Keraia
Ezekiel 11

Ezekiel 11:15

A Promise of Restoration · Ezekiel 11:13–21
Read Ezekiel 11

Translations

Modern
“Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’
Traditional
Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the Lord: unto us is this land given in possession.
Literal
“Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, the men of your kindred, and all the house of Israel—all of it, are those whom those dwelling in Jerusalem have said to them, ‘Get far away from YHWH; this land has been given to us as a possession.’
Latin
Fili hominis, fratres tui, fratres tui, viri propinqui tui, et omnis domus Israël, universi quibus dixerunt habitatores Jerusalem: Longe recedite a Domino: nobis data est terra in possessionem.

Original

Hebrew
English
“Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

Notes

Ezekiel 11:15–16

  • Those who stayed in the land thought the exiles were far from the Lord, with no one to protect their family land. Normally, relatives (literally men of your redemption) would have redeemed Ezekiel’s family property if he faced debt or trouble. Since the exiles left as family groups, no one remained in Judah to guard their inherited properties.

  • this land has been given to us as a possession: Those who stayed thought the exiles were under God's judgment and had lost their ancestral lands. The opposite was true. Israel's future was with the distant exiles, as the Lord went with them and would be a sanctuary during their exile (see Ezekiel 11:22–23).

Ezekiel 8:1–11:25

This section describes how the people defiled (made unclean by sin) the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8). Because of this sin, the Lord left the temple. After he left, the city and the temple were destroyed (9:1–11:13).

At first, this sounds like only bad news. But for those already living in exile, it was also good news. The Lord was not limited to the temple in Jerusalem. He would come to be with his people in exile.

By coming to dwell with them, the Lord showed that the exiles were not forgotten. They were the ones who carried hope for the future of God’s people.

Events

Parallels

Jeremiah 32:36–44

People

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Places

Jerusalem: The capital of Israel, a holy city for three religions

Glossary

Ezekiel, Book of Haggai, Book of

Topics

Backsliders: Backsliding of Israel