Bible Strands
Ezekiel 19:7
He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it shuddered at the sound of his roaring.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel addresses the exiled community of Israel, continuing his allegorical lament over the fallen princes of Judah. He describes the violent conquest of a lion-like ruler who has destroyed the territories of his predecessors.
The words — הֶחֱרִ֑יב (he.che.Riv) means it laid waste, and אַלְמְנוֹתָ֔י/ו ('al.me.no.Ta/v) means its widows, anchoring the verse’s focus on systematic ruin and the resulting social collapse.
The thread — The motif of conquest-driven desolation echoes Ezekiel 30:12, where foreign hands bring ruin to the land, while the terrifying roar of the conqueror parallels Proverbs 19:12’s description of a king’s rage.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that violent expansion inevitably triggers proportional devastation, leaving no sanctuary from the consequences of oppressive power.
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 he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 30:12 I will make the streams dry up and sell the land to the wicked. By the hands of foreigners I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it. I, the LORD, have spoken.
- Proverbs 19:12 A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
- Proverbs 28:3 A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.
- Proverbs 28:15 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
- Ezekiel 12:19 Then tell the people of the land that this is what the Lord GOD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: ‘They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who dwell in it.
- Ezekiel 22:25 The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.
- Amos 6:8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”
- Micah 1:2 Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth, and everyone in it! May the Lord GOD bear witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.