Ezekiel 21:30

Eze 21:30 Shall I cause [it] to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.

Ver. 30. Shall I cause it to return?] No, but it shall still eat your flesh and drink your blood, till none remaineth.

In the land of thy nativity.] In thine own nest, and on thine own dunghill.

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 21:30-32. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? — Shall the sword that is drawn to execute the judgments of God upon Ammon be put up in its sheath before it has done its work? Surely not. I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created — That is, where thy nation first received its existence: thou shalt not be carried captive, but shalt be destroyed in thy own land. I will pour out mine indignation upon thee — Which shall overwhelm thee as with a flood, and sweep thy nation into ruin. I will blow against thee, &c. — To melt thee as it were in a furnace. See Eze 22:20-21. And deliver thee into the hand of brutish men — The LXX. read, ανδρων βαρβαρων τεκταινοντων διαφθορας, of barbarous men, artificers of destruction; or, as we render it, skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire — Thy country and cities shall be destroyed by fire. Thy blood shall be in the midst of the land — A slaughter shall be made of thee in every part of thy country, and thy blood shall appear everywhere. Thou shalt be no more remembered — The Jewish people still subsist, but the Ammonites are lost in the mass of mankind, and have been long forgotten.

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

21:30-32 The sword would return . . . to its sheath, not to rest there, but to accomplish the Lord’s judgment against its own country, Babylon. God would also pour out . . . fury and the fire of his anger on Babylon. It had no special protection simply because God had used it as his tool in judging others. Judgment may have begun with God’s household (1 Pet 4:17), but it did not end there. God’s judgment included the pagan nations around Judah.

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

Shall I cause it to return into his sheath--namely, without first destroying Ammon. Certainly not (Jer 47:6-7). Others, as the Margin, less suitably read it imperatively, "Cause it to return," that is, after it has done the work appointed to it.

in the land of thy nativity--Ammon was not to be carried away captive as Judah, but to perish in his own land.

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 30. I will judge thee] This seems to refer to Nebuchadnezzar, who, after his return from Jerusalem, became insane, and lived like a beast for seven years; but was afterwards restored, and acknowledged the Lord.

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

(30) Shall I cause it to return?—There is nothing in the original to indicate either a question, or that this is spoken in the first person. It is addressed to the Ammonites, “Return it” (the sword) “into his sheath;” and it means that all resistance will be vain, the coming destruction cannot be averted. And this judgment is to be executed in the Ammonites’ own country: they are to be destroyed at home.

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

30. Shall I … return] Return it into its sheath! Ammon is commanded to put back his sword to its sheath; his dreams of conquests abroad are vain, he shall be visited and destroyed in his own land. On “nativity” cf. Eze_16:3.

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 shalt be for fuel for the fire,.... Easily consumed, as briers and thorns cast into a furnace; such are wicked men to the fire of God's wrath:

thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; such large numbers shall be slain everywhere, that the land shall flow with the blood of them; who shall lie unburied, and rot, and putrefy upon the ground:

thou shalt be no more remembered; but lie in everlasting oblivion, as they do to this day; the name of an Ammonite being nowhere mentioned and heard of:

for I the Lord have spoken it; who never alters the thing that is gone out of his lips; and sooner shall heaven and earth pass away than one word of his. The Targum is,

"for I the Lord have decreed by my word;''

and his counsel shall stand, and every purpose and resolution of his shall be accomplished.

Next: Ezekiel Chapter 22

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

Sheath. The sword of Babylon, after raging against many nations, was shortly to be judged and destroyed at home by the Medes and Persians. (Challoner) --- After Nabuchodonosor had chastised the nations around for 18 years, after the ruin of Jerusalem, he returned and died in peace. Yet he first became like a beast, ver. 31., and Daniel iv. 30. The rest of the prophecy regards his successors. Cyrus waged war upon them, and Baltassar was slain in a conspiracy. See Isaias xlvii., and Jeremias l. (Calmet) --- At last the sword fell upon Babylon itself. (Worthington)

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).

Some read it without interrogation, as an advice to the Ammonites to put up the sword they had drawn for their defence, as being to no purpose to resist. If it be an interrogation, it is such as more vehemently denieth, God will by no means suffer the sword to be sheathed; in this sense it refers to the sword of the Chaldeans.

Will judge thee; plead, condemn, and execute too.

Where thou wast created; explained by that which follows; though they might boast of their ancient original, and their safe and impregnable strengths, yet God will bring a sword into those very places, and there they should perish.

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

Shall I cause it, etc.? The question of the Authorized Version suggests a negative answer, as though the speaker were Jehovah, and the sheath that of his sword. The Revised Version, which translates it, with Keil, the LXX, and the Vulgate, as an imperative, deals with it as addressed to the Ammonites. They am told to sheath their sword; it would be of no avail against the sharp, glittering weapon of Jehovah. Their judgment would soon come on them in their own land, not, as in the case of Judah, in the form of exile. (comp. Eze_25:1-8 as an expansion of the prophet"s thought)

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

Shall I cause it - God will by no means suffer the sword to be sheathed. Judge thee - Condemn, and execute.

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to the people of Ammon.

Return the sword to its sheath

"Later the sword will be put back in its sheath." This speaks of the soldiers withdrawing from attacking Jerusalem, by saying that Yahweh's sword is put back in its sheath. AT: "But later the soldiers will return their swords to their sheaths, for the time of slaughter will be over" (See: Metaphor and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

sheath

This is something that holds and covers a sword when no one is using it. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 21:3.

In the place of your creation

The word "creation" may be expressed as a verb. AT: "In the place that I created you" (See: Abstract Nouns)

I will pour out my indignation on you

This speaks of Yahweh punishing the Babylonians because of his indignation against them as if his indignation were a liquid that he poured out of a container upon them. AT: "I will punish you because of indignation against you" or "Out of my anger I will punish you" (See: Metaphor)

I will fan the fire of my rage against you

This compares Yahweh's rage to a consuming fire. AT: "I will bring my rage upon you like a blazing fire" or "I will punish you in my fierce anger" (See: Metaphor)

the hand of cruel men

The "hand" of the men refers to their control. AT: "the control of cruel men" (See: Metonymy)

craftsmen of destruction

"men who cause great destruction"

translationWords

sword

create

judge

hand

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

wicked man, sentenced to be slain Liable to be slain for your wickedness.

prince of Israel Zedekiah.

at the time of the final iniquity At the time the measure has become filled and the final iniquity, which fills the measure, has arrived.

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.