Yehezkiel 5:8

5:8 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: I – even I – am against you, ¹  and I will execute judgment ²  among you while the nations watch. ³ 

Yehezkiel 5:10

5:10 Therefore fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem, ⁴  and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors ⁵  to the winds. ⁶ 

Yehezkiel 5:12

5:12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. ⁷  A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, ⁸  and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them.

Yehezkiel 7:4

7:4 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare ⁹  you. ¹⁰  For I will hold you responsible for your behavior, ¹¹  and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. ¹²  Then you will know that I am the Lord!

Yehezkiel 7:9

7:9 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare ¹³  you. For your behavior I will hold you accountable, ¹⁴  and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is striking you. ¹⁵ 

Yehezkiel 22:9

22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. ¹⁶  Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; ¹⁷  they commit obscene acts among you. ¹⁸ 

Yehezkiel 26:15

26:15 “This is what the sovereign Lord says to Tyre: Oh, how the coastlands will shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, at the massive slaughter in your midst!

Yehezkiel 27:27

27:27 Your wealth, products, and merchandise, your sailors and captains,

your ship’s carpenters, ¹⁹  your merchants,

and all your fighting men within you,

along with all your crew who are in you,

will fall into the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.

Yehezkiel 28:22

28:22 Say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Look, I am against you, ²⁰  Sidon,

and I will magnify myself in your midst.

Then they will know that I am the Lord

when I execute judgments on her

and reveal my sovereign power ²¹  in her.

[5:8]  ¹ tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8. The Hebrew text switches to a second feminine singular form here, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed (see vv. 5-6a). The address to Jerusalem continues through v. 15. In vv. 16-17 the second masculine plural is used, as the people are addressed.

[5:8]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses wordplay here to bring out the appropriate nature of God’s judgment. “Execute” translates the same Hebrew verb translated “carried out” (literally meaning “do”) in v. 7, while “judgment” in v. 8 and “regulations” in v. 7 translate the same Hebrew noun (meaning “regulations” or in some cases “judgments” executed on those who break laws). The point seems to be this: God would “carry out judgments” against those who refused to “carry out” his “laws.”

[5:8]  ³ tn Heb “in the sight of the nations.”

[5:8]  sn This is one of the ironies of the passage. The Lord set Israel among the nations for honor and praise as they would be holy and obey God’s law as told in Ezek 5:5 and Deut 26:16-19. The practice of these laws and statutes would make the peoples consider Israel wise. (See Deut 4:5-8, where the words for laws and statutes are the same as those used here). Since Israel did not obey, they are made a different kind of object lesson to the nations, not by their obedience but in their punishment as told in Ezek 5:8 and Deut 29:24-29. Yet Deut 30 goes on to say that when they remember the cursings and blessings of the covenant and repent, God will restore them from the nations to which they have been scattered.

[5:10]  ⁴ tn In context “you” refers to the city of Jerusalem. To make this clear for the modern reader, “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation in apposition to “you.”

[5:10]  sn This cannibalism would occur as a result of starvation due to the city being besieged. It is one of the judgments threatened for a covenant law violation (Lev 26:29; see also Deut 28:53; Jer 19:9; Lam 2:20; Zech 11:9).

[5:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “all of your survivors.”

[5:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “to every wind.”

[5:12]  ⁷ sn The judgment of plague and famine comes from the covenant curse (Lev 26:25-26). As in v. 10, the city of Jerusalem is figuratively addressed here.

[5:12]  ⁸ sn Judgment by plague, famine, and sword occurs in Jer 21:9; 27:13; Ezek 6:11, 12; 7:15.

[7:4]  ⁹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[7:4]  ¹⁰ tn The pronoun “you” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[7:4]  ¹¹ tn “I will set your behavior on your head.”

[7:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and your abominable practices will be among you.”

[7:9]  ¹³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[7:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “According to your behavior I will place on you.”

[7:9]  ¹⁵ tn The MT lacks “you.” It has been added for clarification.

[22:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.

[22:9]  ¹⁸ sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.

[27:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your repairers of damage.” See v. 9.

[28:22]  ²⁰ tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.

[28:22]  ²¹ tn Or “reveal my holiness.” God’s “holiness” is fundamentally his transcendence as sovereign ruler of the world. The revelation of his authority and power through judgment is in view in this context.