Ezekiel 21:20

Eze 21:20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

Ver. 20. And to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.] Either against the one or the other of them - not against both at once, {a} for they were both strong, and Jerusalem was well aware of it - for they had both revolted from Nebuchadnezzar, and one of them was enough at once to undertake.

{a} Ne Hercules quidem contra duos.

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.

That is, to the tribe of Judah that kept themselves in Jerusalem.

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

Rabbath of the Ammonites--distinct from Rabbah in Judah (Sa2 12:26). Rabbath is put first, as it was from her that Jerusalem, that doomed city, had borrowed many of her idols.

to Judah in Jerusalem--instead of simply putting "Jerusalem," to imply the sword was to come not merely to Judah, but to its people within Jerusalem, defended though it was; its defenses on which the Jews relied so much would not keep the foe out.

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

20. On Rabbah cf. Eze_25:5.

in Jerusalem] unto Jerus. For “the defenced” LXX. reads: “in the midst of it,” i.e. of Judah.

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.

At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem,.... All his divinations, whether by arrows, or by images, or by liver, all directed him to his right hand, to turn to that which led to Jerusalem; and thus what appeared to him to be the effect of divination was overruled by the providence of God, to direct him to go and do what he designed he should:

to appoint captains to open the mouth in the slaughter; upon which he appointed his several captains and officers their distinct bodies of men they were to lead on to the siege of Jerusalem; and give them the word of command when to attack the place, scale the walls, or make breaches in it, and fall upon the enemy, and make a slaughter of them. The word for "captains" signifies "rams"; and Joseph Kimchi interprets it of battering rams, to beat down walls; but these are after mentioned; and is both by Jarchi and David Kimchi explained of general officers of the army; and so the Targum,

"to appoint generals to open the gates, that the slayer may enter by them:''

to lift up the voice with shouting; which is usually done in sieges, when a shout is made, and a place is stormed; both to animate the besiegers, and to terrify the besieged:

to appoint battering rams against the gates; to break them down, or break through them, and so make way for the army to enter in; these were engines used in sieges, to beat down walls, and make breaches in them, that the besiegers might enter; so called from the iron heads of them, which resembled rams; and are thus described by Josephus (o),

"the ram is a huge beam, not unlike the mast of a ship; the top of it is capped with a thick piece of iron, in the form of a ram's head, from whence it has its name: this is hung by the middle with ropes to another beam, which lies across, supported by a couple of posts; and thus hanging equally balanced, is, by a great number of men violently thrust backwards and forwards, and so beats the wall with its iron head; nor is there any tower so strong, or wall so broad, as to resist its repeated strokes.''

Vitruvius (p) says it was invented by the Carthaginians at the siege of Cadiz; but Pliny (q) affirms it was invented by Epeus at the siege of Troy; but the first mention of them is made by Ezekiel here, and in Eze 4:2, and Diodorus Siculus (r) affirms they were not known in the times of Sardanapalus, when Nineveh was taken by Arbaces. The Targum interprets it of officers set at the gates, as before; and so Jarchi:

to cast a mount; made up of earth, to raise their batteries upon: and

to build a fort; to cast out their arrows from thence, and protect the besiegers; See Gill on Eze 4:1.

(o) De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 19. Vid. Valtrinum de Re Militari Roman. l. 5. c. 6. p. 526. (p) De Architectura, l. 10. c. 19. (q) Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. (r) Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 113.

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

Rabbath. They had formed a league with Sedecias, and Nabuchodonosor thought of punishing them first. (Haydock) --- But they joined his forces, Jeremias xii. 6., and xxvii. 3.

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).

This royal city of the Ammonites, it seems, the king of Babylon had a quarrel with, as well as with Jerusalem, and he was resolved, when he came out of Babylon, to set upon one of them. There were two or three cities of this name Rabba, or Rabbath; one in the tribe of Judah, one in Issachar, one in Moab; but this in the text is distinguished by Rabbath of the Ammonites.

The Ammonites were the children of Lot’s daughter by incestuous mixture.

To Judah i.e. the Jews, the land for the people of the land. In Jerusalem; particularly against Jerusalem, whose fortifications do now as little discourage as they shall ere long hinder Nebuchadnezzar from taking the city and destroying it

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

20. Rabbath (R.V., “Rabbah”) was the capital of the Ammonites (Amo_1:14), later called Philadelphia. (See also Eze_25:5.) The king can hardly decide whether to first carry his arms against this city or Jerusalem, but the magic arrow settles the question.

In Jerusalem the defensed — LXX., and Jerusalem in her midst.

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

To Judah - The Jews.

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

In order to melt Heb. לָמוּג, an expression of moving. Another explanation: an expression of something melting.

and to increase the stumbling blocks Heb. וְהַרְבֵּה, and to increase the stumbling blocks, and so every הַרְבֵּה in Scripture is an expression of increasing, an infinitive.

the scream of the sword Heb. אִבְחֳת. Some interpret [this as] טִבְחַת, the slaughter of, the ‘teth’ in place of the ‘aleph,’ by the code of א"ט ב"ח [whereby ‘aleph’ is interchangeable with ‘teth,’ ‘beth’ with ‘cheth,’ etc.] [This appears to be Jonathan’s interpretation.] Others interpret it as אִבְעַת an expression of בְּעָתָה [fright], but this cannot be because the ‘tav’ in אִבְחֳת is not part of the radical, and it comes only for the construct state, whereas the ‘tav’ in בְּעָתָה is a radical. Therefore, I say that אִבְחֳתחֶרֶב means the sounding of the voice of those slain by the sword, an expression of barking (נְבִיחָה) glapissement in French, yelping, for the ‘nun’ in נְבִיחָה is a defective radical, like the ‘nun’ in נְשִּׁיכָה biting, and the ‘aleph’ comes in its place, like (Job 13:17): “and...my speech (אַחְוָתִי) in your ears”; (II Kings 4:2), “except a jug (אָסוּךְ) of oil.” Menachem (p. 12) explained it as fear of the sword. It has no counterpart, but is interpreted according to the context.

Woe, it is made to glitter Alas and alack! For it is made into a furbished and polished blade.

enwrapped for the slaughter And enwrapped in a cloth until it would be grasped in the hand for slaughter on the day of war. Some interpret מְעֻטָה as a form of the word for diminishing (מִעוּט), for it diminishes when they sharpen it, but it is an error that they have made, for the absence of the ‘vav’ and the ‘dagesh’ in the ‘teth’ indicate about it that the ‘mem’ is not a radical, [but,] like the ‘mem’ of מְעֻנָה, afflicted, מְעֻטָה, enwrapped, and (Songs 5:14) מְעֻלֶפֶת, “overlaid with sapphires.” Menachem (p. 132) associated it as an expression of thought, like (Dan. 2:14): “answered with counsel (עֵטָא) and discretion.” Dunash, however, interprets it (p. 78) like (Ps. 104:2): “[You] enwrap (עֹטֶה) Yourself with light like a garment.”

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.