What Does Ezekiel 11:25 Mean?
Then I spoke to those who were carried away all the words that the LORD had caused me to see.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.THE KEY
The verse binds what the LORD shows to what is spoken: the same Hebrew root carries both speech and the word itself.
THE MEANING
What the LORD shows is carried into words and spoken among the displaced. Captivity does not erase the possibility of receiving and hearing what is revealed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that displacement puts a person beyond God’s reach is undone here: what is shown is spoken right among those in captivity.
THE ROOT
דִּבֵּר
dibber
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak; word, matter, or thing.
“spoke” in this verse is dibber. The verse repeats this root in “I spake” and “the words,” holding the act of speaking and the matter spoken together. What is shown takes form as a word carried into the place of captivity.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word, matter, or thing.
דָּבָר
This noun form joins a spoken word to the matter it names, echoing the verse’s “all the things” and “words.”
dibber: Spoke or declared.
דִּבֵּר
This is the verb in “I spake,” linking the one who speaks directly to the words being conveyed.
הֶרְאָה
her'ah
GROWS FROM
ראה
To see or perceive; in this form, to show or make visible.
“caused me to see” in this verse is her'ah. The showing in this verse is made visible to someone before it is spoken to others. The root keeps perception and appearance together, revealing a movement from what is seen to what can be heard.
ALSO GROWS
ra'ah: See or perceive.
רָאָה
This is the root verb beneath “shewed,” connecting the LORD’s showing with the act of seeing.
mar'eh: Appearance or vision.
מַרְאֶה
This noun names what appears to sight, giving form to what the verse says the LORD makes visible.
THE PATTERN
What God reveals becomes a word entrusted to be spoken.
For the Lord GOD does nothing, unless he uncovers his secret to his servants the prophets.For I am the LORD. I will speak, and the word I speak shall be done. It shall no more be drawn out. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a word and do it, says the Lord GOD.For I have not spoken from myself, but the Father who sent me has given me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.THE THREAD
For I am the LORD. I will speak, and the word I speak shall be done. It shall no more be drawn out. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a word and do it, says the Lord GOD.The same Hebrew root, דבר (d-b-r, “speak” and “word”), repeats here: the LORD speaks, and the word spoken comes to pass. It opens Ezekiel 11:25 further by showing that what is spoken is not separate from what is revealed.
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