What Does Ezekiel 9:10 Mean in the King James?

And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.

Ezekiel 9:10 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The Hebrew says, “their way upon their head I have given”, judgment arrives as the very path they made, placed upon them.

THE MEANING

The verse holds an uncompromising judgment: the eye does not spare, and pity does not intervene. A person’s way stands upon them as what is given back.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that one’s chosen way leaves no answerable trace is undone here: the way itself is placed upon the head.

THE ROOT

נָתַתִּי

nātattî

GROWS FROM

נתן

n-t-n

To give, set, or place.

The verb the KJV renders “recompense” literally means “I have given.” The verse pictures their way itself as what is placed upon their head: what comes upon them is their own way, given to them.

ALSO GROWS

nātan: to give

נָתַן

This is the root’s basic action; here, the thing given is their way upon their head.

mattānāh: gift

מַתָּנָה

This related noun shows the root’s sense of something given; in the verse, what is given is their own way.

THE PATTERN

A person’s way returns upon them as its consequence.

Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

Proverbs 1:31 · KJVTheir own way becomes what they receive, just as Ezekiel pictures that way placed upon their head.

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

Hosea 8:7 · KJVWhat is sown returns in the harvest, with consequences that grow beyond what was set in motion.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Galatians 6:7 · KJVThe way a person sets in motion becomes what they reap.

THE THREAD

And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 7:4 · KJV

Ezekiel 7:4 repeats the unsparing eye and absence of pity, then uses the same ⁨נתן⁩ (n-t-n, give, set, place) root for what the KJV calls “recompense.” The parallel makes the image plain: the way itself is what is given upon the person.

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