translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: EZK

label: NET study note

text: Ezek 21:1 in the English Bible is 21:6 in the Hebrew text ( BHS ). See the note at 20:45 .


text: This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16 .


text: Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked ( 9:4-6; 18:1-20 ; see as well Pss 1 and 11 ) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant ( 3:21; 6:8; 12:16 ). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25.


text: This expression depicts in a very vivid way how they will be overcome with fear. See the note on the same phrase in 7:17 .


text: This physical action was part of an expression of grief. Cp. Jer. 31:19 .


text: Mesopotamian kings believed that the gods revealed the future through omens. They employed various divination techniques, some of which are included in the list that follows. A particularly popular technique was the examination and interpretation of the livers of animals. See R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel , 90-110.


text: When the people of Judah realized the Babylonians’ intentions, they would object on grounds that they had made a treaty with the Babylonian king (see 17:13 ).


text: The second half of the verse appears to state that the sword of judgment would fall upon the wicked, despite their efforts to prevent it.


text: Once the Babylonian king’s sword (vv. 19-20 ) has carried out its assigned task, the Lord commands it to halt and announces that Babylon itself will also experience his judgment. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:28.