Bible Strands
Ezekiel 12:14
And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Ezekiel immediately after describing the capture and death of the Babylonian-enslaved king in Ezekiel 12:13. The declaration targets the king's immediate circle and military forces at the moment of his downfall.
The words — The Hebrew verb אֱזָרֶה ('e.za.Reh) translates literally as "I will disperse," paired with לְ/כָל־ (le./khol) for "to every." The text explicitly states God will scatter the king's attendants, his helpers, and all his troops, then pursue them with a drawn sword.
The thread — This dispersion motif appears in Ezekiel 17:21, where the king's survivors fall by the sword and scatter to every wind, and aligns with the night flight of fleeing soldiers in 2 Kings 25:4. The narrative purpose is fixed in Ezekiel 12:15, where the scattering among nations functions to reveal divine identity.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to recognize military rout and exile as direct divine action rather than mere historical accident. It demands acceptance that geopolitical collapse serves to establish God's sovereignty over rulers and armies.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 5:2 When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind. For I will unleash a sword behind them.
- 2 Kings 25:4 Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,
- Ezekiel 17:21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.’
- Leviticus 26:33 But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Jeremiah 42:16 then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.
- Jeremiah 42:22 Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.”
- Ezekiel 5:10 As a result, fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.’
- Ezekiel 14:17 Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,
- Ezekiel 14:21 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?