Ezekiel 21:20

Ezekiel 21:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
• New International Version (NIV)Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem.
• New Living Translation (NLT)one road going to Ammon and its capital, Rabbah, and the other to Judah and fortified Jerusalem.

Context of Ezekiel 21:20

18The word of the Lord came to me again: 19"As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city. Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified. 21For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver. 22Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.

Ezekiel 21:20 word by word

דֶּ֣רֶךְ תָּשִׂ֔ים לָב֣וֹא חֶ֔רֶב אֵ֖ת רַבַּ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־עַמּ֑וֹן וְאֶת־יְהוּדָ֥ה בִירוּשָׁלִַ֖ם בְּצוּרָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Appointשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• a wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: roadH1870
• that the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• may comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• to Rabbathרַבָּהrabbâh · RabbahH7237
• of the Ammonitesעַמּוֹן‛ammôn · AmmonH5983
• of the Ammonitesבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• and to Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
• in Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• the defencedבָּצַרbâtsar · to gather/restrain/fortifyH1219

Cross-references for Ezekiel 21:20

• Ezekiel 25:5I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
• Deuteronomy 3:11(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
• 2 Samuel 12:26Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city.
• Jeremiah 49:2Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will cause the battle cry to be heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it shall become a desolate mound, and its villages shall be burned with fire; then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him, says the Lord.
• Amos 1:14So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour her strongholds, with shouting on the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
• 2 Samuel 5:9And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward.
• 2 Chronicles 26:9Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them.
• 2 Chronicles 32:5He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance.
• 2 Chronicles 33:14Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into the Fish Gate, and carried it around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.
• Psalms 48:12Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers,
• Psalms 125:1Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
• Isaiah 22:10and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.
• Lamentations 4:12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 21:20

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18-32Verses 18-32 The third word of judgment. The king of Babylon‘s march upon Judaea and upon the Ammonites. Destruction is to go forth not on Judah only, but also on such neighboring tribes as the Ammonites (compare Jeremiah 27:2-3). Ezekiel 21:19 Appoint thee - Set before thee. Choose thou a place, choose it - Rather, “mark a spot, mark it,” as upon a map, at the head of the two roads, one leading to Jerusalem, the other to Ammon. These were the two roads…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-27Verses 18-27 By the Spirit of prophecy Ezekiel foresaw Nebuchadnezzar's march from Babylon, which he would determine by divination. The Lord would overturn the government of Judah, till the coming of Him whose right it is. This seems to foretell the overturnings of the Jewish nation to the present day, and the troubles of states and kingdoms, which shall make way for establishing the Messiah's kingdom throughout the earth. The Lord secretly leads all to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-20The sword of the Lord was not just a symbol. It would become the sword of the king of Babylon. That king was Nebuchadnezzar. His army would carry out God’s judgment. Ezekiel showed this in a visual way. He drew a map to show the king’s two possible targets. One was Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. The other was Jerusalem, the capital of Judah.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Rabbath of the Ammonites--distinct from Rabbah in Judah (2Sa 12:26). Rabbath is put first, as it was from her that Jerusalem, that doomed city, had borrowed many of her idols. to Judah in Jerusalem--instead of simply putting "Jerusalem," to imply the sword was to come not merely to Judah, but to its people within Jerusalem, defended though it was; its defenses on which the Jews relied so much would not keep the foe out.Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 21:20

• Ammonites
• Rabbah

In the dictionaries

• Jerusalem
• Judah
• Judah, kingdom of Judah
• Judea, Judah
• Magic
• Parting
• Privy
• Groan
• Rabbah
• Zedekiah (2)

Commentaries on Ezekiel 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings