Eze 5:14 | KD | STEP | Eze 5:10. Therefore shall fathers devour their children in thy midst, and children shall devour their fathers: and I will exercise judgments upon thee, and disperse all thy remnant to the winds. . Therefore, as I live, is the declaration of the Lord Jehovah, Verily, because thou hast polluted my sanctuary with all thine abominations and all thy crimes, so shall I take away mine eye without mercy, and will not spare. . A third of thee shall die by the pestilence, and perish by hunger in thy midst; and the third part shall fall by the sword about thee; and the third part will I scatter to all the winds; and will draw out the sword after them. . And my anger shall be fulfilled, and I will cool my wrath against them, and will take vengeance. And they shall experience that I, Jehovah, have spoken in my zeal, when I accomplish my wrath upon them. . And I will make thee a desolation and a mockery among the nations which are round about thee, before the eyes of every passer-by. . And it shall be a mockery and a scorn, a warning and a terror for the nations round about thee, when I exercise my judgments upon thee in anger and wrath and in grievous visitations. I, Jehovah, have said it. . When I send against thee the evil arrows of hunger, which minister to destruction, which I shall send to destroy you; for hunger shall I heap upon you, and shall break to you the staff of bread. . And I shall send hunger upon you, and evil beasts, which shall make thee childless; and pestilence and blood shall pass over thee; and the sword will I bring upon thee. I, Jehovah, have spoken it. - As a proof of the unheard-of severity of the judgment, there is immediately mentioned in a most horrible circumstance, which had been already predicted by Moses ( ; ) as that which should happen to the people when hard pressed by the enemy, viz., a famine so dreadful, during the siege of Jerusalem, that parents would eat their children, and children their parents; and after the capture of the city, the dispersion of those who remained “to all the winds, i.e., to all quarters of the world.” This is described more minutely, as an appendix to the symbolical act in and , in and , with a solemn oath, and with repeated and prominent mention of the sins which have drawn down such chastisements. As sin, is mentioned the pollution of the temple by idolatrous abominations, which are described in detail in Ezekiel 8. The אגרע, which is variously understood by the old translators (for which some Codices offer the explanatory correction אגדע), is to be explained, after , of the “turning away of the eye,” and the עיני following as the object; while ולא־תחוס, “that it feel no compassion,” is interjected between the verb and its object with the adverbial signification of “mercilessly.” For that the words ולא תחוס are adverbially subordinate to אגרע, distinctly appears from the correspondence - indicated by וגם אני - between אגרע and לא . Moreover, the thought, “Jehovah will mercilessly withdraw His care for the people,” is not to be termed “feeble” in connection with what follows; nor is the contrast, which is indicated in the clause וגם־אני, lost, as Hävernick supposes. וגם־אני does not require גּרע to be understood of a positive act, which would correspond to the desecration of the sanctuary. This is shown by the last clause of the verse. The withdrawal without mercy of the divine providence is, besides, in reality, equivalent to complete devotion to destruction, as it is particularized in Eze 5:12. For see on and Eze 5:2. By carrying out the threatened division of the people into three parts, the wrath of God is to be fulfilled, i.e., the full measure of the divine wrath upon the people is to be exhausted (cf. 7, 8), and God is to appear and “cool” His anger. הניח חמה, “ sedavit iram ,” occurs again in ; ; Eze 24:13. הנּחמתּי, Hithpael , pausal form for הנּחמתּי, “ se consolari ,” “to procure satisfaction by revenge;” cf. , and for the thing, Deu 28:63. In Eze 5:14. the discourse turns again from the people to the city of Jerusalem. It is to become a wilderness, as was already threatened in and to the cities of Israel, and thereby a “mockery” to all nations, in the manner described in Deu 29:23. והיתה, in , is not to be changed, after the lxx, Vulgate, and some MSS, into the second person; but Jerusalem is to be regarded as the subject which is to become the object of scorn and hatred, etc., when God accomplishes His judgments. מוּסר is a warning-example. Among the judgments which are to overtake it, in , hunger is again made specially prominent (cf. ) and first in are wild beasts, pestilence, blood, and sword added, and a quartette of judgments announced as in Eze 14:21. For pestilence and blood are comprehended together as a unity by means of the predicate. Their connection is to be understood according to , and the number four is significant, as in ; Jer 15:3. For more minute details as to the meaning, see on Eze 14:21. The evil arrows point back to ; the evil beasts, to and Deu 32:24. To produce an impression, the prophet heaps his words together. Unum ejus consilium fuit penetrare in animos populi quasi lapideos et ferreos. Haec igitur est ratio, cur hic tanta varietate utatur et exornet suam doctrînam variis figuris (Calvin).

‏ Ezekiel 5:14

Further Execution of this Threat

Eze 5:10. Therefore shall fathers devour their children in thy midst, and children shall devour their fathers: and I will exercise judgments upon thee, and disperse all thy remnant to the winds. Eze 5:11 . Therefore, as I live, is the declaration of the Lord Jehovah, Verily, because thou hast polluted my sanctuary with all thine abominations and all thy crimes, so shall I take away mine eye without mercy, and will not spare. Eze 5:12 . A third of thee shall die by the pestilence, and perish by hunger in thy midst; and the third part shall fall by the sword about thee; and the third part will I scatter to all the winds; and will draw out the sword after them. Eze 5:13 . And my anger shall be fulfilled, and I will cool my wrath against them, and will take vengeance. And they shall experience that I, Jehovah, have spoken in my zeal, when I accomplish my wrath upon them. Eze 5:14 . And I will make thee a desolation and a mockery among the nations which are round about thee, before the eyes of every passer-by. Eze 5:15 . And it shall be a mockery and a scorn, a warning and a terror for the nations round about thee, when I exercise my judgments upon thee in anger and wrath and in grievous visitations. I, Jehovah, have said it. Eze 5:16 . When I send against thee the evil arrows of hunger, which minister to destruction, which I shall send to destroy you; for hunger shall I heap upon you, and shall break to you the staff of bread. Eze 5:17 . And I shall send hunger upon you, and evil beasts, which shall make thee childless; and pestilence and blood shall pass over thee; and the sword will I bring upon thee. I, Jehovah, have spoken it. - As a proof of the unheard-of severity of the judgment, there is immediately mentioned in Eze 5:10 a most horrible circumstance, which had been already predicted by Moses (Lev 26:29; Deu 28:53) as that which should happen to the people when hard pressed by the enemy, viz., a famine so dreadful, during the siege of Jerusalem, that parents would eat their children, and children their parents; and after the capture of the city, the dispersion of those who remained “to all the winds, i.e., to all quarters of the world.” This is described more minutely, as an appendix to the symbolical act in Eze 5:1 and Eze 5:2, in Eze 5:11 and Eze 5:12, with a solemn oath, and with repeated and prominent mention of the sins which have drawn down such chastisements. As sin, is mentioned the pollution of the temple by idolatrous abominations, which are described in detail in Ezekiel 8. The אגרע, which is variously understood by the old translators (for which some Codices offer the explanatory correction אגדע), is to be explained, after Job 36:7, of the “turning away of the eye,” and the עיני following as the object; while ולא־תחוס, “that it feel no compassion,” is interjected between the verb and its object with the adverbial signification of “mercilessly.” For that the words ולא תחוס are adverbially subordinate to אגרע, distinctly appears from the correspondence - indicated by וגם אני - between אגרע and לא . Moreover, the thought, “Jehovah will mercilessly withdraw His care for the people,” is not to be termed “feeble” in connection with what follows; nor is the contrast, which is indicated in the clause וגם־אני, lost, as Hävernick supposes. וגם־אני does not require גּרע to be understood of a positive act, which would correspond to the desecration of the sanctuary. This is shown by the last clause of the verse. The withdrawal without mercy of the divine providence is, besides, in reality, equivalent to complete devotion to destruction, as it is particularized in Eze 5:12. For Eze 5:12 see on Eze 5:1 and Eze 5:2. By carrying out the threatened division of the people into three parts, the wrath of God is to be fulfilled, i.e., the full measure of the divine wrath upon the people is to be exhausted (cf. 7, 8), and God is to appear and “cool” His anger. הניח חמה, “sedavit iram,” occurs again in Eze 16:42; Eze 21:22; Eze 24:13. הנּחמתּי, Hithpael, pausal form for הנּחמתּי, “se consolari,” “to procure satisfaction by revenge;” cf. Isa 1:24, and for the thing, Deu 28:63. In Eze 5:14. the discourse turns again from the people to the city of Jerusalem. It is to become a wilderness, as was already threatened in Lev 26:31 and Lev 26:33 to the cities of Israel, and thereby a “mockery” to all nations, in the manner described in Deu 29:23. והיתה, in Eze 5:15, is not to be changed, after the lxx, Vulgate, and some MSS, into the second person; but Jerusalem is to be regarded as the subject which is to become the object of scorn and hatred, etc., when God accomplishes His judgments. מוּסר is a warning-example. Among the judgments which are to overtake it, in Eze 5:16, hunger is again made specially prominent (cf. Eze 4:16) and first in Eze 5:17 are wild beasts, pestilence, blood, and sword added, and a quartette of judgments announced as in Eze 14:21. For pestilence and blood are comprehended together as a unity by means of the predicate. Their connection is to be understood according to Eze 14:19, and the number four is significant, as in Eze 14:21; Jer 15:3. For more minute details as to the meaning, see on Eze 14:21. The evil arrows point back to Deu 32:23; the evil beasts, to Lev 24:22 and Deu 32:24. To produce an impression, the prophet heaps his words together. Unum ejus consilium fuit penetrare in animos populi quasi lapideos et ferreos. Haec igitur est ratio, cur hic tanta varietate utatur et exornet suam doctrînam variis figuris (Calvin).