Ezekiel 5:15

So you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging fury. I, the LORD, have spoken.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD addresses Israel through the prophet Ezekiel during a prophetic declaration of impending national judgment. The statement follows a description of ruin and precedes a detailed account of famine and destruction.

The words — The Hebrew terms חֶרְפָּה (cherpah) meaning "reproach" and מְשַמָּה (meshamah) meaning "horror" denote the specific forms the coming devastation will take. These words describe how the nation will become an object of public scorn and desolation to surrounding peoples.

The thread — This pattern of foreign nations witnessing divine punishment appears in Ezekiel 25:17, Jeremiah 22:8, and 1 Kings 9:7. Each passage records God's judgment being observed or questioned by surrounding powers as a demonstration of His authority.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that historical catastrophe functions as a visible record of divine justice. It demands recognition that the LORD's spoken word initiates judgment intended to reveal His identity to the nations.

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

וְֽהָ֨יְתָ֜הve./Ha.ye.Tahand/ it will be חֶרְפָּ֤הcher.Paha reproach וּגְדוּפָה֙u./ge.du.Fahand/ a taunt מוּסָ֣רmu.Sara warning וּמְשַׁמָּ֔הu./me.sha.Mahand/ a horror לַגּוֹיִ֖םla./go.Yimto the/ nations אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich סְבִיבוֹתָ֑יִךְse.vi.vo.Ta.yi/kh[are] around/ you בַּעֲשׂוֹתִי֩ba./'a.so.T/iwhen/ bring about/ Iבָ֨ךְva/khon/ youשְׁפָטִ֜יםshe.fa.Timjudgments בְּאַ֤ףbe./'Afin/ anger וּבְחֵמָה֙u./ve./che.Mahand/ in/ rage וּבְתֹכְח֣וֹתu./ve./to.khe.Chotand/ with/ rebukes of חֵמָ֔הche.Mahrage אֲנִ֥י'a.NiI יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahweh דִּבַּֽרְתִּי׃di.Bar.tiI have spoken

King James Version

So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the Lord have spoken it.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 25:17 I will execute great vengeance against them with furious reproof. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.’”
Jeremiah 22:8 And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’
1 Kings 9:7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.
Isaiah 26:9 My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
Isaiah 66:15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
1 Corinthians 10:11 Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
Deuteronomy 29:24 So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
Psalms 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.
Nahum 1:2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies.