Verse Lens · Context pointer
Ezekiel 21:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The prophetic word through Ezekiel states or reports “Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword…” at Ezekiel 21:4 as a specific part of “The Unsheathed Sword Targets Jerusalem.”
Read It With
- Ezekiel 21:1–7
Read Ezekiel 21:4 with 21:1–7. By itself, “Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, exilic horizon, visionary movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: The south-fire image becomes a sword against Jerusalem, holy places, righteous and wicked alike; Ezekiel sighs visibly as news melts courage.
Why It Needs Context
Ezekiel 21:4 performs a local role inside “The Unsheathed Sword Targets Jerusalem.” The prophetic word through Ezekiel states or reports “Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword…” at Ezekiel 21:4 as a specific part of “The Unsheathed Sword Targets Jerusalem.” The selected verse alone does not carry the full claim.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Ezekiel 21:1–7 — The Unsheathed Sword Targets JerusalemSources 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 21:1–7, 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 21:1–7
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗