Ezekiel 5:17
in Ezekiel 5I 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 spoken.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee: I, Jehovah, have spoken it.
KJV
So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it.
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This verse in Ezekiel 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Verse 17) And I will send famine upon you, and the most evil beasts to annihilate you. And pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord who has spoken. The most evil beasts are brought upon the desolate land, which has been devastated by famine, the sword, and pestilence. These times also show when familiar animals, like dogs, are driven to madness and attack their masters' flesh, and the land is filled with bears, wolves, and all other kinds of beasts.
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 Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The sword of the Lord, that used to be drawn for Jerusalem's defence, is now drawn for its destruction. Others are devoured by evil beasts, which will make a prey of those that fly for shelter to the deserts and mountains. They shall meet their ruin where they expected refuge, for there is no escaping the judgments of God,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee - Wild beasts always multiply in depopulated countries. In England, wolves abounded when the country was thinly peopled, it is now full of inhabitants, and there is not one wolf in the land. Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldeans may be called here evil beasts. He is often compared to a lion, Jer 4:7; Dan 7:14; on account of the ravages made by him and his Chaldean armies.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשִׁלַּחְתִּ֣י | veshilachti | and I will send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| עֲ֠לֵיכֶם | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רָעָ֞ב | raav | famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| וְחַיָּ֤ה | vechaiyah | and animal[s] | H2416 → | 498 times |
| רָעָה֙ | raah | wild | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וְשִׁכְּלֻ֔ךְ | veshikelukh | and they will make childless you | H7921 → | 23 times |
| וְדֶ֥בֶר | vedever | and pestilence | H1698 → | 49 times |
| וָדָ֖ם | vadam | and blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| יַעֲבָר־ | yaavor- | it will pass | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בָּ֑ךְ | bakh | in you | ||
| וְחֶ֙רֶב֙ | vecherev | and sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| אָבִ֣יא | ʾavi' | I will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עָלַ֔יִךְ | ʾalayikh | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| דִּבַּֽרְתִּי׃ פ | dibarti | I have spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
וְשִׁלַּחְתִּ֣יand I will send
veshilachtiH7971 →845 times
עֲ֠לֵיכֶםon you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
רָעָ֞בfamine
raavH7458 →101 times
וְחַיָּ֤הand animal[s]
vechaiyahH2416 →498 times
רָעָה֙wild
raahH7451 →662 times
וְשִׁכְּלֻ֔ךְand they will make childless you
veshikelukhH7921 →23 times
וְדֶ֥בֶרand pestilence
vedeverH1698 →49 times
וָדָ֖םand blood
vadamH1818 →360 times
יַעֲבָר־it will pass
yaavor-H5674 →556 times
בָּ֑ךְin you
bakh
וְחֶ֙רֶב֙and sword
vecherevH2719 →413 times
אָבִ֣יאI will bring
ʾavi'H935 →2568 times
עָלַ֔יִךְon you
ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
דִּבַּֽרְתִּי׃ פI have spoken
dibartiH1696 →1141 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
Leviticus 26:22I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 14:15
Or 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,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:24
They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
- Ezekiel 14:15
Through
Deuteronomy 32:24They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
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.
- Leviticus 26:22
Through
Ezekiel 38:22I 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.
it leads to
- Psalms 11:6
On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Isaiah 66:16
For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
- Revelation 16:21
And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.
- Isaiah 28:17
I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.
- Psalms 18:12–14
From the brightness of His presence His clouds advanced— hailstones and coals of fire.
- Psalms 11:6
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.