THEOSISEphraem the Syrian
Look, I will ignite a fire within you, consuming every tree that stands, signifying both the guilty and the innocent alike.
Ezekiel 20:47Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers
And say to the south forest: Hear the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will kindle a fire in thee, and will burn in thee every green tree, and every dry tree: the flame of the fire shall not be quenched: and every face shall be burned in it, from the south even to the north.
The Church Fathers on this verse
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Theodoret of Cyrus
He maintains the use of metaphor, referring to Jerusalem as an oak tree, the enemy forces as fire, and the lives lost to them as blazing trees. Additionally, those who are affluent are seen as a flourishing tree, while those in poverty are likened to a withered tree. He asserts that those caught between the Jews and their adversaries will share in the impending disaster, declaring, "And every face shall be burned up in it, from that which is under the sun, even unto the north."
Cross references
Passages read together with this verse.
- Jer 21:14But I will visit upon you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof: and it shall devour all things round about it.
- Isa 9:18For wickedness is kindled as a fire, it shall devour the brier and the thorn: and shall kindle in the thicket of the forest, and it shall be wrapped up in smoke ascending on high.
- Isa 9:19By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is troubled, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
- Luke 23:31For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?
- Isa 24:1Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof.
- Isa 24:6Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left.
- Ezek 17:24And all the trees of the country shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree: and have dried up the green tree, and have caused the dry tree to flourish. I the Lord have spoken and have done it.
- Ezek 15:6Therefore thus saith the Lord God: As the vine tree among the trees of the forests which I have given to the fire to be consumed, so will I deliver up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.