Ezekiel 17:2

Bible in Basic English

Son of man, give out a dark saying, and make a comparison for the children of Israel,

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Son of man, pose a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.

Hebrew Names Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Yisra'el;

King James Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

English Standard Version
"Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

New American Standard Bible
"Son of man, ask a riddle and present a parable to the house of Israel,

New Century Version
"Human, give a riddle and tell a story to the people of Israel.

Amplified Bible
"Son of man, ask a riddle and tell a parable to the house of Israel,

World English Bible
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Geneva Bible (1587)
Sonne of man, put foorth a parable and speake a prouerbe vnto the house of Israel,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

Legacy Standard Bible
"Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

Berean Standard Bible
"Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel

Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel the following story,

Complete Jewish Bible
"Human being, propound this riddle, tell the house of Isra'el this allegory,

Darby Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,

Easy-to-Read Version
"Son of man, I have a story with a hidden meaning for you to tell the family of Israel.

George Lamsa Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

Good News Translation
"Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites a parable

Lexham English Bible
"Son of man, tell a riddle and quote a proverb to the house of Israel,

Literal Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou sonne of man: put forth a darcke speakynge and a parable, vnto the house of Israel,

American Standard Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,

King James Version (1611)
Sonne of man, put foorth a riddle, and speake a parable vnto the house of Israel,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou sonne of man, put foorth a parable, & speake a prouerbe vnto the house of Israel,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Son of man, relate a tale, and speak a parable to the house of Israel:

English Revised Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he seide, Sone of man, sette forth a derk speche, and telle thou a parable to the hous of Israel;

Update Bible Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Webster's Bible Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

New English Translation
"Son of man, offer a riddle, and tell a parable to the house of Israel.

New King James Version
"Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

New Living Translation
"Son of man, give this riddle, and tell this story to the people of Israel.

New Life Bible
"Son of man, give the people of Israel this picture-story to think about.

New Revised Standard
O mortal, propound a riddle, and speak an allegory to the house of Israel.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Son of man Put thou forth a riddle And speak thou a parable,- Unto the house of Israel:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

Revised Standard Version
"Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak an allegory to the house of Israel;

Young's Literal Translation
`Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use a simile unto the house of Israel,

Contextual Overview

¹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² Son of man, give out a dark saying, and make a comparison for the children of Israel, ³ And say, This is what the Lord has said: A great eagle with great wings, full of long feathers of different colours, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar: ⁴ Biting off the highest of its young branches, he took it to the land of Canaan, and put it in a town of traders. ⁵ And he took some of the seed of the land, planting it in fertile earth, placing it by great waters; he put it in like a willow-tree. ⁶ And its growth went on and it became a vine, low and widely stretching, whose branches were turned to him and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, putting out branches and young leaves. ⁷ And there was another eagle with great wings and thick feathers: and now this vine, pushing out its roots to him, sent out its branches in his direction from the bed where it was planted, so that he might give it water. ⁸ He had it planted in a good field by great waters so that it might put out branches and have fruit and be a strong vine. ⁹ Say, This is what the Lord has said: Will it do well? will he not have its roots pulled up and its branches cut off, so that all its young leaves may become dry and it may be pulled up by its roots? ¹⁰ And if it is planted will it do well? will it not become quite dry at the touch of the east wind, drying up in the bed where it was planted?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ezekiel 20:49, Judges 9:8-15, Judges 14:12-19, 2 Samuel 12:1-4, Hosea 12:10, Matthew 13:13, Matthew 13:14, Matthew 13:35, Mark 4:33, Mark 4:34, 1 Corinthians 13:12

Reciprocal: Numbers 12:8 - dark speeches Numbers 23:7 - he took Jeremiah 23:5 - Branch Ezekiel 2:1 - Son Ezekiel 24:3 - utter Matthew 13:24 - put Mark 12:15 - Why Luke 14:7 - put

Cross-References

Genesis 9:9
Truly, I will make my agreement with you and with your seed after you,

Genesis 12:2
And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing:

Genesis 13:16
And I will make your children like the dust of the earth, so that if the dust of the earth may be numbered, then will your children be numbered.

Genesis 15:18
In that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram, and said, To your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

Genesis 17:4
As for me, my agreement is made with you, and you will be the father of nations without end.

Genesis 17:6
I will make you very fertile, so that nations will come from you and kings will be your offspring.

Genesis 17:8
And to you and to your seed after you, I will give the land in which you are living, all the land of Canaan for an eternal heritage; and I will be their God.

Genesis 17:11
In the flesh of your private parts you are to undergo it, as a mark of the agreement between me and you.

Genesis 17:17
Then Abraham went down on his face, and laughing, said in his heart, May a man a hundred years old have a child? will Sarah, at ninety years old, give birth?

Genesis 17:18
And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael's life might be your care!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Son of man, put forth a riddle,.... A dark saying, but a smart one: "whet a whetting" k, as in the Hebrew; something at first sight difficult to be understood, yet amusing and entertaining; and, when solved, very useful and instructive:

and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; or, "concerning the house of Israel" l; as the Targum and Syriac version; something relating to them, and what would aptly describe and represent their case; for the prophet was bid to take such a method, not to hide things from them, but rather the more strongly to represent them to them; seeing hereby their attention would be excited, and things would be more fixed in their memories, and they would be put upon studying the meaning of them; and when explained to them, and understood, which was quickly done, they might be the more affected with them.

k חוד חידה, Heb. "acue acumen", Piscator. l אל בית ישראל "de domo Israelis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 17:2. Son of man, put forth a riddle — Riddle, [Anglo-Saxon] or [A.S.], Anglo-Saxon, from [A.S.] to divine; a thing that must be curiously investigated and sifted, to find out the meaning; and hence, riddle, a sort of coarse sieve to clean corn, to separate coarse chaff and straws from the pure grain. An instrument formerly used for divination. This is not far removed from the Hebrew חידה chidah, from חד chad, to penetrate; not that which penetrates the mind, but which we must penetrate to find out the sense.