Ezekiel 12:14

And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) I will scatter toward every wind.—The people of Judah were not carried captive to Babylon only, but many of them were scattered wherever they could find refuge; and, finally, the remnant left in the land by Nebuchadnezzar, after the murder of his governor Gedaliah, escaped into Egypt (Jeremiah 41-43).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:1-16 By the preparation for removal, and his breaking through the wall of his house at evening, as one desirous to escape from the enemy, the prophet signified the conduct and fate of Zedekiah. When God has delivered us, we must glorify him and edify others, by acknowledging our sins. Those who by afflictions are brought to this, are made to know that God is the Lord, and may help to bring others to know him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare Jeremiah 52:9 ff

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. all … about him—his satellites: his bodyguard.

bands—literally, "the wings" of an army (Isa 8:8).

draw out … sword after them—(See on [1034]Eze 5:2; [1035]Eze 5:12).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

All that are about him; either the Egyptians who came to help him; or rather, those that did flee with him, as the choice and flower of his valiant and trusty servants, who would guard him through all dangers in the flight, till he might rest some where in safety. This was verified, 2 Kings 25:4,5 Jer 39:5.

All his bands; whether auxiliaries or his own trained soldiers.

Draw out the sword after them; send the enemy after them with drawn swords, wherewith they shall be slain, Jeremiah 42:22 43:10,11.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And I will scatter to every wind all that are about him to help him,.... Either his bodyguards, the men of war that were with him when he fled, Jeremiah 52:7; or his auxiliary troops, the Egyptians, whom he had taken into his pay for his assistance:

and all his bands: or "wings" (w); the wings of his army. The Targum interprets it his army; these were all scattered from him when he was taken, Jeremiah 52:8;

and I will draw out the sword after them: which fled into Egypt, and other countries; so that they did not escape, though they went not into captivity; see Ezekiel 5:12.

(w) "alas militum", Montanus; "alas ejus", Cocceius, Starckius; so Ben Melech.

Geneva Study Bible

And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14–16. All the armies and aids of the king shall be dispersed and pursued with the sword. They shall be scattered among the nations, and their history shall bring to their knowledge what Jehovah, their God, truly is. A remnant of them shall be spared among the nations that they make known to them their abominations, and these also shall learn what the God of Israel is. Jerusalem and Israel is set in the midst of the nations round about (ch. Ezekiel 5:5), its history is a drama enacted before the eyes of mankind, and the drama when finished will reveal, not only to Israel but the nations of the world, Jehovah in his fulness. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 14:22-23, Ezekiel 17:24, Ezekiel 20:9, Ezekiel 38:23, Ezekiel 39:23; Isaiah 5:16; Jeremiah 22:8.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 14, 15. - And I will scatter. The capture of the king would naturally be followed by the dispersion of his adherents, some of whom would fall by the sword, while a few (Hebrew, men of number, i.e. easily counted) would escape to some neighbouring country, where they might hope to find a refuge. There they would have to tell their tale of shame, and to let the heathen know that Jehovah was thus punishing their abominations (comp. Ezekiel 14:22, 23). The prophecy ends with the familiar formula, They shall knew that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 12:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Explanation of the Symbolical Action

Ezekiel 12:8. And the word of Jehovah came to me in the morning, saying, Ezekiel 12:9. Son of man, have they not said to thee, the house of Israel, the refractory generation, What art thou doing? Ezekiel 12:10. Say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, This burden applies to the prince in Jerusalem, and to all the house of Israel to whom they belong. Ezekiel 12:11. Say, I am your sign: as I have done, so shall it happen to them; into exile, into captivity, will they go. Ezekiel 12:12. And the prince who is in the midst of them he will lift it upon his shoulder in the dark, and will go out: they will break through the wall, and carry it out thereby: he will cover his face, that he may not see the land with eyes. Ezekiel 12:13. And I will spread my net over him, so that he will be caught in my snare: and I will take him to Babel, into the land of the Chaldeans; but he will not see it, and will die there. Ezekiel 12:14. And all that is about him, his help and all his troops, I will scatter into all winds, and draw out the sword behind them. Ezekiel 12:15. And they shall learn that I am Jehovah, when I scatter them among the nations, and winnow them in the lands. Ezekiel 12:16. Yet I will leave of them a small number of men from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may relate all their abominations among the nations whither they have come; and learn that I am Jehovah. - As queries introduced with הלא have, as a rule, an affirmative sense, the words "have they not asked," etc., imply that the Israelites had asked the prophet what he was doing, though not in a proper state of mind, not in a penitential manner, as the epithet בּית plainly shows. The prophet is therefore to interpret the action which he had just been performing, and all its different stages. The words הנּשׂיא המּשּׂא הזּה, to which very different renderings have been given, are to be translated simply "the prince is this burden," i.e., the object of this burden. Hammassâ does not mean the carrying, but the burden, i.e., the threatening prophecy, the prophetic action of the prophet, as in the headings to the oracles (see the comm. on Nahum 1:1). The "prince" is the king, as in Ezekiel 21:30, though not Jehoiachin, who had been carried into exile, but Zedekiah. This is stated in the apposition "in Jerusalem," which belongs to "the prince," though it is not introduced till after the predicate, as in Genesis 24:24. To this there is appended the further definition, "the whole house of Israel," which, being co-ordinated with הנּשׂיא, affirms that all Israel (the covenant nation) will share the fate of the prince. In the last clause of Ezekiel 12:10 בּתוכם does not stand for בּתוכהּ, so that the suffix would refer to Jerusalem, "in the midst of which they (the house of Israel) are." אשׁר cannot be a nominative, because in that case המּה to be understood as referring to the persons addressed, i.e., to the Israelites in exile (Hitzig, Kliefoth): in the midst of whom they are, i.e., to whom they belong. The sentence explains the reason why the prophet was to announce to those in exile the fat of the prince and people in Jerusalem; namely, because the exiles formed a portion of the nation, and would be affected by the judgment which was about to burst upon the king and people in Jerusalem. In this sense Ezekiel was also able to say to the exiles (in Ezekiel 12:11), "I am your sign;" inasmuch as his sign was also of importance for them, as those who were already banished would be so far affected by the departure of the king and people which Ezekiel depicted, that it would deprive them of all hope of a speedy return to their native land.

להם, in Ezekiel 12:11, refers to the king and the house of Israel in Jerusalem. בּגולה is rendered more forcible by the addition of בּשּׁבי. The announcement that both king and people must go into exile, is carried out still further in Ezekiel 12:12 and Ezekiel 12:13 with reference to the king, and in Ezekiel 12:14 with regard to the people. The king will experience all that Ezekiel has described. The literal occurrence of what is predicted here is related in Jeremiah 39:1., Jeremiah 52:4.; 2 Kings 25:4. When the Chaldeans forced their way into the city after a two years' siege, Zedekiah and his men of war fled by night out of the city through the gate between the two walls. It is not expressly stated, indeed, in the historical accounts that a breach was made in the wall; but the expression "through the gate between the two walls" (Jeremiah 39:4; Jeremiah 52:7; 2 Kings 25:4) renders this very probable, whether the gate had been walled up during the siege, or it was necessary to break through the wall at one particular spot in order to reach the gate. The king's attendants would naturally take care that a breach was made in the wall, to secure for him a way of escape; hence the expression, "they will break through." The covering of the face, also, is not mentioned in the historical accounts; but in itself it is by no means improbable, as a sign of the shame and grief with which Zedekiah left the city. The words, "that he may not see the land with eyes," do not appear to indicate anything more than the necessary consequence of covering the face, and refer primarily to the simple fact that the king fled in the deepest sorrow, and did not want to see the land; but, as Ezekiel 12:13 clearly intimates, they were fulfilled in another way, namely, by the fact that Zedekiah did not see with his eyes the land of the Chaldeans into which he was led, because he had been blinded at Riblah (Jeremiah 39:5; Jeremiah 52:11; 2 Kings 25:7). לעין, by eye equals with his eyes, is added to give prominence to the idea of seeing. For the same purpose, the subject, which is already implied in the verb, is rendered more emphatic by הוּא; and this הוּא is placed after the verb, so that it stands in contrast with הארץ. The capture of the king was not depicted by Ezekiel; so that in this respect the announcement (Ezekiel 12:13) goes further than the symbolical action, and removes all doubt as to the credibility of the prophet's word, by a distinct prediction of the fate awaiting him. At the same time, his not seeing the land of Babylon is left so indefinite, that it cannot be regarded as a vaticinium post eventum. Zedekiah died in prison at Babylon (Jeremiah 52:11). Along with the king, the whole of his military force will be scattered in all directions (Ezekiel 12:14). עזרה, his help, i.e., the troops that break through with him. כּל־אגפּיו, all his wings (the wings of his army), i.e., all the rest of his forces. The word is peculiar to Ezekiel, and is rendered "wings" by Jos. Kimchi, like kenâphaim in Isaiah 8:8. For the rest of the verse compare Ezekiel 5:2; and for the fulfilment, Jeremiah 52:8; Jeremiah 40:7, Jeremiah 40:12. The greater part of the people will perish, and only a small number remain, that they may relate among the heathen, wherever they are led, all the abominations of Israel, in order that the heathen may learn that it is not from weakness, but simply to punish idolatry, that God has given up His people to them (cf. Jeremiah 22:8).