But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.

EZEKIEL 7:16KJV
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Ezekiel 7:16 (KJV)

What does Ezekiel 7:16 mean?

Ezekiel 7:16 describes people who survive the danger facing their land but find no peace in their escape. They reach the mountains, where each person mourns over his own wrongdoing. Survival brings them into a place of grief, not safety from sorrow.

Ezekiel speaks as a messenger delivering God’s warning to the people of Israel. After the deaths described in verse 15, the image of doves suggests the mournful sounds of those who have fled. The comparison brings together the mountain refuge and the low, plaintive sound of birds.

The Hebrew behind Ezekiel 7:16

  • “mourning” — הָמָה (hamah): This word can carry the sense of making a low, murmuring sound. Here, it helps connect the people’s grief with the sound associated with doves.
  • “iniquity” — עָוֹן (ʿavon): This word refers to wrongdoing and can also carry a sense of the guilt or consequences connected with it. The verse places each person’s own wrongdoing alongside the grief of the whole group.

Why Ezekiel 7:16 matters

  • The verse makes the warning personal as well as shared. The fugitives mourn together, yet the phrase “every one for his iniquity” gives each person a part in the grief.
  • Escape changes the setting of the disaster without ending its effect. The people are no longer among those struck down in verse 15, but verse 16 still portrays them as distressed.
  • The dove comparison adds a sound to the scene. Rather than simply saying the survivors are in the mountains, Ezekiel pictures their mourning through the familiar sound of doves.

Where else these words appear

“escape” Hebrew H6412 · used in 21 verses

  • Genesis 14:13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
  • Isaiah 45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
  • Ezekiel 6:9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

“escape” Hebrew H6403 · used in 23 verses

  • 2 Samuel 22:2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
  • Psalms 18:48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
  • Psalms 70:5 But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.

“doves” Hebrew H3123 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 8:8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
  • Leviticus 14:22 And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.
  • Song of Solomon 4:1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

“mourning” Hebrew H1993 · used in 32 verses

  • 1 Kings 1:41 And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?
  • Psalms 77:3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
  • Isaiah 51:15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.