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The Prophets · Old Testament

Ezekiel 33

Ezekiel 33: the watchman, the city smitten and the prophet's mouth opened

General context

The Lord tells the prophet to speak about a watchman. When a land under the sword sets a watchman and he blows the trumpet, anyone who hears and takes no warning has his blood on his own head; if the watchman sees the sword and does not blow, the Lord requires the blood at the watchman's hand. The Lord then says he has set the prophet as watchman to the house of Israel: if he does not warn the wicked, that man dies in his iniquity and his blood is required of the prophet; if he warns and the man does not turn, the prophet has delivered his own soul. The people ask how they can live under their sins, and the Lord answers that he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked: "turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways". Past righteousness will not save the one who sins; past wickedness will not condemn the one who turns and restores what he took. The people say the Lord's way is not equal; he replies that theirs is not, and that he will judge each after his ways. In the twelfth year of the captivity, tenth month, fifth day, one who escaped from Jerusalem arrives saying "The city is smitten". The Lord's hand had opened the prophet's mouth the evening before, and he is no longer dumb. A word follows against those in the wastes of the land who claim it as Abraham's heirs while eating with blood, looking to idols and shedding blood: they will fall by sword, beasts and pestilence. Finally the Lord says the people sit before the prophet, hear his words and do not do them; he is to them like a lovely song, and only when the word comes to pass will they know a prophet was among them.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 33:2, Ezekiel 33:4, Ezekiel 33:6, Ezekiel 33:7, Ezekiel 33:9, Ezekiel 33:10, Ezekiel 33:11, Ezekiel 33:12, Ezekiel 33:15, Ezekiel 33:17, Ezekiel 33:20, Ezekiel 33:21, Ezekiel 33:22, Ezekiel 33:24, Ezekiel 33:25, Ezekiel 33:27, Ezekiel 33:30, Ezekiel 33:31, Ezekiel 33:32, Ezekiel 33:33

Ezekiel 33 (KJV)

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

2Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:

3If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

4Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

5He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

6But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

7So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

8When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

9Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

11Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

12Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

13When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

14Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

15If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

16None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

17Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

18When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

19But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

20Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

21And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

22Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

23Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

24Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.

25Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

26Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour’s wife: and shall ye possess the land?

27Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

28For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.

29Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.

31And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

32And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

33And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

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Historical context

The date in this chapter is reckoned from the captivity: "the twelfth year of our captivity". The prophet says "our", counting himself among the captives, and the messenger is "one that had escaped out of Jerusalem", unnamed. The report "The city is smitten" is the only account of Jerusalem's fall the chapter gives. The prophet says his mouth was opened and "I was no more dumb", which presupposes an earlier silence not narrated here; the promise in 29:21 of "the opening of the mouth" points to the same event. The watchman commission is stated as the Lord's appointment of the prophet to the house of Israel. The sayings of the people are quoted by the Lord and should be read as their claims: that they pine away in their sins, that the Lord's way is not equal, and, from those in the wastes, that Abraham's single inheritance entitles the many. The offences named against the inhabitants of the wastes are eating with blood, idolatry, bloodshed, reliance on the sword, abomination and adultery with a neighbour's wife. The chapter does not say who these inhabitants are beyond their location in "those wastes of the land of Israel".

Cited passages: Ezekiel 33:21, Ezekiel 33:22, Ezekiel 29:21, Ezekiel 33:7, Ezekiel 33:10, Ezekiel 33:20, Ezekiel 33:24, Ezekiel 33:26

Literary context

The chapter opens with a case stated in general terms, a land, a watchman, a trumpet, and then turns it on the prophet with "So thou, O son of man". The same two-sided logic governs the section on righteousness: whoever turns is judged by where he stands now, not where he stood before, so "the righteous" who sins dies and "the wicked" who turns lives. The people's objection, "The way of the Lord is not equal", is quoted twice and answered both times by turning the word back on them. The doubled call "turn ye, turn ye" is the emotional centre of the first half. The arrival of the escaped man is told in a single sentence and is framed by the note about the prophet's mouth, so that the news of the city and the return of speech come together. The last unit sets hearing against doing, repeating "they hear thy words, but they do them not", and compares the prophet's preaching to a pleasant song that changes nothing. The closing line varies the book's refrain: not "they shall know that I am the Lord" but "a prophet hath been among them".

Cited passages: Ezekiel 33:3, Ezekiel 33:7, Ezekiel 33:18, Ezekiel 33:19, Ezekiel 33:17, Ezekiel 33:11, Ezekiel 33:22, Ezekiel 33:31, Ezekiel 33:32, Ezekiel 33:33

Key moments

  1. The watchman's trumpet (Ezekiel 33:6). A watchman who sees the sword and does not blow the trumpet answers for the blood of the unwarned.
  2. Set as watchman to Israel (Ezekiel 33:7). The Lord tells the prophet he has made him watchman to the house of Israel.
  3. Turn ye, turn ye (Ezekiel 33:11). The Lord says he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked and calls Israel to turn.
  4. The city is smitten (Ezekiel 33:21). An escaped man from Jerusalem arrives in the twelfth year of the captivity with news of the city's fall.
  5. No more dumb (Ezekiel 33:22). The prophet's mouth is opened before the messenger comes, and he is no longer dumb.
  6. Abraham was one (Ezekiel 33:24). Those in the wastes claim the land as their inheritance because they are many.
  7. A lovely song unheeded (Ezekiel 33:32). The Lord says the people hear the prophet like a pleasant song and do not act.

For reflection

The people come, sit and listen, and the Lord says the prophet is to them "as a very lovely song". What is the difference between finding a message moving and being moved by it?

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