The Living Bible (519 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
3:25
paralyze you,
literally, “lay bands upon you.”
4:4-5
390 days.
Some versions read, “190 days.”
4:7
to signify great strength and power in the attack against her,
implied.
4:8
paralyze you,
literally, “lay bands upon you.”
4:14
the kinds of animals our law forbids,
see Leviticus 11 for the dietary laws Ezekiel refers to here.
6:11
Raise your hands in horror and shake your head,
literally, “Clap your hands and stamp your feet.”
8:1
of the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
implied.
8:14
there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
The women wept for Tammuz, the god of fertility, because, according to Mesopotamian myths, he had been killed, and fertility had vanished with him.
9:3
above the entrance to,
literally, “above the threshold of.”
10:1
blue sapphire,
literally, “lapis lazuli.”
Guardian Angels,
literally, “cherubim.”
10:9-13
Because of the construction of these wheels,
implied.
10:14
an ox,
literally, “a cherub’s face”; see 1:10.
10:17
for the spirit of the Guardian Angels was in the wheels.
That is, the wheel was a living part of the bodies of the cherubim. Hence it could not be separated from the cherubim.
11:3
for our city is an iron shield and will protect us from all harm,
literally, “this city the caldron and we the flesh.”
11:7
Your slain will lie within it, but you will be dragged out and slaughtered,
literally, “Your slain are the flesh and this is the caldron, but you will be brought out from it.”
11:21
But as for those now in Jerusalem,
implied.
12:10
to King Zedekiah,
literally, “to the prince in Jerusalem.”
12:12
for he won’t be able to see,
literally, “that he may not see the land with his eyes.” Apparently a reference to the fact that his eyes were put out before he was taken to Babylon; see Jeremiah 52:11. Also in v. 13.
13:18
They refuse to even offer help unless they get a profit from it,
literally, “Will you hunt the souls of my people and save your own souls alive?”
16:3
your father must have been an Amorite and your mother a Hittite!
The Amorites and Hittites were nations who turned their backs to all knowledge of God.
16:28
by making them your allies and worshiping their gods,
implied.
17:5
planted it,
literally, “planted the seed of the land.”
17:12-13
(the first of the two eagles) . . . (her topmost buds and shoots) . . . (Zedekiah),
implied. So also in v. 16.
18:2
The children are punished for their fathers’ sins,
literally, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
18:8
without interest,
or “without any usury.”
18:13
at interest,
or “at usurious interest.”
19:3
King Jehoahaz,
implied.
19:5
King Jehoiachin,
implied.
19:14
It is decaying from within,
literally, “A fire is gone out of its branches and devoured its fruit.”
20:1
six years after King Jeconiah was captured,
literally, “in the seventh year of Jeconiah’s captivity.”
20:25
let them adopt,
literally, “gave them.”
Through the keeping of them they could not attain life,
literally, “Ordinances by which they could not have life.” Doubtless, the reference is to the pagan customs of vv. 18 and 26. In contrast, see v. 11.
20:29
place of sacrifice,
literally, “bamah”—a hilltop area where sacrifices were made to the gods.
20:35-36
my desert judgment hall,
literally, “the wilderness of the people,” meaning the Syro-Arabian deserts, peopled by nomadic tribes. This desert would be traversed in returning to Israel from Babylon.
21:2
against my Temple,
literally, “against the sanctuaries.”
21:19-20
Rabbah in Transjordan,
literally, “Rabbah of the Ammonites.”
21:21
inspect the liver.
A very common type of divination by which ancients thought they could obtain information from the gods.
21:25
O King Zedekiah,
implied.
22:10
There are men who commit adultery with their father’s wives and lie with menstruous women,
or “You degrade yourselves through homosexual practices and through lying with women in their time of menstruation.”
23:12
She fawned over her Assyrian neighbors,
i.e., when Ahaz paid “protection money” to Tiglath-pileser II (2 Kings 16:7-8).
23:16
so she sent messengers to Chaldea.
This occurred when Hezekiah entertained the embassy from Babylon (Isaiah 38–39), also during the reign of Manasseh.
23:17
and broke off all relations with them.
The anti-Babylonian party in Judah looked to Egypt for help during the reigns of the last two Judean kings, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.
23:19-20
when she was a prostitute in Egypt,
i.e., during the reign of Josiah.
24:6
for none is better than any other,
literally, “for no lot has fallen upon it.”
26:2
the course of the Jordan River,
literally, “the gate of the peoples.”
26:14
I will make your island a bare rock.
Certain aspects of vv. 12 and 14 exceed the actual damage done to Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar and foreshadow what happened to the island settlement later as a result of the conquest by Alexander the Great.
27:10
Paras, Lud, and Put.
These were three cities of ancient North Africa.
27:11
Helech,
a region in ancient Cilicia known from Assyrian records as Hilakku.
27:13, 14
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech . . . from Togarmah.
Regions of Asia Minor, now in Turkey.
27:17
with wheat from Minnith and Pannag,
or “with wheat, minnith, and pannag.” If these were commodities, their identification is uncertain.
27:19
Vedan and Javan bring Arabian yarn,
or probably better, “They exchanged wine from Uzal for your wares.” The text here is uncertain.
27:26
Your mighty vessel flounders in the heavy eastern gale,
i.e., Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia.
28:12
weep for the king of Tyre.
In this passage (vv. 11-19) some descriptive phrases apply to a human king of Tyre, and some seem to apply to Satan. Great care therefore must be taken to apply these verses with discernment.
28:14
You walked among the stones of fire.
Probably a symbol of the Angels.
28:16
O Guardian Angel, from the midst of the stones of fire,
or “and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire.”
28:18
with lust for gain,
literally, “in the unrighteousness of your trade.”
I brought forth fire from your own actions,
literally, “I brought fire from the midst of you.”
29:6
instead of trusting me,
implied.
29:17
King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
implied.
29:18
and could not pay the army for all this work.
Tyre capitulated to Nebuchadnezzar at the end of a thirteen-year siege (587–574
B.C.
) There was little left to pay the “salary” of Nebuchadnezzar, so the Lord was giving Egypt to him to make up for what he was “shortchanged” at Tyre.
30:14
along the upper Nile,
implied.
30:20
A year later,
587
B.C.
, the year Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and was destroyed.
the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
literally, “the eleventh year of our exile.”
30:21
I have broken the arm of Pharaoh.
When Pharaoh Hophra sent an army to relieve Jerusalem in 588
B.C.
, Nebuchadnezzar withdrew from the siege just long enough to defeat the Egyptian force. This is what Ezekiel means by the first “broken arm.”
31:1
the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
implied. It was the year 587
B.C.
, the year Jerusalem fell.
31:10
But Egypt,
implied.
31:15
restrained their tides,
literally, “the great waters were held back.”
32:2
crocodile,
or “sea serpent.”