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Ezekiel 21:14

in Ezekiel 21

‘So then, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together. Let the sword strike two times, even three. It is a sword that slays, a sword of great slaughter closing in on every side!

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one that is deadly wounded, which entereth into their chambers.

KJV

Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.

This verse in Ezekiel 21

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Let the sword be doubled the third time - The sword has been doubled, and it shall come the third time. Nebuchadnezzar came against Judea Thrice. 1. Against Jehoiakim. 2. Against Jeconiah. 3. Against Zedekiah. The sword had already been doubled; it is to come now the third time, i.e., against Zedekiah. The sword of the slain - חרב חללים chereb chalalim, “the sword of the soldiers,” of the Chaldeans. So in the next clause, היא חרב חלל הגדול hi chereb chalal haggadol, “it is the sword of that great soldier,” that eminent king and conqueror.

This site's exposition

the sword be doubled the third time

on Ezekiel 21:14-15

The prophet is now commanded to act the sword himself, smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time. Gill reads the point of the sword against all their gates as a city's defenses turned into the place where its own ruin multiplies.

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 Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Ruin comes gradually, but at last comes effectually, upon a provoking people. Yet this is not all: the prophet is not only as a herald at arms to proclaim war, and to cry, A sword! a sword! once and again, and a third time, but, as a person nearly concerned, he must cry and howl (

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

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), Prophesy, and smite thy hands together, wring thy hands, as lamenting the desolation, or clap thy hands, as by thy prophecy instigating and encouraging those that were to be the instruments of it, or as one standing amazed at the suddenness and severity of the judgment.

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

Thou, therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

(3) the removal of all those who remained with Gedaliah. "Doubled" means "multiplied" or "repeated." The stroke shall be doubled and even trebled. of the slain--that is, by which many are slain. As the Hebrew is singular, FAIRBAIRN makes it refer to the king, "the sword of the great one that is slain," or "pierced through." entereth . . . privy chambers-- (Jer 9:21).

The words behind it

19 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.

  • וְאַתָּ֣הand you

    veatahH859 →1094 times

  • בֶן־O son of

    ven-H1121 →4930 times

  • אָדָ֔םhumankind

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • הִנָּבֵ֕אprophesy

    hinave'H5012 →115 times

  • וְהַ֖ךְand strike

    vehakhH5221 →499 times

  • כַּ֣ףpalm

    kafH3709 →192 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • כָּ֑ףpalm

    kafH3709 →192 times

  • וְתִכָּפֵ֞לso it may be doubled

    vetikafelH3717 →

  • חֶ֤רֶבa sword

    cherevH2719 →413 times

  • שְׁלִישִׁ֙תָה֙a third

    shelishitahH7992 →107 times

  • חֶ֣רֶבa sword of

    cherevH2719 →413 times

  • חֲלָלִ֔ים[those] slain

    chalalimH2491 →94 times

  • הִ֗יאit

    hi'H1931 →1879 times

  • חֶ֚רֶב[is] a sword of

    cherevH2719 →413 times

  • חָלָ֣ל[the] slain

    chalalH2491 →94 times

  • הַגָּד֔וֹל<the> great

    hagadolH1419 →526 times

  • הַחֹדֶ֖רֶתwhich surrounds

    hachoderetH2314 →

  • לָהֶֽם׃<to> them

    lahem

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

    2 Kings 24:1

    During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

    it leads to

    • Daniel 1:1

      In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

    • Jeremiah 25:1

      This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king…

    • Jeremiah 25:9

      behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…

  • Through

    Numbers 24:10

    Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 23:11

      Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”

    • Ezekiel 21:17

      I too will strike My hands together, and I will satisfy My wrath.’ I, the LORD, have spoken.”

    • Ezekiel 22:13

      Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.

  • Through

    Leviticus 26:21

    If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 26:18

      And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins.

  • Through

    Leviticus 26:24

    then I will act with hostility toward you, and I will strike you sevenfold for your sins.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 18:26

      to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.

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.

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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.