Ezekiel 23-25

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 23:3 tn In the Hebrew text the subject is left unstated and must be supplied from the context.
2. Ezekiel 23:4 tn The names Oholah and Oholibah are both derived from the word meaning “tent.” The meaning of Oholah is “her tent,” while Oholibah means “my tent is in her.”
3. Ezekiel 23:4 sn In this allegory the Lord is depicted as being the husband of two wives. The OT law prohibited a man from marrying sisters (Lev 18:18), but the practice is attested in the OT (cf. Jacob). The metaphor is utilized here for illustrative purposes and does not mean that the Lord condoned such a practice or bigamy in general.
4. Ezekiel 23:5 tn Heb “while she was under me.” The expression indicates that Oholah is viewed as the Lord’s wife. See Num 5:19-20, 29. sn Engaged in prostitution refers to alliances with pagan nations in this context. In Ezek 16 harlotry described the sin of idolatry.
5. Ezekiel 23:5 tn Heb “Assyria.”
6. Ezekiel 23:5 tn The term apparently refers to Assyrian military officers; it is better construed with the description that follows. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:738.
7. Ezekiel 23:7 tn Heb “her harlotries.”
8. Ezekiel 23:7 tn Heb “lusted after.”
9. Ezekiel 23:8 tn Heb “lied down with.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakav) “to lie down” can imply going to bed to sleep or be a euphemism for sexual relations.
10. Ezekiel 23:8 tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”
11. Ezekiel 23:9 tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”
12. Ezekiel 23:10 tn Heb “name.”
13. Ezekiel 23:11 tn The word “this” is not in the original text.
14. Ezekiel 23:14 tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew term is in Jer 22:14.
15. Ezekiel 23:15 tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”
16. Ezekiel 23:16 tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”
17. Ezekiel 23:16 sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).
18. Ezekiel 23:17 tn Heb “The sons of Babel came to her on a bed of love.”
19. Ezekiel 23:17 tn Heb “her soul.”
20. Ezekiel 23:18 tn Heb “She exposed her harlotry and exposed her nakedness.”
21. Ezekiel 23:18 tn Heb “my soul.”
22. Ezekiel 23:18 tn Heb “my soul.”
23. Ezekiel 23:20 tn Heb “She lusted after their concubines (?), whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys.” The phrase “their concubines” is difficult here. The pronoun is masculine plural, suggesting that the Egyptian men are in view, but how concubines would fit into the picture envisioned here is not clear. It is possible that the term refers here to the Egyptians’ genitals. The relative pronoun that follows introduces a more specific description of them. Some suggest that Ezekiel uses the term in an idiomatic sense of “paramour,” which is reflected in the translation above.
24. Ezekiel 23:21 tn Or “you took note of.” The Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Qal implies evaluating something and then acting in light of that judgment; here the prophet depicts Judah as approving of her youthful unfaithfulness and then magnifying it at the present time. Some translations assume the verb should be repointed as a Niphal, rendering “you missed” or by extension “you longed for,” but such an extension of the Niphal “to be missing” is otherwise unattested.
25. Ezekiel 23:21 tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.
26. Ezekiel 23:21 tn Heb “for the sake of,” but the expression is awkward and is better emended to read “to squeeze.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.
27. Ezekiel 23:22 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
28. Ezekiel 23:23 sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.
29. Ezekiel 23:23 sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.
30. Ezekiel 23:23 sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).
31. Ezekiel 23:24 tn Heb “come against.”
32. Ezekiel 23:24 tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.
33. Ezekiel 23:24 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
34. Ezekiel 23:24 tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”
35. Ezekiel 23:25 tn Heb “give.”
36. Ezekiel 23:25 tn Heb “they will remove.” sn This method of punishment is attested among ancient Egyptian and Hittite civilizations. See W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:489.
37. Ezekiel 23:25 tn Heb “fall.”
38. Ezekiel 23:27 tn Heb “I will cause your obscene conduct to cease from you and your harlotry from the land of Egypt.”
39. Ezekiel 23:27 tn Heb “lift your eyes to them.”
40. Ezekiel 23:28 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
41. Ezekiel 23:28 tn Heb “I am giving you into the hand of.”
42. Ezekiel 23:29 tn The Hebrew term means “labor,” but by extension it can also refer to that for which one works.
43. Ezekiel 23:29 tn Heb “The nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, and your obscene conduct and your harlotry.”
44. Ezekiel 23:30 tn The infinitive absolute continues the sequence begun in v. 28: “Look here, I am about to deliver you.” See Joüon 2:430 §123.w.
45. Ezekiel 23:31 tn Heb “her cup.” A cup of intoxicating strong drink is used, here and elsewhere, as a metaphor for judgment because both leave one confused and reeling. (See Jer 25:15, 17, 28; Hab 2:16.) The cup of wrath is a theme also found in the NT (Mark 14:36).
46. Ezekiel 23:32 sn The image of a deep and wide cup suggests the degree of punishment; it will be extensive and leave the victim helpless.
47. Ezekiel 23:33 tn Heb “filled with.”
48. Ezekiel 23:34 tn Heb “You will drink it and drain (it).”
49. Ezekiel 23:34 tn D. I. Block compares this to the idiom of “licking the plate” (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:754, n. 137). The text is difficult as the word translated “gnaw” is rare. The noun is used of the shattered pieces of pottery and so could envision a broken cup. But the Piel verb form is used in only one other place (Num 24:8), where it is a denominative from the noun “bone” and seems to mean to “break (bones).” Why it would be collocated with “sherds” is not clear. For this reason some emend the phrase to read “consume its dregs” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:44) or emend the verb to read “swallow,” as if the intoxicated Oholibah breaks the cup and then eats the very sherds in an effort to get every last drop of the beverage that dampens them.
50. Ezekiel 23:34 sn The severe action is more extreme than beating the breasts in anguish (Isa 32:12; Nah 2:7). It is also ironic, for these are the very breasts she so blatantly offered to her lovers (vv. 3, 21).
51. Ezekiel 23:35 tn Heb “and you cast me behind your back.” The expression pictures her rejection of the Lord (see 1 Kgs 14:9).
52. Ezekiel 23:35 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text but is demanded by the context.
53. Ezekiel 23:36 tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment. See 20:4 and 22:2.
54. Ezekiel 23:37 sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.
55. Ezekiel 23:37 tn Heb “they have passed to them for food.” The verb is commonly taken to refer to passing children through fire, especially as an offering to the pagan god Molech. See Jer 32:35.
56. Ezekiel 23:38 tn Heb “in that day.”
57. Ezekiel 23:40 tn Heb “to whom a messenger was sent, and look, they came.” Foreign alliances are in view here.
58. Ezekiel 23:40 tn The Hebrew verb form is feminine singular, indicating that Oholibah (Judah) is specifically addressed here. This address continues through verse 42a (note “her”), but then both sisters are described in verse 42b, where the feminine pronouns are again plural.
59. Ezekiel 23:42 tn Heb “(was) in her.”
60. Ezekiel 23:42 tn Heb “and men from the multitude of mankind.”
61. Ezekiel 23:42 tn An alternate reading is “drunkards.” Sheba is located in the area of modern day Yemen.
62. Ezekiel 23:42 tn Heb “they”; the referents (the sisters) have been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
63. Ezekiel 23:44 tn Heb “approached.” The verb בּוֹא (boʾ) with the preposition אֶל (ʾel) means “come to” or “approach” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations.
64. Ezekiel 23:45 tn Heb “and upright men will judge them (with) the judgment of adulteresses and the judgment of those who shed blood.”
65. Ezekiel 23:46 tn Heb “assembly.”
66. Ezekiel 23:46 tn Heb “give them to.”
67. Ezekiel 23:47 tn The Hebrew text adds: “with fire.”
68. Ezekiel 23:49 tn Heb “and the sins of your idols you will bear.” By extension it can mean the punishment for the sins.
69. Ezekiel 24:1 tn The date of this oracle was January 15, 588 b.c.
70. Ezekiel 24:2 tn Heb “lean on, put pressure on.”
71. Ezekiel 24:3 sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).
72. Ezekiel 24:3 sn See Ezek 11:3-12.
73. Ezekiel 24:6 tn Or “rust.”
74. Ezekiel 24:6 tn Heb “has not gone out.”
75. Ezekiel 24:6 tn Here “lot” may refer to the decision made by casting lots; it is not chosen at all.
76. Ezekiel 24:11 tn Heb “set it upon its coals, empty.”
77. Ezekiel 24:11 tn Or “rust” (so also in v. 12).
78. Ezekiel 24:12 tn Heb “(with) toil she has wearied.” The meaning of the statement is unclear in the Hebrew text; some follow the LXX and delete it. The first word in the statement (rendered “toil” in the literal translation above) occurs only here in the OT, and the verb “she has wearied” lacks a stated object. Elsewhere the Hiphil of the verb refers to wearying someone or trying someone’s patience. The feminine subject is apparently the symbolic pot.
79. Ezekiel 24:12 tn Heb “does not go out.”
80. Ezekiel 24:12 tn Heb “in fire its rust.” The meaning of the expression is unclear. The translation understands the statement as a command to burn the rust away. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:768.
81. Ezekiel 24:13 tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”
82. Ezekiel 24:13 tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.
83. Ezekiel 24:13 tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”
84. Ezekiel 24:14 tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
85. Ezekiel 24:14 tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”
86. Ezekiel 24:14 tc Some medieval Hebrew mss and the major ancient versions read a first person verb here. Most Hebrew mss read have an indefinite subject, “they will judge you,” which could be translated, “you will be judged.”
87. Ezekiel 24:14 tn Heb “ways.”
88. Ezekiel 24:16 tn Heb “a strike.”
89. Ezekiel 24:17 tn As it stands in the MT, the syntax is difficult. Most translations say something like “groan in silence,” but this is problematic. According to their form, the two verbs that begin the verse, הֵאָנֵק (heʾanek; to groan) and דֹּם (dom; to be silent), may each be parsed as either imperative or infinitive construct. This allows four possible sequences. An infinitive followed by an infinitive would lack a main verb and can be dismissed. An infinitive followed by an imperative is improper syntax and nowhere occurs with both in the same clause. An imperative followed by an infinitive is very rare. The only three clear cases (Ps 33:3; Isa 1:16; 23:16) appear to involve infinitive complements, which does not fit these terms. Two imperatives back to back are common, occurring over 200 times, but in no case does the second imperative tell the manner of the action in the first (except perhaps a couple disputable parsings of מַהֵר (maher; be quick). So there is no combination of the forms in the MT that supports the common translation. It may also be said that groaning and being silent are mutually exclusive concepts. However, there is a rare homonym, also attested in the cognate languages Ugaritic and Akkadian, another root דמם (dmm), which means to moan. The translation above follows the suggestion of M. Greenberg that דֹּם מֵתִים (dom metim) be taken together and דֹּם be derived from דָּמַם (damam, “to moan, murmur”) meaning: “Groan a moaning for the dead.” See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:508. Note that in verse 23 Ezekiel affirms that the people will moan to each other (though there the root is נָהַם, naham); therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that Ezekiel is moaning here, since his actions forecast theirs.
90. Ezekiel 24:17 tn Heb “(For) the dead mourning you shall not conduct.” In the Hebrew text the word translated “dead” is plural, indicating that mourning rites are in view. Such rites would involve outward demonstrations of one’s sorrow, including wailing and weeping.
91. Ezekiel 24:17 sn The turban would normally be removed for mourning (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12).
92. Ezekiel 24:17 sn Mourning rites included covering the lower part of the face. See Lev 13:45.
93. Ezekiel 24:17 tn Heb “the bread of men.” The translation follows the suggestion accepted by M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 2:509) that this refers to a meal brought by comforters to the one mourning. Some repoint the consonantal text to read “the bread of despair” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:56), while others, with support from the Targum and Vulgate, emend the consonantal text to read “the bread of mourners” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:784).
94. Ezekiel 24:18 tn This almost certainly refers to the following morning. For a discussion of various interpretive options in understanding the chronology reflected in verse 18, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:790.
95. Ezekiel 24:21 tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”
96. Ezekiel 24:21 sn Heb “the delight of your eyes.” Just as Ezekiel was deprived of his beloved wife (v. 16, the “desire” of his “eyes”), so the Lord would be forced to remove the object of his devotion, the temple, which symbolized his close relationship to his covenant people.
97. Ezekiel 24:21 tn Heb “the object of compassion of your soul.” The accentuation in the traditional Hebrew text indicates that the descriptive phrases (“the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life’s passion”) modify the preceding “my sanctuary.”
98. Ezekiel 24:21 tn Heb “fall.”
99. Ezekiel 24:22 tn See v. 17.
100. Ezekiel 24:23 tn The same verb appears in 4:17 and 33:10.
101. Ezekiel 24:23 tn Or “in your punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.
102. Ezekiel 24:25 tn Heb “(Will) it not (be) in the day I take?”
103. Ezekiel 24:25 tn Heb “the uplifting of their soul.” According to BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא 2, the term “uplifting” refers to “that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire.” However, this text is the only one listed for this use. It seems more likely here that the term has its well-attested nuance of “burden, load,” referring to that which weighs them down emotionally and is a constant source of concern or worry.
104. Ezekiel 24:25 tn In the Hebrew text there is no conjunction before “their sons and daughters.” For this reason one might assume that the preceding descriptive phrases refer to the sons and daughters, but verse 21 suggests otherwise. The descriptive phrases appear to refer to the “stronghold,” which parallels “my sanctuary” in verse 21. The children constitute a separate category.
105. Ezekiel 24:26 tn Heb “to make the ears hear.”
106. Ezekiel 24:27 tn Heb “your mouth will open.”
107. Ezekiel 25:2 tn Heb “set your face toward.”
108. Ezekiel 25:2 tn Heb “the sons of Ammon.” Ammon was located to the east of Israel.
109. Ezekiel 25:4 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something and has been translated here with a verb (so also throughout the chapter).
110. Ezekiel 25:4 tn Heb “Look, I am about to give you for a possession to.”
111. Ezekiel 25:4 tn Heb “sons.”
112. Ezekiel 25:5 tn Heb “the sons of Ammon.”
113. Ezekiel 25:6 tn Heb “with all your scorn in (the) soul.”
114. Ezekiel 25:7 tc The translation here follows the Qere reading: בַּז (baz, “spoil, plunder”). The Kethib reading of the consonantal text, בַּג (bag), is not a word.
115. Ezekiel 25:8 sn Moab was located immediately south of Ammon.
116. Ezekiel 25:9 tn Heb “shoulder.”
117. Ezekiel 25:9 tn Heb “from the cities.” The verb “eliminating” has been added in the translation to reflect the privative use of the preposition (see BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b).
118. Ezekiel 25:9 tn Heb “from its cities, from its end.”
119. Ezekiel 25:10 tn Heb “I will give it for a possession.”
120. Ezekiel 25:10 tn Heb “the sons of Ammon” (twice in this verse).
121. Ezekiel 25:10 tn Heb “the sons.”
122. Ezekiel 25:12 sn Edom was located south of Moab.
123. Ezekiel 25:12 tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.
124. Ezekiel 25:12 tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”
125. Ezekiel 25:12 sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. (Ps 137:7; Lam 4:21, 22; Joel 3:19; Obadiah).
126. Ezekiel 25:13 tn Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”
127. Ezekiel 25:13 tn Heb “fall.”
128. Ezekiel 25:14 tn Heb “know.”
129. Ezekiel 25:15 sn The Philistines inhabited the coastal plain by the Mediterranean Sea, west of Judah.
130. Ezekiel 25:15 tn Heb “have acted with vengeance and taken vengeance with vengeance.” The repetition emphasizes the degree of vengeance which they exhibited, presumably toward Judah.
131. Ezekiel 25:15 tn Heb “with scorn in (the) soul.”
132. Ezekiel 25:15 tn The object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but has been clarified as “Judah” in the translation.
133. Ezekiel 25:15 tn Heb “to destroy (with) perpetual hostility.” Joel 3:4-8 also speaks of the Philistines taking advantage of the fall of Judah.
134. Ezekiel 25:16 tn In Hebrew the verb “and I will cut off” sounds like its object, “the Kerethites,” and draws attention to the statement.
135. Ezekiel 25:16 sn This is a name for the Philistines, many of whom migrated to Palestine from Crete.
136. Ezekiel 25:17 tn Heb “with acts of punishment of anger.”