Ezekiel 25 17

Ezekiel 25:17 - And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall
know
that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
Verse
And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the
LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. - Ezekiel 25:17
Meaning of Ezekiel 25:17

The meaning of the verse Ezekiel 25:17 “And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious
rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them,” is that
God is protective of His believers, also called children. He remembers those who hurt his children and
takes it upon Himself to avenge them on their behalf. The term “furious rebukes” might have been
intended to explain and show the severity of his anger and revenge. This verse has also become famous
with a twisted version through film ‘Pulp Fiction’ and remains on the most searched verse in the pop
culture instead of a Biblical perspective.
Interpretations of Ezekiel 25:17

The verse Ezekiel 25:17 might look simple to understand but it is easy to misinterpret and perceive in
different ways even with the context from the entire chapter. A few interpretations are as follows.
Interpretation #1 God in the Old Testament is always angry

One of the interpretations of the verse, “And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious
rebukes,” is that God is an angry God, especially in the Old Testament. This perspective can come from
anyone who is familiar with the Old Testament, as there are numerous instances where God states
through His priests and prophets that He will avenge on behalf of His people. The idea might have been
to instill fear in the enemies, but the same also makes the readers to believe that He always angry. As
the anger was not always directed towards the enemies but also towards Israelites/His children who
disobeyed his commands, confirms that the God in the Old Testament is an angry God.
Interpretation #2 God’s enemies are bound to be dead

When God says, “I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know
that I am the LORD it means that vengeance is about death as a punishment. There are numerous
instances in the Old Testament where God is said to have followed through with His threat, where the
enemies were killed in the battle or through diseases. The act of punishing people, nations, or enemies
with death was likely because God wanted to create fear in other people and show that He was
protective about the nation of Israel and the laws given to them. Thus, the term “furious rebukes” as
opposed to admonitions does sound like a death threat.
Interpretation #3 God’s followers and believers don’t have to fight wars

In this interpretation the meaning of the phrase, “and they shall know that I am the Lord when I shall
lay my vengeance upon them,” is that God fights on behalf of His children. He expects and even
commands them to step aside. Also, God has mentioned to His children to follow Him in faith behaving
to do anything here. The context of this verse is the Israelites war against the Ammonites, which only
confirms that God’s followers do not really have to worry while they are fighting wars. Since God
promises to avenge them, they can be confident in winning it.
Interpretation #4 God wants His people to see His power
In this version and part of the verse, “they shall know that I am the LORD” it can be interpreted as God
wanting to establish or display His power to His believers as well as the enemies. The Old Testament has
many instances of Israelites disobedience, rebellion and God punishment followed by His forgiveness as
a cycle. This also means that God had displayed His power to end the cycle. It is possible that Ezekiel
25:17 was solely meant to make people aware of God’s power, strength, and divinity.
Interpretation #5 God’s protection is always with his people during wars

In the background of this chapter, the author reminds his readers that God may discipline His children,
but He also defends and protects them from their enemies. The phrase, “And I will execute great
vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay
my vengeance upon them,” means that God protects them against the enemies and destroys anyone
who tries to harm his people. However, it doesn’t mean that the follower must be over confident or stay
still during the trying times. While the verse applies to historical wars that were already fought, it applies
to any situation when a person is struggling.
Historical Background of Ezekiel 25:17

The book of Ezekiel was written by the well-known prophet Ezekiel, who had ministered to Israelites
from the years 592 B.C. to 570 B.C. He warned them of the eventual destruction of Jerusalem at the
hands of Babylon in the year 586 B.C. Ezekiel wrote most of his messages from captivity as one of 10,000
Jews taken by King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. The verse Ezekiel 25:17 was not only a message of
comfort for the Israelites but also a warning to the enemies and nations who wanted to destroy Israel.
Literary devices of Ezekiel 25:17

The verse Ezekiel 25:17 is a strong statement by God and hence holds its own power. This long sentence
has some interesting literary devices. The examples are as follows.
Theme - The verse Ezekiel 25:17 uses themes of wrath, vengeance or revenge and the authority of God.
Repetition - The word ‘vengeance’ is repeated twice in the verse Ezekiel 25:17, to emphasize that God
does not tolerate disobedience and also protects His children.
Consonance - The verse is not a poem there are is a good use of consonance. For examples the sound
/t/ and /s/ in ‘And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes’ and the sound of
/n/‘when I shall lay my vengeance upon them’.
Ad Hominem - The verse Ezekiel 25:17 uses ad hominem, which means against the man by declaring
that He (God) will rebuke them and also punish them for their actions.
Amplification - There is also a good use of ‘amplication’ as the verse ends with repeated phrase to
increase its information and also grab the attention of the readers. For example, ‘when I shall lay my
vengeance upon them’.

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Ezekiel 25:17 - And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall

Meaning of Ezekiel 25:17

Interpretations of Ezekiel 25:17

Interpretation #1 God in the Old Testament is always angry

Interpretation #2 God’s enemies are bound to be dead

Interpretation #3 God’s followers and believers don’t have to fight wars

Interpretation #5 God’s protection is always with his people during wars

Historical Background of Ezekiel 25:17

Literary devices of Ezekiel 25:17

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