What Does Ezekiel 25:17 Mean in the King James?
And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
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 vengeance the means through which the LORD’s nature becomes known.
THE MEANING
The verse confronts the reader now with a severe claim: the LORD’s nature is made known through great vengeance and furious rebuke against those named as its targets. Knowing here is recognition that follows an encounter with judgment, not detached information.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that recognition of the LORD comes only through comfort or rescue; here it comes through fury and vengeance.
THE ROOT
נְקָמוֹת
neqāmōt
GROWS FROM
נ־ק־ם
n-q-m
To avenge or exact vengeance.
The verse uses the plural form for “great vengeance,” then names it as “my vengeance,” placing the acts and their ownership together. What can sound like a general feeling in English is the LORD’s enacted retribution.
ALSO GROWS
nāqām: Vengeance, retribution.
נָקָם
This noun from the same root makes clear that the verse names an act of retribution, not merely anger.
nāqam: To avenge, take vengeance.
נָקַם
This verbal form reveals the action inside the noun: vengeance is something carried out.
וְיָדְעוּ
wəyāḏəʿû
GROWS FROM
ידע
y-d-ʿ
To know, recognize, perceive.
The verb names recognition that comes through encounter: they know the LORD by experiencing what the LORD does. The verse makes that knowing the result of vengeance, not detached information.
ALSO GROWS
yādaʿ: To know or recognize.
יָדַע
This is the verb’s base form; here, knowing follows the act of vengeance.
daʿat: Knowledge, understanding.
דַּעַת
This related noun shows the same root’s movement from knowing to what is known or understood.
תּוֹכְחוֹת
tōḵeḥōṯ
GROWS FROM
יכח
y-kh-ch
To reprove, prove, or decide a matter.
The word translated “rebukes” belongs to a root whose range also includes proving and deciding a matter. Paired with fury, the rebuke carries the force of a verdict, not mild correction.
ALSO GROWS
tōḵēḥāh: Reproof, admonition.
תּוֹכֵחָה
This related noun shows the corrective force carried by the word for rebukes.
hōḵîaḥ: To reprove, prove, or decide.
הוֹכִיחַ
This verb exposes the root’s judicial edge beneath the English word “rebuke.”
THE PATTERN
The LORD’s enacted judgments make his identity publicly recognizable.
And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.THE THREAD
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.Both verses use יָדַע (yada, to know or recognize): knowing follows what the LORD does. Ezekiel names vengeance; Exodus names the LORD’s action against Egypt and the bringing out of Israel.
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