Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 21:1-7
The prophet had faithfully delivered the message he was entrusted with, in the close of the foregoing chapter, in the terms wherein he received it, not daring to add his own comment upon it; but, when he complained that the people found fault with him for speaking parables, the word of the Lord came to him again, and gave him a key to that figurative discourse, that with it he might let the people into the meaning of it and so silence that objection. For all men shall be rendered inexcusable at God's bar and every mouth shall be stopped. Note, He that speaks with tongues should pray that he may interpret, Co1 14:13. When we speak to people about their souls we should study plainness, and exp…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 21:4
The "sword" did not, literally, slay all; but the judgments of God by the foe swept through the land "from the south to the north."
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 21:4
From the south to the north - The whole land shall be ravaged from one end to the other.
John Gill on Ezekiel 21:4
Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked,.... Some by the sword, some by famine, some by pestilence, and others by captivity; and, upon the whole, none spared, but the land left desolate:
therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh, from the south to the north; the Chaldean army shall go out of their own land against all the inhabitants of Judea, from Beersheba to Dan; this explains what is meant by all faces being burnt from the south to the north, Ezekiel 20:47, namely, the general destruction of the Jews by the Chaldeans.
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezekiel 21:1-7
The Sword of the Lord and Its Disastrous Effects
Eze 21:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 21:2. Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and trickle over the holy places, and prophesy over the land of Israel, Eze 21:3. And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with thee, and will draw my sword out of its scabbard, and cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. Eze 21:4. Because I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword to go forth from its scabbard against all flesh from south to north. Eze 21:5. And all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, have drawn my sword out of its scabbard: it shall not return agai…
