Ezekiel 7:17

Eze 7:17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak [as] water.

Ver. 17. All hands shall be feeble.] As after some grievous disease, or as in extreme cold weather, ye shall not be able to handle your arms, wherein ye so trust. God strengtheneth or weakeneth the arms of either party. {Eze 30:24}

And all knees shall be weak as water.] Fluent aquis: puta sudore ex gravi angustia, vel potius urina, ex pavore. {a} Not to those that wait upon God. {Isa 40:30-31} Let wicked Thrasos think on this.

{a} Vulg., Jerome, Septuag.

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.

shall be weak as water--literally, "shall go (as) waters"; incapable of resistance (Jos 7:5; Psa 22:14; Isa 13:7).

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 17. All knees shall be weak as water.] Calmet understands this curiously: La frayeur dont on sera saisi, fera qu'on ne pourra retenir son urine. D'autres l'expliquent d'une autre souillure plus honteuse. I believe him to be nearly about right. St. Jerome is exactly the same: Pavoris magnitudine, urina polluet genua, nec valebit profluentes aquas vesica prohibere. This and other malretentions are often the natural effect of extreme fear or terror.

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

He confirms the last sentence, that such should be the trembling, that those who were oppressed with all kinds of evil, dare not utter their complaints freely. He says, all hands should be loosened, and all knees should be unstable as water We know that this doctrine frequently occurs with the Prophets, by which God shows that men’s hearts were in his hands. But since profane men are fierce against God, through trusting in their own wealth or fortitude, hence, on the contrary, God pronounces that they should be timorous and anxious, nay, almost vanishing away, and as it were lifeless, as if their knees were flowing away amidst water, and their hands were relaxed. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

17. The description returns from the condition of the fugitives to that of the besieged. Prostration and despair seizes them. The figures of the hands “hanging down,” and the knees becoming “water” are expressive of complete paralysis of strength. LXX. Hitz. interpret the latter phrase literally. Cf. ch. Eze_21:7; Isa_13:7; Jer_6:24.

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.

They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth,.... As a token of mourning, Gen 37:34;

and horror shall cover them: either the horror of a guilty conscience, or the perpetual dread and terror of the enemy:

and shame shall be upon all faces; because of their sins and transgressions, which they shall now be convinced of; or because of their desolate condition, their sins had brought them into:

and baldness upon all their heads; through the plucking off of the hair of their heads in their distress; for to make baldness as a token of mourning for the dead was forbidden the Jews, Deu 14:1.

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

Water; urine, (St. Jerome) sweat, &c., the usual effects of fear.

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).

All hands with which they should hold the instruments of fortification, the weapons of war, the tools of working, and that should carry away their goods, that they shall not be able to work at the ramparts, nor fight in the battle, nor earn-their bread, or carry away their substance on which they might subsist. All knees, which bowed to idols, shall now fall under the punishments of idolatry, shall be neither strong to stand in battle, or to flee from the drawn sword: and this weakness was on all, as it is twice repeated.

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

17. This verse shows the utter prostration of those who are escaping: “their knees melt into water.” (Compare Eze_21:7; Isa_13:7; Jer_6:24.)

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

All knees shall be weak as water; literally, shall flow with water. So the Vulgate. The LXX is yet stronger, shall be defiled, etc. The words may point to the cold sweat of terror which paralyzes men"s power to act. The phrase is peculiar to Ezekiel, and meets us again in Eze_21:7. The thought finds a parallel in Isa_13:7; Jer_6:24.

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

General Information:

These are Yahweh's words about Israel.

Every hand will falter and every knee will be weak as water

The hands and knees are synecdoches for the people themselves. AT: "Everyone will be so terrified that they will be unable to work and their knees will become weak so that they cannot stand" (See: Synecdoche)

falter

fail to do what it is supposed to do

every knee will be weak as water

Another possible translation is, "every knee will flow with water," a euphemism for all the people losing control of their bladders because they are so frightened. (See: Euphemism)

knee ... weak as water

Water cannot stand up, and the people's knees will be so weak that the people are unable to stand on their legs. (See: Simile)

terror will cover them

Terror is spoken of as if it were clothing. AT: "everyone will see how terrified they are" (See: Metaphor)

baldness on all of their heads

Shaving the head was a sign of sadness. AT: "all of them will shave their heads" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

in the day of Yahweh's rage

"in the day when Yahweh acts on his anger" or "when Yahweh punishes them"

the day

This can be a time period of more or less than one 24-hour day.

their hunger will not be satisfied

This can be translated in active form. AT: "they will not be able to satisfy their hunger" or "they will still be hungry even after they eat all they have" (See: Active or Passive)

their iniquity has become a stumbling block

Possible meanings are 1) "because having a lot of gold and silver has led them to sin" or 2) "because they are evil, they are committing sins that show how evil they are."

translationWords

sackcloth

terror

shame

save

iniquity

stumbling block

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

will go [like] water from the sweat of fright.

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.