Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to Israel regarding the wilderness generation, contrasting His prior restraint with His sworn judgment.
The words — The oath gesture employs נָשָׂ֧אתִי (na.Sa.ti), literally "I lifted up," denoting the raised hand of a binding vow. The judgment verb לְ/הָפִ֤יץ (le./ha.Fitz) means "to scatter," describing the forced dispersal of the people.
The thread — The scattering motif appears in Leviticus 26:33 and Deuteronomy 28:64 as covenant consequences, while Deuteronomy 32:26 presents a contrasting divine intent to cut them to pieces and blot out their memory.
Why it lands — The text records God’s sworn promise to disperse Israel among the nations because they rejected His statutes and fixed their eyes on idols. It demands recognition that covenant faithlessness triggers enforced displacement, not arbitrary punishment.
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
I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
Cross-references
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 28:64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
- Deuteronomy 32:26 I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
- Deuteronomy 32:40 For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,
- Psalms 106:27 to disperse their offspring among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
- Jeremiah 15:4 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
- 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—
- Revelation 10:5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven.