Ezekiel 17:2

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

"Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house 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,

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;

Bible in Basic English
Son of man, give out a dark saying, and make a comparison for the children 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

¹Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²"Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel³and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar. ⁴He plucked off its topmost shoot, carried it to the land of merchants, and planted it in a city of traders. ⁵He took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil; he placed it by abundant waters; he set it out like a willow. ⁶It sprouted and became a spreading vine, low in height with branches turned toward him; yet its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and yielded branches, and sent out shoots. ⁷But there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him. It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed, so that he might water it. ⁸It had been planted in good soil by abundant waters in order to yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.' ⁹So you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Will it flourish? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it shrivels? All its foliage will wither! It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by its roots. ¹⁰Even if transplanted, will it flourish? Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes? It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.'"

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
"Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you,

Genesis 12:2
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Genesis 13:16
I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.

Genesis 15:18
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land-from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates-

Genesis 17:4
"As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.

Genesis 17:6
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

Genesis 17:8
And to you and your descendants I will give the land of your sojourn-all the land of Canaan-as an eternal possession; and I will be their God."

Genesis 17:11
You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

Genesis 17:17
Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, "Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?"

Genesis 17:18
And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!"

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.