1sn This would be March 3, 585 b.c. 2tn The lion was a figure of royalty (Ezek 19:1-9). 3tc The Hebrew reads “their streams”; the LXX reads “your streams.” 4tn The expression “throw my net” is common in Ezekiel (12:13; 17:20; 19:8). 5tn Or “cause.” 6tn Heb “live.” 7tn Or “cause.” 8tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals. 9tc The Hebrew text is difficult here, apparently meaning “your height.” Following Symmachus and the Syriac, it is preferable to emend the text to read “your maggots.” See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:203. 10tn Heb “from you.” 11tn Heb “will not shine its light.” For similar features of cosmic eschatology, see Joel 2:10; 4:15; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph 1:5. 12tn Heb “I will provoke the heart of.” 13sn The king of Babylon referred to here was Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek 21:19). 14tn Heb “approach.” 15tn Heb “muddy.” 16tn Heb “them,” that is, the waters mentioned in the previous line. The translation clarifies the referent. 17tn Heb “sink,” that is, to settle and become clear, not muddied. 18tn March 17, 585 b.c. The LXX adds “first month.” 19tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16). 20sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37. 21tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style. 22tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt. 23tc The LXX places this verse after v. 21.tn The words “say to them” are added in the translation for clarity to indicate the shift in addressee from the prophet to Egypt. 24tn Heb “pleasantness.” 25tn Heb “around him his graves.” The masculine pronominal suffixes are problematic; the expression is best emended to correspond to the phrase “around her grave” in v. 23. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:219. 26tn Heb “all of them slain, the ones felled by the sword.” See as well vv. 23-24. 27tn Heb “whose.” 28tn The only other occurrence of the phrase “remote slopes of the pit” is in Isa 14:15. 29tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24). 30tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24). 31tc Heb “of the uncircumcised.” The LXX reads, probably correctly, “from of old” rather than “of the uncircumcised.” The phrases are very similar in spelling. The warriors of Meshech-Tubal are described as uncircumcised, so it would be odd for them to not be buried with the uncircumcised. Verse 28 specifically says that they would lie with the uncircumcised. 32tn Heb “and their iniquities were over their bones.” The meaning of this statement is unclear; in light of the parallelism (see “swords”) it is preferable to emend “their iniquities” to “their swords.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:135.
1sn This would be March 3, 585 b.c.
2tn The lion was a figure of royalty (Ezek 19:1-9).
3tc The Hebrew reads “their streams”; the LXX reads “your streams.”
4tn The expression “throw my net” is common in Ezekiel (12:13; 17:20; 19:8).
5tn Or “cause.”
6tn Heb “live.”
7tn Or “cause.”
8tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.
9tc The Hebrew text is difficult here, apparently meaning “your height.” Following Symmachus and the Syriac, it is preferable to emend the text to read “your maggots.” See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:203.
10tn Heb “from you.”
11tn Heb “will not shine its light.” For similar features of cosmic eschatology, see Joel 2:10; 4:15; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph 1:5.
12tn Heb “I will provoke the heart of.”
13sn The king of Babylon referred to here was Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek 21:19).
14tn Heb “approach.”
15tn Heb “muddy.”
16tn Heb “them,” that is, the waters mentioned in the previous line. The translation clarifies the referent.
17tn Heb “sink,” that is, to settle and become clear, not muddied.
18tn March 17, 585 b.c. The LXX adds “first month.”
19tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16).
20sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37.
21tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style.
22tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt.
23tc The LXX places this verse after v. 21.
tn The words “say to them” are added in the translation for clarity to indicate the shift in addressee from the prophet to Egypt.
24tn Heb “pleasantness.”
25tn Heb “around him his graves.” The masculine pronominal suffixes are problematic; the expression is best emended to correspond to the phrase “around her grave” in v. 23. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:219.
26tn Heb “all of them slain, the ones felled by the sword.” See as well vv. 23-24.
27tn Heb “whose.”
28tn The only other occurrence of the phrase “remote slopes of the pit” is in Isa 14:15.
29tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
30tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
31tc Heb “of the uncircumcised.” The LXX reads, probably correctly, “from of old” rather than “of the uncircumcised.” The phrases are very similar in spelling. The warriors of Meshech-Tubal are described as uncircumcised, so it would be odd for them to not be buried with the uncircumcised. Verse 28 specifically says that they would lie with the uncircumcised.
32tn Heb “and their iniquities were over their bones.” The meaning of this statement is unclear; in light of the parallelism (see “swords”) it is preferable to emend “their iniquities” to “their swords.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:135.