Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 33:21
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, [that] one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
21. The date here given is about a year and a half after the city’s fall. Considering the constant intercourse between the mother country and the exiles this period is very long. Some MSS. as well as the Syr. read eleventh year, leaving about six months for the news to travel by messenger. (Eleven and twelve are easily confused in Heb.).
our captivity ] That of Jehoiachin, ch. Eze 1:2. “One that had escaped,” lit. the fugitive, may refer to one or more, cf. Eze 24:26.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
21, 22. Fugitives from Judaea arrive among the exiles announcing that the city had fallen. This confirmation of all the prophet’s anticipations, which the exiles had received with so much incredulity, opened his mouth, gave him confidence to speak before his fellow exiles. And he announces what shall be the fate of those left in the land ( Eze 33:23-29).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The date shows an interval of 112 years from the taking of Jerusalem Jer 52:12. The general news that the city was taken must have reached them, but it was only when the messenger arrived that the prophets mouth was opened. It is not improbable that a body of men after the destruction of the city joined their brethren in Chaldaea; if so this would account for the lapse of time, and supply a reason why Ezekiel on their arrival should commence a new series of prophecies.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month] Instead of the twelfth year, the eleventh is the reading of seven of Kennicott’s MSS., one of De Rossi’s, and the Syriac. My own, mentioned in the preceding chapter, reads with the present text. This was on Wednesday, Jan. 25, A.M. 3416 or 3417.
One that had escaped out of Jerusalem] After it had been taken by the Chaldeans.
Came unto me, saying, THE CITY IS SMITTEN.] This very message God had promised to the prophet, Eze 24:26.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month; that is one year and five months after the thing was done, and temple burnt, and the city sacked.
One that had escaped; one whose own care, but Gods wonderful providence had much more, befriended him; perhaps it might be one of those that yielded to the Babylonians before, but was resolved to see the upshot of all.
Saying; likely giving a particular account of the whole.
The city; Jerusalem. Smitten; taken and plundered, the inhabitants slain or captives, and the city sacked, razed, and burnt.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. twelfth year . . . tenth monthayear and a half after the capture of the city (Jer 39:2;Jer 52:5; Jer 52:6),in the eleventh year and fourth month. The one who escaped (asforetold, Eze 24:26) may havebeen so long on the road through fear of entering the enemy’s country[HENDERSON]; or, thesingular is used for the plural in a collective sense,”the escaped remnant.” Compare similar phrases, “theescaped of Moab,” Isa 15:9;”He that escapeth of them,” Am9:1. Naturally the reopening of the prophet’s mouth forconsolation would be deferred till the number of the escaped remnantwas complete: the removal of such a large number would easily haveoccupied seventeen or eighteen months.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity,…. Of Jeconiah’s captivity, when Ezekiel with others were carried into Babylon; see Eze 1:2
in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month; which was a year, four months, and some days, after the city of Jerusalem was taken; for that was destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and so of the captivity, and in the fifth month, and tenth day of the month.
2Ki 25:2. It is much it was not known at Babylon before; though so it might, and yet not one that escaped came to Ezekiel sooner to give him an account of it, which he had seen with his eyes. The Syriac version reads it, in the “eleventh year”; and so makes it but a few months after the destruction; and it may be observed that it is promised by the Lord, Eze 24:26, that on the day the city was taken, one should escape, and bring the prophet the news; that is, directly, immediately, in a very short time, as soon as it was possible that he could arrive to him; and yet, as taken notice, here were a year and almost five months before he reached him, which seems pretty strange. The difficulty may be solved in this manner: Ezekiel reckons from the captivity of Jeconiah, which began in the month Chisleu; and the computation in 2Ki 25:2, is from Zedekiah’s reign, which is to be reckoned from the month Nisan, and from the first Nisan of his reign; for it is a rule with the Jews, h that the beginning of the year for kings is the first of Nisan; so that the tenth month from the captivity is the sixth from Nisan; whence it appears there was not a full month from the city being burnt to the news being brought to Ezekiel; which was time short enough, in such a troublesome season, to take a journey from Jerusalem to Babylon; for Zedekiah not being crowned before the Nisan following the captivity, the computation of his reign did not begin till that Nisan, which makes this difference in the chronology. According to Bishop Usher i, this messenger came to Ezekiel the twenty fifth of January, the fourth day of the week (Wednesday), in 3417 A.M. or before Christ 587:
that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me; as it was foretold and promised he should, Eze 24:26:
saying, the city is smitten; the city of Jerusalem; the walls were broken down, the houses burnt, and the whole destroyed.
h Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 1. i Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3417.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Tidings of the Fall of Jerusalem, and the Consequences with Regard to the Prophet
Eze 33:21. And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth (month), on the fifth of the month after our being taken captive, there came to me a fugitive from Jerusalem, and said, The city is smitten. Eze 33:22. And the hand of Jehovah had come upon me in the evening before the arrival of the fugitive, and He opened my mouth, till he came to me in the morning; and so was my mouth opened, and I was silent no more. – In these verses the fulfilment of the promise made by God to the prophet in Eze 24:25-27, after the prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem, is recorded. The chronological datum, as to the precise time at which the messenger arrived with the account of the destruction of Jerusalem, serves to mark with precision the point of time at which the obstacle was removed, and the prophet was able to speak and prophesy without restraint. – The fact that the tidings of the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in the fifth month of the eleventh year, are said to have only reached the exiles in the tenth month of the twelfth year, that is to say, nearly a year and a half after it occurred, does not warrant our following the Syriac, as Doederlein and Hitzig have done, calling in question the correctness of the text and substituting the eleventh year for the twelfth. With the distance at which Ezekiel was living, namely, in northern Mesopotamia, and with the fearful confusion which followed the catastrophe, a year and a half might very easily pass by before a fugitive arrived with the information. But Hitzig’s assertion, that Ezekiel would contradict himself, inasmuch as, according to Eze 26:1-2, he received intelligence of the affair in the eleventh year, is founded upon a misinterpretation of the passage quoted. It is not stated there that Ezekiel received this information through a fugitive or any man whatever, but simply that God had revealed to him the fall of Jerusalem even before it occurred. , after our being led away (Eze 33:21 and Eze 40:1), coincides with in Eze 1:2. , smitten, i.e., conquered and destroyed, exterminated. In the clause ‘ , the verb is a pluperfect, and stands for , according to the later usage. The formula indicates the translation of the prophet into an ecstatic state (see the comm. on Eze 1:3), in which his mouth was opened to speak, that is to say, the silence imposed upon him was taken away. The words, “till he came to me in the morning,” etc., are not to be understood as signifying that the prophet’s mouth had only been opened for the time from evening till morning; for this would be opposed to the following sentence. They simply affirm that the opening of the mouth took place before the arrival of the fugitive, the night before the morning of his arrival. , which follows, is an emphatic repetition, introduced as a link with which to connect the practically important statement that from that time forward he was not speechless any more. – It was in all probability shortly afterwards that Ezekiel was inspired with the word of God which follows in Eze 33:23-33, as we may infer from the contents of the word itself, which laid the foundation for the prophet’s further prophesying. But nothing can be gathered from Eze 33:22 with regard to the time when this and the following words of God (as far as Ezekiel 39), of which no chronological data are given, were communicated to the prophet and uttered by him. His being “silent no more” by no means involves immediate or continuous speaking, but simply recalls the command to be speechless. There is no ground for the assumption that all these words of God were communicated to him in one night (Hvernick, Hengstenberg, and others), either in Eze 33:22 or in the contents of these divine revelations.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Message to Inhabitants of Judah; Rebuke to the Proud Jews. | B. C. 587. |
21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. 22 Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. 23 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? 26 Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour’s wife: and shall ye possess the land? 27 Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. 28 For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. 29 Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.
Here we have,
I. The tidings brought to Ezekiel of the burning of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. The city was burnt in the eleventh year of the captivity and the fifth month, Jer 52:12; Jer 52:13. Tidings hereof were brought to the prophet by one that was an eye-witness of the destruction, in the twelfth year, and the tenth month (v. 21), which was a year and almost five months after the thing was done; we may well suppose that, there being a constant correspondence at this time more than ever kept up between Jerusalem and Babylon, he had heard the news long before. But this was the first time he had an account of it from a refugee, from one who escaped, who could be particular, and would be pathetic, in the narrative of it. And the sign given him was the coming of such a one to him as had himself narrowly escaped the flames (ch. xxiv. 26): He that escapes in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thy ears, to hear it more distinctly than ever, from one that could say, Quque ipse miserrima vidi–These miserable scenes I saw.
II. The divine impressions and influences he was under, to prepare him for those heavy tidings (v. 22): The hand of the Lord was upon me before he came, and had opened my mouth to speak to the house of Israel what we had in the former part of this chapter. And now he was no more dumb; he prophesied now with more freedom and boldness, being by the event proved a true prophet, to the confusion of those that contradicted him. All the prophecies from ch. xxiv. to this chapter have relation purely to the nations about, it is probable that the prophet, when he received them from the Lord, did not deliver them by word of mouth, but in writing; for he could not Say to the Ammonites, Say unto Tyrus, Say unto Pharaoh, c., so and so, but by letters directed to the persons concerned, as Zacharias, when he could not speak, wrote and herein he was as truly executing his prophetic office as ever. Note, Even silenced ministers may be doing a great deal of good by writing letters and making visits. But now the prophet’s mouth is opened, that he may speak to the children of his people. It is probable that he had, during these three years, been continually speaking to them as a friend, putting them in mind of what he had formerly delivered to them, but that he never spoke to them as a prophet, by inspiration, till now, when the hand of the Lord came upon him, renewed his commission, gave him fresh instructions, and opened his mouth, furnished him with power to speak to the people as he ought to speak.
III. The particular message he was entrusted with, relating to these Jews that yet remained in the land of Israel, and inhabited the wastes of that land, v. 24. See what work sin had made. The cities of Israel had now become the wastes of Israel, for they lay all in ruins; some few that had escaped the sword and captivity still continued there and began to think of re-settling. This was so long after the destruction of Jerusalem that it was some time before this that Gedaliah (a modest humble man) and his friends were slain; but probably at this time Johanan, and the proud men that joined with him, were at the height (Jer. xliii. 2); and before they came to a resolution to go into Egypt, wherein Jeremiah opposed them, it is probable that the project was to establish themselves in the wastes of the land of Israel, in which Ezekiel here opposed them, and probably despatched the message away by the person that brought him the news of Jerusalem’s destruction. Or, perhaps, those here prophesied against might be some other party of Jews, that remained in the land, hoping to take root there and to be sole masters of it, after Johanan and his forces had gone into Egypt. Now here we have,
1. An account of the pride of these remaining Jews, who dwelt in the wastes of the land of Israel. Though the providence of God concerning them had been very humbling, and still was very threatening, yet they were intolerably haughty and secure, and promised themselves peace. He that brought the news to the prophet that Jerusalem was smitten could not tell him (it is likely) what these people said, but God tells him, They say, “The land is given us for inheritance, v. 24. Our partners being gone, it is now all our own by survivorship, or, for want of heirs, it comes to us as occupants; we shall now be placed alone in the midst of the earth and have it all to ourselves.” This argues great stupidity under the weighty hand of God, and a reigning selfishness and narrow-spiritedness; they pleased themselves in the ruin of their country as long as they hoped to find their own account in it, cared not though it were all waste, so that they might have the sole property–a poor inheritance to be proud of! They have the impudence to compare their case with Abraham’s, glorying in this, We have Abraham to our father. “Abraham,” say they, “was one, one family, and he inherited the land, and lived many years in the peaceable enjoyment of it; but we are many, many families, more numerous than he; the land is given us for inheritance.” (1.) They think they can make out as good a title from God to this land as Abraham could: “If God gave this land to him, who was but one worshipper of him, as a reward of his service, much more will he give it to us, who are many worshippers of him, as the reward of our service.” This shows the great conceit they had of the own merits, as if they were greater than those of Abraham their father, who yet was not justified by works. (2.) They think they can make good the possession of this land against the Chaldeans and all others invaders, as well as Abraham could against those that were competitors with him for it: “If he, who was but one, could hold it, much more shall we, who are many, and have many more at command than his 300 trained servants.” This shows the confidence they had in their own might; they had got possession, and were resolved to keep it.
2. A check to this pride. Since God’s providences did neither humble them nor terrify them, he sends them a message sufficient to do both.
(1.) To humble them, he tells them of the wickedness they still persisted in, which rendered them utterly unworthy to possess this land, so that they could not expect God should give it to them. They had been followed with one judgment after another, but they had not profited by those means of grace as might be expected; they were still unreformed, and how could they expect that they should possess the land? “Shall you possess the land? What! such wicked people as you are? How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land? Jer. iii. 19. Surely you never reflect upon yourselves, else you would rather wonder that you are in the land of the living than expect to possess this land. For do you now know how bad you are?” [1.] “You make no conscience of forbidden fruit, forbidden food: You eat with the blood,” directly contrary to one of the precepts given to Noah and his sons when God gave them possession of the earth, Gen. ix. 4. [2.] “Idolatry, that covenant-breaking sin, that sin which the jealous God has been in a particular manner provoked by to lay your country waste, is still the sin that most easily besets you and which you have a strong inclination to: You lift up your eyes towards your idols, which is a sign that though perhaps you do not bow your knee to them so much as you have done, yet you set your hearts upon them and hanker after them.” [3.] “You are as fierce, and cruel, and barbarous as ever: You shed blood, innocent blood.” [4.] “You confide in your own strength, your own arm, your own bow, and have no dependence on, or regard to, God and his providence: You stand upon your sword (v. 26); you think to carry all before you, and make all your own, by force of arms.” How can those expect the inheritance of Isaac (as these did) who are of Ishmael’s disposition, that had his hand against every man (Gen. xvi. 12), and Esau’s resolution to live by his sword? Gen. xxvii. 40. We met with those (ch. xxxii. 27) who, when they died, thought they could not lie easy underground unless they had their swords under their heads. Here we meet with those who, while they live, think they cannot stand firmly above ground unless they have their swords under their feet, as if swords were both the softest pillows and the strongest pillars; though it was sin, it was sin, that first drew the sword. But, blessed be God, there are those who know better, who stand upon the support of the divine power and promise and lay their heads in the bosom of divine love, not trusting in their own sword, Ps. xliv. 3. [5.] “You are guilty of all manner of abominations, and, particularly, you defile every one his neighbour’s wife, which is an abomination of the first magnitude, and shall you possess the land? What! such vile miscreants as you?” Note, Those cannot expect to possess the land, nor to enjoy any true comfort or happiness here or hereafter, who live in rebellion against the Lord.
(2.) To terrify them, he tells them of the further judgments God had in store for them, which should make them utterly unable to possess this land, so that they could not stand it out against the enemy. Do they say that they shall possess the land? God has said they shall not, he has sworn it, As I live, saith the Lord. Though he has sworn that he delights not in the death of sinners, yet he has sworn also that those who persist in impenitency and unbelief shall not enter into his rest. [1.] Those that are in the cities, here called the wastes, shall fall by the sword, either by the sword of the Chaldeans, who come to avenge the murder of Gedaliah, or by one another’s swords, in their intestine broils. [2.] Those that are in the open field shall be devoured by wild beasts, which swarmed, of course, in the country when it was dispeopled, and there were none to master them and keep them under, Exod. xxiii. 29. When the army of the enemy had quitted the country still there was no safety in it. Noisome beasts constituted one of the four sore judgments, ch. xiv. 15. [3.] Those that are in the forts and in the caves, that think themselves safe in artificial or natural fastnesses, because men’s eyes cannot discover them nor men’s darts reach them, there the arrows of the Almighty shall find them out; they shall die of the pestilence. [4.] The whole land, even the land of Israel, that had been the glory of all lands, shall be most desolate, v. 28. It shall be desolation, desolation, all over as desolate as desolation itself can make it. The mountain of Israel, the fruitful mountains, Zion itself the holy mountain not excepted, shall be desolate, the roads unfrequented, the houses uninhabited, that none shall pass through; as it was threatened (Deut. xxviii. 62), You shall be left few in number. [5.] The pomp of her strength, whatever she glories in as her pomp and trusts to as her strength, shall be made to cease. [6.] The cause of all this was very bad; it is for all their abominations which they have committed. It is sin that does all this mischief, that makes nations desolate; and therefore we ought to call it an abomination. [7.] Yet the effect of all this will be very good: Then shall they know that I am the Lord, am their Lord, and shall return to their allegiance, when I have made the land most desolate. Those are untractable unteachable indeed that are not made to know their dependence upon God when all their creature-comforts fail them and are made desolate.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
THE FUTURE KINGDOM OF THE SON OF DAVID
Verses 21, 22:
Verse 21 fixes the time of the report of the destruction of Jerusalem, that was brought to Ezekiel by an escapee from Jerusalem, as the tenth month (January), on the fifth day of the twelfth year of Ezekiel’s captivity in Babylon, Jer 39:2; Jer 52:5-6.
Verse 22 states that the hand of the Lord had been upon Ezekiel, in the evening, by revelation, before the escapee messenger from Jerusalem arrived at his home in Babylon, bringing the news. He then opened his mouth and remained no longer dumb before his people; as foretold Eze 24:27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
C. The Fall of Jerusalem and Further Prophecies
33:2129
TRANSLATION
(21) And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, the tenth month, the fifth day of the month, the fugitive from Jerusalem came, saying, the city has been smitten! (22) Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, before the fugitive came; and He had opened my mouth until he came unto me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. (23) Then the word of the LORD came, saying, (24) Son of man, those who are living in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, Abraham was one man, but he inherited the land; but we are many; the land has been given to us for a possession. (25) Therefore say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat along with blood, and you lift up your eyes unto your idols, and you shed blood; and shall you possess the land? (26) You stand upon your sword, and you do abominations, and each of you defiles the wife of his neighbor; and shall you possess the land? (27) Thus you shall say unto them: Thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely the ones who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and the ones who are upon the open field I have given to the beasts to be devoured, and the ones who are in the fortresses and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. (28) And I will make the land desolate and waste, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate so that no one will pass through. (29) And they will know that I am the LORD when I make the land a desolation and a waste, because of all their abominations which they have done.
COMMENTS
In the twelfth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin a fugitive from Jerusalem arrived in Babylon with the sad news that Jerusalem had fallen (Eze. 33:21). The city fell in the fourth month of the eleventh year of the captivity. i.e., Tammuz 587 B.C. (Jer. 39:2). It would appear that some eighteen months elapsed between the event and the report of it among the captives.[455] On the evening before the arrival of the messenger, the silence imposed upon the prophet was removed as predicted in Eze. 24:26 f. Ezekiel was now vindicated as a true prophet. He was now authorized to open his mouth in a new series of utterances designed to prepare the captives for the future restoration (Eze. 33:22).
[455] Some scholars believe that a different system of counting years was employed by the Jews in Babylon, The difference between tenth month of the twelfth year in the Babylonian system, and the fourth month of the eleventh year in the Judaean system would actually be only six months.
Again Ezekiel received revelation from the Lord (Eze. 33:23), and it pertained to those pitiful survivors who remained among the ruins of Judah under the governorship of Gedaliah. Once the initial shock of seeing their homeland ravished had passed, that ragtag band began to imagine that they were the favored of the Lord. They apparently believed that they would form the nucleus of a new nation. They consoled themselves by the thought that originally Canaan had been given to a solitary individual, the patriarch Abraham. But how much greater their claim to that land! They were many, and they were actually occupying that land. They would be able to recoup their loses and rebuild that land in no time (Eze. 33:24).
Even the fall of Jerusalem did not cure the Jews of their rebellious conduct. The hopes of those few survivors to rebuild Judah was doomed to failure so long as they persisted in the very crimes which caused God to destroy their city in the first place, They openly violated the dietary regulations of the Mosaic Law by eating meat from which the blood had not been properly drained (cf. Lev. 3:17; Lev. 17:10). Furthermore, they lifted up their eyes in prayer to idols and persisted in child sacrifice (Eze. 33:25). They stood upon the sword lived by violence and worked abomination, i.e., participated in immoral pagan practices. Apparently adultery was quite common among these people (Eze. 33:26).
Further disaster awaited those ungodly survivors who inhabited the ruins of Judah. They would yet face the sword of divine judgment as wielded by the Babylonians or their agents. Beasts of the field would devour those who might escape the sword. Those holed up in caves and other natural strongholds would face the pestilence which resulted from overcrowding, and lack of food and sanitation (Eze. 33:27).
Those sinful survivors of Jerusalems fall would not be the ones to rebuild Judah. God would make that land so desolate that no one would even want to make a trip through it. Then the stubborn pride of her power, i.e., pride in her position as a favored nation, would cease (Eze. 33:28). Then they would recognize that the God from whom they expected deliverance had actually brought desolation to their land because of their idolatrous abominations (Eze. 33:29).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(21) In the twelfth year.Comp. 2Ki. 25:8; Jer. 52:12. It was now a year and five months since the final destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and this seems to be a long time to be occupied in carrying the news to Chaldea. The news itself must have reached Babylon long since, but Ezekiel was to receive the tidings, doubtless with full and circumstantial details, from the mouth of a fugitive, and there are reasons why this could not well have occurred earlier. After the capture of the city, the general, Nebuzaradan, took the mass of the people and the abundant spoil to carry them to Babylon (Jer. 52:15-27). He first took them to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, where a few were executed, and some time must have been occupied in settling the affairs of the desolated land. After this, the journey of the captives, carrying along with them the weighty spoil, was a slow one, and perhaps with frequent halts. We know from Ezr. 7:9 that the returning captives, not thus hindered, occupied exactly four months in the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. It is not surprising, therefore, that it should have been four times as long from the capture of Jerusalem to the arrival of the captives in Chaldea. This prophecy was nearly two months before that recorded in Ezekiel 32.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. In the twelfth year The fall of the city took place in the fourth month of the eleventh year (Jer 39:2; Jer 52:6). It seems incredible that Ezekiel should not hear of this for eighteen months. It is probable that the manuscripts are right that read “eleventh year.” The two numbers are very similar in Hebrew.
One that had escaped came Who was the fugitive? Plumptre suggests that Baruch may have been sent by Jeremiah to bear these sad tidings to his brother prophet (compare Jer 45:5), and Skinner thinks perhaps it was a captive “who had trudged the weary road to Babylon in chains under the escort of Nebuzaradan” (Jer 39:9).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jerusalem Has Been Destroyed ( Eze 33:21-33 ).
‘And so it was that in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me saying, “Jerusalem is smitten”.
If we accept this dating, and accept it as being calculated on the same basis as others in Ezekiel, then it means that the first news of the fall of Jerusalem arrived eighteen months after Jerusalem’s fall which was in the fourth month of the eleventh year. Ezra would later make the journey in four months (Ezr 7:9). It is thus seen as strange that it took so long for the news to come through. But it may rather be that this was the first eye witness to tell them of what had happened, and that until that was so they were unwilling to accept it. Rumour was one thing, an eye witness who had experienced it another. With a ravaging army possibly still around Jerusalem it may not have been possible for any to escape who had the purpose of reaching the exiles, survival would have been their first consideration, and they may have remained hidden in the mountains and waited until it was possible to move freely again.
Alternately it has been suggested that we read the twelfth year as ‘the eleventh year’ (with some LXX manuscripts and the Syriac. The difference in Hebrew would be only one consonant). Another suggestion is that the calculation was based on a different calendar using the autumnal reckoning. This would then also make for a much shorter period.
Whatever the solution the arrival of one who had actually escaped from the ruined city would have been a momentous event. The depth of feeling conveyed is indicated by the brevity of the announcement, ‘the city is smitten’. Nothing more needed to be said. What had seemed to many so incredible, and to Ezekiel so certain, was now a reality. It would change their whole way of thinking. Indeed they would have to rethink their whole theology.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Relation of the People to Ezekiel
v. 21. And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, v. 22. Now, the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, v. 23. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, v. 24. Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel, v. 25. Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Ye eat with the blood, v. 26. Ye stand upon your sword, v. 27. Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, v. 28. For I will lay the land most desolate, v. 29. Then shall they know that I am the Lord, v. 30. Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people, v. 31. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, v. 32. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, v. 33. And when this cometh to pass,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Eze 33:21. And it came to pass, &c. The news of the taking and burning of Jerusalem was brought to that part of the Babylonish dominions where the Jewish captives were placed, in about a year and four months after the calamity happened, though some say much sooner. Many commentators think that this messenger came not to Ezekiel, simply to announce the taking of Jerusalem and the ruin of the temple, but the entire desolation of the country, the death of Gedeliah, and the last transportation of the people to Egypt. See Calmet and Grotius.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
By comparing what the Prophet Jeremiah, in his history of the Church hath recorded, with what is here written, we discover that it was a whole year, and more, from the destruction of Jerusalem to Ezekiel’s knowing it. See Jer 52:4-14 . I desire the Reader to turn to the 24th Chapter, verses 24 to the end, as he reads what is here said. The Lord there promised Ezekiel, that he would send a Messenger to him when Jerusalem was overthrown; and that then the Lord would open his mouth. See here the accomplishment. How faithful is God to his promises! But I beg the Reader also to remark, the graciousness of the Lord, even in his judgments. They shall know that I am the Lord. This seems to be the great design, and the general close of all the Lord’s dispensation, both in mercy and judgment. His people shall behold his hand in grace. His enemies shall discover the Lord’s hand in judgment! Reader! is it not the same now? Doth not God the Holy Ghost in his divine office, convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment! Joh 16:8 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 33:21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, [that] one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
Ver. 21. In the twelfth year. ] Some read the eleventh year; and indeed it was wonder that such ill news came no sooner, for , saith Sophocles.
That one that had escaped.
The city is smitten,
a Superates tragis.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 33:21-22
21Now in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been taken. 22Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came. And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.
Eze 33:21 in the twelfth year of our exile The Syriac translation has eleventh.
The city has been taken Ezekiel had predicted this earlier, but this was the first eyewitness confirmation. This is a crucial point in Ezekiel’s ministry. Once the predicted judgment of God has struck (i.e., the destruction of Jerusalem), Ezekiel then begins to proclaim YHWH’s messages of hope and restoration.
Eze 33:22 the hand of the LORD had been upon me This is an idiomatic way of referring to God’s initiation of a revelatory message (cf. Eze 1:3; Eze 3:14; Eze 3:22; Eze 8:1; Eze 37:1; Eze 40:1). The phrase usually marks crucial transition points, but here and in chapter 3 it denotes an incoming message.
He opened my mouth Previously, Ezekiel had been forced to do dramatic actions because he could not speak, but now he was permitted to speak (cf. Eze 3:26-27; Eze 24:27).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the twelfth year . . . tenth month . . . fifth day. This is the date of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. See Eze 40:1. The event in the twenty-fifth year is said to be the fourteenth year from the twelfth (i.e. from the tenth month of tho twelfth year to the first month of the twenty-fifth). The prophecies of the preceding chapters were given to Ezekiel in the Land before this twelfth year. See the table on p. 1105, and App-50.). This was the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month and ninth day (Jer 39:1, Jer 39:2; 2Ki 25:1-4).
came unto me. While still in the Land, probably in hiding,
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 33:21-22
Eze 33:21-22
“And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is smitten. Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me in the evening, before he that was escaped came; and he had opened my month, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.”
MESSAGE OF THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
(Eze 33:21-22)
“The twelfth year, tenth month, fifth day …” (Eze 33:21). Brace, following the Septuagint (LXX) and Syriac versions, changed this to “the eleventh year,” giving a date of January 19,586 B.C. The date from the the Hebrew text of the Old Testament is January 8,585 B.C. Keil pointed out that the reason for some scholars favoring that date about a year earlier is lodged in the fact that this news of the fall of the city came to Ezekiel about eighteen months after the event, a time lapse some consider to be too long. However, Keil favored the Hebrew text of the Old Testament reading, pointing out that, “The distance between Jerusalem and Babylon, along with the fearful confusion that followed the catastrophe would easily have allowed eighteen months to pass before Ezekiel got the word.
Keil also defended the later date against the allegation of some scholars that Ezekiel himself contradicted himself by declaring in Eze 26:1-2 that he received intelligence of the fall of the city in the eleventh year, not in the twelfth. Keil wrote: “Such an interpretation is founded upon a misinterpretation of the passage quoted. It is not stated in Eze 26:1-2 that Ezekiel received his information from a fugitive, or from any man whatever, but simply that God revealed it to him.
“He opened my mouth … I was no longer dumb …” (Eze 33:22). This indicates that the prophecies against the foreign nations (Ezekiel 29-32) were transmitted in writing and were not really spoken.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
tenth month
i.e. January.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
in the twelfth: This was on Wednesday, January 25, am 3416 or 3417. According to the date here given, this escaped Jew did not come to the prophet, with intelligence of Jerusalem being smitten, till about eighteen months after the event; but instead of the “twelfth year,” eight manuscripts and the Syriac read the eleventh. Eze 1:2
one: Eze 24:26, Eze 24:27
The city: This was the very message which God had promised to the prophet. Eze 24:26, 2Ki 24:4-7, 2Ch 36:17-21, Jer 39:2-8, Jer 52:4-14
Reciprocal: 2Ki 25:4 – the city Isa 28:21 – his strange Eze 24:1 – the ninth year Eze 34:5 – they were Eze 40:1 – after
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 33:21-22. Twelfth year of our captivity means that dated from the taking of Jehoiachin to Babylon, at which time Ezekiel was taken. Eleven years atter that event king Zedekiah was taken and Jerusalem was destroyed, completing the third and final stage of the great captivity. That means therefore, that the present verse is located at the nest year after Jerusalem was destroyed, expressed by the words the city is smitten. This verbal news was brought to Ezekiel by one who escaped at the time Nebuchadnezzar closed in on the city and completed the overthrow of the great capital of Judah. The distance from Jerusalem to Babylon is great enough that nothing strange will be thought of its requiring until the next year for the messenger to reach the presence of the prophet. It had been prophesied (Eze 24:26-27) that one who escaped would bring just such a message and here it is. It had also been prophesied (same passage) that when that message was delivered to Ezekiel he would be no more dumb. See the comments at Ezekiel 24; Ezekiel 17, 27 for explanation of dumbness. The man who escaped was not depended on to break the news to Ezekiel as the first information, for the Lord told him about it the evening before according to the present verse. But the coming of the man with the message was to be the signal when the prophet was to consider himself free from the restrictions he had been under since Ezekiel 24; Ezekiel 15-18.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 33:21. In the twelfth year of our captivity, &c. According to this reading, the news of the taking and burning of Jerusalem was brought to that part of the Babylonish dominions where the Jewish captives were placed in a year, five months, and twenty-six days after the calamity happened: see Jer 52:12. But eight MSS. having instead of , Bishop Newcome, and some others, think the preferable reading is, the eleventh year. If this be adopted, only about six months passed between the taking of Jerusalem and the communication of that event to Ezekiel. One that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me According to what God had foretold to him should be the case, as is mentioned Eze 24:26, and which was to be as a new commission unto him to speak unto the people; from doing which, by the command of God, he had ceased for near three years before; the prophetic influence, or impulse, not coming upon him during that time.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
33:21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our {i} captivity, in the tenth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month, [that] one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is smitten.
(i) When the prophet was led away captive with Jeconiah.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
1. Israel and the Promised Land 33:21-33
Ezekiel next recorded six messages about Israel’s restoration to the Promised Land.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
B. Restoration to the Promised Land 33:21-39:29
"The concept of the land is particularly significant to the six messages [Eze 33:21 to Eze 39:29] delivered in that one night before the news of Jerusalem’s fall reached the exiles in Babylonia [cf. Eze 33:21-22]. Since Jerusalem had fallen, would the land be lost to Israel (Eze 33:21-33)? It was the false ’shepherds’ of Israel who had lost the land for Israel by leading the people astray from the truth. But the true ’shepherd,’ the Messiah, would ultimately restore the land to Israel (ch. 34). Those foreigners who had possessed the land of Israel and had oppressed her people would be judged and removed so that Israel might again possess her own land (Eze 35:1 to Eze 36:15). Then God would restore Israel to her promised land (Eze 36:16 to Eze 37:14) and reunite the nation in fulfillment of God’s covenants with her (Eze 37:15-28). Never again would a foreign power have dominion over Israel in her land (chs. 38-39)." [Note: Alexander, "Ezekiel," p. 909.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The date and setting of these messages 33:21-22
Ezekiel’s last prophecy about the judgment coming on Judah and Jerusalem ended with an announcement that a fugitive would escape Jerusalem’s destruction and come and report the city’s fall to the exiles (Eze 24:25-26). At that time God would open Ezekiel’s mouth and he would be dumb no longer (Eze 24:27). Now the messenger arrived and God opened the prophet’s mouth.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of the Jews’ exile, namely, on January 19, 585 B.C., word reached the exiles from refugees who had come from Jerusalem. [Note: Parker and Dubberstein, p. 28.] They announced that Jerusalem had fallen to Nebuchadnezzar. The siege of Jerusalem began on the tenth month, the tenth day, and the ninth year of King Zedekiah’s reign (2Ki 25:1; 588 B.C.). The city fell on the fourth month, the ninth day, and the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign (2Ki 25:2-7; 586 B.C.). Thus the siege lasted 18 months. The news of Jerusalem’s fall reached the exiles in Babylon about five months after the city fell in 586 B.C. According to one method of reckoning, it took 18 months for news of Jerusalem’s fall to reach the exiles, but it seems more probable that it took about five months, which was apparently the normal time it took to make this trip (cf. Ezr 7:6-9). [Note: See the commentators for a more detailed study of the problem.]