Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 7:15
The sword [is] without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that [is] in the field shall die with the sword; and he that [is] in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
15. Comp. Lam 1:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 15. The sword is without] War through all the country, and pestilence and famine within the city, shall destroy the whole, except a small remnant. He who endeavours to flee from the one shall fall by the other.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Without; in the countries.
Within; in the besieged city.
With the sword of the Chaldean soldier. Shall devour him; shall eat him up; you, O Jews! shall be food for unsatiable pestilence and famine. Heavy tidings to sinful Jerusalem!
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. No security should anywherebe found (De 32:25). Fulfilled(La 1:20); also at the Romaninvasion (Mt 24:16-18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The sword [is] without,…. Without the city, where the enemy was besieging; so that those that went without, in order to make their escapes fell into their hands:
and the pestilence and the famine within; within the city; so that such who thought themselves safe in their own houses died by those judgments:
he that [is] in the field shall die by the sword; by the hands of the Chaldeans:
and he that [is] in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him; and he shall die by the hand of God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Third strophe
Thus will they fall into irresistible destruction; even their silver and gold they will not rescue, but will cast it away as useless, and leave it for the enemy. – Eze 7:15. The sword without, and pestilence and famine within: he who is in the field will die by the sword; and famine and pestilence will devour him that is in the city. Eze 7:16. And if their escaped ones escape, they will be upon the mountains like the doves of the valleys, all moaning, every one for his iniquity. Eze 7:17. All hands will become feeble, and all knees flow with water. Eze 7:18. They will gird themselves with sackcloth, and terrors will cover them; on all faces there will be shame, and baldness on all their heads. Eze 7:19. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be as filth to them. Their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; they will not satisfy their souls therewith, nor fill their stomachs thereby, for it was to them a stumbling-block to guilt. Eze 7:20. And His beautiful ornament, they used it for pride; and their abominable images, their abominations they made thereof: therefore I make it filth to them. Eze 7:21. And I shall give it into the hand of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, that they may defile it. Eze 7:22. I shall turn my face from them, that they defile my treasure; and oppressors shall come upon it and defile it. – The chastisement of God penetrates everywhere (Eze 7:15 compare with Eze 5:12); even flight to the mountains, that are inaccessible to the foe (compare 1 Macc. 2:28; Mat 24:16), will only bring misery. Those who have fled to the mountains will coo – i.e., mourn, moan – like the doves of the valleys, which (as Bochart has correctly interpreted the simile in his Hieroz. II. p. 546, ed. Ros.), “when alarmed by the bird-catcher or the hawk, are obliged to forsake their natural abode, and fly elsewhere to save their lives. The mountain doves are contrasted with those of the valleys, as wild with tame.” In the figure and the fact are fused together. The words actually relate to the men who have fled; whereas the gender of is made to agree with that of . The cooing of doves was regarded by the ancients as a moan ( hagah ), a mournful note (for proofs, see Gesen. on Isa 38:14); for which Ezekiel uses the still stronger expression hamah fremere , to howl or growl (cf. Isa 59:11). The low moaning has reference to their iniquity, the punishment of which they are enduring. When the judgment bursts upon them, they will all (not merely those who have escaped, but the whole nation) be overwhelmed with terror, shame, and suffering. The words, “all knees flow with water” (for halak in this sense, compare Joel 4:18), are a hyperbolical expression used to denote the entire loss of the strength of the knees (here, Eze 7:17 and Eze 21:12), like the heart melting and turning to water in Jos 7:5. With this utter despair there are associated grief and horror at the calamity that has fallen upon them, and shame and pain at the thought of the sins that have plunged them into such distress. For , compare Psa 55:6; for , Mic 7:10; Jer 51:51; and for ‘ , Isa 15:2; Amo 8:10. On the custom of shaving the head bald on account of great suffering or deep sorrow, see the comm. on Mic 1:16.
In this state of anguish they will throw all their treasures away as sinful trash (Eze 7:19.). By the silver and gold which they will throw away (Eze 7:19), we are not to understand idolatrous images particularly – these are first spoken of in Eze 7:20 – but the treasures of precious metals on which they had hitherto set their hearts. They will not merely throw these away as worthless, but look upon them as niddah , filth, an object of disgust, inasmuch as they have been the servants of their evil lust. The next clause, “silver and gold cannot rescue them,” are a reminiscence from Zep 1:18. But Ezekiel gives greater force to the thought by adding, “they will not appease their hunger therewith,” – that is to say, they will not be able to protect their lives thereby, either from the sword of the enemy (see the comm. on Zep 1:18) or from death by starvation, because there will be no more food to purchase within the besieged city. The clause ‘ assigns the reason for that which forms the leading thought of the verse, namely, the throwing away of the silver and gold as filth; , a stumbling-block through which one falls into guilt and punishment; , the beauty of his ornament, i.e., his beautiful ornament. The allusion is to the silver and gold; and the singular suffix is to be explained from the fact that the prophet fixed his mind upon the people as a whole, and used the singular in a general and indefinite sense. The words are written absolutely at the commencement of the sentence; hence the suffix attached to , Jerome has given the true meaning of the words: “what I (God) gave for an ornament of the possessors and for their wealth, they turned into pride.” And not merely to ostentatious show (in the manner depicted in Isa 3:16.), but to abominable images, i.e., idols, did they apply the costly gifts of God (cf. Hos 8:4; Hos 13:2). , to make of (gold and silver); denoting the material with which one works and of which anything is made (as in Exo 31:4; Exo 38:8). God punishes this abuse by making it (gold and silver) into niddah to them, i.e., according to v. 19, by placing them in such circumstances that they cast it away as filth, and (v. 21) by giving it as booty to the foe. The enemy is described as “the wicked of the earth” (cf. Psa 75:9), i.e., godless men, who not only seize upon the possession of Israel, but in the most wicked manner lay hands upon all that is holy, and defile it. The Chetib is to be retained, notwithstanding the fact that it was preceded by a masculine suffix. What is threatened will take place, because the Lord will turn away His face from His people ( , from the Israelites), i.e., will withdraw His gracious protection from them, so that the enemy will be able to defile His treasure. Tsaphuun , that which is hidden, the treasure (Job 20:26; Oba 1:6). Tsephuunii is generally supposed to refer to the temple, or the Most Holy Place in the temple. Jerome renders it arcanum meum , and gives this explanation: “signifying the Holy of Holies, which no one except the priests and the high priest dared to enter.” This interpretation was so commonly adopted by the Fathers, that even Theodoret explains the rendering given in the Septuagint, , as signifying the Most Holy Place in the temple. On the other hand, the Chaldee has , “the land of the house of my majesty;” and Calvin understands it as signifying “the land which was safe under His (i.e., God’s) protection.” But it is difficult to reconcile either explanation with the use of the word tsaphuun . The verb tsaphan signifies to hide, shelter, lay up in safety. These meanings do not befit either the Holy of Holies in the temple or the land of Israel. It is true that the Holy of Holies was unapproachable by the laity, and even by the ordinary priests, but it was not a secret, a hidden place; and still less was this the case with the land of Canaan.We therefore adhere to the meaning, which is so thoroughly sustained by Job 20:26 and Oba 1:6 – namely, “treasure,” by which, no doubt, the temple-treasure is primarily intended. This rendering suits the context, as only treasures have been referred to before; and it may be made to harmonize with which follows. signifies not merely intrare in locum , but also venire in (e.g., 2Ki 6:23; possibly Eze 30:4), and may therefore be very properly rendered, “to get possession of,” since it is only possible to obtain possession of a treasure by penetrating into the place where it is laid up or concealed. There is nothing at variance with this in the word , profanare , since it has already occurred in Eze 7:21 in connection with the defiling of treasures and jewels. Moreover, as Calvin has correctly observed, the word is employed here to denote “an indiscriminate abuse, when, instead of considering to what purpose things have been entrusted to us, we squander them rashly and without selection, in contempt and even in scorn.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
He inculcates what we have seen before, although this sentence agrees with the last verse. He had said that God’s anger should be on all the people; now he shows that none were safe when God stretched forth his hand for avenging their sins. Now he says, he had in his hand a sword, and pestilence, and famine. If they went out into the field, says he, a sword shall meet them; if they remain at home in the city, pestilence and famine shall consume them there; as if he said, God could fetch various kinds of destruction from different quarters, because he will arm foreign enemies, who shall devastate the whole land; and if these enemies were at rest, yet there were others, famine and pestilence Here he signifies, that although the Israelites closed their houses, and desired and endeavored to expel every thing injurious, yet God’s wrath could penetrate all hiding-places. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
15. Compare Eze 5:12; Eze 6:12; Lev 26:25.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 7:15 The sword [is] without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that [is] in the field shall die with the sword; and he that [is] in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
Ver. 15. The sword is without, and the pestilence, &c. ] No safety can be to such as are pursued by the divine vengeance, called therefore by the Greeks A , because there is no outrunning of it. a Of these three judgments (seldom separated) see Eze 42:1-20 ; Eze 3:1-27 ; Eze 16:1-63 ; Eze 17:1-24 H D .
a A, .
b or
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The sword. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for war.
The sword is without. Reference to Pentateuch, (Deu 32:25).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 5:12, Deu 32:23-25, Jer 14:18, Jer 15:2, Jer 15:3, Lam 1:20
Reciprocal: Deu 28:45 – Moreover Deu 32:25 – sword 2Ki 25:3 – the famine Jer 21:6 – they Jer 24:10 – General Jer 38:2 – He Jer 52:6 – the famine
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 7:15. The sword was that of the Babylonians that was to hem the city of Jerusalem by a siege. That would throw the inhabitants into the grip of famine which usually causes a pestilence because of undernourishment,