What Does Ezekiel 21:26 Mean in the King James?
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew uses one root for “low” and “abase,” so the same root names the condition the verse raises and the action that brings the high down.
THE MEANING
The arrangement of power you see now is not fixed: those held low can be raised, and the high can be brought down. Rank is reversible; it does not define a person permanently.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being high proves inherent worth, or that being low defines you forever.
THE ROOT
שָׁפָל
shāphāl
GROWS FROM
שפל
to be low or brought down
“Low” and “abase” come from the same Hebrew root: one names a condition, the other the act of bringing someone into it. The verse raises the low and lowers the high through a reversal encoded in that shared root.
ALSO GROWS
shāphāl: low, lowly
שָׁפָל
This names the condition of the one the verse raises.
hishpîl: to lower, abase
הִשְׁפִּיל
This names what happens to the high, using the same שפל root as “low.”
גָּבֹהַּ
gābhōah
GROWS FROM
גבה
to be high or rise
The verse pairs height with its opposite movement: the high are brought down as the low are raised. The root can name both the elevated state and the act of raising, making position a movement rather than a permanent identity.
ALSO GROWS
gābhōah: high, elevated
גָּבֹהַּ
This names the position the verse overturns.
hagbēah: raise, exalt
הַגְבֵּהַּ
This is the movement applied to the low, from the same גבה root that describes height.
THE PATTERN
When power is overturned, the low are raised and the high are brought down.
The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.THE THREAD
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:Isaiah’s “made low” comes from שפל, the same Hebrew root as Ezekiel’s “abase.” The image of valleys rising and high ground lowering makes the shared root’s reversal visible across the landscape.
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