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…
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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 21:5
It shall not return any more - That is, till all the work that I have designed for it is done. Nor did it; for Nebuchadnezzar never rested till he had subdued all the lands from the south to the north, from the Euphrates to the Nile.
John Gill on Ezekiel 21:5
That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath,.... The same with kindling a fire in Judea; see Gill on Ezekiel 20:48,
it shall not return any more; that is, into its sheath, until it has done all its work; meaning that the Chaldean army should not return to their own land until they had executed the whole will of God upon the Jews; this is the fire that should not be quenched, Ezekiel 20:48 and here ends the explanation of the said prophecy.
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…
