Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

EZEKIEL 21:29KJV
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Ezekiel 21:29 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 21:29 mean?

Ezekiel 21:29 describes a coming defeat despite reassuring messages from people claiming to see the future. Their visions and predictions are false, and the threat of the sword remains. The verse says the time has come for the wicked to face the end of their wrongdoing.

God speaks through Ezekiel, addressing the drawn sword introduced in verse 28. The picture of the sword reaching the necks of the slain portrays deadly judgment. “Whose day is come” marks the arrival of the appointed time for that judgment.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 21:29

  • “vanity” — שָׁוְא (shav): This word can mean emptiness or falsehood. Here it describes visions that have no reliable substance.
  • “divine” — קָסַם (qasam): This word refers to seeking knowledge of the future through divination. The verse describes such predictions as lies rather than trustworthy guidance.
  • “iniquity” — עָוֹן (avon): This word means wrongdoing and can also carry the sense of its guilt or consequence. Here the phrase points to wrongdoing reaching its appointed end.

Why Ezekiel 21:29 matters

  • The verse exposes a conflict between comforting predictions and the threat of the sword. The words “vanity” and “a lie” show that the claimed visions offer no dependable account of what is coming.
  • The sword’s reach is not limited to Jerusalem. Verse 28 addresses the Ammonites, a neighboring people, and their reproach; verse 29 continues with the image of the sword.
  • “Their iniquity shall have an end” is tied to “whose day is come.” The wording presents the end as a moment of reckoning for the wicked.

Where else these words appear

“divine” Hebrew H7080 · used in 20 verses

  • Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
  • Isaiah 3:2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
  • Ezekiel 21:21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

“lie” Hebrew H3577 · used in 31 verses

  • Judges 16:10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
  • Proverbs 14:25 A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.
  • Ezekiel 13:7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?

“necks” Hebrew H6677 · used in 39 verses

  • Genesis 27:16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
  • Job 15:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
  • Jeremiah 27:8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

“see” Hebrew H2372 · used in 47 verses

  • Exodus 18:21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
  • Psalms 17:2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.
  • Isaiah 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: