New International Version
Ezekiel 5:16
16When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food.
Ezekiel 5:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
- English Standard Version (ESV)when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread.
- New King James Version (NKJV)When I send against them the terrible arrows of famine which shall be for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your supply of bread.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“I will shower you with the deadly arrows of famine to destroy you. The famine will become more and more severe until every crumb of food is gone.
Context of Ezekiel 5:16
14“I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. 15You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. 17I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.”
Read all of Ezekiel 5Ezekiel 5:16 word by word
בְּֽשַׁלְּחִ֡י אֶת־חִצֵּי֩ הָרָעָ֨ב הָרָעִ֤ים בָּהֶם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָי֣וּ לְמַשְׁחִ֔ית אֲשֶׁר־אֲשַׁלַּ֥ח אוֹתָ֖ם לְשַֽׁחֶתְכֶ֑ם וְרָעָב֙ אֹסֵ֣ף עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם וְשָׁבַרְתִּ֥י לָכֶ֖ם מַטֵּה־לָֽחֶם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- When I shall sendשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
- upon them the evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: harmfulH7451
- arrowsחֵץchêts · arrowH2671
- of famineרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
- destructionמַשְׁחִיתmashchîyth · destructionH4889
- to destroyשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
- you: and I will increaseיָסַףyâsaph · to addH3254
- upon you, and will breakשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
- your staffמַטֶּהmaţţeh maţţâh · tribe: supplyH4294
- of breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
Cross-references for Ezekiel 5:16
- Deuteronomy 32:23“I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them.
- Psalms 7:13He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.
- Psalms 91:5You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
- Lamentations 3:12He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
- Ezekiel 4:16He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,
- Ezekiel 14:13“Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals,
- Leviticus 26:26When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.
- 2 Kings 6:25There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.
- Isaiah 3:1See now, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water,
Commentaries on Ezekiel 5:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16The evil arrows of famine - Famine and pestilence are represented as poisoned arrows, inflicting death wherever they wound. The ancients represented them in the same way.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-17Verses 5-17 The sentence passed upon Jerusalem is very dreadful, the manner of expression makes it still more so. Who is able to stand in God's sight when he is angry? Those who live and die impenitent, will perish for ever unpitied; there is a day coming when the Lord will not spare. Let not persons or churches, who change the Lord's statutes, expect to escape the doom of Jerusalem. Let us endeavour to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-17These chapters discuss words and actions that warned of disaster for Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4–5) and the land of Judah (Ezekiel 6–7).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. arrows of famine--hail, rain, mice, locusts, mildew (see De 32:23, 24). increase the famine--literally, "congregate" or "collect." When ye think your harvest safe because ye have escaped drought, mildew, &c., I will find other means [Calvin], which I will congregate as the forces of an invading army, to bring famine on you.Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 5:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 5
- 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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries