All hands will be feeble, and all knees will be weak as water.
Parallel Translations
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All hands will be feeble, and all knees will be weak as water.
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All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
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All hands shall be slack, and all knees shall drip with water.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 7:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 21:7 It shall be, when they ask you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it comes! Every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
- Hebrews 12:12 Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees,
- Isaiah 13:7-8 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt. They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame.
- Jeremiah 6:24 We have heard its report. Our hands become feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, and pains as of a woman in labor.
- Ezekiel 22:14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I will deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He confirms the last sentence, that such should be…
He confirms the last sentence, that such should be the trembling, that those who were oppressed with all kinds of evil, dare not utter their complaints freely. He says, all hands should be loosened, and all knees should be unstable as water We know that this doctrine frequently occurs with the Prophets, by which God shows that men’s hearts were in his hands. But since profane men are fierce against God, through trusting in their own wealth or fortitude, hence, on the contrary, God pronounces that they should be timorous and anxious, nay, almost vanishing away, and as it were lifeless, as if their knees were flowing away amidst water, and their hands were relaxed. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 7:17 All hands shall be feeble, and all…
Eze 7:17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak [as] water.
Ver. 17. All hands shall be feeble.] As after some grievous disease, or as in extreme cold weather, ye shall not be able to handle your arms, wherein ye so trust. God strengtheneth or weakeneth the arms of either party. {Eze 30:24}
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And all knees shall be weak as water.] Fluent aquis: puta sudore ex gravi angustia, vel potius urina, ex pavore. {a} Not to those that wait upon God. {Isa 40:30-31} Let wicked Thrasos think on this.
{a} Vulg., Jerome, Septuag.
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 All hands with which they should hold the instruments…
All hands with which they should hold the instruments of fortification, the weapons of war, the tools of working, and that should carry away their goods, that they shall not be able to work at the ramparts, nor fight in the battle, nor earn-their bread, or carry away their substance on which they might subsist. All knees, which bowed to idols, shall now fall under the punishments of idolatry, shall be neither strong to stand in battle, or to flee from the drawn sword: and this weakness was on all, as it is twice repeated.
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 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth,.... As a…
They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth,.... As a token of mourning, Gen 37:34;
and horror shall cover them: either the horror of a guilty conscience, or the perpetual dread and terror of the enemy:
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and shame shall be upon all faces; because of their sins and transgressions, which they shall now be convinced of; or because of their desolate condition, their sins had brought them into:
and baldness upon all their heads; through the plucking off of the hair of their heads in their distress; for to make baldness as a token of mourning for the dead was forbidden the Jews, Deu 14:1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. All knees shall be weak as water.]…
Verse 17. All knees shall be weak as water.] Calmet understands this curiously: La frayeur dont on sera saisi, fera qu'on ne pourra retenir son urine. D'autres l'expliquent d'une autre souillure plus honteuse. I believe him to be nearly about right. St. Jerome is exactly the same: Pavoris magnitudine, urina polluet genua, nec valebit profluentes aquas vesica prohibere. This and other malretentions are often the natural effect of extreme fear or terror.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Water; urine, (St. Jerome) sweat, &c., the usual effects…
Water; urine, (St. Jerome) sweat, &c., the usual effects of fear.
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 shall be weak as water--literally, "shall go (as) waters";…
shall be weak as water--literally, "shall go (as) waters"; incapable of resistance (Jos 7:5; Psa 22:14; Isa 13:7).
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 17. This verse shows the utter prostration of those…
17. This verse shows the utter prostration of those who are escaping: “their knees melt into water.” (Compare Eze_21:7; Isa_13:7; Jer_6:24.)
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 17. The description returns from the condition of the…
17. The description returns from the condition of the fugitives to that of the besieged. Prostration and despair seizes them. The figures of the hands “hanging down,” and the knees becoming “water” are expressive of complete paralysis of strength. LXX. Hitz. interpret the latter phrase literally. Cf. ch. Eze_21:7; Isa_13:7; Jer_6:24.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain All knees shall be weak as water; literally, shall…
All knees shall be weak as water; literally, shall flow with water. So the Vulgate. The LXX is yet stronger, shall be defiled, etc. The words may point to the cold sweat of terror which paralyzes men"s power to act. The phrase is peculiar to Ezekiel, and meets us again in Eze_21:7. The thought finds a parallel in Isa_13:7; Jer_6:24.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
These are Yahweh's words about Israel.
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Every hand will falter and every knee will be weak as water
The hands and knees are synecdoches for the people themselves. AT: "Everyone will be so terrified that they will be unable to work and their knees will become weak so that they cannot stand" (See: Synecdoche)
falter
fail to do what it is supposed to do
every knee will be weak as water
Another possible translation is, "every knee will flow with water," a euphemism for all the people losing control of their bladders because they are so frightened. (See: Euphemism)
knee ... weak as water
Water cannot stand up, and the people's knees will be so weak that the people are unable to stand on their legs. (See: Simile)
terror will cover them
Terror is spoken of as if it were clothing. AT: "everyone will see how terrified they are" (See: Metaphor)
baldness on all of their heads
Shaving the head was a sign of sadness. AT: "all of them will shave their heads" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
in the day of Yahweh's rage
"in the day when Yahweh acts on his anger" or "when Yahweh punishes them"
the day
This can be a time period of more or less than one 24-hour day.
their hunger will not be satisfied
This can be translated in active form. AT: "they will not be able to satisfy their hunger" or "they will still be hungry even after they eat all they have" (See: Active or Passive)
their iniquity has become a stumbling block
Possible meanings are 1) "because having a lot of gold and silver has led them to sin" or 2) "because they are evil, they are committing sins that show how evil they are."
translationWords
sackcloth
terror
shame
save
iniquity
stumbling block
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.