Bible Strands
Ezekiel 25:7
therefore I will indeed stretch out My hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord speaks through the prophet to the nation that clapped hands and rejoiced over Israel’s desolation with contempt. This declaration follows the observation of their mocking posture in the preceding context.
The words — נָטִ֨יתִי (na.Ti.ti) literally means “I have stretched out,” describing the divine hand extended for judgment. לְ/בַז (le./vag) translates to “as spoil,” indicating the targeted people will be handed over to foreign plunderers.
The thread — The motif of God stretching out His hand for judgment appears in Zephaniah 1:4 against Judah, Ezekiel 6:14 against Israel’s territory, and Ezekiel 25:13 against Edom. Each instance pairs the extended hand with the removal of a people from their land.
Why it lands — The text states that the nation will be cut off, destroyed, and made to know the speaker’s identity. It demands recognition that historical devastation is a direct result of divine action, not random chance.
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
Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
Cross-references
- Zephaniah 1:4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all who dwell in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests—
- Ezekiel 6:14 I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
- Ezekiel 25:13 therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off from it both man and beast. I will make it a wasteland, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword.
- Ezekiel 25:16 therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant along the coast.
- Jeremiah 49:2 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.
- Ezekiel 14:9 But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.
- Ezekiel 35:3 and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Mount Seir. I will stretch out My hand against you and make you a desolate waste.
- Amos 1:14 So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.