Ezekiel 21

16. Apostrophe to the sword.
Go . . . one way--or, "Concentrate thyself"; "Unite thy forces on the right hand" [GROTIUS]. The sword is commanded to take the nearest route for Jerusalem, "whither their face was set," whether south or north ("right hand or left"), according to where the several parts of the Chaldean host may be.
or other, . . . on the left--rather "set thyself on the left." The verbs are well-chosen. The main "concentration" of forces was to be on "the right hand," or south, the part of Judea in which Jerusalem was, and which lay south in marching from Babylon, whereas the Chaldean forces advancing on Jerusalem from Egypt, of which Jerusalem was north, were fewer, and therefore "set thyself" is the verb used.

17. Jehovah Himself smites His hands together, doing what He had smiting Jerusalem; compare the similar symbolical action ( 2 Kings 13:18 2 Kings 13:19 ).
cause . . . fury to rest--give it full vent, and so satisfy it ( Ezekiel 5:13 ).

19. two ways--The king coming from Babylon is represented in the graphic style of Ezekiel as reaching the point where the road branched off in two ways, one leading by the south, by Tadmor or Palmyra, to Rabbath of Ammon, east of Jordan; the other by the north, by Riblah in Syria, to Jerusalem--and hesitating which way to take. Ezekiel is told to "appoint the two ways" (as in Ezekiel 4:1 ); for Nebuchadnezzar, though knowing no other control but his own will and superstition, had really this path "appointed" for him by the all-ruling God.
out of one land--namely, Babylon.
choose . . . a place--literally "a hand." So it is translated by FAIRBAIRN, "make a finger-post," namely, at the head of the two ways, the hand post pointing Nebuchadnezzar to the way to Jerusalem as the way he should select. But MAURER rightly supports English Version. Ezekiel is told to "choose the place" where Nebuchadnezzar should do as is described in Ezekiel 21:20 Ezekiel 21:21 ; so entirely does God order by the prophet every particular of place and time in the movements of the invader.

20. Rabbath of the Ammonites--distinct from Rabbah in Judah ( 2 Samuel 12:26 ). Rabbath is put first, as it was from her that Jerusalem, that doomed city, had borrowed many of her idols.
to Judah in Jerusalem--instead of simply putting "Jerusalem," to imply the sword was to come not merely to Judah, but to its people within Jerusalem, defended though it was; its defenses on which the Jews relied so much would not keep the foe out.

21. parting--literally, "mother of the way." As "head of the two ways" follows, which seems tautology after "parting of the way," HAVERNICK translates, according to Arabic idiom, "the highway," or principal road. English Version is not tautology, "head of the two ways" defining more accurately "parting of the way."
made . . . bright--rather, "shook," from an Arabic root.
arrows--Divination by arrows is here referred to: they were put into a quiver marked with the names of particular places to be attacked, and then shaken together; whichever came forth first intimated the one selected as the first to be attacked [JEROME]. The same usage existed among the Arabs, and is mentioned in the Koran. In the Nineveh sculptures the king is represented with a cup in his right hand, his left resting on a bow; also with two arrows in the right, and the bow in the left, probably practising divination.
images--Hebrew, "teraphim"; household gods, worshipped as family talismans, to obtain direction as to the future and other blessings. First mentioned in Mesopotamia, whence Rachel brought them ( Genesis 31:19 Genesis 31:34 ); put away by Jacob ( Genesis 35:4 ); set up by Micah as his household gods ( Judges 17:5 ); stigmatized as idolatry ( 1 Samuel 15:23 , Hebrew; Zechariah 10:2 , Margin).
liver--They judged of the success, or failure, of an undertaking by the healthy, or unhealthy, state of the liver and entrails of a sacrifice.

22. Rather, "In his right hand was [is] the divination," that is, he holds up in his right hand the arrow marked with "Jerusalem," to encourage his army to march for it.
captains--The Margin, "battering-rams," adopted by FAIRBAIRN, is less appropriate, for "battering-rams" follow presently after [GROTIUS].
open the mouth in . . . slaughter--that is, commanding slaughter: raising the war cry of death. Not as GESENIUS, "to open the mouth with the war shout."

23. Unto the Jews, though credulous of divinations when in their favor, Nebuchadnezzar's divination "shall be (seen) as false." This gives the reason which makes the Jews fancy themselves safe from the Chaldeans, namely, that they "have sworn" to the latter "oaths" of allegiance, forgetting that they had violated them ( Ezekiel 17:13 Ezekiel 17:15 Ezekiel 17:16 Ezekiel 17:18 ).
but he, &c.--Nebuchadnezzar will remember in consulting his idols that he swore to Zedekiah by them, but that Zedekiah broke the league [GROTIUS]. Rather, God will remember against them ( Revelation 16:19 ) their violating their oath sworn by the true God, whereas Nebuchadnezzar kept his oath sworn by a false god; Ezekiel 21:24 confirms this.

24. Their unfaithfulness to Nebuchadnezzar was a type of their general unfaithfulness to their covenant God.
with the hand--namely, of the king of Babylon.

25. profane--as having desecrated by idolatry and perjury his office as the Lord's anointed. HAVERNICK translates, as in Ezekiel 21:14 , "slain," that is, not literally, but virtually; to Ezekiel's idealizing view Zedekiah was the grand victim "pierced through" by God's sword of judgment, as his sons were slain before his eyes, which were then put out, and he was led a captive in chains to Babylon. English Version is better: so GESENIUS ( 2 Chronicles 36:13 , Jeremiah 52:2 ).
when iniquity shall have an end--( Ezekiel 21:29 ). When thine iniquity, having reached its last stage of guilt, shall be put an end to by judgment ( Ezekiel 35:5 ).

26. diadem--rather, "the miter" of the holy priest ( Exodus 28:4 , Zechariah 3:5 ). His priestly emblem as representative of the priestly people. Both this and "the crown," the emblem of the kingdom, were to be removed, until they should be restored and united in the Mediator, Messiah ( Psalms 110:2 Psalms 110:4 , Zechariah 6:13 ), [FAIRBAIRN]. As, however, King Zedekiah alone, not the high priest also, is referred to in the context, English Version is supported by GESENIUS.
this shall not be the same--The diadem shall not be as it was [ROSENMULLER]. Nothing shall remain what it was [FAIRBAIRN].
exalt . . . low, . . . abase . . . high--not the general truth expressed ( Proverbs 3:34 , Luke 1:52 , 4:6 , 1 Peter 5:5 ); but specially referring to Messiah and Zedekiah contrasted together. The "tender plant . . . out of the dry ground" ( Isaiah 53:2 ) is to be "exalted" in the end ( Ezekiel 21:27 ); the now "high" representative on David's throne, Zedekiah, is to be "abased." The outward relations of things shall be made to change places in just retaliation on the people for having so perverted the moral relations of things [HENGSTENBERG].

27. Literally, "An overturning, overturning, overturning, will I make it." The threefold repetition denotes the awful certainty of the event; not as ROSENMULLER explains, the overthrow of the three, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah; for Zedekiah alone is referred to.
it shall be no more, until he come whose fight it is--strikingly parallel to Genesis 49:10 . Nowhere shall there be rest or permanence; all things shall be in fluctuation until He comes who, as the rightful Heir, shall restore the throne of David that fell with Zedekiah. The Hebrew for "right" is "judgment"; it perhaps includes, besides the right to rule, the idea of His rule being one in righteousness ( Psalms 72:2 , Isaiah 9:6 Isaiah 9:7 , 11:4 , Revelation 19:11 ). Others (Nebuchadnezzar, &c.), who held the rule of the earth delegated to them by God, abused it by unrighteousness, and so forfeited the "right." He both has the truest "right" to the rule, and exercises it in "right." It is true the tribal "scepter" continued with Judah "till Shiloh came" ( Genesis 49:10 ); but there was no kingly scepter till Messiah came, as the spiritual King then ( John 18:36 John 18:37 ); this spiritual kingdom being about to pass into the literal, personal kingdom over Israel at His second coming, when, and not before, this prophecy shall have its exhaustive fulfilment ( Luke 1:32 Luke 1:33 , Jeremiah 3:17 , 10:7 ; "To thee doth it appertain").

28. Lest Ammon should think to escape because Nebuchadnezzar had taken the route to Jerusalem, Ezekiel denounces judgment against Ammon, without the prospect of a restoration such as awaited Israel. Jeremiah 49:6 , it is true, speaks of a "bringing again of its captivity," but this probably refers to its spiritual restoration under Messiah; or, if referring to it politically, must refer to but a partial restoration at the downfall of Babylon under Cyrus.
their reproach--This constituted a leading feature in their guilt; they treated with proud contumely the covenant-people after the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar ( Ezekiel 25:3 Ezekiel 25:6 , Zephaniah 2:9 Zephaniah 2:10 ), and appropriated Israel's territory ( Jeremiah 49:1 , Amos 1:13-15 ).
furbished, to consume--MAURER punctuates thus, "Drawn for the slaughter, it is furbished to devour ('consume'), to glitter." English Version, "to consume because of the glittering," means, "to consume by reason of the lightning, flash-like rapidity with which it falls." Five years after the fall of Jerusalem, Ammon was destroyed for aiding Ishmael in usurping the government of Judea against the will of the king of Babylon ( 2 Kings 25:25 , Jeremiah 41:15 ) [GROTIUS].

29. see vanity . . . divine a lie--Ammon, too, had false diviners who flattered them with assurances of safety; the only result of which will be to "bring Ammon upon the necks," &c., that is, to add the Ammonites to the headless trunks of the slain of Judah, whose bad example Ammon followed, and "whose day" of visitation for their guilt "is come."
when their iniquity shall have an

30. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath--namely, without first destroying Ammon. Certainly not ( Jeremiah 47:6 Jeremiah 47:7 ). Others, as the Margin, less suitably read it imperatively, "Cause it to return," that is, after it has done the work appointed to it.
in the land of thy nativity--Ammon was not to be carried away captive as Judah, but to perish in his own land.