The Song of the Sword
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel. 3 Tell the land of Israel, ‘Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, and will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. 4 Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore my sword will go out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. 5 All flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have drawn my sword out of its sheath. It will not return any more.”’ 6 “Therefore sigh, you son of man. You shall sigh before their eyes with a broken heart and with bitterness. 7 It shall be, when they ask you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it comes! Every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh.’” 8 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Yahweh says: “A sword! A sword! It is sharpened, and also polished. 10 It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter. It is polished that it may be as lightning. Should we then make mirth? The rod of my son condemns every tree. 11 It is given to be polished, that it may be handled. The sword is sharpened. Yes, it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer.”’ 12 Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people. It is on all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Therefore beat your thigh. 13 “For there is a trial. What if even the rod that condemns will be no more?” says the Lord Yahweh. 14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together. Let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the fatally wounded. It is the sword of the great one who is fatally wounded, which enters into their rooms. 15 I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied. Ah! It is made as lightning. It is pointed for slaughter. 16 Gather yourselves together. Go to the right. Set yourselves in array. Go to the left, wherever your face is set. 17 I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.”
A sword is sharpened and polished in a chant, and the prophet is told to groan aloud so that people ask him why.
The chapter opens with an instruction to preach in a direction — set your face toward Jerusalem, and toward the sanctuary — and with an announcement that a sword is being drawn out of its sheath against righteous and wicked alike. That last phrase is uncomfortable and it is meant to be. A national catastrophe does not sort its casualties, and the book has already dealt with the individual question at length in chapter 18. Here it is describing what happens to a country.
Ezekiel is then told to sigh with a broken heart and with bitterness in front of them, and to keep doing it until they ask what is wrong. The answer he is given to hold in reserve is short: because of the news; when it comes every heart will melt and every hand be feeble. The pattern is the same one used with the baggage and the wall. He performs the coming grief until somebody asks, and the question is what opens the message.
The song itself is the strangest piece of writing in the book. A sword! A sword! It is sharpened, and also polished. Sharpened for slaughter, polished so that it flashes like lightning, given to be handled, put into the hand of the killer. It is a work song for an armorer, and it is being sung about the sword's use on the singer's own people. In the middle of it comes the line that stops the rhythm: Should we then make mirth?
The last verses turn the performance back on the prophet. He is to cry and wail, because the sword is on his people and on all the princes of Israel, and to beat your thigh and strike his hands together. Ezekiel is not permitted to deliver this at a distance. He announces the sword and mourns it in the same paragraph, and the chapter gives no indication that the two are in tension.
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