Ezekiel 7:15
in Ezekiel 7The sword is outside; plague and famine are within. Those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
KJV
The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
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This verse in Ezekiel 7
Commentary
5 notes on this verse(Verse 15, 16.) The sword is outside, and pestilence and famine are within. Those who are in the field will die by the sword; and those who are in the city will be consumed by pestilence and famine. And those who escape will be saved; they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, trembling. Each one in their own wickedness. The seventy, the doves of the valleys, or as Theodotus translated, the meditators, remained completely silent.
This site's exposition
The sword is outside
on Ezekiel 7:15-16
Three instruments close in: “The sword is outside; plague and famine are within,” so the open field and the besieged city each hold a death. Verse 16 lets survivors escape to the mountains, but only to grieve, “moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Sin had abounded both in city and country, Iliacos intra muros peccator et extra--Trojans and Greeks offend alike; and therefore among both desolations are made. None of those that are marked for death shall escape: There shall none of them remain.
The sword is without,.... Without the city, where the enemy was besieging; so that those that went without, in order to make their escapes fell into their hands: and the pestilence and the famine within; within the city; so that such who thought themselves safe in their own houses died by those judgments: he that is in the field shall die by the sword; by the hands of the Chaldeans: and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him; and he shall die by the hand of God.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The sword is without - War through all the country, and pestilence and famine within the city, shall destroy the whole, except a small remnant. He who endeavors to flee from the one shall fall by the other.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
They sound the shofar When the enemy comes upon them, they prepare themselves for war, but no one will go out to fight.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַחֶ֣רֶב | hacherev | the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| בַּח֔וּץ | bachutz | [is] on the outside | H2351 → | 164 times |
| וְהַדֶּ֥בֶר | vehadever | and <the> pestilence | H1698 → | 49 times |
| וְהָרָעָ֖ב | veharaav | and <the> famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| מִבָּ֑יִת | mibayit | [are] from inside | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | [the one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בַּשָּׂדֶה֙ | basadeh | [is] in the open country | H7704 → | 334 times |
| בַּחֶ֣רֶב | bacherev | by the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| יָמ֔וּת | yamut | he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וַאֲשֶׁ֣ר | vaasher | and [the one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּעִ֔יר | bair | [is] in the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| רָעָ֥ב | raav | famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| וָדֶ֖בֶר | vadever | and pestilence | H1698 → | 49 times |
| יֹאכֲלֶֽנּוּ׃ | yokhalenu | it will consume him | H398 → | 810 times |
הַחֶ֣רֶבthe sword
hacherevH2719 →413 times
בַּח֔וּץ[is] on the outside
bachutzH2351 →164 times
וְהַדֶּ֥בֶרand <the> pestilence
vehadeverH1698 →49 times
וְהָרָעָ֖בand <the> famine
veharaavH7458 →101 times
מִבָּ֑יִת[are] from inside
mibayitH1004 →2046 times
אֲשֶׁ֤ר[the one] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בַּשָּׂדֶה֙[is] in the open country
basadehH7704 →334 times
בַּחֶ֣רֶבby the sword
bacherevH2719 →413 times
יָמ֔וּתhe will die
yamutH4191 →839 times
וַאֲשֶׁ֣רand [the one] who
vaasherH834 →5497 times
בָּעִ֔יר[is] in the city
bairH5892 →1090 times
רָעָ֥בfamine
raavH7458 →101 times
וָדֶ֖בֶרand pestilence
vadeverH1698 →49 times
יֹאכֲלֶֽנּוּ׃it will consume him
yokhalenuH398 →810 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…
- 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;…
- Jeremiah 43:10–11
Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these…
- Ezekiel 12:14
And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.
- Ezekiel 5:2
Through
Lamentations 1:20See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:11
My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of…
- Isaiah 16:11
Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.
- Lamentations 2:11
Through
Jeremiah 14:18If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land…
it leads to
- Lamentations 1:20
See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
- Jeremiah 8:10
Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all…
- Lamentations 1:20
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.