translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: EZK

label: NET translator note

text: This word only occurs here and in the parallel passage in Jer 31:29-30 in the Qal stem and in Eccl 10:10 in the Piel stem. In the latter passage it refers to the bluntness of an ax that has not been sharpened. Here the idea is of the “bluntness” of the teeth, not from having ground them down due to the bitter taste of sour grapes but to the fact that they have lost their “edge,” “bite,” or “sharpness” because they are numb from the sour taste. For this meaning for the word, see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:197.


text: This expression occurs often in Ezekiel ( 5:11; 14:16, 18, 20; 16:48; 17:16, 19; 20:3, 31, 33; 33:11, 27; 34:8; 35:6, 11 ).


text: Heb “life.”


text: Heb, “on the mountains he does not eat.” The mountains are often mentioned as the place where idolatrous sacrifices were eaten ( Ezek 20:28; 22:9; 34:6 ).


text: Heb, “does not lift up his eyes.” This refers to looking to idols for help.


text: Heb, “does not draw near to.” “Draw near” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse ( Lev 18:14 ; Deut 22:14 ; Isa 8:3 ).


text: Heb “restores to the debtor his pledge.” The root occurs in Exod 22:25 in reference to restoring a man’s garment as a pledge before nightfall.


text: The Hebrew term refers to seizure of property, usually by the rich ( Isa 3:14; 10:2 ; Mic 2:2 [see Lev 5:21, 22]).


text: Heb, “turns back his hand.”


text: Heb “justice of truth.”


label: NET textual note

text: The MT reads לַעֲשׂוֹת אֱמֶת ( la ’ asot ’ emet , “to do with integrity”), while the LXX reads “to do them,” presupposing לַעֲשׂוֹת אֹתָם ( la ’ asot ’ otam ). The ם ( mem ) and ת ( tav ) have been reversed in the MT. The LXX refelcts the original, supported by similar phrasing in Ezekiel 11:20; 20:19 .


text: Heb “he.”


text: Heb “living, he will live.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.


text: Heb “begets.”


text: Heb “and he does, a brother, from one of these.” If “brother” is retained, it may be an adverbial accusative, “against a brother” (i.e., fellow Israelite). But the form is likely dittographic (note the אח [ aleph-heth ] combination in the following form).


text: Heb “and he all of these did not do.” The parenthetical note refers back to the father described in the preceding verses.


text: Heb “lifts up his eyes.”


text: Heb “be put to death.” The translation follows an alternative reading that appears in several ancient textual witnesses.


text: Heb “his blood will be upon him.”


text: Heb “and he sees and does not do likewise.”


text: This translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “restrains his hand from the poor,” which makes no sense here.


text: Or “in his father’s punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 18, 19, 20; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23 . The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”


text: Heb “lift up, bear.”


text: Heb “the righteousness of the righteous one will be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked one will be upon him.”


text: Heb “remembered.”


text: Heb “because of them he will die.”


text: Heb “way.”


text: Heb “for them” or “because of them.”


text: Heb “he saw.”


text: Heb “ways.”


text: The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.


text: Or “leading to punishment.”


text: Heb “the death of the one dying.”