Ezekiel 21:17
in Ezekiel 21I too will strike My hands together, and I will satisfy My wrath.’ I, the LORD, have spoken.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, Jehovah, have spoken it.
KJV
I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the Lord have said it.
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This verse in Ezekiel 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseI will also smite my hands together,.... As well as the prophet was bid to do, Eze 21:14, either expressing a concern for the calamity of the people, or indignation at their sins: or rather as encouraging their enemies to make use of the sword pointed at them, and, as it were, rejoicing at their destruction for the honour of his justice.
This site's exposition
Go thee one way or other
on Ezekiel 21:16-17
On the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set is addressed to the sword itself, given free range. The Lord then claims the action as his own, I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest.
This site's exposition
strike My hands together
God now strikes His hands together as the prophet was told to do in verse 14. Henry read it as a sign of holy wrath at the people's sin, and Gill saw the sword urged on. The poem ends in satisfied wrath.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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 Awakening1 voice
God is in earnest in pronouncing this sentence upon them, and therefore the prophet must show himself in earnest in publishing it. God's smiting his hands together, as well as the prophet's smiting, is in token of a holy indignation at their wickedness, which was really very astonishing.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֲנִ֗י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אַכֶּ֤ה | ʾakeh | I will strike | H5221 → | 499 times |
| כַפִּי֙ | khapi | palm my | H3709 → | 192 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כַּפִּ֔י | kapi | palm my | H3709 → | 192 times |
| וַהֲנִחֹתִ֖י | vahanichoti | and I will give rest to | H5117 → | 142 times |
| חֲמָתִ֑י | chamati | rage my | H2534 → | 125 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| דִּבַּֽרְתִּי׃ פ | dibarti | I have spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
אֲנִ֗יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אַכֶּ֤הI will strike
ʾakehH5221 →499 times
כַפִּי֙palm my
khapiH3709 →192 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
כַּפִּ֔יpalm my
kapiH3709 →192 times
וַהֲנִחֹתִ֖יand I will give rest to
vahanichotiH5117 →142 times
חֲמָתִ֑יrage my
chamatiH2534 →125 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
Ezekiel 16:42So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:13
And when My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath against them, I will be appeased. And when I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 39:29
And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Ezekiel 5:13
Through
Ezekiel 21:14‘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…
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Numbers 24:10
Through
Ezekiel 5:13And when My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath against them, I will be appeased. And when I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:24
Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will be relieved of My foes and avenge Myself on My enemies.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 36:5–6
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession…
- Isaiah 1:24
Through
Ezekiel 22:13Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
it leads to
- Isaiah 33:15
He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
- Isaiah 33:15
Through
Zechariah 6:8Then the LORD summoned me and said, “Behold, those going to the land of the north have given rest to My Spirit in the land of the north.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:48–49
Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon because the destroyers from the north will come against her,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 51:48–49
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; 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.
