“Therefore sigh, you son of man. You shall sigh before their eyes with a broken heart and with bitterness.
Parallel Translations
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“Therefore sigh, you son of man. You shall sigh before their eyes with a broken heart and with bitterness.
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Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
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(21-11) Sigh therefore, thou son of man; with the breaking of thy loins and with bitterness shalt thou sigh before their eyes.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 21:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 22:4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Ezekiel 6:11 “The Lord Yahweh says: ‘Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, “Alas!” Because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they will fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
- Isaiah 16:11 Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres.
- Isaiah 21:3 Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I so am dismayed that I can’t see.
- Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart! My heart trembles within me. I can’t hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
- Jeremiah 9:17-21 Yahweh of Armies says, “Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come. Send for the skillful women, that they may come. Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ‘How we are ruined! We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ” Yet hear Yahweh’s word, you women. Let your ear receive the word of his mouth. Teach your daughters wailing. Everyone teach her neighbor a lamentation. For death has come up into our windows. It has entered into our palaces to cut off the children from outside, and the young men from the streets.
- Jeremiah 19:10 “Then you shall break the container in the sight of the men who go with you,
- Jeremiah 30:6 Ask now, and see whether a man travails with child. Why do I see every man with his hands on his waist, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned pale?
- Ezekiel 4:12 You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of man.”
- Ezekiel 9:4 Yahweh said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
- Ezekiel 12:3-5 “Therefore, you son of man, prepare your stuff for moving, and move by day in their sight. You shall move from your place to another place in their sight. It may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. You shall bring out your stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for moving. You shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as when men go out into exile. Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your stuff out that way.
- Ezekiel 21:12 Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people. It is on all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Therefore beat your thigh.
- Ezekiel 37:20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.” ’
- Daniel 5:6 Then the king’s face was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his thighs were loosened, and his knees struck one against another.
- Daniel 8:27 I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick for some days. Then I rose up, and did the king’s business. I wondered at the vision, but no one understood it.
- Nahum 2:10 She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.
- Habakkuk 3:16 I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.
- John 11:33-35 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain As though thou were in extreme anguish.
As though thou were in extreme anguish.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 21:6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with…
Eze 21:6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of [thy] loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
Ver. 6. Sigh therefore, with the breaking of thy loins.] Gemituque et gestu dolorem referas; show greatest grief, such as is deep and downright; sigh till thy buttons fly; or as a travailing woman. Non ut praeficae in funeribus solent.
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 Sigh; thereby express to them deepest sorrows for what…
Sigh; thereby express to them deepest sorrows for what is present, and most piercing fears of what is to come.
With the breaking of thy loins; like a woman in travail, or as one whose griefs are ready to break his heart, Isa 21:3.
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With bitterness; with all sorts of the most bitter cries and tears.
Before their eyes who were now with him in Babylon, and who, as they easily could, so surely would, send word to them in Jerusalem and Judea.
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 And it shall be, when they say unto thee,…
And it shall be, when they say unto thee, wherefore sighest thou?.... Which he was to do that purpose, that they might be put upon asking him the reason of it; whether it was on his own personal amount, or on account of his family or particular friends; or whether on a public account, either because of what should befall the captives there, or their countrymen in Judea and Jerusalem:
that thou shalt answer, for the tidings, or, the "report" (p),
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because it cometh; the report of the Chaldean army approaching and invading Judea, and besieging Jerusalem, which he had from the Lord; and the thing itself was just at hand, and would shortly and certainly be; and that was the thing that affected him, and caused such sorrow and sighing:
and every heart shall melt; like wax, for fear of the enemy; even such who then disbelieved the report, and laughed at it as an idle story:
and all hands shall be feeble; and not able to hold a sword, or strike a stroke:
and every spirit shall faint; yea, such who had the greatest spirits, and were the most bold and undaunted, shall be quite dispirited, no heart nor courage to defend themselves or their country:
and all knees shall be weak as water; they shall not be able to stand upon their legs, and fight like men in their own defence; nor even be able to flee away, and make their escape: or,
shall flow with water (q); either with sweat, or with urine, through fear of the enemy:
behold, it cometh, and shall be brought pass, saith the Lord God; let no man therefore put this evil day far from him, or treat this report as an idle tale, or a thing at a distance, and which may never come to pass; for it is now a coming, and in a very little time will be accomplished; for the Lord has said it, who cannot lie, whose counsel shall stand, and will do all his pleasure.
(p) , , Sept.; "propter rumorem", Vatablus, Cocceius; "propter vel ad auditum", Paginus, Montanus. (q) "fluent aquis", Munster, Tigurine version, so Ben Melech; "manabunt ut aqua" Cocceius.
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 Sigh therefore - Thereby express deep sorrow. Breaking of…
Sigh therefore - Thereby express deep sorrow. Breaking of thy loins - Like a woman in travail.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Sigh - with the breaking of thy…
Verse 6. Sigh - with the breaking of thy loins] Let thy mourning for this sore calamity be like that of a woman in the pains of travail.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 21:6-7. Sigh, therefore, with the breaking of thy…
Eze 21:6-7. Sigh, therefore, with the breaking of thy loins, &c. — Show all the tokens of grief and concern; sigh and groan deeply; let the sense of these impending judgments so greatly affect thee, as to make thee stoop like one quite borne down under the weight of them. God’s judgments, as they were represented to the minds of the prophets, very often affected them with dreadful apprehensions, especially when they concerned their own people: see the margin. With bitterness sigh before their eyes — Before the eyes of the elders of Israel, mentioned Eze 20:1, or of the Jewish captives, who could not but be touched with a tender sense of the calamities ready to befall their brethren in Judea. Every heart shall melt, &c. — Men’s hearts and strength shall fail them for fear.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The prophet was directed to let the people see…
The prophet was directed to let the people see him sighing and prostrate, as a sign of the sorrow and weakness about to come upon the people.
The breaking of thy loins - The prostration of strength; the loins being the seat of strength.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Bitterness. Septuagint, "pains," like those of child-bearing, Isaias xxi.…
Bitterness. Septuagint, "pains," like those of child-bearing, Isaias xxi. 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 with the breaking of thy loins--as one afflicted with…
with the breaking of thy loins--as one afflicted with pleurisy; or as a woman, in labor-throes, clasps her loins in pain, and heaves and sighs till the girdle of the loins is broken by the violent action of the body (Jer 30:6).
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 6. Sigh… with the breaking of thy loins —…
6. Sigh… with the breaking of thy loins — This expression of speechless grief, which seems as if it will tear the body asunder, is the picture prophecy of the anguish which all shall feel when the news of the downfall of the holy city — which Ezekiel has so long been prophesying — shall be brought to the captives at Tel-abib.
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 6, 7. Agitation of the prophet at the tidings…
6, 7. Agitation of the prophet at the tidings of the coming calamity. This agitation of his is only a symbol of the dismay and paralysis that shall overtake all when the calamity comes. On the figures in Eze_21:7 cf. Eze_7:17.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) With the breaking of thy loins.—The loins were…
(6) With the breaking of thy loins.—The loins were regarded as the seat of strength (Job_40:16); and the breaking of these, therefore, expresses entire prostration. Comp. Psa_66:11; Psa_69:23; Isa_21:3; Nah_2:10. The prophet was to do this “before their eyes,” i.e., was in some way to express before them a sense of extreme dejection and prostration, such as should call forth the question and reply of the following verse. With the expression “Every heart shall melt” comp. Luk_21:26.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Sigh therefore, etc. As in other instances, (Eze_4:4 Eze_5:1-4)…
Sigh therefore, etc. As in other instances, (Eze_4:4 Eze_5:1-4) the prophet dramatizes the coming calamity. He is to act the part of a mourner, whose sighs are so deep that they seem to "break his loins". (compare, for the gesture, Nah_2:1, Nah_2:10; Isa_21:3; Jer_30:6) The strange action was meant to lead to questions. What did it mean? And then he is to answer that he does it "for the tidings" which are to him as certain as if they had already come. He is but doing what all would do, when the messenger brought word, as in Eze_33:21, five years later, that the city was at last smitten.
Vers. 6, 7. The sign of sighing.
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In the case of Ezekiel, perhaps more than in any other of the prophets, actions were adopted as prophetic signs, more effective than words. The tidings conveyed to the prophet, and through him to his fellow countrymen, were of so mournful an import that such indications of mental distress as sighing and weeping were natural expressions of the feelings which he could not but experience. It was appointed for him in this way to excite the curiosity of his people, and, in response to their inquiries, to inform them of coming evils.
I THE CAUSE OF THE PROPHET"S SIGHING.
1. The trouble which was about to come upon the inhabitants of Jerusalemand of the whole land of Israel, in the invasion of the country, the siege of the metropolis, and the violent death of many of the inhabitants.
2. The sinful rebelliousness of the people, by which they were bringingupon themselves these calamities and disasters.
3. Ezekiel"s deep and sincere sympathy with sufferers, and his sorrow for their evil ways, so that he felt for his fellow countrymen as he would have felt for himself.
II THE SEVERITY OF THE PROPHET"S SIGHING. It was "with bitterness," "with the breaking of the loins," i.e. sighing shaking the whole bodily frame, and evincing the pungent distress afflicting his spirit.
III THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPHET"S SIGHING.
1. It was an evidence of patriotism; for Ezekiel himself was far from thescene of approaching retribution, and it did not affect him personally, but through his patriotic identification of himself with all that concerned his people.
2. It was an evidence of his faith in Divine assurances. There is no reasonto suppose that mere political foresight enabled the prophet to anticipate the coming, evil; yet he realized its certain approach with such intensity as to call forth the manifestation of feeling here described.
3. It was a warning to the careless and insensible. There were many forwhom Ezekiel sighed who sighed not for themselves; yet theirs was the sin, and theirs the punishment now imminent.
4. It was a summons to repentance. If the prophet cried and sighed for theabominations wrought among the people, how much more did it become those who by their sins had provoked the anger of the righteous God to consider their ways, to weep because of their guilty ingratitude and persistent disobedience, and to flee from the wrath to come! how much more did it behove them to call upon the Lord that he might have mercy upon them, and upon their God who could abundantly pardon! T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Wherefore sighest thou?
Eze_21:6-7
Wherefore sighest thou?
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. . .For the tidings.
Sighing because of sorrowful tidings
The tidings were, in the first place, of dishonour done to God, and, in the second place, of ruin which the transgressors were bringing upon themselves; and we think to show you that the tidings were such as might well justify the prophet as he looked upon his nation in sighing with bitterness before their eyes.
1. If you know anything of the relationship subsisting between the Creator and the creature, you must know that we lie absolutely at the disposal of God, depending for every thing upon His bounty, and bound to live wholly to His glory. Gods laws are binding without exception and without limitation; and if He only issue an announcement of His will, it should be received with the deepest reverence and obeyed with unhesitating compliance throughout every department of His unbounded empire. And if this obedience be withheld, who can fail to see that the very greatest insult is at once offered by the finite to the Infinite? Now, consider what effect this insult will have--or at least ought to have--upon a man who loves God, and whose prime effort it is to obey His every word. If a man of warm loyalty were living amongst traitors, it would wound him to the quick to hear the king whom he honoured continually reviled. If a man of warm friendship were with the enemies of his love, it would sorely grieve him to observe how his friend was hated and despised. And what are such feelings in comparison of those which should rise in the man of real piety, when he beholds on all sides dishonour done to his God? Oh! as such a man thinks on the unlimited right which God has to the services of His creatures, and yet more as he thinks how God draws those creatures to Himself by every motive of interest and attraction, supplying their wants, offering them happiness, bearing with their perverseness; and then, when there come to him tidings of the return which God receives--His authority defied, His promises despised, His threatenings laughed to scorn, so that it almost seems the universal object to expel Him from His own world, and set up some usurper in His stead--as the man, we say, of real piety observes all this, and meditates on all this, would there be any cause of wonder were he to exclaim, For the tidings! for the tidings when asked to explain a manifestation of grief which should be similar to that of the prophet--Sigh, therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins, and with bitterness sigh before their eyes?
2. But let us go on to consider the ruin which transgressors are bringing on themselves; for here at least we shall find tidings which, in the judgment of you all, might vindicate Ezekiels mighty manifestation of anguish. It is not the moment of absolute shipwreck; but it cometh--it cometh. The tidings make him as certain of the shipwreck of thousands as though already were the sea strewed with the fragments of the stranded navy. It is with him no matter of conjecture or speculation whether a life of wickedness will terminate in an eternity of misery; he so surely anticipates the future that he is as though he beheld the casting of the wicked into a lake of fire, and could not be more assured of their terrible doom if the last day were come, and the dead were raised, and the books were opened. And who are these victims of Divine justice? Are they not his fellow men--his brethren after the flesh--those for whom he would bitterly sorrow, if he knew them exposed to some temporal calamity? Shall he--can he--be unmoved by their everlasting wretchedness? (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh is speaking to Ezekiel.
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groan as your loins break
Yahweh tells Ezekiel to groan as a sign to accompany his message. He tells him to groan deeply as if his abdomen was in great pain. "groan deeply as if your loins were in great pain" or "groan deeply with great sorrow" (See: Idiom)
In bitterness groan
"With great grief" or "With great sorrow"
before their eyes
Here the Israelites are referred to by their "eyes" to emphasize what they see. AT: "before them" or "before the Israelite people" (See: Synecdoche)
the news that is coming
This speaks of the "news" as if it were a person that was soon coming to them. AT: "the news that they will soon hear" (See: Personification)
for every heart will faint away
This speaks of people becoming afraid, as if their hearts were fainting. Also, this speaks of the people fainting as a result of fear. AT: "for everyone will become fearful" (See: Synecdoche and Metaphor)
will falter
"will be weak"
Every spirit will grow faint
This speaks of people becoming fearful in their spirits as if their spirits were about to faint. AT: "Everyone will be fearful in their inner being" (See: Metaphor)
every knee will flow like water
"every knee will be as weak as water." This is a euphemism for people being so afraid that they lose their bladder control and urinate on themselves. AT: "every leg will be wet with urine" or "everyone will lose control of their urine" (See: Euphemism)
this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 5:11. AT: "this is what the Lord Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
loins
heart
spirit
Lord Yahweh
declare
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 21:6-7 Ezekiel’s groaning showed that in the coming judgment,…
21:6-7 Ezekiel’s groaning showed that in the coming judgment, the boldest heart would melt and the strong knees would become . . . weak. The judgment that had previously been announced had now become a bitter reality (cp. 7:1-4).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.