What Does Ezekiel 30:2 Mean in the King James?
Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
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 day is not merely announced; its arrival is already audible as a howl.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks through a command to make the warning audible: the day is met with a howl and a cry of woe. Grief is part of the truth being spoken, not an afterthought added once the day has passed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the idea that a warning about calamity should sound neutral: the truth of this day is voiced as lament.
THE ROOT
הֵילִילוּ
hēlîlû
GROWS FROM
ילל
To howl or wail.
The plural command turns the warning into a shared cry, not detached information. The same root appears in other cries about an approaching day or judgment, giving “howl” a recurring scriptural sound.
ALSO GROWS
yēlîl: A cry of wailing.
יֵילִיל
The same root makes a people’s response to calamity audible as lament.
hēlîlû: A plural command to howl.
הֵילִילוּ
This repeated form shows the cry as a voice shared by many.
THE PATTERN
A coming day of judgment is announced through cries of lament before its consequences are fully named.
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.THE THREAD
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.Isaiah uses the same Hebrew command הֵילִילוּ (hēlîlû, “howl!”) and follows it with “the day of the LORD is at hand.” The shared root ילל (y-l-l, “to howl or wail”) reveals a recurring scriptural way of voicing a day of judgment.
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