Yehezkiel 5:6

5:6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations ¹  and the countries around her. ²  Indeed, they ³  have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.

Yehezkiel 21:19

21:19 “You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

Yehezkiel 40:1

Vision of the New Temple

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 the city ⁴  was struck down, on this very day, ⁵  the hand ⁶  of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there. ⁷ 

[5:6]  ¹ sn The nations are subject to a natural law according to Gen 9; see also Amos 1:3-2:3; Jonah 1:2.

[5:6]  ² tn Heb “she defied my laws, becoming wicked more than the nations, and [she defied] my statutes [becoming wicked] more than the countries around her.”

[5:6]  ³ sn One might conclude that the subject of the plural verbs is the nations/countries, but the context (vv. 5-6a) indicates that the people of Jerusalem are in view. The text shifts from using the feminine singular (referring to personified Jerusalem) to the plural (referring to Jerusalem’s residents). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:73.

[40:1]  ⁴ sn That is, Jerusalem.

[40:1]  ⁵ tn April 19, 573 b.c.

[40:1]  ⁶ tn Or “power.”

[40:1]  sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).

[40:1]  ⁷ sn That is, to the land of Israel (see v. 2).