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Ezekiel 21:4

in Ezekiel 21

Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

KJV

Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

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This verse in Ezekiel 21

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
The righteous and the wicked - take the place of “every green tree and every dry tree” Eze 20:47; “all faces” that of “all flesh:” to show the universality of the destructions. National judgment involves the innocent in the temporal ruin of the guilty. The equity of God is vindicated by the ruin being only temporal. From the south to the north - From one end of the holy land to the other; the seer is in the north, and looks at once on the whole extent of the ruin.

This site's exposition

the word of the Lord came unto me, saying

on Ezekiel 21:1-5

The Lord draws forth his sword against the land of Israel and states plainly that it will cut off the righteous and the wicked together. Gill reads the righteous alongside the wicked as the ordinary judgment that falls on a besieged city, sword, famine and captivity making no exception.

This site's exposition

from south to north

The righteous and the wicked restate the green tree and the dry tree of 20:47 in plain words. Barnes added that a national judgment brings temporal ruin on the innocent with the guilty, and that its reach ends with this life. The whole land lies open to the sword.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter 21, Verse 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel, and say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

From the south to the north - The whole land shall be ravaged from one end to the other.

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.

  • יַ֛עַןbecause

    yaanH3282 →99 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־that

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • הִכְרַ֥תִּיI have cut off

    hikhratiH3772 →288 times

  • מִמֵּ֖ךְfrom you

    mimekhH4480 →1188 times

  • צַדִּ֣יק[the] righteous

    tzadikH6662 →206 times

  • וְרָשָׁ֑עand [the] wicked

    verasha'H7563 →263 times

  • לָ֠כֵן<to> therefore

    lakhenH3651 →771 times

  • תֵּצֵ֨אit will go forth

    tetze'H3318 →1067 times

  • חַרְבִּ֧יsword my

    charbiH2719 →413 times

  • מִתַּעְרָ֛הּfrom sheath its

    mita'rahH8593 →13 times

  • אֶל־against

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • בָּשָׂ֖רflesh

    basarH1320 →270 times

  • מִנֶּ֥גֶבfrom [the] south

    minegevH5045 →112 times

  • צָפֽוֹן׃[the] north

    tzafonH6828 →153 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Ezekiel 20:47Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched.5 worksEzekiel 7:2“O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.4 worksEzekiel 6:11–14This is what the Lord GOD says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague.3 worksEzekiel 21:16Slash to the right; set your blade to the left—wherever your blade is directed.2 works

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

    Ezekiel 20:47

    Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 21:14

      I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around you.’”

    • Isaiah 9:18–19

      For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets which roll upward in billows of smoke.

    • Luke 23:31

      For if men do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

    • Isaiah 24:1–6

      Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—

  • Through

    Ezekiel 7:2

    “O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.

    it leads to

    • Amos 8:2

      “Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”

    • Ezekiel 7:3

      The end is now upon you, and I will unleash My anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways and repay you for all your abominations.

    • Amos 8:10

      I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of…

    • 1 Peter 4:7

      The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.

Where this verse is studied

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.
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Ezekiel 21 →