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Ezekiel 33:6

in Ezekiel 33

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword come, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

KJV

But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

This verse in Ezekiel 33

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Commentary on Chapter XXXIII 6. Is taken away - Punished by the Lord for his sin. Our sins - The unpardoned guilt, and the unsupportable punishment of our sins, in the wasting of our country, burning our city, abolishing the publick worship of God; we shall pine away, 'tis too late to hope.

This site's exposition

the word of the LORD came to me

on Ezekiel 33:1-6

If the watchman blows the horn, the hearer who ignores it answers for himself, since “his blood will be on his own head”. If the watchman keeps silent, the Lord says, “I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood”. Gill notes the balance of the wording.

This site's exposition

taken away in his iniquity

Even the unwarned man dies for his own sin. The watchman's guilt is added to it, and the LORD requires the blood of him, language that recalls Genesis 9:5. Two parties answer for one death.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter XXXIII, Verse 1 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them: When I bring a sword upon a land and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

City of God 1.9 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

For this reason, overseers or rulers are set over the churches to reprimand sin, not to spare it. Nor is a person fully free from blame who is not in authority but who notices in those persons he meets in social life many faults he should censure and admonish. He is blameworthy if he fails to do this out of fear of hurting feelings or of losing such things as he may rightfully enjoy in his life but to which he is unduly attached.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The substance of this we had before, ch. iii. He must let them know upon what terms they stand with God, that they are upon their trial, upon their good behaviour, that if a wicked man repent he shall not perish, but that if a righteous man apostatize he shall perish,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), cut off suddenly, without having time to cry, Lord, have mercy upon me, time to repent and make their peace with God (which makes the matter much the worse, that the poor creature is taken away in his iniquity ), his blood shall be required at the watchman's hand; he shall be found guilty of his death, because he did not give him warning of his danger.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

But if the watchman see the sword come,....
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

his iniquity--his negligence in not maintaining constant watchfulness, as they who are in warfare ought to do. The thing signified here appears from under the image.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

24 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.

  • וְ֠הַצֹּפֶהand the watchman

    vehatzofehH6822 →36 times

  • כִּֽי־if

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • יִרְאֶ֨הhe will see

    yirehH7200 →1300 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַחֶ֜רֶבthe sword

    hacherevH2719 →413 times

  • בָּאָ֗הcoming

    baahH935 →2568 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • תָקַ֤עhe will give a blast

    taka'H8628 →69 times

  • בַּשּׁוֹפָר֙on the trumpet

    bashofarH7782 →72 times

  • וְהָעָ֣םand the people

    vehaamH5971 →1873 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • נִזְהָ֔רit was warned

    nizharH2094 →22 times

  • וַתָּב֣וֹאand it came

    vatavo'H935 →2568 times

  • חֶ֔רֶב[the] sword

    cherevH2719 →413 times

  • וַתִּקַּ֥חand it took

    vatikachH3947 →966 times

  • מֵהֶ֖םof them

    mehem

  • נָ֑פֶשׁanyone

    nafeshH5315 →754 times

  • ה֚וּאhe

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • בַּעֲוֹנ֣וֹin iniquity his

    baavonoH5771 →233 times

  • נִלְקָ֔חhe was taken

    nilkachH3947 →966 times

  • וְדָמ֖וֹand blood his

    vedamoH1818 →360 times

  • מִיַּֽד־from [the] hand of

    miyad-H3027 →1618 times

  • הַצֹּפֶ֥הthe watchman

    hatzopehH6822 →36 times

  • אֶדְרֹֽשׁ׃ סI will require

    ʾedroshH1875 →164 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

    Ezekiel 18:20

    The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of…

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 14:6

      Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not…

    • Deuteronomy 24:16

      Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.

    • Ezekiel 18:4

      Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

    • Jeremiah 31:29–30

      “In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’

    • 2 Chronicles 25:4

      Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to…

  • Through

    Genesis 42:22

    And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

    it leads to

    • Psalms 9:12

      For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Chronicles 24:22

      Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call…

    • 1 Kings 2:32

      The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

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 Augustine of Hippo, City of God 1.9; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: 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.