What Does Ezekiel 21:1 Mean?
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
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
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,THE KEY
The LORD’s word arrives as an event: its speaking is something that happens to you, not just something you hear.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s word reaches you as an address, and its arrival is itself an event. It meets you where you are and opens into speech, rather than remaining an idea held at a distance.
THE ROOT
דָּבָר
davar
GROWS FROM
דבר
D-B-R
To speak; a word, matter, or thing spoken of.
Davar can mean both a spoken word and a matter or thing. When the word comes, what reaches the speaker is more than information: a matter enters the present and takes form in speech.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: To speak or declare.
דִּבֵּר
The verse ends with “saying,” showing the arriving word becoming direct address.
devarim: Words or matters; the plural form of davar.
דְּבָרִים
The word carries both what is said and the matter being brought into view.
וַיְהִי
wayehi
GROWS FROM
היה
H-Y-H
To be, become, or happen.
“came” in this verse is wayehi. The verb wayehi comes from hayah, a root of being and happening. The phrase presents the word’s arrival as an event unfolding for the speaker, not simply as an object moving from one place to another.
ALSO GROWS
hayah: To be, become, or happen.
הָיָה
This is the root behind “came,” framing the word’s arrival as something that occurs.
ehyeh: A form of the same root meaning “I am” or “I will be.”
אֶהְיֶה
It echoes the root’s sense of presence and becoming within the verse’s language of arrival.
THE PATTERN
The divine word arrives as a living address that meets a person in the present.
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, and your very great wages.Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,For the word of God is living and working, and sharper than any two-edged sword, reaching through even to the dividing of living soul and breath, of joints and marrow, and it separates the inward movements and thoughts of the heart.THE THREAD
By the word of the LORD the heavens are made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.The Hebrew word translated “word” is davar in both verses. Psalm 33:6 places that same davar at the making of the heavens, opening Ezekiel’s arriving word as something with creative force.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us