Ezekiel 7:27 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 7:27
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
mourn
יִתְאַבָּ֗לyit.'a.Bal
H56
to bewail · verb, hithpael imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
prince
וְנָשִׂיא֙ve.na.Si'
H5387
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
clothed
יִלְבַּ֣שׁyil.Bash
H3847
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
desolation
שְׁמָמָ֔הshe.ma.Mah
H8077
devastation · noun, common feminine singular absolute
hands
וִידֵ֥יvi.Dei
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · conjunction + noun, common both genders dual construct
people
עַם'am-
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct
land
הָאָ֖רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
troubled
תִּבָּהַ֑לְנָהti.ba.Hal.nah
H926
to tremble inwardly (or palpitate) · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
do
אֶעֱשֶׂ֤ה'e.'e.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
way
מִדַּרְכָּ֞םmi.dar.Kam
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
deserts
וּבְמִשְׁפְּטֵיהֶ֣םu.ve.mish.pe.tei.Hem
H4941
properly · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
judge
אֶשְׁפְּטֵ֔ם'esh.pe.Tem
H8199
to judge · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
know
וְיָדְע֖וּve.ya.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
LORD
יְהוָֽהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 7:4-8 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in th…
Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all you…
1 Kings 20:28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is Go…
Psalms 9:16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
Isaiah 3:11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
Jeremiah 52:8-11 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from hi…
Ezekiel 12:10-22 Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them…
Ezekiel 17:15-21 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 7:23–end
Here is, I. The prisoner arraigned: Make a chain, in which to drag the criminal to the bar, and set him before the tribunal of divine justice; let him stand in fetters (as a notorious malefactor), stand pinioned to receive his doom. Note, Those that break the bands of God's law asunder, and cast away those cords from them, will find themselves bound and held by the chains of his judgments, which they cannot break nor cast from them. The chain signified the siege of Jerusalem, or the slavery of those that were carried into captivity, or that they were all bound over to the righteous judgment of God, reserved in chains.
II. The indictment drawn up against the prisoner: The land is full of bloo…
people of the land--the general multitude, as distinguished from the "king" and the "prince." The consternation shall pervade all ranks. The king, whose duty it was to animate others and find a remedy for existing evils, shall himself be in the utmost anxiety; a mark of the desperate state of affairs.
clothed with desolation--Clothing is designed to keep off shame; but in this case shame shall be the clothing.
after their way--because of their wicked ways.
deserts--literally, "judgments," that is, what just judgment awards to them; used to imply the exact correspondence of God's judgment with the judicial penalties they had incurred: they oppressed the poor and deprived them of liberty…
Then shall they seek a vision - Vision shall perish from the prophet, the law from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. Previously to great national judgments, God restrains the influences of his Spirit. His word is not accompanied with the usual unction; and the wise men of the land, the senators and celebrated statesmen, devise foolish schemes; and thus, in endeavoring to avert it, they hasten on the national ruin. How true is the saying, Quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. "Those whom God designs to destroy, he first infatuates."
The Church Fathers
(Verse 27) The king will mourn, and the prince will be clothed in sorrow, or, according to the Septuagint, in death: those who desired something, what we have expressed in the Hebrew language, the king will mourn, they have completely remained silent about it. However, the Holy Scripture commemorates that Zedekiah mourned, and all the princes of the people of Judah were consumed with sorrow. But, although this may seem blasphemous at first glance, we can say that the king mourning for our vices and sins is Christ, who speaks in the Psalms: What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to corruption? (Ps. 29:10) And when he approached Jerusalem, he wept over it saying: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing (Matthew 23:37)! Even the leaders can be apostles, whether they mourn sinners in a good way or, on the contrary, those to whom it is said: Hear the word of the Lord, leaders of Sodom (Isaiah 1:11). And he will be clothed, according to the Septuagint, in destruction, who does not have the armor of God, nor is he clothed in Christ. For all who have been baptized in Christ, have clothed themselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27). And the hands of the people of the earth will be troubled, or, according to the Septuagint, dissolved. When there is no vision in the prophet, and knowledge of the Law in the priest, and counsel in the elders. And the king will mourn, and the prince will be in grief, or in destruction, consequently the hands of the people will be troubled, losing their order, or dissolved, not having ancient strength. And it is said beautifully that the people of God is not mentioned, whose hands are troubled, and who does not have a place in heaven; but the people of the earth, about whom it is written: Those who turn away from you will be written upon the earth. (Jeremiah 17:13). According to their way, I will deal with them, and according to their judgments, I will judge them, or as the Septuagint translated, I will avenge them. God repays sinners according to their ways, so that He may keep the truth of judgment. However, in the saints, the extent of mercy exceeds the limits. For the sufferings of this temporary time are not worthy of the future glory that will be revealed in us…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Judgment · ACCORDING TO OPPORTUNITY AND WORKS — ACCORDING TO OPPORTUNITY AND WORKS
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Ezekiel 7:27
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation,.... Meaning one and the same person, Zedekiah not being able to save himself and his people; and who falling into the hands of the king of Babylon, his children were slain before him; then his own eyes put out, and he bound in chains, and carried captive to Babylon, Jeremiah 39:6;
and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled; weakened through fear and distress; incapable of business, and unable to help themselves and others; and the more so, when they found their case desperate; which was manifest by the mourning and desolation of their king, in whom their confidence had been placed:
I will do unto them aft…
Ezekiel 7:27
27. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
27. Rex lugebit, et princeps induetur desolatione: [171] et manus populi terrae turbabuntur: secundum vias ipsorum faciam iis, et pro judiciis ipsorum judicabo ipsos, et cognoscent quod ego Iehovah.
In this verse the Prophet affirms that God's vengeance should be so common that it should alight equally upon the highest and the lowest. He begins with the king, then he descends to his counselors, then he comprehends the w…
Fourth Strophe
Still worse is coming, namely, the captivity of the people, and overthrow of the kingdom. - Eze 7:23. Make the chain, for the land is full of capital crime, and the city full of outrage. Eze 7:24. I shall bring evil ones of the nations, that they may take possession of their houses; and I shall put an end to the pride of the strong, that their sanctuaries may be defiled. Eze 7:25. Ruin has come; they seek salvation, but there is none. Eze 7:26. Destruction upon destruction cometh, and report upon report ariseth; they seek visions from prophets, but the law will vanish away from the priest, and counsel from the elders. Eze 7:27. The king will mourn, and the prince will clothe h…
Neither religious authorities (prophets and priests) nor civil leaders (king or prince) could bring the peace the people were looking for. High-born and low-born alike would be helpless in facing their judgment. In the complete absence of guidance and direction, no hope would be left for the people.
Rashi on Ezekiel 7:26
Happening upon happening Heb. הוָֹה עַל-הוָֹה, happening upon happening, being after being. Menachem (p. 70) associated it to a term for a breach.
and instruction will be lost from a priest who usually gave instruction, as is said (Mal. 2:7): “and teaching should be sought from his mouth.”