Yehezkiel 21:12

21:12 Cry out and moan, son of man,

for it is wielded against my people;

against all the princes of Israel.

They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people.

Therefore, strike your thigh. ¹ 

Yehezkiel 30:2

30:2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Wail, “Alas, the day is here!” ² 

Yehezkiel 32:18

32:18 “Son of man, wail ³  over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down; ⁴  bring ⁵  her ⁶  and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the pit.

[21:12]  ¹ sn This physical action was part of an expression of grief. Cp. Jer. 31:19.

[30:2]  ² tn Heb “Alas for the day.”

[32:18]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16).

[32:18]  ⁴ sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37.

[32:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style.

[32:18]  ⁶ tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt.