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Ezekiel 21:7

in Ezekiel 21

And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say, Because of the tidings, for it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah.

KJV

And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.

This verse in Ezekiel 21

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

(Vers. 6, 7.) And you, son of man, groan in the breaking of your loins, and groan bitterly before them. And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news, for it is coming, and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be loosened, and every spirit shall faint, and water shall flow from all knees. Behold, it is coming, and it shall be,' says the Lord (Vulgate adds 'God'). LXX: And you, son of man, groan in the breaking of your loins, and groan in pains before them.

This site's exposition

with the breaking of thy loins

on Ezekiel 21:6-7

The prophet is himself made a sign, commanded to sigh with the breaking of thy loins and with bitterness before the eyes of the exiles. Henry reads the bodily collapse the verse then describes as Ezekiel's own body rehearsing in advance the terror Jerusalem's people would feel.

This site's exposition

Why are you groaning

The groaning was meant to be seen and asked about. Clarke called the prophet a sign whose mourning showed the exiles how they ought to mourn. The melting heart and the knees turned to water repeat the terror of 7:17.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The wrath of God will put an edge upon it; and, whatever instruments God shall please to make use of in executing his judgments, he will fill them with strength, courage, and fury, according to the service they are employed in. Out of the mouth of Christ goes a sharp sword, Rev. xix. It is furbished, that it may glitter, to the terror of those against whom it is drawn.
And it shall be, when they say unto thee, wherefore sighest thou?....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Wherefore sighest thou? - The prophet was a sign unto them. His sighing and mourning showed them how they should act. All knees shall be weak as water - See the note on Eze 7:17.

The words behind it

32 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.

  • וְהָיָה֙and it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • יֹאמְר֣וּthey will say

    yomeruH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלֶ֔יךָto you

    ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times

  • עַל־concerning

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • מָ֖הwhat?

    mahH4100 →752 times

  • אַתָּ֣ה[are] you

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • נֶאֱנָ֑חgroaning

    neenachH584 →13 times

  • וְאָמַרְתָּ֡and you will say

    veamartaH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־because of

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • שְׁמוּעָ֣הa report

    shemuahH8052 →27 times

  • כִֽי־that

    khi-H3588 →4482 times

  • בָאָ֡ה[it is] coming

    vaahH935 →2568 times

  • וְנָמֵ֣סand it will melt

    venamesH4549 →

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • לֵב֩heart

    levH3820 →595 times

  • וְרָפ֨וּand they will hang limp

    verafuH7503 →46 times

  • כָל־every

    khol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יָדַ֜יִםpair of hands

    yadayimH3027 →1618 times

  • וְכִהֲתָ֣הand it will grow faint

    vekhihatahH3543 →

  • כָל־every

    khol-H3605 →5413 times

  • ר֗וּחַspirit

    ruachH7307 →378 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • בִּרְכַּ֙יִם֙knees

    birkayimH1290 →25 times

  • תֵּלַ֣כְנָהthey will go

    telakhnahH1980 →1546 times

  • מַּ֔יִםwater

    mayimH4325 →581 times

  • הִנֵּ֤הthere!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • בָאָה֙[it is] coming

    vaahH935 →2568 times

  • וְנִֽהְיָ֔תָהand it will happen

    venihyatahH1961 →3559 times

  • נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of

    neumH5002 →376 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord

    ʾadonaiH136 →440 times

  • יְהוִֽה׃ פYahweh

    yahwehH3069 →306 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

    Nahum 2:10

    She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 13:7–8

      Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joel 2:6

      Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.

    • Psalms 22:14

      I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.

    • Daniel 5:6

      his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.

    • Jeremiah 30:6

      Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

  • Through

    Ezekiel 7:26

    Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 4:20

      Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.

    • Micah 3:6

      Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.

    • Ezekiel 14:1

      Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me.

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; 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.