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Ezekiel 21:19

in Ezekiel 21

“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they twain shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

KJV

Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

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This verse in Ezekiel 21

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Appoint thee two ways - Set off from Babylon, and lay down two ways, either of which thou mayest take; that to the right, which leads to Jerusalem; or that to the left which leads to Rabbath of the Ammonites, Eze 21:20. But why against the Ammonites? Because both they and the Moabites were united with Zedekiah against the Chaldeans, (see Jer 27:3), though they afterwards fought against Judea, Eze 12:6.

This site's exposition

The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying

on Ezekiel 21:18-20

A new oracle instructs the prophet to appoint thee two ways, one way to Rabbath of the Ammonites and the other to Jerusalem the defenced. Clarke reads the head of the way to the city as the crossroads itself, staged so exiles would see the decision made in miniature.

This site's exposition

mark out two roads

Wesley pictured the map drawn on a tile, with both roads leaving Babylon and parting at one fork. Clarke explained the second road: Ammon had joined Zedekiah against the Chaldeans, as Jeremiah 27:3 records. The prophet draws the campaign before it happens.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 18 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And you, son of man, set before yourself two ways, and let the sword of the king of Babylon come. From one land they will both go out, and by hand he will take a decision: he will cast lots at the head of the city's road. You shall set a road, so that the sword may come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah, and to Jerusalem, the fortified.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Appoint - Paint, or describe them on a tile. One land - That is, Babylon. Chuse - Pitch on some convenient place, where thou mayest place Nebuchadnezzar's army, consulting where this one way divides into two, which was on the edge of the desert of Arabia.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The sword must go either to Rabbath or to Judah in Jerusalem. Many of the inhabitants of Judah had now taken shelter in Jerusalem, and all the interests of the country were bound up in the safety of the city, and therefore it is called Judah in Jerusalem the defenced; so strongly fortified was it, both by nature and art, that it was thought impregnable, Lam. iv.
Also thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

But MAURER rightly supports English Version. Ezekiel is told to "choose the place" where Nebuchadnezzar should do as is described in Eze 21:20, 21; so entirely does God order by the prophet every particular of place and time in the movements of the invader.

The words behind it

21 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.

  • וְאַתָּ֨הand you

    veatahH859 →1094 times

  • בֶן־O son of

    ven-H1121 →4930 times

  • אָדָ֜םhumankind

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • שִׂים־make

    sim-H7760 →584 times

  • לְךָ֣׀for yourself

    lekha

  • שְׁנַ֣יִםtwo

    shenayimH8147 →768 times

  • דְּרָכִ֗יםroads

    derakhimH1870 →707 times

  • לָבוֹא֙to come

    lavo'H935 →2568 times

  • חֶ֣רֶב[the] sword of

    cherevH2719 →413 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • בָּבֶ֔לBabylon

    bavelH894 →262 times

  • מֵאֶ֥רֶץfrom a land

    meeretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֶחָ֖דone

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

  • יֵצְא֣וּthey will go out

    yetzeuH3318 →1067 times

  • שְׁנֵיהֶ֑םboth of them

    sheneihemH8147 →768 times

  • וְיָ֣דand a monument

    veyadH3027 →1618 times

  • בָּרֵ֔אmake

    bare'H1254 →55 times

  • בְּרֹ֥אשׁat [the] beginning of

    beroshH7218 →599 times

  • דֶּֽרֶךְ־[the] road of

    derekh-H1870 →707 times

  • עִ֖ירa city

    ʾirH5892 →1090 times

  • בָּרֵֽא׃make [it]

    bare'H1254 →55 times

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

Related verses

5 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 21:3and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.4 worksEzekiel 4:1–3“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem.3 worksJeremiah 1:10See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”3 worksEzekiel 21:11The sword is appointed to be polished, to be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished, to be placed in the hand of the slayer.3 worksEzekiel 5:1–17“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.2 works

The walk

5 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

    Jeremiah 1:10

    See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 31:28

      Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.

    • 2 Corinthians 10:4–5

      The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

    • Isaiah 44:26–28

      who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I…

    • Jeremiah 31:4–5

      Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.

    • Jeremiah 24:6

      I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.

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; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.

Read on in Ezekiel 21 →