Ezekiel 5:16
in Ezekiel 5When I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
when I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you. And I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread;
KJV
When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
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This verse in Ezekiel 5
Commentary
3 notes on this verse(Verse 16.) When I send the most destructive arrows of famine (the Vulgate adds 'against them'), which will be deadly, and I will send them to destroy you, and I will gather famine upon you, and I will break the staff (or rod) of bread. Famine and pestilence, and the most terrible beasts, and whatever other evils we endure in this world, it is clear that they come because of our sins.
This site's exposition
When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine
on Ezekiel 5:16-17
The chapter closes with four judgments named together, famine pictured as evil arrows shot to destroy, then evil beasts, then pestilence and blood, then the sword, the same fourfold set the book repeats at 14:21. Famine is described as increased rather than merely sent, and the staff of bread broken again, the same figure the previous chapter used for bread's collapse as life's support. Clarke reads the four together as deliberately exhaustive, no avenue of escape left open between war, hunger, wild beasts and disease. The closing formula, I the Lord have spoken it, seals the oracle exactly as it sealed the previous unit, framing the whole chapter as one sentence delivered in two movements.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The evil arrows of famine - Famine and pestilence are represented as poisoned arrows, inflicting death wherever they wound. The ancients represented them in the same way.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּֽשַׁלְּחִ֡י | beshalechi | when shoot I | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חִצֵּי֩ | chitzei | [the] arrows of | H2671 → | 53 times |
| הָרָעָ֨ב | haraav | <the> famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| הָרָעִ֤ים | haraim | <the> harmful | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בָּהֶם֙ | bahem | on them | ||
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָי֣וּ | hayu | they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְמַשְׁחִ֔ית | lemashchit | for destruction | H4889 → | 12 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲשַׁלַּ֥ח | ʾashalach | I will shoot | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אוֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְשַֽׁחֶתְכֶ֑ם | leshachetkhem | to destroy you | H7843 → | 146 times |
| וְרָעָב֙ | veraav | and famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| אֹסֵ֣ף | ʾosef | I will increase | H3254 → | 212 times |
| עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְשָׁבַרְתִּ֥י | veshavarti | and I will break | H7665 → | 147 times |
| לָכֶ֖ם | lakhem | of you | ||
| מַטֵּה־ | mateh- | staff of | H4294 → | 252 times |
| לָֽחֶם׃ | lachem | bread | H3899 → | 298 times |
בְּֽשַׁלְּחִ֡יwhen shoot I
beshalechiH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חִצֵּי֩[the] arrows of
chitzeiH2671 →53 times
הָרָעָ֨ב<the> famine
haraavH7458 →101 times
הָרָעִ֤ים<the> harmful
haraimH7451 →662 times
בָּהֶם֙on them
bahem
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הָי֣וּthey will be
hayuH1961 →3559 times
לְמַשְׁחִ֔יתfor destruction
lemashchitH4889 →12 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אֲשַׁלַּ֥חI will shoot
ʾashalachH7971 →845 times
אוֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
לְשַֽׁחֶתְכֶ֑םto destroy you
leshachetkhemH7843 →146 times
וְרָעָב֙and famine
veraavH7458 →101 times
אֹסֵ֣ףI will increase
ʾosefH3254 →212 times
עֲלֵיכֶ֔םon you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
וְשָׁבַרְתִּ֥יand I will break
veshavartiH7665 →147 times
לָכֶ֖םof you
lakhem
מַטֵּה־staff of
mateh-H4294 →252 times
לָֽחֶם׃bread
lachemH3899 →298 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 14:13“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to…
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:26
When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 4:16
Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water…
- Leviticus 26:26
Through
Ezekiel 4:16Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water…
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:1
For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,
- Psalms 105:16
He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.
- Isaiah 3:1
Through
2 Kings 6:25So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:18
If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land…
- Jeremiah 52:6
By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
- 2 Kings 6:28–29
Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
- Jeremiah 14:13–15
“Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
- Jeremiah 14:18
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
