Bible Strands
Ezekiel 12:13
But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks through Ezekiel to the exiled community, declaring the inevitable capture of the Judahite prince attempting to flee Jerusalem. The oracle is delivered during the Babylonian siege, immediately after the prince's planned nighttime escape through a breached wall.
The words — The Hebrew פָרַשְׂתִּי (parashti) means "I will spread," denoting the active deployment of a divine hunting net. רִשְׁתִּי (rishti) translates literally to "my net," paired with the passive verb נִתְפַּשׂ (nittapas) for "he will be caught."
The thread — The same net-and-snare metaphor appears in Ezekiel 17:20 targeting the identical ruler, while Hosea 7:12 applies the imagery to leaders who attempt to evade divine chastisement. Jeremiah 39:7 records the historical execution when Babylonian troops blind the prince and transport him to Babylon.
Why it lands — The passage states that human escape routes cannot circumvent sovereign judgment, culminating in the prince's blindness and death in exile. It requires the reader to acknowledge that political rebellion against ordained consequences guarantees inescapable capture.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 39:7 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.
- Ezekiel 17:20 I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.
- Hosea 7:12 As they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like birds of the air. I will chastise them when I hear them flocking together.
- Isaiah 24:17 Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.
- 2 Kings 25:5 but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.
- Ezekiel 17:16 ‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.
- Ezekiel 32:3 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will spread My net over you with a company of many peoples, and they will draw you up in My net.
- Job 19:6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Jeremiah 34:3 And you yourself will not escape his grasp, but will surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face; and you will go to Babylon.