Ezekiel 33:21
in Ezekiel 33In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
KJV
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
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This verse in Ezekiel 33
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity,.... Of Jeconiah's captivity, when Ezekiel with others were carried into Babylon; see Eze 1:2. in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month; which was a year, four months, and some days, after the city of Jerusalem was taken; for that was destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and so of the captivity, and in the fifth month, and tenth day of the month. 2Ki 25:
This site's exposition
a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me
on Ezekiel 33:21-22
A fugitive from Jerusalem brings the news, “The city has been taken”. Verse 22 ties the moment to the sign Ezekiel had carried since chapter 24. The evening before, “the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He opened my mouth”, ending the silence since his wife's death.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
For then the mouth of the prophet is opened, when what he had previously announced, he shows by action: and he proclaims with total freedom, things that are not yet to come, but either present or already past.
(Verse 21, 22.) And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth month (the Vulgate is silent on the month), on the fifth day of the month of our transmigration (or captivity), that the one who had fled (or been saved) from Jerusalem came to me, saying, 'The city has been devastated (or captured).' But the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening before the one who had fled came; and He opened my mouth until the morning, and I no longer remained silent with my mouth open.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), which was a year and almost five months after the thing was done; we may well suppose that, there being a constant correspondence at this time more than ever kept up between Jerusalem and Babylon, he had heard the news long before.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
52:5, 6), in the eleventh year and fourth month. The one who escaped (as foretold, Eze 24:26) may have been so long on the road through fear of entering the enemy's country [HENDERSON]; or, the singular is used for the plural in a collective sense, "the escaped remnant." Compare similar phrases, "the escaped of Moab," Isa 15:9;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month - Instead of the twelfth year, the eleventh is the reading of seven of Kennicott’s MSS., one of De Rossi’s, and the Syriac. My own, mentioned in the preceding chapter, reads with the present text. This was on Wednesday, Jan. 25, A.M. 3416 or 3417. One that had escaped out of Jerusalem - After it had been taken by the Chaldeans. Came unto me, saying, The City Is Smitten - This very message God had promised to the prophet, Eze 24:26.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The date shows an interval of 112 years from the taking of Jerusalem Jer 52:12. The general news that the city was taken must have reached them, but it was only when the messenger arrived that the prophet’s mouth was opened. It is not improbable that a body of men after the destruction of the city joined their brethren in Chaldaea; if so this would account for the lapse of time, and supply a reason why Ezekiel on their arrival should commence a new series of prophecies.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֞י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בִּשְׁתֵּ֧י | bishtei | in two [plus] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵ֣ה | ʾesreh | ten | H6240 → | 338 times |
| שָׁנָ֗ה | shanah | year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| בָּעֲשִׂרִ֛י | baasiri | in the tenth [month] | H6224 → | 29 times |
| בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֥ה | bachamishah | on [day] five | H2568 → | 343 times |
| לַחֹ֖דֶשׁ | lachodesh | of the month | H2320 → | 284 times |
| לְגָלוּתֵ֑נוּ | legalutenu | of exile our | H1546 → | 15 times |
| בָּא־ | ba'- | he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵלַ֨י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַפָּלִ֧יט | hapalit | the escapee | H6412 → | 24 times |
| מִירוּשָׁלִַ֛ם | mirushalim | from Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| לֵאמֹ֖ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֻכְּתָ֥ה | huketah | it has been struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| הָעִֽיר׃ | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
וַיְהִ֞יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בִּשְׁתֵּ֧יin two [plus]
bishteiH8147 →768 times
עֶשְׂרֵ֣הten
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
שָׁנָ֗הyear
shanahH8141 →877 times
בָּעֲשִׂרִ֛יin the tenth [month]
baasiriH6224 →29 times
בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֥הon [day] five
bachamishahH2568 →343 times
לַחֹ֖דֶשׁof the month
lachodeshH2320 →284 times
לְגָלוּתֵ֑נוּof exile our
legalutenuH1546 →15 times
בָּא־he came
ba'-H935 →2568 times
אֵלַ֨יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
הַפָּלִ֧יטthe escapee
hapalitH6412 →24 times
מִירוּשָׁלִַ֛םfrom Jerusalem
mirushalimH3389 →643 times
לֵאמֹ֖ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הֻכְּתָ֥הit has been struck
huketahH5221 →499 times
הָעִֽיר׃the city
hairH5892 →1090 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
2 Kings 25:10And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 1:3
And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
- Nehemiah 1:3
Through
Ezekiel 1:2On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—
it leads to
- 2 Kings 24:12–15
Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him…
- Ezekiel 40:1
In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand…
- Ezekiel 20:1
In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.
- Ezekiel 8:1
In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord…
- 2 Kings 24:12–15
Through
Ezekiel 40:1In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:2–3
On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—
- Ezekiel 32:17
In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 3:22
And there the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak with you.”
- Ezekiel 1:2–3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.