Ezekiel 37:18
in Ezekiel 37When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these?’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?
KJV
And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
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This verse in Ezekiel 37
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
God does not explain the symbolical prophecy until the Jews have been stimulated by the type to consult the prophet.
This site's exposition
the word of the LORD came to me
on Ezekiel 37:15-20
The chapter's second sign is in wood: one stick for Judah, another for Joseph, joined “so that they become one in your hand”. The schism that began when ten tribes followed Jeroboam is healed in the prophet's fist before it is promised, as Ezekiel's signs precede his sermons.
This site's exposition
what you mean by these
Ezekiel's sign acts often provoke a question before the oracle is given, as in 12:9 and 24:19. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that God withholds the meaning until the sign moves the people to ask. The question opens the way for the promise.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15 and following) \"And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And you, son of man, take for yourself one piece of wood and write on it 'Judah' and the children of Israel, his companions, and take another piece of wood and write on it 'Joseph, the wood of Ephraim,' and all the house of Israel, his companions. And join them one to another for yourself into one piece of wood; and they will be in unity in your hand.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In this there was a type of the uniting of Jews and Gentiles, Jews and Samaritans, in Christ and his church. And so the prophet slides into a prediction of the kingdom of Christ, which should be set up in the world with God's tabernacle in it, and of the glories and graces of that kingdom,
And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying,....
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכַֽאֲשֶׁר֙ | vekhaasher | and just when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יֹאמְר֣וּ | yomeru | they will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלֶ֔יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עַמְּךָ֖ | ʾamekha | people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֲלֽוֹא־ | halo'- | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַגִּ֥יד | tagid | will you tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לָ֖נוּ | lanu | to us | ||
| מָה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| אֵ֥לֶּה | ʾeleh | [are] these [things] | H428 → | 746 times |
| לָּֽךְ׃ | lakh | to you |
וְכַֽאֲשֶׁר֙and just when
vekhaasherH834 →5497 times
יֹאמְר֣וּthey will say
yomeruH559 →5305 times
אֵלֶ֔יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] children of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
עַמְּךָ֖people your
ʾamekhaH5971 →1873 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הֲלֽוֹא־¿ not
halo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַגִּ֥ידwill you tell
tagidH5046 →370 times
לָ֖נוּto us
lanu
מָה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
אֵ֥לֶּה[are] these [things]
ʾelehH428 →746 times
לָּֽךְ׃to you
lakh
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 12:9“Son of man, hasn’t the rebellious house of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’
it leads to
- Ezekiel 17:12
“Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 24:19
Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean to us?”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:49
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 2:5–8
And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.
- Ezekiel 12:1–3
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- Ezekiel 17:12
Through
Ezekiel 24:19Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean to us?”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 12:9
“Son of man, hasn’t the rebellious house of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’
- Ezekiel 12:9
Through
Ezekiel 20:49Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”
it leads to
- John 16:25
I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
- John 16:25
Through
Ezekiel 17:12“Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:2
On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—
- Ezekiel 1:2
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 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.