Ezekiel 20:15

Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands—

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God addresses the exiled community through Ezekiel, recounting the wilderness generation’s rebellion and His judicial response. He declares His formal decision to withhold the Promised Land despite His prior pledge to deliver them.

The words — The phrase נָשָׂאתִי יָדִי (nasa'ti yadi) literally means "I lifted up [my] hand," functioning as a formal oath gesture. The verb הָבִיא (haVi') translates as "to bring," specifying the exact promise that God now withholds.

The thread — This sworn refusal to grant the land appears in Numbers 14:23, Psalms 95:11, and Psalms 106:26. The motif of a divine oath denying entry to the land or rest persists across the Pentateuch and the Writings.

Why it lands — The text states that God’s oath withholds the land due to persistent rejection of His statutes and idolatry. It requires the reader to recognize that covenant privileges are forfeited by sustained disobedience, not revoked by arbitrary divine whim.

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

וְגַם־ve./gam-and/ also אֲנִ֗י'a.NiI נָשָׂ֧אתִיna.Sa.tiI lifted up יָדִ֛יya.D/ihand/ myלָהֶ֖םla./Hemto/ themבַּמִּדְבָּ֑רba./mid.Barin the/ wilderness לְבִלְתִּי֩le./vil.Tito/ not הָבִ֨יאha.Vi'to bring אוֹתָ֜ם'o.Ta/m<obj.>/ them אֶל־'el-into הָאָ֣רֶץha./'A.retzthe/ land אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which נָתַ֗תִּיna.Ta.tiI had given זָבַ֤תza.Vatflowing of חָלָב֙cha.Lavmilk וּדְבַ֔שׁu./de.Vashand/ honey צְבִ֥יtze.Vi[is] beauty הִ֖יאhi'it לְכָל־le./kholto/ all הָאֲרָצֽוֹת׃ha./'a.ra.Tzotthe/ lands

King James Version

Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

Cross-references

Psalms 95:11 So I swore on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.”
Psalms 106:26 So He raised His hand and swore to cast them down in the wilderness,
Numbers 14:23 not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it.
Numbers 26:64 Among all these, however, there was not one who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.
Deuteronomy 1:34 When the LORD heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath, saying,
Ezekiel 20:23 However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.
Hebrews 3:11 So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’”
Hebrews 3:18 And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
Hebrews 4:3 Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world.