Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Ezekiel 21:22

in Ezekiel 21

In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.

KJV

At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

This verse in Ezekiel 21

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem - He had probably written on two arrows; one, Jerusalem; the other, Riblath; the third, left blank. He drew, and that on which Jerusalem was written came to his hand; in consequence of which he marched immediately against that city. It was ripe for destruction; and had he marched before or after, it would have fallen; but he never considered himself as sure of the conquest till now.

This site's exposition

the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way

on Ezekiel 21:21-23

The king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way to use divination, arrows shaken, images consulted, and the liver examined. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem. Fairbairn reads it shall be unto them as a false divination as the irony the chapter intends.

This site's exposition

the portent for Jerusalem

The king's right hand draws Jerusalem's lot. Clarke pictured city names written on the arrows, with the one marked Jerusalem drawn out first. Henry noted the cost and labour of the siege works that follow, from battering rams to the siege wall.

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 Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Orders are given to provide every thing necessary for carrying on the siege with vigour; battering rams must be prepared and forts built. O what pains, what cost, are men at to destroy one another! He must show both the people and the prince that they bring this destruction upon themselves by their own sin.
At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem,....

The words behind it

20 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.

  • בִּֽימִינ֞וֹin right [hand] his

    biminoH3225 →140 times

  • הָיָ֣ה׀it was

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • הַקֶּ֣סֶםthe divination

    hakesemH7081 →11 times

  • יְרוּשָׁלִַ֗םJerusalem

    yerushalimH3389 →643 times

  • לָשׂ֤וּםto set up

    lasumH7760 →584 times

  • כָּרִים֙battering-rams

    karimH3733 →16 times

  • לִפְתֹּ֤חַto open

    liftoachH6605 →144 times

  • פֶּה֙a mouth

    pehH6310 →498 times

  • בְּרֶ֔צַחfor shattering

    beretzachH7524 →

  • לְהָרִ֥יםto raise

    leharimH7311 →190 times

  • ק֖וֹלa sound

    kolH6963 →506 times

  • בִּתְרוּעָ֑הwith a war cry

    bitruahH8643 →

  • לָשׂ֤וּםto set up

    lasumH7760 →584 times

  • כָּרִים֙battering-rams

    karimH3733 →16 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • שְׁעָרִ֔ים[the] gates

    shearimH8179 →374 times

  • לִשְׁפֹּ֥ךְto pour out

    lishpokhH8210 →114 times

  • סֹלְלָ֖הa mound

    solelahH5550 →11 times

  • לִבְנ֥וֹתto build

    livnotH1129 →376 times

  • דָּיֵֽק׃a siege-wall

    dayekH1785 →6 times

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

    Jeremiah 52:4

    So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 39:1

      In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.

    • Zechariah 8:19

      “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of…

    • Ezekiel 24:1–2

      In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

  • Through

    Joshua 6:10

    But Joshua had commanded the people: “Do not give a battle cry or let your voice be heard; do not let one word come out of your mouth until the day I tell you…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 42:2

      He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets.

    • Matthew 12:19

      He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets.

    • Luke 24:49

      And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

    • 2 Samuel 5:23–24

      So David inquired of the LORD, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 4:2

    Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 6:6

      For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Cut down the trees and raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.

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; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.