Ezekiel 33:2

“Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, &c.] The Jews, of whom the prophet was; and designs those who were with him in the captivity; and who, having behaved so ill, the Lord will not own them for his people, but calls them the prophet’s people, and the children of them: and say unto them, when I bring the sword upon a land; a foreign enemy with an army to invade it, or any other judgment; for there is no public calamity whatever that comes upon a people, but what is by the order, direction, or permission of the Lord. The Targum is, “those that kill with the sword;” an army of men that enter into a land sword in hand, with an intent to conquer and destroy: if the people of the land…”

“33:2-4 watchman: See study note on 3:16-19. Here the message about the watchman is part of Ezekiel’s public proclamation, not a private commission. It puts more emphasis on the people who hear the watchman’s message; they are responsible to take action in response to it. Just as the people before the destruction of Jerusalem were unwilling to hear the message of destruction, so the people after the Exile could not believe the message of hope. In both cases, in having to face the rejection of what he was saying, Ezekiel was tempted to keep quiet. God warned him again that he could not.”

“speak: Eze 33:17, Eze 33:30, Eze 3:11, Eze 3:27 When I bring the sword upon a land: Heb. A land when I bring a sword upon her, Eze 6:3, Eze 11:8, Eze 14:17, Eze 14:21, Eze 21:9-16; Lev 26:25; Jer 12:12, Jer 15:2, Jer 15:3, Jer 25:31; Jer 47:6, Jer 47:7; Zac 13:7 set: Eze 33:7; Sa2 18:24-27; Kg2 9:17-20; Isa 21:6-9, Isa 56:9, Isa 56:10, Isa 62:6; Jer 51:12; Hos 9:8 Ezekiel 33:3”