Ezekiel 28:23
in Ezekiel 28I will send a plague against her and shed blood in her streets; the slain will fall within her, while the sword is against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall fall in the midst of her, with the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
KJV
For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
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This verse in Ezekiel 28
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIt is God that judges, and he will overcome. Nor is it Tyre and Zidon only on which God would execute judgments, but on all those that despised his people Israel, and triumphed in their calamities; for this was now God's controversy with the nations that were round about them,
This site's exposition
Then the word of the LORD came to me
on Ezekiel 28:20-24
The oracle turns last to Zidon, Tyre's older sister city. Verse 24 gives Israel's stake, there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn. Henry and Gill read the brier and thorn as the same figure Moses had used at Numbers 33:55.
This site's exposition
I will send a plague against her
Plague inside the walls and the sword outside them picture a city under siege. Ezekiel pronounced the same pair on Jerusalem in 5:12 and 7:15, and both appear among the four judgments of 14:21. Sidon suffers what Jerusalem suffered.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 20 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against Sidon and prophesy against it, and say: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Sidon, and I will be glorified in you. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments in her and am sanctified in her. And I will send pestilence upon her and blood in her streets, and the slain shall fall in her midst, by the sword all around, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And blood - Bloody war by an enemy, that shall bring the war to the gates, nay into the streets of Zidon. Judged - Be punished in the midst of the city.
And I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And the wounded - חלל chalal, the soldiery. All its supports shall be taken away, and its defenders destroyed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי־ | veshilachti- | and I will send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| בָ֞הּ | vah | on it | ||
| דֶּ֤בֶר | dever | a pestilence | H1698 → | 49 times |
| וָדָם֙ | vadam | and blood | H1818 → | 360 times |
| בְּח֣וּצוֹתֶ֔יהָ | bechutzoteiha | in streets its | H2351 → | 164 times |
| וְנִפְלַ֤ל | veniflal | and it will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| חָלָל֙ | chalal | [the] slain | H2491 → | 94 times |
| בְּתוֹכָ֔הּ | betokhah | in [the] midst of it | H8432 → | 418 times |
| בְּחֶ֥רֶב | becherev | by [the] sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| עָלֶ֖יהָ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִסָּבִ֑יב | misaviv | from round about | H5439 → | 336 times |
| וְיָדְע֖וּ | veyadeu | and they will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי־and I will send
veshilachti-H7971 →845 times
בָ֞הּon it
vah
דֶּ֤בֶרa pestilence
deverH1698 →49 times
וָדָם֙and blood
vadamH1818 →360 times
בְּח֣וּצוֹתֶ֔יהָin streets its
bechutzoteihaH2351 →164 times
וְנִפְלַ֤לand it will fall
veniflalH5307 →435 times
חָלָל֙[the] slain
chalalH2491 →94 times
בְּתוֹכָ֔הּin [the] midst of it
betokhahH8432 →418 times
בְּחֶ֥רֶבby [the] sword
becherevH2719 →413 times
עָלֶ֖יהָon it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
מִסָּבִ֑יבfrom round about
misavivH5439 →336 times
וְיָדְע֖וּand they will know
veyadeuH3045 →945 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָֽה׃[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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 5:12A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:2
When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 15:2
If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
- Ezekiel 5:2
Through
Jeremiah 15:2If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 43:11
He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.
- Zechariah 11:9
Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”
- Revelation 13:10
“If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity he will go; if anyone is to die by the sword, by the sword he must be killed.” Here is a call for the perseverance and…
- Revelation 6:3–8
And when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
- Jeremiah 43:11
Through
Ezekiel 38:22I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
it leads to
- Psalms 11:6
On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Isaiah 66:16
For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
- Psalms 11:6
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; 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.
