accordance with his or her degree.
(Verse 12, 13 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting treacherously, I will stretch out my hand (some versions add 'upon it') and break its staff of bread, and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast. And if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver their own souls by their righteousness, declares the Lord of hosts.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This is implied here as the expectation of Jerusalem's friends in the day of its distress: "Surely God will stay his controversy with us; for are there not some among us that are emptying the measure of national guilt by their prayers, as others are filling it by their sins? And, rather than God will destroy the righteous with the wicked, he will preserve the wicked with the righteous.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
For thus saith the Lord God, how much more,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
My four sore judgments - Sword, war. Famine, occasioned by drought. Pestilence, epidemic diseases which sweep off a great part of the inhabitants of a land. The Noisome Beast, the multiplication of wild beasts in consequence of the general destruction of the inhabitants.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
How much more--literally, "Surely shall it be so now, when I send," &c. If none could avert the one only judgment incurred, surely now, when all four are incurred by sin, much more impossible it will be to deliver the land.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
In Eze 14:21 he concentrates the whole in one mass of condemnation. If Noah, Daniel, Job, could not deliver the land, when deserving only one judgment, "how much more" when all four judgments combined are justly to visit the land for sin, shall these three righteous men not deliver it.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹ֨ה | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֜ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהֹוִ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| אַ֣ף | ʾaf | indeed? | H637 → | 134 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַרְבַּ֣עַת | ʾarbaat | [the] four | H702 → | 318 times |
| שְׁפָטַ֣י׀ | shefatai | judgments my | H8201 → | 16 times |
| הָרָעִ֡ים | haraim | <the> harmful | H7451 → | 662 times |
| חֶ֠רֶב | cherev | sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| וְרָעָ֞ב | veraav | and famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| וְחַיָּ֤ה | vechaiyah | and animal[s] | H2416 → | 498 times |
| רָעָה֙ | raah | wild | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וָדֶ֔בֶר | vadever | and pestilence | H1698 → | 49 times |
| שִׁלַּ֖חְתִּי | shilachti | I will send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | against | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| לְהַכְרִ֥ית | lehakhrit | to cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| מִמֶּ֖נָּה | mimenah | from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| אָדָ֥ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| וּבְהֵמָֽה׃ | uvehemah | and animal[s] | H929 → | 190 times |
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
כֹ֨הthus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֜רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהֹוִ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
אַ֣ףindeed?
ʾafH637 →134 times
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אַרְבַּ֣עַת[the] four
ʾarbaatH702 →318 times
שְׁפָטַ֣י׀judgments my
shefataiH8201 →16 times
הָרָעִ֡ים<the> harmful
haraimH7451 →662 times
חֶ֠רֶבsword
cherevH2719 →413 times
וְרָעָ֞בand famine
veraavH7458 →101 times
וְחַיָּ֤הand animal[s]
vechaiyahH2416 →498 times
רָעָה֙wild
raahH7451 →662 times
וָדֶ֔בֶרand pestilence
vadeverH1698 →49 times
שִׁלַּ֖חְתִּיI will send
shilachtiH7971 →845 times
אֶל־against
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
לְהַכְרִ֥יתto cut off
lehakhritH3772 →288 times
מִמֶּ֖נָּהfrom it
mimenahH4480 →1188 times
אָדָ֥םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
וּבְהֵמָֽה׃and animal[s]
uvehemahH929 →190 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
Ezekiel 14:15Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts,
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:22
I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 5:17
I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have…
- Leviticus 26:22
Through
Ezekiel 5:17I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 38:22
I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 17:25
Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 38:22
Through
Ezekiel 14:17Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:12
A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 26:25
And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into…
- Ezekiel 21:3–4
and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
- Zephaniah 1:3
“I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and the idols with their wicked worshipers. I will cut off mankind…
- Ezekiel 5:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 5:4.