Ezekiel 7:6

Eze 7:6 An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.

Ver. 6. An end is come, the end is come.] Still the prophet ringeth this doleful knell in their ears, whom sin and Satan had cast into such a dead lethargy, that they could not easily be aroused. Battologia est, sed necessaria verborum redundantia, saith Pintus.

It watcheth for thee.] Which hitherto lay at the door, {Gen 4:7} sleeping dog sleep, as we say. In the Hebrew there is an elegant alliteration between hakets, "an end," and hekits, "watcheth." See 2Pe 3:3.

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.

He showeth that the judgments of God ever watch to destroy the sinners, which notwithstanding he delayeth till there be no more hope of repentance.

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

watcheth for thee--rather, "waketh for thee." It awakes up from its past slumber against thee (Psa 78:65-66).

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 6. An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee] This is similar to the second verse; but there is a paronomasia, or play upon letters and words, which is worthy of note. קץ בא בא הקץ הקץ אליך kets ba, ba hakkets, hekits elayich. קצה katsah signifies to make an end or extremity, by cutting off something, and יקץ yakats signifies to awake from sleep: hence קיץ kits, the summer, as the earth and its productions seem then to awake from the sleep of winter. The end or final destruction is here personified; and represented as an executioner who has arisen early from his sleep, and is waiting for his orders to execute judgment upon these offenders. Hence it is said-

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

The whole context has the same meaning, namely, that although the Israelites are deaf, yet they are compelled to attend to God’s continued threats. The Prophet therefore strikes their ears, because he was not immediately attended to, and again he speaks of the end: an end is come, says he, an end is come Here Ezekiel does not affect to use graceful figures of speech, but was rather compelled by necessity to use the repetitions which we see. For the end concerning which he speaks could with difficulty penetrate their minds, for they were always supposing that God could be appeased by various means. Since, therefore, they promised themselves something remaining behind, and put away from them what the Prophet taught about the end, he could not do otherwise than threaten often though he could scarcely persuade them. Hence an end is come, an end is come: it has been watchful against thee: behold it is come When he says it has watched, he signifies haste, not that God had suddenly revenged the wickedness of the ten tribes, but that he regards the torpor of those who indulged in a vain confidence and dream that God’s judgment is far distant. That diabolic proverb — “Le terme vaut l’argent,” is still common in the mouths of many, and such impiety has been rife in all ages. When therefore God suspends his judgments, the reprobate intemperately boast themselves as if they could continue in sin with impunity. For this reason the Prophet says, the end is watching — that is, hastening — because although God had delayed he would no longer refrain from destroying the Israelites. 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.

6. it watcheth] Rather: it awaketh for thee. The word forms an alliteration with “end” (Ḳêç, heḳîç), and suggests that the vengeance slumbering long is now ready to fall on them. A similar paronomasia in Amo_8:2, between “end” and “summer fruit,” and in Jer_1:11, between “almond tree” and “be wakeful.”

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.

The morning is come upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the land,.... That is, early ruin was come, or was coming, upon the inhabitants of Judea, which before is said to be awake, and to watch for them; and now the day being broke, the morning come, it hastened to them. Some, because this word (g) is used in Isa 18:5; for a crown or diadem, think a crowned head, a king, is here meant; particularly Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the instrument of the destruction of Jerusalem. So the Targum,

"the kingdom is revealed upon or against thee, O inhabitant of the land.''

Jarchi interprets it of the morning setting as the sun does, its light and glory disappearing; and so denotes a dark and gloomy day;

the time is come; the appointed time of Jerusalem's ruin, the time of her visitation;

the day of trouble, or "noise" (h),

is near; either of the Chaldean army, its chariots and horses, and of their armour; or of the howling and lamentation of the Jews:

and not the sounding again of the mountains; not like the echo of a man's voice between the mountains, which is only imaginary, but this is real; so Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it: or this was not like the shoutings of the vintage, which were joyful ones, Isa 16:9; but this the voice of lamentation and sorrow, doleful sounds. Jarchi says the word signifies the cry of the voice, proclaiming or calling on persons to fly to the tops of the mountains, which now should not be; and so the Targum,

"and there is no fleeing or escaping to the tops of the mountains.''

(g) "corona", Tigurine version, so some is Vatablus; "cidaris matutina", Montanus. (h) "tumultus", Montanus, Piscator, Starckius; "strepitus", Calvin; "clamoris", Vatablus.

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

The end is come: it watcheth for thee - The end (personified) so long slumbering now awakes and comes upon thee.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Awaked. Justice seems to have slept. (Haydock) See ver. 10., and Jeremias i. 12.

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).

Thus frequently is it repeated to show the certainty of the thing, the heaviness of the judgment, the great apprehensions they should have of it, and yet the great security they are under. God’s vengeance seems to slumber, and sinners dream it will never awake, but here the prophet assureth the sinners of Jerusalem, and its people, that God hath awakened his vengeance, which now watcheth to take the first opportunity, or rather to hasten it.

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

6. Watcheth for thee — Literally, awaketh against thee. There is a play on words here impossible to reproduce. The “end” has ended its sleep and is awaking, and is about to leap upon the careless nation and bring upon it the sleep of death.

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

It watcheth for thee; better, with the Revised Version, it awaketh against thee. So the LXX, Vulgate, Luther. The Hebrew presents a paronomasia between the noun and verbhakketz, hekitz which cannot be reproduced in English. The destined doom is thought of as rousing itself to its appointed work. The word is cognate with that rendered "awaketh" in Psa_78:65.

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

An end - When the end is come upon the wicked world, then an only evil comes upon it. The sorest of temporal judgments have their allays; but the torments of the damned are an evil, an only evil.

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