Ezekiel 21:9
in Ezekiel 21“Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says: ‘A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Say, A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished;
KJV
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:
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This verse in Ezekiel 21
Commentary
7 notes on this verseSon of man, prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord,.... Deliver out the following prophecy in the name of the Lord: say, a sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished; it is not only drawn out of its sheath, as before, but is made sharp and bright, and ready for use. It is repeated, either to show the certainty of it, or to express the terror and anguish of mind on account of it; persons in distress generally repeating that which is the occasion of it.
This site's exposition
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying
on Ezekiel 21:8-11
A poem of a sword follows, sharpened to make a sore slaughter and furbished that it may glitter, the weapon itself given voice. Keil reads it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree as the sword's contempt for every human defense, sceptre and timber both.
This site's exposition
A sword, a sword
The sword is named twice, sharpened and polished, and the whole passage to verse 17 is a song of the sword. Henry compared the repeated word to a cry of fire in a burning city. Gill read it as the sword surely coming.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 8 et seq.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God, speak: A sword, a sharp sword, has been sharpened and polished, to slaughter victims; it has been sharpened, and polished, to shine: you who move the scepter of my son, you have cut down every tree. And I have given him to be polished, to be held in hand: this sword has been sharpened, and this sword has been polished, to be in the hand of the one who kills.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Let him not study for fine words, and a variety of quaint expressions; when the town is on fire people do not so give notice of it, but cry, with a frightful doleful voice, Fire! fire!
14 ), not to cut them off from being a people. It is a sword to others, a rod to my son. How the sword is here put into the hand of the executioners: "It is the rod of my Son, and he has given it that it may be handled (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+odd-straight-quotes
); it is drawn to consume because of the glittering, because it is brandished and glitters, and is fit to be made use of. God's executions will answer his preparations.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And all flesh will know that I, Hashem, have drawn My sword from its sheath; it will not return again.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 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 |
| אָדָ֕ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| הִנָּבֵא֙ | hinave' | prophesy | H5012 → | 115 times |
| וְאָ֣מַרְתָּ֔ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כֹּ֖ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֑י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| אֱמֹ֕ר | ʾemor | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| חֶ֥רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| חֶ֛רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| הוּחַ֖דָּה | huchadah | it has been sharpened | H2300 → | 6 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| מְרוּטָֽה׃ | merutah | [is] polished | H4803 → | 14 times |
בֶּן־O son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָ֕םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
הִנָּבֵא֙prophesy
hinave'H5012 →115 times
וְאָ֣מַרְתָּ֔and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
כֹּ֖הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֑י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
אֱמֹ֕רsay
ʾemorH559 →5305 times
חֶ֥רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
חֶ֛רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
הוּחַ֖דָּהit has been sharpened
huchadahH2300 →6 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
מְרוּטָֽה׃[is] polished
merutahH4803 →14 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 21:3and 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.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 14:17
Or 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,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 9:22
It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
- Ezekiel 5:8
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
- Jeremiah 21:13
Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- Nahum 3:5
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms.
- Ezekiel 14:17
Through
Jeremiah 12:12Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 47:6
‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
- Amos 9:4
Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”
- Jeremiah 47:6
Through
Ezekiel 21:28Now prophesy, son of man, and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt: ‘A sword! A sword is drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, to flash…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 21:20
Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 21:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.