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Ezekiel 21:13

in Ezekiel 21

Surely testing will come! And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue?’ declares the Lord GOD.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For there is a trial; and what if even the rod that contemneth shall be no more? saith the Lord Jehovah.

KJV

Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord God.

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This verse in Ezekiel 21

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Because it is a trial - This will be a trial of strength and skill between the Chaldeans and the Jews; and a trial of faith and patience to the righteous. And what if the sword, (Nebuchadnezzar), contemn even the rod? - Overthrow Zedekiah? It will do so; for the regal government of Judea shall be no more. Or, it is tried; that it the sword. Nebuchadnezzar has already shown himself strong and skillful.

This site's exposition

Cry and howl, son of man

on Ezekiel 21:12-13

The prophet is told to cry and howl and smite upon thy thigh, the gesture of grief, because the sword is coming upon my people. Fairbairn reads it is a trial as marking the invasion as a proving, testing whether the rod, the royal house itself, would stand.

This site's exposition

Surely testing will come

The testing is the trial the sword brings. The question asks what happens when the scepter itself falls, and Clarke answered with Zedekiah's overthrow and the end of Judah's kings. Henry added that for the faithful the same trial works like fire on gold.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(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 Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Here shall its proud waves be stayed. Note, It is matter of comfort to the people of God, when his judgments are abroad, and they are ready to tremble for fear of them, that, whatever they are to others, to them they are but trials; and, when they are tried, they shall come forth as gold, and the proving of their faith shall be the improving of it.
Because it is a trial,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

it is a trial--rather, "There is a trial" being made: the sword of the Lord will subject all to the ordeal. "What, then, if it contemn even the rod" (scepter of Judah)? Compare as to a similar scourge of unsparing trial, Job 9:23. it shall be no more--the scepter, that is, the state, must necessarily then come to an end.

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

The words behind it

12 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.

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

Related verses

9 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 21:27A ruin, a ruin, I will make it a ruin! And it will not be restored until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs, to whom I have assigned the right of judgment.’6 worksEzekiel 21:25And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, the day has come for your final punishment.’3 worksEzekiel 21:10it is sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son? The sword despises every such stick.3 works2 Corinthians 8:2In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.3 works2 Chronicles 28:22In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.3 worksJob 9:23When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 19:11It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick branches, conspicuous for its height and for its dense foliage.2 worksNumbers 17:2“Speak to the Israelites and take from them twelve staffs, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man’s name on his staff,2 worksEzekiel 7:10Behold, the day is here! It has come! Doom has gone out, the rod has budded, arrogance has bloomed.1 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

    2 Corinthians 8:2

    In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.

    it leads to

    • James 2:5

      Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

    • Proverbs 11:25

      A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

    • 2 Corinthians 6:10

      sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

    • Deuteronomy 15:4

      There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,

    • 1 Thessalonians 3:3–4

      so that none of you would be shaken by these trials. For you know that we are destined for this.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 21:25

    And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, the day has come for your final punishment.’

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 35:5

      Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment,

    • 2 Chronicles 36:13

      He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 21:10

    it is sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son? The sword despises every such stick.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 110:5–6

      The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.

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; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.

Read on in Ezekiel 21 →