From Ruth

A.(1) Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it. (3) And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee,

B. i. and I will make thee most desolate.

ii. (4) I will lay thy cities waste,

      i’ and thou shalt be desolate,

C. and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

D.(5) Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: (6) Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.

E.(7) Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth.

F.(8) And I will fill his mountains with his slain men:

F’. in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.

E’.(9) I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return:

and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

D’. (10) Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: 11Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.

C’. (12) And thou shalt know that I am the LORD,

B’. and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. (13) Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them. (14) Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. (15) As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate,

A’. O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Note: the centre of this judgment picks out the  mountains, hills, valleys and rivers. This is a theme in the next prophecy 36:4,6. It emphasises that the great dispute at the end time will be over territory and the land of Israel.  The pattern of the chiasm is broken by “and ye shall know that I am the LORD” in verse 9. Is this an example of  what Walsh calls an “unmatched subunit” that serve to give added impact. Or have we missed something?

A And I will set up one SHEPHERD over them,

B and HE SHALL FEED THEM,

C even my servant David;

B′ HE SHALL FEED THEM,

A′ and he shall be their SHEPHERD.

A (18) Son of man, NEBUCHADREZZAR KING OF BABYLON

B (18) caused his army TO SERVE

C (18) a great SERVICE

D (18) against TYRUS:

E (18) every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army,

D′ (18) for TYRUS,

C′ (18) for THE SERVICE

B′ (18) that HE HAD SERVED against it:

A′ (19) Therefore thus saith the Lord Yahweh; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto NEBUCHADREZZAR KING OF BABYLON; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

A (24) And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are ROUND ABOUT THEM,

B (24) THAT DESPISED THEM; and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

C (25, 26) Thus saith the Lord Yahweh; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then SHALL THEY DWELL in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And THEY SHALL DWELL SAFELY <0983> therein,

D (26) and shall build houses, and plant vineyards;

C′ (26) yea, THEY SHALL DWELL WITH CONFIDENCE <0983>,

B′ (26) when I have executed judgments upon all those THAT DESPISE THEM

A′ (26) ROUND ABOUT THEM; and they shall know that I am Yahweh their God.

From Ruth

A.(1) The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD;

B.

a. Because thine heart is lifted up,

b. and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas;

c. yet thou art a man,

b’. and not God,

a’. though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

C.(3) Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: (4) With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: (5) By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

D.(6) Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

C’.(7) Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. (8)They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

B’. (9)

a. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee,

b. I am God?

c. but thou shalt be a man,

b’. and no God,

a’. in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

A’.(10) Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

Note: -the structure suggests that the key sin of Tyre is to make a claim to divinity. At one time the king of Tyre had been a friend of Israel and had contributed to the true Temple in Jerusalem.  But clearly Tyre had fallen away from the true God. How similar is the language to the description of  the Man of Sin in 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

Note: this is an attempt to discern the structure of a complex chapter and as all these posts is put up for discussion. Corrections and better suggestions are always welcome.

 

Introduction:  1B’ is an answer to the possible presumption of 1B.

1A. (1) And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD,

1B. and sat before me.

1A’.(2) Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying, (3) Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

1B’. (4) Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them?

Part 1 – Israel in Egypt where YHWH made Himself known to them.

2A.  cause them to know the abominations of their fathers: (5) And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;

a. In the day when I chose Israel,

b. and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, 

     c. and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, 

  b’. when I lifted up mine hand unto them,

     c’. saying, I am the LORD your God;

a’. (6) In the day

b”. that I lifted up mine hand unto them,

    c”. to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

2B. (7) Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt:

 2C. I am the LORD your God.

2B’. (8) But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt:

2A’. then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. (9) But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them,  in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

Part 2 – For His Name’s sake YHWH brought Israel out of Egypt into the  wilderness where He gave them a law which they did not honour.

(Note: overlapping structure, 2A’ = 3A)

3A.(8) then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. (9) But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

3B. (10) Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

i. (11) And I gave them my statutes,

ii. and shewed them my judgments,

iii. which if a man do, he shall even live in them.

iv. (12) Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them,

3C. that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.

3B’. (13) But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness:

i’. they walked not in my statutes,

ii’. and they despised my judgments,

iii’. which if a man do, he shall even live in them;

iv’. and my sabbaths they greatly polluted:

3A’. then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. (14) But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.

Note: Israel were turned back to die in the wilderness but their children were allowed to live. They also rebelled against the law renewed with them (v18 – Deuteronomy?),and the warning was they would be scattered out of the land.

(Note: overlapping structure 2A’ = 3A)

4A. then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. (14) But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.

4B. (15) Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

4C. (16)

i. Because they despised my judgments,

ii. and walked not in my statutes,

iv. but polluted my sabbaths:

v. for their heart went after their idols.

4D. (17) Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.(18)  But I said unto their children in the wilderness,

ii. Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers,

i. neither observe their judgments,

v. nor defile yourselves with their idols:

4E. (19) I am the LORD your God;

ii’. walk in my statutes,

i’. and keep my judgments, and do them;

iii’. (20) And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you,

4E’. that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

4D’. (21) Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me:

ii. they walked not in my statutes,

i. neither kept my judgments to do them,

iii. which if a man do, he shall even live in them;

iv. they polluted my sabbaths:

4A’. then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. (22) Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. 

4B’.(23) I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;

4C’.

i’. (24)Because they had not executed my judgments,

ii’. but had despised my statutes,

iii’. and had polluted my sabbaths,

iv’. and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

Note: This following section has some difficult verses. What are the statutes that were not good – v25? Is this a reference to the words of Deuteronomy 28 promising ejection form the land if they rebelled? The Lord would never allow them to stay in the land and become just like the nations around (v32).

5A.(25) Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;

5B.(26) And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

5C.(27).Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

5D.(28) For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees,

5E. and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.

5D’.(29) Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.

5C’.(30) Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?

5B’.(31)For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

5A’. (32) And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

Note; After their scattering the Lord promised to regather Israel, but first He will bring them through “the wilderness” to purge them of their sins.

6A. (33)  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out,will I rule over you: (34) And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.

6B.(35) And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. (36) Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. (37) And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:

6C.(38) And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel:

6D. and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

6C’.(39) As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

6B’.(40) For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

6A'(41). I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.

Note: This final section emphasises what has been prominent throughout the passage, YHWH’s name – His character and purpose – will be made known to His people Israel who in being regathered  will repent and be forgiven. “And so all Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26).

7A.(42) And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.

7B.(43) And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.

7A’.(44) And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 38:12-16:

A (12) To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of THE NATIONS <01471>,

B (12) which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of THE LAND.

C (13) Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered THY COMPANY to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

D (14) Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord Yahweh; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

C′ (15) And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great COMPANY, and a mighty army:

B′ (16) And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover THE LAND; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against MY LAND,

A′ (16) that THE HEATHEN <01471> may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Ezekiel 38:15-19:

A (15) And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a GREAT company, and a mighty army:

B (16) And THOU SHALT COME UP against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land;

C (16) it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O GOG, before their eyes.

D (17) Thus saith the Lord Yahweh; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

C′ (18) And it shall come to pass at the same time when GOG shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Yahweh,

B′ (18) that my fury SHALL COME UP in my face.

A′ (19) For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a GREAT shaking in the land of Israel;

Ezekiel 38:16-20:

A (16) And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover THE LAND <0776>; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against MY LAND <0776>, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

B (17) Thus saith the Lord Yahweh; Art thou he of whom I HAVE SPOKEN in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

C (18) And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Yahweh, that my fury shall come up in my face.

B′ (19) For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath HAVE I SPOKEN, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land <0127> of Israel;

A′ (20) So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to THE GROUND <0776>.

Note “high” is after “mountain” in Hebrew in verse 22.

A (22) Thus saith the Lord Yahweh; I will also take of the highest branch of the high CEDAR,

B (22) and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and WILL PLANT IT

C (22) upon AN MOUNTAIN

D (22) high and eminent:

C′ (23) In THE MOUNTAIN of the height of Israel

B′ (23) WILL I PLANT IT: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit,

A′ (23) and be a goodly CEDAR: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

A.(1) Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. (2) And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

B.(3) Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

C.(4) Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house;

B’. and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’S glory.

A’.(5) And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. (6) And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels. (7) And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.

 

A (19) And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of THE EAST GATE OF YAHWEH’S HOUSE; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

B (20) This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel BY THE RIVER OF CHEBAR; and I knew that they were the cherubims.

C (21) Every one had four FACES apiece,

D (21) and every one four WINGS;

E (21) and the likeness of the hands of a man

D′ (21) was under THEIR WINGS.

C′ (22) And the likeness of THEIR FACES was the same FACES which I saw

B′ (22) BY THE RIVER OF CHEBAR, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.

A′ (11:1) Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto THE EAST GATE OF YAHWEH’S HOUSE, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.