Bible Strands
Ezekiel 21:7
And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God commands Ezekiel to answer the people’s question about his prophetic groaning by announcing an imminent catastrophe. The directive occurs between two oracle pronouncements detailing the coming devastation (Ezekiel 21:6, 21:8).
The words — The Hebrew נֶאֱנָח (ne'ehnach) signifies a deep groaning, while יֹאמְרוּ (yo'meru) indicates the future action of the people asking “What concerning you?” (H559, H5921, H4100). These terms anchor the verse in a commanded prophetic response to impending crisis.
The thread — The identical physical collapse appears in Ezekiel 7:17 and Isaiah 13:7, with Jeremiah 50:43 recording the king of Babylon’s hands growing limp at the report. These references trace a consistent scriptural motif of national terror preceding divine judgment.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that prophetic signs are not symbolic performances but direct warnings of unavoidable historical catastrophe. It requires the reader to accept that divine declarations precede and guarantee the events they describe.
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 it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 7:17 Every hand will go limp, and every knee will turn to water.
- Isaiah 13:7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
- Jeremiah 50:43 The king of Babylon has heard the report, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.
- Ezekiel 7:26 Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.
- Nahum 2:10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- Hebrews 12:12 Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.
- Exodus 15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
- Deuteronomy 20:8 Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.”
- Joshua 2:9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you.
- Joshua 5:1 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.