What Does Ezekiel 24:16 Mean in the King James?
Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
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 verse makes silence itself part of the loss by naming each form of mourning that is withheld.
THE MEANING
You face a loss that arrives beyond your control: what your eyes most cherish is taken in a blow. Mourning, weeping, and flowing tears are then forbidden one by one, leaving grief without its outward release. The beloved is still named as precious even as its removal is commanded.
THE ROOT
מַחְמַד
maḥmad
GROWS FROM
חמד
ḥ-m-d
To desire, take pleasure in, or regard as desirable and precious.
Here maḥmad (מַחְמַד, a prized or desired thing) names what draws the eyes as their delight, carrying both the desire and the beloved thing desired. The same root can name coveting and what is desirable, keeping the precious object in view as it is taken away.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāmad: To desire, take pleasure in, or covet.
חָמַד
This verb shows that the verse’s “desire” belongs to a root that can describe the act of wanting as well as what is wanted.
neḥmād: Desirable, pleasing, or precious.
נֶחְמָד
This related form shows how the root can describe something as worthy of desire, deepening the sense of what the eyes are losing.
THE PATTERN
Grief takes recognizable outward forms, mourning, weeping, and tears, so their absence speaks as sharply as their presence.
And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.Jesus wept.A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;THE THREAD
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.The word translated “desire” in Ezekiel and “desired” here grow from חמד (ḥ-m-d, to desire or regard as precious). Ezekiel names what the eyes prize; the psalm uses the same root for what is more desirable than gold, showing how the word holds both longing and the precious thing longed for.
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