Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 21:29
While they see vanity unto thee, while they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of [them that are] slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity [shall have] an end.
29. they see vanity unto thee ] i.e. Ammon’s soothsayers falsely hold out the prospect to it of victory and conquest.
bring thee upon the necks ] The sense is doubtful, the phrase “bring, or, put, upon the necks” not occurring again. The “wicked, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,” can hardly be any other than the princes and people of Jerusalem, Eze 21:25. 1. The clause “to bring thee,” &c., might express the contents of the lying prophecy: they divine a lie and bring thee they promise that thou shalt fall upon Israel, and conquer them. 2. The clause may express the issue of the lying divination, the eventual issue of it in God’s hand. These lying prophecies lead the Ammonites to enterprises or to purpose enterprizes the issue of which in God’s hand (or, his judgment because of which) will be that they shall have a common fate with the princes and people of Jerusalem, upon whose necks (bodies) they shall be flung slain. 3. Others (Hitz. Corn.) would alter the text reading it (the sword) for thee, and connecting closely with Eze 21:28: that it may glitter (whiles they divine a lie unto thee, &c.), in order to bring it (the sword) upon the necks, &c., i.e. assail and slay them with it. This is simpler, though against LXX.
upon the necks wicked ] More plainly: upon the necks of the wicked that are (to be) slain, i.e. the princes, &c. in Jerusalem, Eze 21:25.
when their iniquity end ] At the time of the iniquity (or, punishment) of the end, cf. Eze 21:25.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
War and desolation indeed hasten on thee, though in the mean while thy astrologers and soothsayers promise peace and prosperity, and deceive thee with fair but false divinations, of which Jeremiah warns them, Jer 27:9.
Upon the necks of them that are slain; to bring thee under the sword of the Chaldeans, and to destroy thee as the Jews are, who already are fallen under the destroying sword; to make thee stumble and fall on their necks, as men that fall among a multitude of slain.
Of the wicked, i.e. both Jews and their king, as Eze 21:25.
Their iniquity shall have an end: see Eze 21:25.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
29. see vanity . . . divine alieAmmon, too, had false diviners who flattered them withassurances of safety; the only result of which will be to “bringAmmon upon the necks,” &c., that is, to add the Ammonites tothe headless trunks of the slain of Judah, whose bad exampleAmmon followed, and “whose day” of visitation for theirguilt “is come.”
when their iniquity shallhave an endSee on Eze 21:25.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee,…. The Ammonites had their seers, soothsayers, diviners, and false prophets, which they are bid to be aware of, and are cautioned against hearkening to, Jer 27:3, these told them they were in the utmost safety, and that the king of Babylon would not come against them; or, if he did, would not succeed, when his sword was drawn and furbished for the destruction of them:
to bring thee upon the necks of the slain, of the wicked; that is, of the Jews who were slain by the sword of the Chaldeans for their wickedness; and these diviners by their vain divination and lies would bring the Ammonites into the same condition, to be slain as they were; and as it were to fall upon their necks, as one slain person upon another; and so the Targum,
“to deliver thy neck as the necks of the slain, of the wicked:”
it may be rendered, “to put thee to the necks of the slain” w; or, as Kimchi, “with the necks of the slain”; though some understand it, as if the diviners by their lies, promising peace and prosperity, encouraged the Ammonites to insult the Jews, and as it were to trample upon the necks of the dead:
whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end; along with Zedekiah their king; a description of the Jews;
[See comments on Eze 21:27].
w “ut ponant te cum cervicibus interfectorum”, Munster, Tigurine version; “applicando te ad cervices confossorum”, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(29) See vanity unto thee.See is used in the sense of the utterances of the seer, or prophet. The Ammonites also had false prophets among them.
Thee upon the necks of them that are slain.Judah is to fall first, then Ammon immediately after, as it were, upon the necks of those already slain. The figure is taken from the battle, in which one warrior falls upon the body of him who fell before him.
When their iniquity shall have an end.Not through repentance, but because it ceases of necessity with the death of the sinner.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
29. While they see vanity divine a lie This seems to refer to the “reproach” of Israel indulged in by the Ammonites (Eze 21:28) and to their fallen oracles in which they boasted while they sneered and laughed at Jerusalem’s calamity (Eze 25:3-6). To bring [or, lay ] thee, etc. This text is very obscure, but may mean that while “they” (the false prophets of Ammon) “see vanity” and “divine a lie” the sword flashes upon the nation like lightning and its rulers and people fall slain upon the bodies of the dead Israelites against whom they have scoffed. (See Eze 21:25.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“While they portend (‘see’) vain things for you, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are mortally wounded, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end.”
The Ammonites have resorted to divination and have ‘seen’ lying prophecies and false visions which portend misery and destruction on the remnants of Jerusalem, the idea then being that they themselves have to fulfil it. In other words it is their intention to benefit by the situation. Thus they plan to pile up the survivors on the necks of those already slaughtered, ‘the wicked who are mortally wounded, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end’ (Eze 21:25). This latter quotation stresses the finality of the misery that has come on Jerusalem, and God sees it as enough. The Ammonites have no right therefore to inflict further misery on them. They are still under God’s eye.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 21:29. Of them that are slain, &c. Of the wicked who were wounded, whose day, &c. Houbigant. See the note on Eze 21:14.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 21:29 Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of [them that are] slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity [shall have] an end.
Ver. 29. To bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain. ] To deal inhumanly with the dead, or to raise thyself upon the Jews’ ruin.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the wicked = wicked ones (plural) their. Refers to “them” (Eze 21:23).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
they see: Eze 12:24, Eze 13:23, Eze 22:28, Isa 44:25, Isa 47:13, Jer 27:9
to bring: Eze 13:10, Lam 2:14
whose: Eze 21:25, Job 18:20, Psa 37:13
Reciprocal: Gen 49:8 – the neck Jer 14:14 – divination Jer 47:4 – the day Eze 13:6 – lying Eze 35:5 – in the Zec 10:2 – the diviners 2Th 2:11 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 21:29. The gist of this verse is that there were false prophets among the Ammonites as well as in Judah, They gave their people false assurances of peace, and their predictions seemed plausible because Nebuchadnezzar was seen to direct his course toward Judah and that would seem to remove any threat to other places.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
21:29 While they see {z} vanity to thee, while they divine a lie to thee, to bring thee upon the necks of [them that are] slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity [shall have] an end.
(z) Though the Jews and Ammonites would not believe that you, that is the sword, would come upon them, and said that the prophets who threatened spoke lies, yet you will as surely come as though you were already on their necks.