The Prophets · Old Testament

Ezekiel 21

Ezekiel 21: the sword drawn against Jerusalem and the king of Babylon at the parting of the way

General context

The prophet is told to set his face toward Jerusalem and prophesy against the land of Israel: the Lord will draw his sword from its sheath and "cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked," against all flesh from south to north, and it "shall not return any more." He is to sigh "with the breaking of thy loins" before their eyes and, when asked why, answer "For the tidings; because it cometh." A second word is a song of the sword: "A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished," given "into the hand of the slayer." The prophet is to cry, howl and smite his thigh, for it is upon "all the princes of Israel," and to smite his hands together as the sword is "doubled the third time." A third word has him appoint two ways for "the sword of the king of Babylon," one to "Rabbath of the Ammonites" and one to Jerusalem. The king of Babylon stands "at the parting of the way" using divination, making his arrows bright, consulting images and looking in the liver; the divination at his right hand is for Jerusalem. To those who have sworn oaths it seems a false divination, but their iniquity is remembered and they will be taken. The "profane wicked prince of Israel" is told to remove the diadem and take off the crown; the Lord will "overturn, overturn, overturn, it" until "he come whose right it is." A last oracle concerns the Ammonites: the sword is drawn for them too, and the Lord will judge them in the land of their nativity, deliver them to "brutish men, and skilful to destroy," and make them fuel for the fire, "no more remembered."

Cited passages: Ezekiel 21:2, Ezekiel 21:3, Ezekiel 21:4, Ezekiel 21:5, Ezekiel 21:6, Ezekiel 21:7, Ezekiel 21:9, Ezekiel 21:10, Ezekiel 21:11, Ezekiel 21:12, Ezekiel 21:14, Ezekiel 21:17, Ezekiel 21:19, Ezekiel 21:20, Ezekiel 21:21, Ezekiel 21:22, Ezekiel 21:23, Ezekiel 21:24, Ezekiel 21:25, Ezekiel 21:26, Ezekiel 21:27, Ezekiel 21:28, Ezekiel 21:29, Ezekiel 21:30, Ezekiel 21:31, Ezekiel 21:32

Ezekiel 21 (KJV)

¹And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

²Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

³And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

⁴Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

⁵That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

⁶Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

⁷And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.

⁸Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

⁹Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

¹⁰It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.

¹¹And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

¹²Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.

¹³Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord God.

¹⁴Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.

¹⁵I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.

¹⁶Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

¹⁷I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the Lord have said it.

¹⁸The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,

¹⁹Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

²¹For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

²²At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

²³And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

²⁴Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

²⁶Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

²⁸And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:

²⁹Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

³⁰Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.

³¹And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.

³²Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.

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Historical context

The chapter names three targets in turn: the land of Israel with Jerusalem, the Ammonites at "Rabbath of the Ammonites," and, addressed directly, a "profane wicked prince of Israel" who is not named. The sword is the Lord's, "my sword," in the first word, and "the sword of the king of Babylon" in the third; the text joins the two without saying they are different. The king of Babylon is not named, and the text says he "stood at the parting of the way" to divine which city to attack, describing his methods as bright arrows, images and the liver. The sword is said to cut off "the righteous and the wicked" together, which sits beside chapter 18's "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" and is not reconciled here. The phrases "the rod of my son" at 21:10 and "what if the sword contemn even the rod" at 21:13 are printed as they stand and not explained. "He come whose right it is" is left without a name. The Ammonite oracle says "they see vanity unto thee" and "divine a lie unto thee" without naming the diviners. No date is given, and the chapter does not narrate the attack it announces; it ends with the Lord's word about Ammon, "for I the Lord have spoken it."

Cited passages: Ezekiel 21:20, Ezekiel 21:25, Ezekiel 21:3, Ezekiel 21:19, Ezekiel 21:21, Ezekiel 21:4, Ezekiel 21:10, Ezekiel 21:13, Ezekiel 21:27, Ezekiel 21:29, Ezekiel 21:32, Ezekiel 18:20

Literary context

Three words of the Lord are marked by "the word of the Lord came unto me" at 21:1, 8 and 18, and a fourth oracle begins "And thou, son of man, prophesy" at 21:28; the sword runs through all of them. The first states it plainly, drawn "out of his sheath" in each of 21:3, 4 and 5; the second turns it into a chant with doubled words, "A sword, a sword," "sharpened," "furbished," repeated across 21:9 to 11; the third makes it the sword of a named power at a fork in the road; the fourth oracle turns it on Ammon with the same chant, "The sword, the sword is drawn." The prophet's body carries the message: sighing with breaking loins, crying and howling, smiting his thigh and his hands, and the Lord answers the gesture, "I will also smite mine hands together." The Ammon oracle asks "Shall I cause it to return into his sheath?", turning the opening "it shall not return any more" into a question. The prince's oracle is built on reversal, "exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high," and on the tripled "overturn," echoing 17:24's high and low trees. The recognition formula is aimed at "all flesh" in 21:5, and the chapter closes on "I the Lord have spoken it" rather than on knowing.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 21:1, Ezekiel 21:5, Ezekiel 21:9, Ezekiel 21:11, Ezekiel 21:28, Ezekiel 21:12, Ezekiel 21:17, Ezekiel 21:30, Ezekiel 21:26, Ezekiel 21:27, Ezekiel 17:24, Ezekiel 21:32, Ezekiel 21:18

Key moments

A sword against righteous and wicked (Ezekiel 21:3). The Lord will draw his sword and cut off the righteous and the wicked from the land.
Sigh before their eyes (Ezekiel 21:6). The prophet is told to sigh with breaking loins as a sign of the tidings.
A sword, a sword is sharpened (Ezekiel 21:9). A song of the sharpened, furbished sword begins.
Divination at the parting of the way (Ezekiel 21:21). The king of Babylon uses arrows, images and the liver to choose between two ways.
Remove the diadem (Ezekiel 21:26). The profane prince is told the crown comes off and low and high will change places.
Overturn, overturn, overturn (Ezekiel 21:27). The Lord will overturn it until he comes whose right it is.
The sword turned on Ammon (Ezekiel 21:28). The drawn sword is announced against the Ammonites and their reproach.

For reflection

The sword is said to cut off "the righteous and the wicked" together, a chapter after each soul was to answer for itself. What does it mean that the same book says both, one after the other?