Verse Lens · Context pointer
Ezekiel 20:46 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 46. 46Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The riddle or allegory and its interpretation introduces or commands “Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy…” at Ezekiel 20:46 as “Fire against the South Becomes an Unanswered Parable” develops.
Read It With
- Ezekiel 20:45–49
Read Ezekiel 20:46 with 20:45–49. By itself, “Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, exilic horizon, visionary movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: The face turns south as an unquenchable forest fire burns every green and dry tree; Ezekiel protests that hearers call him a speaker of parables.
Why It Needs Context
Keep the line with Ezekiel 20:45–49. The riddle or allegory and its interpretation introduces or commands “Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy…” at Ezekiel 20:46 as “Fire against the South Becomes an Unanswered Parable” develops. The literary form and this limit govern it: The fire does not authorize arson or automatic climate-disaster judgments, and the complaint does not prove obscurity is a prophetic virtue.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Ezekiel 20:45–49 — Fire against the South Becomes an Unanswered ParableSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 20:45–49, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 20:45–49
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗