Deep Dive

Ezekiel 12:20

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The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

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Commentaries

Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.

Matthew Henry Bible Commentaryv. 20

Though the vision of God's glory had gone up from the prophet, yet his word comes to him still, and is by him sent to the people, and to the same purport with that which was discovered to him in the vision, namely, to set forth the terrible judgments that were coming upon Jerusalem, by which the city and temple should be entirely laid waste. In this chapter, I. The prophet, by removing his stuff, and quitting his lodgings, must be a sign to set forth Zedekiah's flight out of Jerusalem in the utmost confusion when the Chaldeans took the city (v. 1-16). II. The prophet, by eating his meat with trembling, must be a sign to set forth the famine in the city during the siege, and the consternation that the inhabitants should be in (Eze 12:17-20). III. A message is sent from God to the people, to assure them that all these predictions should have their accomplishment very shortly, and not be deferred, as they flattered themselves they would be (Eze 12:21-28).

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Original language

The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).

Strong's Concordancev. 20

עִיר (ʻîyr, H5892) — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere… יָשַׁב (yâshab, H3427) — properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to… חָרַב (chârab, H2717) — to parch (through drought) i.e. (by analogy,) to desolate, destroy, kill אֶרֶץ (ʼerets, H776) — the earth (at large, or partitively a land) שְׁמָמָה (shᵉmâmâh, H8077) — devastation; figuratively, astonishment יָדַע (yâdaʻ, H3045) — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses,… יְהֹוָה (Yᵉhôvâh, H3068) — Jehovah, Jewish national name of God

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Cross-references

Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.

Jeremiah 4:7rank 4

A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.

Isaiah 3:26rank 3

And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.

Jeremiah 25:9rank 3

behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.

Ezekiel 15:8rank 2

Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Jeremiah 19:11rank 2

and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.

Daniel 9:17rank 2

So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.

Ezekiel 15:6rank 2

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 24:3rank 2

The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered. For the LORD has spoken this word.

Isaiah 24:12rank 2

The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble.

Lamentations 5:18rank 2

because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.

Commentaries

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