Ezekiel 12:16

But I will spare a few of them from sword and famine and plague, so that in the nations to which they go, they can recount all their abominations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel to the exiled community, following the announcement that He will scatter them among the nations. The oracle addresses the specific survivors spared from sword, famine, and plague.

The words — The Hebrew verb הוֹתַרְתִּי (ho.tar.Ti) means "I will leave over" or spare, paired with יְסַפְּרוּ (ye.sa.pe.Ru), "they may recount," which describes how the remnant will publicly declare their past abominations.

The thread — The preserved remnant motif appears in Ezekiel 6:8 and Ezekiel 14:22, while the public testimony among foreign nations parallels the witness outlined in Jeremiah 22:8.

Why it lands — The text establishes that God intentionally preserves survivors so they will openly acknowledge their sins among the nations, requiring readers to accept that both judgment and mercy function to reveal His identity.

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

וְהוֹתַרְתִּ֤יve./ho.tar.Tiand/ I will leave overמֵהֶם֙me./Hemsome of/ themאַנְשֵׁ֣י'an.Sheipeople of מִסְפָּ֔רmis.Parnumber מֵחֶ֖רֶבme./Che.revfrom/ [the] sword מֵרָעָ֣בme./ra.'Avfrom/ [the] famine וּמִדָּ֑בֶרu./mi./Da.verand/ from/ [the] pestilence לְמַ֨עַןle.Ma.'anso that יְסַפְּר֜וּye.sa.pe.Ruthey may recount אֶת־'et-<obj.>כָּל־kol-all תּוֹעֲבֽוֹתֵיהֶ֗םto.'a.vo.tei./Hemabominations/ their בַּגּוֹיִם֙ba./go.Yimamong the/ nations אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-where בָּ֣אוּBa.'uthey have gone שָׁ֔םShamthere וְיָדְע֖וּve./ya.de.'Uand/ they will know כִּֽי־ki-that אֲנִ֥י'a.NiI יְהוָֽה׃ פYah.weh[am] Yahweh

King James Version

But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 22:8 And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
Ezekiel 6:8 Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands.
Ezekiel 14:22 Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—all that I have brought upon it.
Isaiah 1:9 Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
Jeremiah 4:27 For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
Genesis 13:16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
Leviticus 26:40 But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—
Deuteronomy 29:24 So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
1 Kings 9:6 But if indeed you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep the commandments and statutes I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,
Isaiah 6:13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”