Ezekiel 21:3
in Ezekiel 21and 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and say to the land of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
KJV
And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
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This verse in Ezekiel 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseBehold, I am against thee - Dismal news! When God is against us, who can be for us? And will draw forth my sword - War. And will cut off from thee - The land of Judea. The righteous and the wicked - All shall be removed from thee. Some shall be cut off - removed by the sword; shall be slain in battle, or by the pestilence; and some shall be cut off - die by the famine; and some shall be cut off - removed from the land by captivity.
This site's exposition
the word of the Lord came unto me, saying
on Ezekiel 21:1-5
The Lord draws forth his sword against the land of Israel and states plainly that it will cut off the righteous and the wicked together. Gill reads the righteous alongside the wicked as the ordinary judgment that falls on a besieged city, sword, famine and captivity making no exception.
This site's exposition
both the righteous and the wicked
Chapter 9 set a mark on those who grieved over the city's sins, and this verse includes the righteous in the ruin. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the mark as God's care within the disaster, with no exemption from the siege. The weight falls on the reach of the judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 21, Verse 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel, and say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The righteous - It is no unusual thing, that in publick calamities, those who are indeed righteous should be involved with others.
And say to the land of Israel,....
Well might it be said, His eye shall not spare, when it shall not spare, no, not the righteous in it. Since there are not righteous men sufficient to save the land, to make the justice of God the more illustrious the few that there are shall suffer with it, and God's mercy shall make it up to them some other way.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The godly were sealed with a mark (Eze 9:4), not for outward exemption from the common calamity, but as marked for the secret interpositions of Providence, overruling even evil to their good. The godly were by comparison so few, that not their salvation but the universality of the judgment is brought into view here.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֞ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְאַדְמַ֣ת | leadmat | to [the] land of | H127 → | 225 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הִנְנִ֣י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| אֵלַ֔יִךְ | ʾelayikh | [am] against you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְהוֹצֵאתִ֥י | vehotzeti | and I will bring out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| חַרְבִּ֖י | charbi | sword my | H2719 → | 413 times |
| מִתַּעְרָ֑הּ | mita'rah | from sheath its | H8593 → | 13 times |
| וְהִכְרַתִּ֥י | vehikhrati | and I will cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| מִמֵּ֖ךְ | mimekh | from you | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| צַדִּ֥יק | tzadik | [the] righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| וְרָשָֽׁע׃ | verasha' | and [the] wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
וְאָמַרְתָּ֞and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
לְאַדְמַ֣תto [the] land of
leadmatH127 →225 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הִנְנִ֣יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
אֵלַ֔יִךְ[am] against you
ʾelayikhH413 →5510 times
וְהוֹצֵאתִ֥יand I will bring out
vehotzetiH3318 →1067 times
חַרְבִּ֖יsword my
charbiH2719 →413 times
מִתַּעְרָ֑הּfrom sheath its
mita'rahH8593 →13 times
וְהִכְרַתִּ֥יand I will cut off
vehikhratiH3772 →288 times
מִמֵּ֖ךְfrom you
mimekhH4480 →1188 times
צַדִּ֥יק[the] righteous
tzadikH6662 →206 times
וְרָשָֽׁע׃and [the] wicked
verasha'H7563 →263 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
Jeremiah 21:13Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
it leads to
- Lamentations 4:12
The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 13:8
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.
- Obadiah 1:3–4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
- Jeremiah 23:30–32
“Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.”
- Jeremiah 49:4–5
Why do you boast of your valleys—your valleys so fruitful, O faithless daughter? You trust in your riches and say, ‘Who can come against me?’
- Lamentations 4:12
Through
Ezekiel 5:8Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 15:7
And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I…
- Jeremiah 24:9
I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them.
- Jeremiah 21:13
Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- Ezekiel 15:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.