What Does Ezekiel 26:14 Mean in the King James?
And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
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
Hebrew’s word for God’s speech belongs to a word-family that also means “matter” or “thing,” joining the decree to the city’s bare, material fate.
THE MEANING
You meet a judgment that leaves no promise of rebuilding: the city is made bare as rock and reduced to a surface for spreading nets. “Built no more” closes its future as a constructed place, and the LORD’s spoken word is presented as the ground of that finality.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that every ruined human work can be restored through enough effort; here, the spoken judgment names a city that will be built no more.
THE ROOT
דִּבַּרְתִּי
dibarti
GROWS FROM
דבר
To speak or declare; the related noun davar can mean a word, matter, or thing.
The verse closes with “I have spoken it,” using the root דבר. Its related noun can name both an utterance and a matter or thing, drawing the declared judgment close to the city’s concrete condition.
ALSO GROWS
davar: Word; matter; thing.
דָּבָר
This noun shows the root’s reach from utterance to the matter at hand; here, the spoken decree concerns the city’s material fate.
dibber: He spoke; he declared.
דִּבֵּר
This is the speaking form behind the verse’s “I have spoken it,” marking the ending as declared rather than conjectured.
תִּבָּנֶה
tibbaneh
GROWS FROM
בנה
To build or establish; the root is also associated with building up a household.
“Built no more” uses the root בנה, which also stands behind binyan, a building or structure, and is traditionally linked with ben, son. That association lets the word carry an echo of household continuity, while the verse explicitly closes the city’s future as a built place.
ALSO GROWS
binyan: Building; structure.
בִּנְיָן
This noun makes the city’s physical construction audible within the root; the verse declares that construction will not resume.
ben: Son.
בֵּן
Traditionally linked with banah through the idea of building up a household, ben echoes generational continuation beside the verse’s declaration that the city will not be rebuilt.
THE PATTERN
Judgment can reduce a built city to exposed remains and close the future of its construction and habitation.
And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.THE THREAD
It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.Verse 5 repeats the same Hebrew “I have spoken” (דִּבַּרְתִּי, dibarti) and the image of nets spread over the ruined place. It shows the decree taking visible form: a place for nets and spoil among the nations.
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