Ezekiel 21:14

Eze 21:14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite [thine] hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it [is] the sword of the great [men that are] slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.

Ver. 14. Smite thy hands together.] So to show what I will do shortly. {Eze 21:17}

Let the sword be doubled the third time.] Doubled and trebled, till it hath made an utter end of this untoward generation.

Which entereth into their privy chambers.] Ferreting and fetching them out of their lurking holes.

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 21:14; Eze 21:17. Prophesy, and smite thy hands together — In token of amazement and sorrow. And let the sword be doubled the third time — Bishop Newcome reads, Bring the sword twice; yea, bring it thrice; namely, that God’s judgments might be fully executed, and his justice satisfied. It is probable that the three great slaughters which should be made of the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem are here intended, namely, 1st, During the siege, in which, undoubtedly, great numbers fell who were without the walls of the city, and many within: 2dly, When the city was taken by assault, which certainly was not without great slaughter: and 3dly, The massacre of Gedaliah, and those that sided with him. The sword of the slain — Wherewith many shall be slain. It is the sword of the great men, &c. — Appointed for the slaughter of the great men, namely, the princes, rulers, and captains; which entereth into their privy chambers — Where they were hidden in hopes of escaping. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates — I have gathered together the Chaldeans round about Jerusalem, with their swords sharpened and drawn at every gate, to meet and slay all that shall attempt to come out, or to slay all they find on entering the city. Ah! it is made bright — Hebrew, עשׂויה לברק, is made like lightning. The same metaphor which occurs in Virgil:

“Vaginaque eripit, ensem fulmineum.” — ÆN. 4. 50:579.

“He drew his sword, which did like lightning blaze.”

It is wrapped — Or rather, It is sharpened for the slaughter. So Kimchius and some others translate מעשׂה, deriving the word from עשׂ, a style, or iron pen: see Buxtorf. Go thee one way or other — God is here represented as speaking, by way of apostrophe, to the sword, and giving it an unlimited commission to destroy wherever it should be drawn. I will also smite my hands together — In token of my approbation. I will animate and encourage the slayers to go on. And I will cause my fury to rest — I will satisfy my anger by a full execution of my judgments.

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

21:14-17 As the representative of the Lord, Ezekiel was to clap his hands in a threatening gesture and take the sword and brandish it . . . three times to represent the completeness of the coming massacre. There would be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from the slashing sword of judgment when the Lord was ready to satisfy his fury by destroying his people. Their hearts would melt with terror at the awful massacre.

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

That is, encourage the sword.

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

smite . . . hands together-- (Num 24:10), indicative of the indignant fury with which God will "smite" the people.

sword . . . doubled the third time--referring to the threefold calamity:--(1) The taking of Zedekiah (to whom the "rod," or scepter, may refer); (2) the taking of the city; (3) the removal of all those who remained with Gedaliah. "Doubled" means "multiplied" or "repeated." The stroke shall be doubled and even trebled.

of the slain--that is, by which many are slain. As the Hebrew is singular, FAIRBAIRN makes it refer to the king, "the sword of the great one that is slain," or "pierced through."

entereth . . . privy chambers-- (Jer 9:21). The sword shall overtake them, not merely in the open battlefield, but in the chambers whither they flee to hide themselves (Kg1 20:30; Kg1 22:25). MAURER translates, "which besieged them"; FAIRBAIRN, "which penetrates to them." English Version is more literal.

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 14. Let the sword be doubled the third time] The sword has been doubled, and it shall come the third time. Nebuchadnezzar came against Judea THRICE.

1. Against Jehoiakim.

2. Against Jeconiah.

3. Against Zedekiah.

The sword had already been doubled; it is to come now the third time, i.e., against Zedekiah.

The sword of the slain] חרב חללים chereb chalalim, "the sword of the soldiers," of the Chaldeans. So in the next clause, היא חרב חלל הגדול hi chereb chalal haggadol, "it is the sword of that great soldier," that eminent king and conqueror. This is the meaning of the word חלל chalal, that is so ill rendered in almost every place of its occurrence, in our Version. See Dr. Kennicott.

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

(14) Smite thine hands together.—A gesture of strong emotion (see Eze_21:17, Eze_22:13, and comp. Note on Eze_6:11; Num_24:10).

Let the sword be doubled the third time.—The exact translation is here also obscure and difficult, but the meaning is plain that the activity of the sword is to be intensified to the utmost.

The sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain.—Literally, the sword of the overthrown (plural), it is the sword of the overthrown (sing.), of the great one. The word translated slain does not necessarily mean actually killed, but is used in a moral as well as physical sense; and in Eze_20:16; Eze_20:21; Eze_20:24, as often, the verb from which this adjective is formed is translated polluted. The sword is called “the sword of the overthrown” because it is the means of their overthrow, and “the sword of the great one overthrown,” with especial reference to the king.

Which entereth into their privy chambers.—Rather, which begirts them round about, so that none can escape.

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

14. doubled the third time] The reading must mean: let the sword be doubled, tripled! lit. unto a third (sword), i.e. till it be three-fold. Of course there were not to be three swords or even two; what is called for is a double and triple intensity and operation of the one sword (cf. Eze_21:16).

great men that are slain] Rather: the great one that is slain, i.e. doomed to be slain—ref. being to king Zedekiah, cf. Eze_21:25. A different division of letters gives: the great sword of the slain (collective)—which is less probable as “slain” is plur. immediately before.

entereth … privy chambers] Rather: which compasseth them about—still descriptive of the sword.

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.

Go thee one way or another,.... Go to some one place: or "unite thyself" (a); to other swords, or join other soldiers holding swords; the address is to the sword, to steer its course some one way, and slay as it goes along, sparing none:

either on the right, or on the left; or south, or north; so the Targum,

"unsheathe, and slay on the south, and destroy on the north:''

whithersoever thy face is set; or prepared, as the Targum, or appointed for destruction; this is the usual interpretation: but why may not the words be an apostrophe to the prophet, to go alone or single, either to the right or left, south or north, as his face was set, Eze 21:2, sighing and crying, smiting his hands together, in order to affect the minds of the people with the sense of their calamities coming upon them?

(a) "unito Montanus", Piscator, Polanus; "unitor te", Starckius; "in unum dirigitor", Cocceius.

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

Tripled. Let the war be very bloody. Nabuchodonosor often invaded Judea. (Calmet) --- He raised the siege, but returned. (Vatable)

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).

Smite thine hands together; either in token of amazement and sorrow, or else to signify what pleasure it should be to see justice executed on obstinate rebels; or rather, as Eze 21:17, clap thy hands, to awaken and hearten the Babylonians on to the slaughter.

Let the sword be doubled the third time: perhaps it is too curious to search out what particular calamities are pointed out by this trebled sword; whether,

1. Zedekiah’s captivity with many of the princes. And,

2. Taking of the city.

3. Killing of Gedaliah and those with him: to be sure it speaks both the certainty of the thing, and the greatness of the affliction.

Sword of the slain; wherewith many shall be slain.

The great men; which were princes, and captains, and rulers.

Entereth into their privy chambers; searcheth the most secret rooms, where they slew such as they found hidden in hope to escape.

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

14. Smite thine hands together — Eze_21:17; see notes Eze_6:11.

Let the sword be doubled the third time — Let it fall with a doubled and tripled power.

Great men that are slain — Rather, “the great one that is slain;” that is, Zedekiah.

Entereth into their privy chambers — Rather, compasseth them about.

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

Smite thine hands together, etc. Another gesture follows, either of horror and lamentation, or perhaps, looking to ver. 17, of imperative command. The sword is to do its thrice-redoubled work (the words emphasize generally the intensity, and are scarcely to be taken numerically, of the repeated invasions of the Chaldeans); it is "the sword of the slain" (better, pierced ones, or, with Revised Version, the deadly wounded). The next clause should be taken, with the Revised Version, in the singularthe sword of the great one that is deadly wounded; sc. the sword should smite the king as well as the people. For entereth into their privy chambers, read, with the Revised Version (margin), Ewald, and Keil, it compasseth them about.

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

And smite - In token of amazement and sorrow. Of the slain - Wherewith many shall be slain. Privy chambers - Where they were hidden in hope to escape.

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)

hit your two hands together

This means for him to clap his hands as a sign of his grief. AT: "clap your hands to show that you are very sad" (See: Symbolic Action)

even a third time

This is an idiom that means multiple times. AT: "again and again" (See: Ordinal Numbers and Idiom)

A sword for the ones to be slaughtered

This can be stated in active form. AT: "It is a sword for slaughtering people" (See: Active or Passive)

It is a sword for the many to be slaughtered

This can be stated in active form. AT: "It is a sword for slaughtering many people" (See: Active or Passive)

piercing them everywhere

"attacking them from every side." Some Bibles translate this as "which enters into their rooms." This means no matter where they hide, the sword will kill them.

piercing them

The word "them" refers to the people of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel.

translationWords

Son of Man

prophet

sword

slaughter

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

A sword, a sword Two swords: the sword of the king of Babylon first, and afterwards the sword of the children of Ammon in the hand of Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, who will slay Gedaliah and those gathered to him of the survivors of the sword, as is delineated in Jeremiah (41:1-10).

furbished Heb. מְרוּטָה, forbide in Old French, furbished, polished. Menachem (p. 120), however, associated it as an expression of drawing. Likewise (verse 16): “and He gave it to draw (לְמָרְטָה),” and so all of them.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.