Bible Strands
Ezekiel 21:6
But you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a broken heart and bitter grief.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Ezekiel as "son of man" and commands him to groan before the watching exiles immediately after declaring His sword is drawn and will not return.
The words — The text uses הֵאָנַח (he.'a.Nach) and תֵּֽאָנַח (te.'a.Nach) for "groan," coupled with בְּשִׁבְרוֹן מָתְנַיִם (be./shiv.Ron ma.te.Na.yim, "with breaking of loins") and בִּמְרִירוּת (vi/m.ri.Rut, "with bitterness") to describe the physical posture of grief.
The thread — This pattern of commanded mourning over impending judgment appears in Isaiah 22:4, Ezekiel 6:11, and Isaiah 16:11.
Why it lands — The text requires a visible, physical enactment of grief to signal that the coming destruction is certain and unavoidable.
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
Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 22:4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
- Ezekiel 6:11 This is what the Lord GOD says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague.
- Isaiah 16:11 Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.
- Isaiah 21:3 Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.
- Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.
- Jeremiah 9:17 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
- Jeremiah 19:10 Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you,
- Jeremiah 30:6 Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
- Ezekiel 4:12 And you shall eat the food as you would a barley cake, after you bake it over dried human excrement in the sight of the people.”
- Ezekiel 9:4 “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”