Ezekiel 21:12

Eze 21:12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it [shall be] upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon [thy] thigh.

Ver. 12. Cry and howl, son of man.] While others make mirth, {as Eze 21:10} and are insolent against God. Mourners shall be marked, {Eze 9:4} comforted. {Isa 57:18}

Smite therefore upon thy thigh.] See on Jer 31:19.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 21:12-13. Cry and howl, son of man — As a mark of the vehemence of thy grief. For it shall be upon my people — Namely, the devouring sword; upon all the princes of Israel — Both princes and people shall be involved in one common destruction. Smite therefore upon thy thigh —

Use all the outward expressions of grief and mourning. Because it is a trial — As all great calamities are often styled: see the margin.

And what if the sword contemn even the rod? — Namely, the sceptre and royal family. The Hebrew, שׁבשׂ מאסת ומה אם נם, it seems, should rather be rendered, And what if even the rod, or sceptre, contemn? — That is, if the king and kingdom of Judah despise this trial. It shall be no more, saith the Lord — Both shall be destroyed, and be no more. The word rendered rod here, is continually put in Scripture for governor, or government; a rod, staff, or sceptre, being the usual signs of government. God, therefore, here foretels, that if the sceptre of Judah should despise, or not profit by, the correction or punishment brought upon it by the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar, it should be entirely broken, and be no more; which came to pass accordingly. The royal family was not amended by this severe judgment, and therefore was laid aside. “The sceptre here only means the kingly power in the house of David, and not that supreme authority which Jacob foretold should not forsake Judah till the coming of the Messiah.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21:12 cry out and wail: Ezekiel would represent the people’s response to the judgment.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Read Jer. 31:19.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

terrors by reason of the sword, &c.--rather, "they (the princes of Israel) are delivered up to the sword together with My people" [GLASSIUS].

smite . . . upon . . . thigh--a mark of grief (Jer 31:19).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. Smite - upon thy thigh.] See on Jer 31:19. So HOMER, Il. xv. ver. 113: -

Ὡς εφατ'· αυταρ Αρης θαλερω πεπληγετο μηρω

Χερσι καταπρηνεσσ,ολοφυρομενος δε προσηυδα.

"She spake; and, with expanded arms his thighs

Smiting, thus sorrowful the god exclaimed."

COWPER.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(12) Smite therefore upon thy thigh.—A mark of extreme grief, see Jer_31:19. The connection of Eze_21:11-12 with the objection in Eze_21:10 is this: you think there is security for you in the promise to Judah; do not deceive yourselves, but prepare for sorrow and desolation.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. terrors … the sword] With R. V. they (the princes) are delivered over to the sword with my people.

smite upon thy thigh] A gesture implying despair or the sense of a terrible and irreparable evil happening, Jer_31:19.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou, therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together,.... As being in the greatest agony for what is coming upon thy people: or "strike hand to hand" (y); clap them together, as encouraging the enemy with his drawn, sharp, and glittering sword, to make use of it, and do execution with it:

and let the sword be doubled the third time; some think this has reference to the three captivities of Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah: others to the threefold calamity in Zedekiah's time; the first, the taking of him; the second, the taking of the city; the third, the carrying captive the residue along with Gedaliah: or to the three times the Chaldeans came against Jerusalem, after this prophecy; first with Nebuchadnezzar, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and took him and the city; then with Nebuzaradan, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, and burnt the city and temple; and again in the twenty third of Nebuchadnezzar, and carried away the remnant of the people, Jer 52:5,

the sword of the slain: by which many should be slain:

it is the sword of the great men that are slain: of the sons of the kings, and of the princes and nobles of the land:

which entereth into their privy chambers; where they should endeavour to hide themselves from it, but in vain, none should escape; their privy chambers could not secrete nor secure them: or "which remains with them"; as that which is laid up, and reserved in a privy chamber, as De Dieu, from the use of the word in the Ethiopic language, renders it.

(y) "percute manum ad manum", Pagninus, Polanus; "volum ad volam"; Montanus; "feri manum ad manum", Starckius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Fled, with Sedecias, by night. --- Thigh, in surprise and grief, ver. 17.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Cry, as one in great distress; nay, how unseemly soever it may appear, howl, that they may by this know what sorrows are coming on them, and how they, like wild beasts taken in the toils and girts, shall howl. For the devouring sword of Babylon shall certainly be upon all, high and low.

Terrors; surrounding terrors, out of which no way to escape.

The sword; that sword God will draw against them.

Smite upon thy thigh, in token of thy sense of what they must suffer, and to presignify what their sorrows shall be, when they must express them by signs, because too great for words.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Terrors by reason of the sword — Rather, they [the princes of Israel] with my people are delivered unto the sword.

Smite therefore upon thy thigh — A gesture naturally expressing either antagonism or despair. Perhaps implying here “the sense of a terrible and irreparable evil happening.” (Compare Jer_31:19.)

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Terrors by reason of the sword; better, as in the Revised Version and margin of the Authorized Version, They (the princes of Judah, corresponding to the "rod" of ver. 10) are delivered over to the sword with my people. At this stage, in contemplating the destruction alike of princes and of people, the prophet is bidden to make his gestures of lamentation yet more expressive, "crying, howling, smiting on his thigh". (Jer_31:19)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It - The devouring sword. Upon thy thigh - In token of thy sense of what they must suffer.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues to describe the sword of Yahweh which is a metaphor for the enemy army that Yahweh will use to attack Jerusalem. (See: Metaphor)

that sword has come against my people! It is against all

This speaks of Yahweh's sword attacking his people as if the sword itself were the attacker. AT: "I will use my sword to kill my people! I will bring it against all" (See: Personification)

They are thrown against the sword with my people

This speaks of the leaders of Israel being killed with a sword as if they are thrown against the sword. AT: "They are killed with the sword along with my people" or "The sword will kill them along with my people" (See: Metaphor)

slap your thigh

In Ezekiel's culture, slapping one's thigh was a sign of grief. Some other translation use the gesture of beating one's breast which is a sign of grief in many cultures. AT: "beat your chests" (See: Symbolic Action)

but what if the scepter does not last?

This rhetorical question is used to make the audience think about what could happen. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "and it will be very frightening if the sword destroys the scepter." or "but it will be very frightening if the king cannot resist it." (See: Rhetorical Question)

the scepter

Here the king of Judah is represented by his scepter. AT: "the king" (See: Metonymy)

does not last

This is an idiom. AT: "cannot resist" or "is destroyed" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

lament

Son of Man

people of God

trial

scepter

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.