You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
Parallel Translations
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You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
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Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
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(21-25) Thou shalt make a way, that the sword may come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 21:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 49:2 Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it will become a desolate heap, and her daughters will be burned with fire: then Israel will possess those who possessed him,” says Yahweh.
- Amos 1:14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a storm in the day of the whirlwind;
- Deuteronomy 3:11 (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its width, after the cubit of a man.)
- Ezekiel 25:5 I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.”
- Psalms 48:12-13 Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers. Notice her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation.
- Psalms 125:1-2 Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so Yahweh surrounds his people from this time forward and forever more.
- 2 Samuel 5:9 David lived in the stronghold, and called it David’s city. David built around from Millo and inward.
- 2 Samuel 12:26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
- 2 Chronicles 26:9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
- 2 Chronicles 32:5 He took courage, built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, with the other wall outside, and strengthened Millo in David’s city, and made weapons and shields in abundance.
- 2 Chronicles 33:14 Now after this, he built an outer wall to David’s city, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate. He encircled Ophel with it, and raised it up to a very great height; and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.
- Isaiah 22:10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.
- Lamentations 4:12 The kings of the earth didn’t believe, neither did all the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, to the tribe of Judah that kept…
That is, to the tribe of Judah that kept themselves in Jerusalem.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 21:20 Appoint a way, that the sword may…
Eze 21:20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
Ver. 20. And to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.] Either against the one or the other of them - not against both at once, {a} for they were both strong, and Jerusalem was well aware of it - for they had both revolted from Nebuchadnezzar, and one of them was enough at once to undertake.
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{a} Ne Hercules quidem contra duos.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This royal city of the Ammonites, it seems, the…
This royal city of the Ammonites, it seems, the king of Babylon had a quarrel with, as well as with Jerusalem, and he was resolved, when he came out of Babylon, to set upon one of them. There were two or three cities of this name Rabba, or Rabbath; one in the tribe of Judah, one in Issachar, one in Moab; but this in the text is distinguished by Rabbath of the Ammonites.
The Ammonites were the children of Lot’s daughter by incestuous mixture.
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To Judah i.e. the Jews, the land for the people of the land. In Jerusalem; particularly against Jerusalem, whose fortifications do now as little discourage as they shall ere long hinder Nebuchadnezzar from taking the city and destroying it
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem,....…
At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem,.... All his divinations, whether by arrows, or by images, or by liver, all directed him to his right hand, to turn to that which led to Jerusalem; and thus what appeared to him to be the effect of divination was overruled by the providence of God, to direct him to go and do what he designed he should:
to appoint captains to open the mouth in the slaughter; upon which he appointed his several captains and officers their distinct bodies of men they were to lead on to the siege of Jerusalem; and give them the word of command when to attack the place, scale the walls, or make breaches in it, and fall upon the enemy, and make a slaughter of them. The word for "captains" signifies "rams"; and Joseph Kimchi interprets it of battering rams, to beat down walls; but these are after mentioned; and is both by Jarchi and David Kimchi explained of general officers of the army; and so the Targum,
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"to appoint generals to open the gates, that the slayer may enter by them:''
to lift up the voice with shouting; which is usually done in sieges, when a shout is made, and a place is stormed; both to animate the besiegers, and to terrify the besieged:
to appoint battering rams against the gates; to break them down, or break through them, and so make way for the army to enter in; these were engines used in sieges, to beat down walls, and make breaches in them, that the besiegers might enter; so called from the iron heads of them, which resembled rams; and are thus described by Josephus (o),
"the ram is a huge beam, not unlike the mast of a ship; the top of it is capped with a thick piece of iron, in the form of a ram's head, from whence it has its name: this is hung by the middle with ropes to another beam, which lies across, supported by a couple of posts; and thus hanging equally balanced, is, by a great number of men violently thrust backwards and forwards, and so beats the wall with its iron head; nor is there any tower so strong, or wall so broad, as to resist its repeated strokes.''
Vitruvius (p) says it was invented by the Carthaginians at the siege of Cadiz; but Pliny (q) affirms it was invented by Epeus at the siege of Troy; but the first mention of them is made by Ezekiel here, and in Eze 4:2, and Diodorus Siculus (r) affirms they were not known in the times of Sardanapalus, when Nineveh was taken by Arbaces. The Targum interprets it of officers set at the gates, as before; and so Jarchi:
to cast a mount; made up of earth, to raise their batteries upon: and
to build a fort; to cast out their arrows from thence, and protect the besiegers; See Gill on Eze 4:1.
(o) De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 19. Vid. Valtrinum de Re Militari Roman. l. 5. c. 6. p. 526. (p) De Architectura, l. 10. c. 19. (q) Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. (r) Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 113.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain To Judah - The Jews.
To Judah - The Jews.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Rabbath. They had formed a league with Sedecias, and…
Rabbath. They had formed a league with Sedecias, and Nabuchodonosor thought of punishing them first. (Haydock) --- But they joined his forces, Jeremias xii. 6., and xxvii. 3.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Rabbath of the Ammonites--distinct from Rabbah in Judah (Sa2…
Rabbath of the Ammonites--distinct from Rabbah in Judah (Sa2 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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. Rabbath (R.V., “Rabbah”) was the capital of the…
20. Rabbath (R.V., “Rabbah”) was the capital of the Ammonites (Amo_1:14), later called Philadelphia. (See also Eze_25:5.) The king can hardly decide whether to first carry his arms against this city or Jerusalem, but the magic arrow settles the question.
In Jerusalem the defensed — LXX., and Jerusalem in her midst.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. On Rabbah cf. Eze_25:5.
20. On Rabbah cf. Eze_25:5.
in Jerusalem] unto Jerus. For “the defenced” LXX. reads: “in the midst of it,” i.e. of Judah.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.