Bible Strands
Ezekiel 21:16
Slash to the right; set your blade to the left—wherever your blade is directed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to the prophet Ezekiel during a vision of imminent national judgment, directing the symbolic sword's movement at the moment it is drawn for slaughter.
The words — הִתְאַחֲדִ֥י (hit.'a.cha.Di) = be sharp; הֵימִ֖נִי (hei.Mi.ni) = go to [the] right.
The thread — The left-right directional command recurs in Genesis 13:9 as a spatial divider, while the sword imagery parallels Ezekiel 14:17 and Ezekiel 16:46.
Why it lands — The text demands unhesitating execution of divine judgment in every direction, requiring the reader to acknowledge that historical violence falls under sovereign command rather than human initiative.
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
Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.
Cross-references
- Genesis 13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”
- 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 16:46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south.
- Ezekiel 21:4 Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.
- Ezekiel 21:20 Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.