Ezekiel 7 · Verse 17

Ezekiel 7:17

All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
Ezekiel 7:17, King James Version

Ezekiel 7:17 in other translations

BSBEvery hand will go limp, and every knee will turn to water.
WEBAll hands will be feeble, and all knees will be weak as water.
ASVAll hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
YLTAll the hands are feeble, and all knees go--waters.
DARBYAll hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall melt into water.
BBEAll hands will be feeble and all knees without strength, like water.
WebsterAll hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

What does Ezekiel 7:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
17. shall be weak as water--literally, "shall go (as) waters"; incapable of resistance (Jos 7:5; Psa 22:14; Is 13:7).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 All knees shall be weak as water - Calmet understands this curiously: La frayeur dont on sera saisi, fera qu'on ne pourra retenir son urine. D'autres l'expliquent d'une autre souillure plus honteuse. I believe him to be nearly about right. St. Jerome is exactly the same: Pavoris magnitudine, urina polluet genua, nec valebit profluentes aquas vesica prohibere. This and other malretentions are often the natural effect of extreme fear or terror.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 7:16-22

Sooner or later, sin will cause sorrow; and those who will not repent of their sin, may justly be left to pine away in it. There are many whose wealth is their snare and ruin; and the gaining the world is the losing of their souls. Riches profit not in the day of wrath. The wealth of this world has not that in it which will answer the desires of the soul, or be any satisfaction to it in a day of distress. God's…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 7:16-22 →

Ezekiel 7:17 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.

כָּל\־kol-allH3605
הַיָּדַ֖יִםhai.ya.Da.yimthe pairs of handsH3027
תִּרְפֶּ֑ינָהtir.Pei.nahthey will dropH7503
וְכָל\־ve.kholand allH3605
בִּרְכַּ֖יִםbir.Ka.yimkneesH1290
תֵּלַ֥כְנָהte.Lakh.nahthey will goH1980
מָּֽיִם\׃Ma.yimwaterH4325

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

Cross references for Ezekiel 7:17

  • Ezekiel 21:7

    And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.

  • Hebrews 12:12

    Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

  • Ezekiel 22:14

    Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.

  • Isaiah 13:7-8

    Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

  • Jeremiah 6:24

    We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
hands.
21:7; Isa 13:7,8; Jer 6:24; Heb 12:12
be weak as water. Heb. go into water.

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

Context

  • Ezekiel 7:16

    But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.

  • Ezekiel 7:17

    All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

  • Ezekiel 7:18

    They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.

Read all of Ezekiel 7

Ezekiel 7:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Todas manos serán descoyuntadas, y declinarán como aguas todas rodillas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Toutes les mains deviendront lâches, et tous les genoux se fondront en eau.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Alle Hände werden erschlaffen, und alle Knie werden zerfließen wie Wasser.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Omnes manus dissolventur, et omnia genua fluent aquis.