Ezekiel 5 · Verse 16

Ezekiel 5:16

When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
Ezekiel 5:16, King James Version

Ezekiel 5:16 in other translations

BSBWhen I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food.
WEBwhen I send on them the evil arrows of famine that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you. I will increase the famine on you and will break your staff of bread.
ASVwhen I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you. And I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread;
YLTIn My sending the evil arrows of famine among them, That have been for destruction, That I send to destroy you, And famine I am adding upon you, And I have broken to you the staff of bread.
DARBYWhen I send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that are for their destruction, which I send to destroy you, then will I increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread.
BBEWhen I send on you the evil arrows of disease, causing destruction, which I will send to put an end to you; and, further, I will take away your necessary food.
WebsterWhen I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:

What does Ezekiel 5:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. arrows of famine--hail, rain, mice, locusts, mildew (see De 32:23, 24). increase the famine--literally, "congregate" or "collect." When ye think your harvest safe because ye have escaped drought, mildew, &c., I will find other means [Calvin], which I will congregate as the forces of an invading army, to bring famine on you.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 The evil arrows of famine - Famine and pestilence are represented as poisoned arrows, inflicting death wherever they wound. The ancients represented them in the same way.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 5:5-17

The sentence passed upon Jerusalem is very dreadful, the manner of expression makes it still more so. Who is able to stand in God's sight when he is angry? Those who live and die impenitent, will perish for ever unpitied; there is a day coming when the Lord will not spare. Let not persons or churches, who change the Lord's statutes, expect to escape the doom of Jerusalem. Let us endeavour to adorn the doctrine of…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 5:5-17 →

Ezekiel 5:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

בְּֽשַׁלְּחִ֡יbe.sha.le.Chiwhen shoot IH7971
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
חִצֵּי֩chi.Tzei[the] arrows ofH2671
הָרָעָ֨בha.ra.'Av<the> famineH7458
הָרָעִ֤יםha.ra.'Im<the> harmfulH7451
בָּהֶם֙ba.Hemon them
אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834
הָי֣וּha.Yuthey will beH1961
לְמַשְׁחִ֔יתle.mash.Chitfor destructionH4889
אֲשֶׁר\־'a.Sher-whichH834
אֲשַׁלַּ֥ח'a.sha.LachI will shootH7971
אוֹתָ֖ם'o.Tam<obj.> themH853
לְשַֽׁחֶתְכֶ֑םle.sha.chet.Khemto destroy youH7843
וְרָעָב֙ve.ra.'Avand famineH7458
אֹסֵ֣ף'o.SefI will increaseH3254
עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם'a.lei.Khemon youH5921
וְשָׁבַרְתִּ֥יve.sha.var.Tiand I will breakH7665
לָכֶ֖םla.Khemof you
מַטֵּה\־ma.teh-staff ofH4294
לָֽחֶם\׃La.chembreadH3899

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezekiel 5:16

  • Ezekiel 4:16

    Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:

  • Deuteronomy 32:23-24

    I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

  • Psalms 7:13

    He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

  • Leviticus 26:26

    And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

  • Isaiah 3:1

    For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

  • 2 Kings 6:25

    And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.

  • Lamentations 3:12

    He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

  • Ezekiel 14:13

    Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:

  • Psalms 91:5-7

    Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the evil.
De 32:23,24; Ps 7:13; 91:5-7; La 3:12
and will.
4:16; 14:13; Le 26:26; 2Ki 6:25; Isa 3:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ezekiel 5:15

    So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the Lord have spoken it.

  • Ezekiel 5:16

    When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:

  • Ezekiel 5:17

    So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it.

Read all of Ezekiel 5

Ezekiel 5:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Cuando arrojare yo sobre ellos las perniciosas saetas del hambre, que serán para destrucción, las cuales enviaré para destruiros, entonces aumentaré el hambre sobre vosotros, y quebrantaré entre vosotros el arrimo del pan.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Quand j’enverrai parmi eux les flèches funestes de la famine qui seront pour la destruction, lesquelles j’enverrai pour vous détruire, j’augmenterai sur vous la famine, et je briserai pour vous le bâton du pain;
German
Elberfelder 1871
Wenn ich die bösen Pfeile des Hungers wider sie sende, welche zum Verderben sein werden, die ich senden werde, um euch zu verderben, so werde ich den Hunger über euch häufen und euch den Stab des Brotes zerbrechen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Ego Dominus locutus sum: quando misero sagittas famis pessimas in eos, quæ erunt mortiferæ, et quas mittam ut disperdam vos: et famem congregabo super vos, et conteram in vobis baculum panis: