וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃   7:1

Ezek. 7:1   And the word of the Lord occurred to me saying,

וְאַתָּה בֶן־אָדָם כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה לְאַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל קֵץ בָּא הַקֵּץ עַל־(אַרְבַּעַת) [אַרְבַּע]   7:2                 כַּנְפֹות הָאָרֶץ׃

Ezek. 7:2   “Now you, human!  Thus says the Master, the Lord:  An end is coming to the land of Israel, the end over the four corners of the land.”

The error in the parentheses due to an extra tav is corrected in the brackets.

עַתָּה הַקֵּץ עָלַיִךְ וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי אַפִּי בָּךְ וּשְׁפַטְתִּיךְ כִּדְרָכָיִךְ וְנָתַתִּי עָלַיִךְ אֵת כָּל־תֹּועֲבֹתָיִךְ׃   7:3

Ezek. 7:3   “Now the end is upon you, as I will let loose my ‘anger’ on you and judge you according to your ways and set all your abominations against you.”

In the previous verse, v. 7:2, Ezekiel was being addressed in the second person.  In this verse all the second-person pronouns are feminine, so Jerusalem is being addressed.

וְלֹא־תָחֹוס עֵינִי עָלַיִךְ וְלֹא אֶחְמֹול כִּי דְרָכַיִךְ עָלַיִךְ אֶתֵּן וְתֹועֲבֹותַיִךְ בְּתֹוךֵךְ תִּהְיֶיןָ וִידַעְתֶּם   7:4                   כִּי־אֲנִי יְהוָה׃

Ezek. 7:4   “And My ‘eye’ will not have compassion upon you and I will not have pity when I set your ways against you, as your abominations shall be in your midst; then you may know that I am the Lord.”

In this verse, most of the second-person pronouns are singular feminine, as in the previous verse (the exception being the last you in then you may know), so Jerusalem is still the object.  But the last you is plural masculine, so here the inhabitants of Jerusalem are being addressed.

כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה רָעָה אַחַת רָעָה הִנֵּה בָאָה׃   7:5

Ezek. 7:5   “Thus says the Master, the Lord:  Evil, only evil, behold, is coming.”

קֵץ בָּא בָּא הַקֵּץ הֵקִיץ אֵלָיִךְ הִנֵּה בָּאָה׃   7:6

Ezek. 7: 6  “An end is coming.  The end is coming; He is aroused against you; behold it comes.”

Here Jerusalem is being addressed again.

בָּאָה הַצְּפִירָה אֵלֶיךָ יֹושֵׁב הָאָרֶץ בָּא הָעֵת קָרֹוב הַיֹּום מְהוּמָה וְלֹא־הֵד הָרִים׃   7:7

Ezek. 7:7   The turn is coming to you, inhabitant of the land; the time comes, the day of tumult is near, though not of the joyful shout of mountains.”

עַתָּה מִקָּרֹוב אֶשְׁפֹּוךְ חֲמָתִי עָלַיִךְ וְכִלֵּיתִי אַפִּי בָּךְ וּשְׁפַטְתִּיךְ כִּדְרָכָיִךְ וְנָתַתִּי עָלַיִךְ אֵת   7:8

 כָּל־תֹּועֲבֹותָיִךְ׃

Ezek. 7:8   “Now soon I shall pour out My ‘rage’ against you and exhaust My ‘anger’ on you as I judge you according to your ways and set all your abominations upon you.”

וְלֹא־תָחֹוס עֵינִי וְלֹא אֶחְמֹול כִּדְרָכַיִךְ עָלַיִךְ אֶתֵּן וְתֹועֲבֹותַיִךְ בְּתֹוךֵךְ תִּהְיֶיןָ וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה   7:9

 מַכֶּה׃

Ezek. 7:9   “And My ‘eye’ will not have compassion, and I will not have pity; I will set upon you according to your ways, as your abominations shall be in your midst; then you may know that I, the Lord, smite.”

In v. 7:7, the one second-person pronoun is singular masculine, obviously referring to the inhabitant of the land.   Verse 7:8 has six second-person singular feminine pronouns; all of them refer to Jerusalem.  In this verse there are five second-person pronouns, all but the last being singular feminine.  They refer to Jerusalem.  The fifth is the same as the last one in v. 7:4, plural masculine, and refers to the inhabitants of Jerusalem again.

הִנֵּה הַיֹּום הִנֵּה בָאָה יָצְאָה הַצְּפִרָה ץָץ הַמַּטֶּה פָּרַח הַזָּדֹון׃   7:10

Ezek. 7:10   “Behold the day!  Behold its coming!  The turn is coming forth. The rod blossoms; the arrogance sprouts.”

הֶחָמָס קָם לְמַטֵּה־רֶשַׁע לֹא־מֵהֶם וְלֹא מֵהֲמֹונָם וְלֹא מֶהֱמֵהֶם וְלֹא־נֹהַּ בָּהֶם׃   7:11

Ezek. 7:11   “The injustice has risen to a rod of wickedness; nothing is from them, and nothing from their tumult, and nothing from their bustling, and no distinction is in them.”

Here the second-person singular feminine pronouns have morphed into third-person plural masculine pronouns, now referring to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

בָּא הָעֵת הִגִּיעַ הַיֹּום הַקֹּונֶה אַל־יִשְׂמָח וְהַמֹּוכֵר אַל־יִתְאַבָּל כִּי חָרֹון אֶל־כָּל־הֲמֹונָהּ׃   7:12

Ezek. 7:12   “The time is coming; the day approaches; let not the buyer rejoice, and let not the seller lament, for anger is toward all her multitude.”

There are two plausible explanations for the expression found in this verse, “let not the buyer rejoice, and let not the seller lament.”  The first assumes the sold item is land.  In this case, the seller would most likely be destitute (to have to sell his land) and therefore would lament his loss, whereas the buyer has gained a useful possession, no doubt at a low price, so he would rejoice.  The second explanation rests on no assumption as to the character of the item sold, but to the character of the buyer and seller.  I am fairly certain that the jubilee year was not observed in this time period, so the buyer has acquired an item he will never have to give back (and would rejoice) while the seller would lament because he would never get his possession back again.  I prefer the latter explanation, not only because it’s mine, but because it depends on a lesser assumption and applies more universally.  However, be aware that while any Jew could buy or sell anything, the most likely thing that would be lamented or rejoiced over would be land.

כִּי הַמֹּוכֵר אֶל־הַמִּמְכָּר לֹא יָשׁוּב וְעֹוד בַּחַיִּים חַיָּתָם כִּי־חָזֹון אֶל־כָּל־הֲמֹונָהּ לֹא יָשׁוּב וְאִישׁ בַּעֲוֹנֹו   7:13 חַיָּתֹו לֹא יִתְחַזָּקוּ׃

Ezek. 7:13   “Surely the seller shall not return to what was sold, though their lives are yet among the living, because the vision regards all her multitude; he shall not return, and each, because of his iniquity, they shall not strengthen his life.”

The pronoun their in the first half of the verse refers to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  The pronoun her in the middle of the verse must refer to Jerusalem.  The pronoun they near the end of the verse must refer to the items being bought or sold.

תָּקְעוּ בַתָּקֹועַ וְהָכִין הַכֹּל וְאֵין הֹלֵךְ לַמִּלְחָמָה כִּי חֲרֹונִי אֶל־כָּל־הֲמֹונָהּ׃   7:14

Ezek. 7:14   “They have sounded on the horn and have made everything ready, but no one moves to battle, for My ‘anger’ is toward all her multitude.”

הַחֶרֶב בַּחוּץ וְהַדֶּבֶר וְהָרָעָב מִבָּיִת אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׂדֶה בַּחֶרֶב יָמוּת וַאֲשֶׁר בָּעִיר רָעָב וָדֶבֶר יֹאכֲלֶנּוּ׃   7:15

Ezek. 7:15   “The sword is on the street, and the pestilence and the famine are from the house; who is in the field shall die by the sword, and who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall consume him.”

וּפָלְטוּ פְּלִיטֵיהֶם וְהָיוּ אֶל־הֶהָרִים כְּיֹונֵי הַגֵּאָיֹות כֻּלָּם הֹמֹות אִישׁ בַּעֲוֹנֹו׃   7:16

Ezek. 7:16   “When their refugees escape, then they shall be in among the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them crying aloud, each because of his iniquity.”

כָּל־הַיָּדַיִם תִּרְפֶּינָה וְכָל־בִּרְכַּיִם תֵּלַכְנָה מָּיִם׃   7:17

Ezek. 7:17   “All the hands shall be dropped and all knees shall drip water.”

וְחָגְרוּ שַׂקִּים וְכִסְּתָה אֹותָם פַּלָּצוּת וְאֶל כָּל־פָּנִים בּוּשָׁה וּבְכָל־רָאשֵׁיהֶם קָרְחָה׃   7:18

Ezek. 7:18   “And they shall bind on sackcloths, and horror shall overwhelm them, and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.”

כַּסְפָּם בַּחוּצֹות יַשְׁלִיכוּ וּזְהָבָם לְנִדָּה יִהְיֶה כַּסְפָּם וּזְהָבָם לֹא־יוּכַל לְהַצִּילָם בְּיֹום עֶבְרַת יְהוָה   7:19           נַפְשָׁם לֹא יְשַׂבֵּעוּ וּמֵעֵיהֶם לֹא יְמַלֵּאוּ כִּי־מִכְשֹׁול עֲוֹנָם הָיָה׃

Ezek. 7:19   “They shall cast their silver on the streets, and their gold shall be as filth; their silver and their gold shall not be able to save them in the time of the ‘wrath’ of the Lord; they will not satisfy their souls and they will not fill their bellies, for their iniquity is an impediment.”

וּצְבִי עֶדְיֹו לְגָאֹון שָׂמָהוּ וְצַלְמֵי תֹועֲבֹתָם שִׁקּוּצֵיהֶם עָשׂוּ בֹו עַל־כֵּן נְתַתִּיו לָהֶם לְנִדָּה׃   7:20

Ezek. 7:20   “And the beauty of one's ornaments, they have appointed it for pride, and they made with it the images of their abominations, their detestable things; therefore I ascribe it to them for filth.”

There are three instances of the pronoun it in this verse, and they are all masculine.  They all have the same antecedent, the beauty (of one’s ornaments), which is masculine.  In the next verse there are two instances of the same pronoun (after the correction is applied to the latter one), and they have beauty as their antecedent as well.

וּנְתַתִּיו בְּיַד־הַזָּרִים לָבַז וּלְרִשְׁעֵי הָאָרֶץ לְשָׁלָל (וְחִלְּלֻהָ) [וְחִלְּלוּהוּ]׃   7:21

Ezek. 7:21   “So I will give it into the hand of strangers for spoil, and to the wicked of the earth for prey, and they will profane it.”

This verse contains a misspelled word in the parentheses.  The pronoun suffix should be masculine and it’s mistakenly feminine.  The correction is in the brackets. 

וַהֲסִבֹּותִי פָנַי מֵהֶם וְחִלְּלוּ אֶת־צְפוּנִי וּבָאוּ־בָהּ פָּרִיצִים וְחִלְּלוּהָ׃   7:22

Ezek. 7:22   “But I will turn My ‘face’ from them so they can profane My treasure, so violent ones can go into it and profane it.”

And this verse also has two third-person masculine singular pronouns, it, and they refer to the treasure mentioned in the verse.  By the way, My treasure probably means the Temple.

עֲשֵׂה הָרַתֹּוק כִּי הָאָרֶץ מָלְאָה מִשְׁפַּט דָּמִים וְהָעִיר מָלְאָה חָמָס׃   7:23

Ezek. 7:23   “Fashion the chain, for the land is full of blood judgment and the city is full of violence.”

וְהֵבֵאתִי רָעֵי גֹויִם וְיָרְשׁוּ אֶת־בָּתֵּיהֶם וְהִשְׁבַּתִּי גְּאֹון עַזִּים וְנִחֲלוּ מְקַדְשֵׁיהֶם׃   7:24

Ezek. 7:24   “So I will bring the most evil of the nations and they will possess their houses, and I will put an end to the pride of the mighty so their holy places can be profaned.”

קְפָדָה־בָא וּבִקְשׁוּ שָׁלֹום וָאָיִן׃   7:25

Ezek. 7:25   “Anguish is coming when they will seek peace and there will be none.”

הֹוָה עַל־הֹוָה תָּבֹוא וּשְׁמֻעָה אֶל־שְׁמוּעָה תִּהְיֶה וּבִקְשׁוּ חָזֹון מִנָּבִיא וְתֹורָה תֹּאבַד מִכֹּהֵן וְעֵצָה   7:26      מִזְּקֵנִים׃

Ezek. 7:26   “Disaster upon disaster shall come, and report shall be against report, that they will seek a vision from the prophet as instruction shall vanish from the priest along with counsel from the elders.”

הַמֶּלֶךְ יִתְאַבָּל וְנָשִׂיא יִלְבַּשׁ שְׁמָמָה וִידֵי עַם־הָאָרֶץ תִּבָּהַלְנָה מִדַּרְכָּם אֶעֱשֶׂה אֹותָם וּבְמִשְׁפְּטֵיהֶם   7:27 אֶשְׁפְּטֵם וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהוָה׃

Ezek. 7:27   “The king shall mourn and prince shall wear devastation and the hands of the people of the land will be twisted in terror.  Because of their way, I will prepare them and judge them according to their judgments; then they may know that I am the Lord.”

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