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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
20:45-21:32 Fire and Sword. The chapter division in English versions can obscure the relationship of 20:45-49 to the following oracles. In the Hebrew text, 20:45 begins a new chapter. The abrupt change in subject, from fire to sword, reinforces this confusion. However, the conjunction of fire and sword appears in both literal (e.g., Judg. 1:8) and theological contexts (Isa. 66:16; Nah. 3:15). Seeming frustration at the symbolism of the "fire" oracle (Ezek. 20:45-49) prompts its unpacking in terms of the "sword" (21:1-32). Once the sword symbolism is introduced, it is developed in a cascading series of oracles linked by their common theme. Formulaic language (e.g., "the word of the Lord came to me," and concluding formulas) help to demarcate distinct movements.
20:45-49 The Parable of the Fire. The command to set your face, distinctive in Ezekiel, and the orientation to the southland are both reminiscent of 6:2, which introduces another "sword of the Lord" passage. Here, however, all-consuming fire is the destroying agent, clearly announcing the totality of coming divine judgment (destroying both green tree and dry tree). But what of the addressees: the "southland" (Hb. teman), the south (darom), and the forest of the Negeb (Negeb)? This inclusive breadth of territory, rather than the fiery content itself, seems to prompt the outcry of 20:49, Ah, Lord God! Once before, Ezekiel similarly cried out on his own behalf (4:14; cf. 9:8; 11:13). For parables, see note on 17:2.
21:1-7 The Drawn Sword. The opening words directly correspond with those of 20:46-47: set your face, preach, prophesy, and say all appear in the same order in those preceding verses. Now, however, the addressees are identified with clarity. The "southland" is Jerusalem, the "south" is now sanctuaries, the "forest land" is the land of Israel (in Ezekiel's distinctive phrase; see note on 7:2). No doubt remains about the focus of the Lord's judgment, while the destroying agent is translated into the metaphor of the drawn sword (21:3).
21:3-4 The righteous and wicked correspond to the "green" and "dry" trees of 20:47. Whereas elsewhere the fate of the righteous has been marked off from that of the wicked (e.g., 9:4-6), and the teaching of ch. 18 also points in a different direction, here God predicts a judgment that will come on the whole nation and will affect everyone, righteous and wicked alike. Sometimes the righteous suffer not as judgment for their own sin but simply as a trial that is part of life in a fallen world. One must allow here for God's freedom to judge as he will. This is not the first or last time in Scripture that the righteous experience the heavy hand of God (e.g., Job; cf. James 5:11).
21:6-7 Intertextual connections suggest that these verses continue to address the destruction of both "righteous and wicked" (see note on vv. 3-4). The groan and breaking heart of v. 6 point back to 9:4, which identifies the righteous by this behavior and thus directly connects this passage to the one with which it is in greatest tension. Verse 7 of ch. 21 echoes 7:17 and the reaction to the coming day of the Lord. The closing phrase, behold . . . it will be fulfilled, echoes 7:5-6, 10. This passage, then, infers that all have at some level been defiled and provides a precedent within Ezekiel for the totality of judgment expressed in 21:3-4.
21:8-17 The Sharpened Sword. The Hebrew of these verses is notoriously difficult (thus the several ESV translation footnotes). Some phrases in translation are approximations at best. Even if the details are obscure, the gist is clear enough. Verses 8-13 focus on the nature of the sword itself, honed to razor sharpness; vv. 14-17 describe its lethal effect.
21:12 The princes of Israel may refer to the tragic events at Riblah (2 Kings 25:6-7). This prompts one of two gestures narrated here: strike . . . your thigh is an action associated with lament (see Jer. 31:19).
21:14, 17 As in 6:11, to clap your hands communicates agitation, perhaps in anticipation of the imminent judgment.
21:18-29 The Sword of Nebuchadnezzar. In v. 11 the sword was committed to the "hand of the slayer," identified here as the king of Babylon. This sets a new trajectory for this "sword" oracle, as the campaign of Nebuchadnezzar is imagined (vv. 18-23), as well as its threat to Jerusalem (vv. 24-27) and its application to Ammon (vv. 28-29).
21:18-23 Ezekiel performs another symbolic action (see ch. 4), drawing (presumably on the ground) a map with a forked road, and supplying road signs. It is unknown how much of the rest of the action was actually performed or whether it was simply narrated. It depicts Nebuchadnezzar at his camp, probably somewhere in Syria, deciding whether to bear west toward Jerusalem or east toward Rabbah (21:20, modern Amman). He decides to attack Jerusalem (v. 22).
21:21 Three means of divination (manipulation of objects in search of a divine message) are described. Shakes the arrows may be akin to drawing lots; consults the teraphim may refer to small idol images (usually translated "household gods," e.g., Gen. 31:19; Hos. 3:4). Liver omens are well known throughout the ancient Near East. They involved examining the organ of a sacrificed animal.
21:24-27 With the sword committed to the Babylonian king, impending judgment is announced on Jerusalem. Although this section begins with plural references, it quickly focuses on an individual, the "wicked" prince of Israel, who must be Zedekiah.
21:26 Turban and crown are both insignias of office. The former is related to the priesthood (Ex. 28:4); the latter is clearly royal. It may be, however, that these are the same and the reference is simply to Zedekiah. This is often the way with Hebrew parallelism (cf. Prov. 4:9; Isa. 62:3).
21:28-29 The application of this prophecy to the Ammonites is in addition to the prophecy in 25:1-7, where the prophecy against Ammon stands first among the collection of oracles against foreign nations. The point here is that the visitation of the sword against Jerusalem does not preclude its coming to Ammon as well (21:20).
21:30-32 The Sword Sheathed and Judged. The instruction to return the sword to its sheath (v. 30) is the counterpart to the action begun in v. 3. With its work done, the "tool" is now itself subject to judgment. In this, Babylon is like Assyria in Isa. 10:5-19. The conclusion in Ezek. 21:31-32 points in two directions: fire of my wrath refers back to the parable of the fire that began this oracle complex (20:45-49), and it anticipates the conclusion to the oracle that follows (22:31); so too in 21:32, fuel for the fire points back to 20:45-49, while the reference to blood prepares the way for ch. 22.
