Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 7:17
All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak [as] water.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. shall be weak aswaterliterally, “shall go (as) waters”; incapable ofresistance (Jos 7:5; Psa 22:14;Isa 13:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
All hands shall be feeble,…. No strength in them, to lay hold on weapons of war to defend themselves, or fight the enemy; no heart nor courage in them, to go forth and meet him; and even afraid to lift up their voice in mourning, lest they should be heard, and pursued, and taken:
and all knees shall be weak [as] water; tremble and beat one against another, for fear of the enemy; or,
“shall flow with water,”
as the Targum; either with sweat or urine, which are sometimes both caused by fear.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
17. This verse shows the utter prostration of those who are escaping: “their knees melt into water.” (CompareEze 21:7; Isa 13:7; Jer 6:24.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“All hands will be feeble, and all knees will be as weak as water. They will also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror will cover them and shame will be on all their faces and baldness on all their heads.”
For all, both those who escape and those caught in the city, it will be a life of mourning. They will have no strength. They will live in terror They will put on sackcloth, and shave their heads as signs of distress, not because of past iniquity but because they are still in iniquity. They will be filled with ‘horror’, with fear and trembling (Job 21:6; Psa 55:5; Isa 21:4). Ashes on their faces will demonstrate their shame.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
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
And all knees shall be weak as water.
a Vulg., Jerome, Septuag.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hands: Eze 21:7, Isa 13:7, Isa 13:8, Jer 6:24, Heb 12:12
be weak as water: Heb. go into water
Reciprocal: Lam 5:16 – woe Dan 5:6 – and his knees
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 7:17. This weakness would be the mental reaction from the distressful situation. It would be the sadness of defeatism and loss of morale.