Ezekiel 21-22 - Sword and bloodguilt

Audio narration

Ezekiel 21-22 brings the judgment oracles to a sharp and painful focus. The Lord speaks of fire, sword, slaughter, divination, overturned rule, bloodguilt, corrupt princes, negligent priests, lying prophets, extortion, and the oppression of the poor, needy, widow, orphan, and stranger. This is not holy violence for its own sake. It is the exposure of a city whose own violence has filled it with blood.

The forest-fire transition often numbered Ezekiel 20:45-49 in many English Bibles appears at the opening of Brenton Ezekiel 21 and belongs here. The fire image leads directly into the sword image. Jerusalem hears that judgment is not an abstract threat. It is coming against a society where power devours, worship is profaned, and no one is found standing in the gap.

Ezekiel is not teaching the Church to enjoy slaughter or to shame victims. He is teaching that the Lord sees blood, bribery, abuse, religious corruption, and injustice that respectable people may learn to hide. In Christ, the judgment of bloodguilt is revealed at the Cross. He stands in the gap, bears violence without becoming violent, prays for His killers, and exposes the world’s bloodguilt by forgiving from the place of wounds.

The forest fire turns toward Jerusalem (Ezekiel 21:1-7)

¹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² Son of man, set thy face against Thæman, and look toward Darom, and prophesy against the chief forest of Nageb, ³ and thou shalt say to the forest of Nageb, Hear the word of the Lord; thus saith the Lord, even the Lord; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour in thee every green tree, and every dry tree: the flame that is kindled shall not be quenched, and every face shall be scorched with it from the south to the north. ⁴ And all flesh shall know that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched. ⁵ And I said, Not so, O Lord God! they say to me, Is not this that is spoken a parable? ⁶ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁷ Therefore prophesy, son of man, set thy face steadfastly toward Jerusalem, and look toward their holy places, and thou shalt prophesy against the land of Israel,

The unit begins with a parable-like fire oracle. The forest of Nageb hears that the Lord will kindle a flame that consumes green and dry trees alike. The image is total, frightening, and public. Every face is scorched. All flesh knows that the Lord has kindled it.

Ezekiel’s protest in verse 5 matters. The people dismiss his words as a parable, as if figurative speech makes the warning less real. So the Lord translates the image: set your face toward Jerusalem, toward the holy places, and against the land of Israel. The fire was not decorative language. It was a mercy warning before a concrete judgment.

This is why the Brenton numbering matters for teaching. Many English Bibles place these verses at the end of chapter 20, but Brenton places them at the opening of chapter 21. In this guide, they introduce the sword and bloodguilt unit. Fire and sword are two images of the same exposure: a city that treats holiness as cover for violence cannot remain untouched.

The sword drawn against transgressor and unrighteous (Ezekiel 21:8-17)

⁸ and thou shalt say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and I will destroy out of thee the transgressor and unrighteous. ⁹ Because I will destroy out of thee the unrighteous and the transgressor, therefore so shall my sword come forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: ¹⁰ and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more. ¹¹ And thou, son of man, groan with the breaking of thy loins; thou shalt even groan heavily in their sight. ¹² And it shall come to pass, if they shall say to thee, Wherefore dost thou groan? that thou shalt say, For the report; because it comes: and every heart shall break, and all hands shall become feeble, and all flesh and every spirit shall faint, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture: behold, it comes, saith the Lord. ¹³ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁴ Son of man, prophesy, and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, Sword, sword, be sharpened and rage, ¹⁵ that thou mayest slay victims; be sharpened that thou mayest be bright, ready for slaughter, slay, set at nought, despise every tree. ¹⁶ And he made it ready for his hand to hold: the sword is sharpened, it is ready to put into the hand of the slayer. ¹⁷ Cry out and howl, son of man: for this sword is come upon my people, this sword is come upon all the princes of Israel: they shall be as strangers: judgment with the sword is come upon my people: therefore clap thine hands, for sentence has been passed:

The sword language is hard, and the prophet is made to grieve it openly. The sword is drawn, sharpened, bright, ready for slaughter, and placed in the hand of the slayer. The prophet must groan in public with the breaking of his loins, so that the people can see judgment before they feel it.

This does not make violence holy in itself. Ezekiel’s point is the opposite. Jerusalem has become violent, and now violence returns as judgment. The sword comes upon the princes because those who should have guarded life became part of the disorder. Scripture is not inviting the Church to enjoy scenes of slaughter. It is forcing God’s people to face what bloodguilt does when it is normalized.

The prophet’s groaning is pastoral. He is not a detached commentator. He carries the grief of the word he speaks. We must name sin clearly, but not coldly. The word of judgment should break the speaker before it is used to confront others.

Christ enters this sword-world without taking up the sword as His method. At His arrest, He refuses violent defense. At the Cross, He bears the violence of rulers, soldiers, false witnesses, and crowds, yet prays, “Father, forgive them” in Luke 23:34. The sword exposes bloodguilt; the Cross exposes it more deeply by answering violence with intercession.

The difference in verse numbering also affects wording. The Pascha reading printed as Ezekiel 21:3–13 corresponds to Brenton 21:8–18; its Hebrew-based opening names both righteous and wicked, while Brenton 21:8 speaks of the “transgressor” and “unrighteous.” These forms must not be silently blended. The wide catastrophe of siege is clear, but it gives the reader no authority to decide a victim’s personal guilt.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

The Holy Pascha book appoints Ezekiel 21:3–13 at the Sixth Hour of Tuesday. The prophet’s grief keeps the Church from hearing judgment with the satisfaction of a spectator. Before Christ’s Passion, the warning calls each worshipper to repentance and reverence for life. The service book uses a different chapter boundary from the Brenton text quoted here.

The road of Babylon and the overturned crown (Ezekiel 21:18-32)

¹⁸ and what if even the tribe be rejected? it shall not be, saith the Lord God. ¹⁹ And thou, son of man, prophesy, and clap thine hands, and take a second sword: the third sword is the sword of the slain, the great sword of the slain: and thou shalt strike them with amazement, lest the heart should faint ²⁰ and the weak ones be multiplied at every gate—they are given up to the slaughter of the sword: it is well fitted for slaughter, it is well fitted for glittering. ²¹ And do thou go on, sharpen thyself on the right and on the left whithersoever thy face may set itself. ²² And I also will clap my hands, and let loose my fury: I the Lord have spoken it. ²³ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ And thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may enter in: the two shall go forth of one country; and there shall be a force at the top of the way of the city, thou shalt set it at the top of the way, ²⁵ that the sword may enter in upon Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and upon Judea, and upon Jerusalem in the midst thereof. ²⁶ For the king of Babylon shall stand on the old way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination, to make bright the arrow, and to enquire of the graven images, and to examine the victims. ²⁷ On his right was the divination against Jerusalem, to cast a mound, to open the mouth in shouting, to lift up the voice with crying, to cast a mound against her gates, to cast up a heap, and to build forts. ²⁸ And he was to them as one using divination before them, and he himself recounting his iniquities, that they might be borne in mind. ²⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord, Because ye have caused your iniquities to be remembered, in the discovery of your wickedness, so that your sins should be seen, in all your wickedness and in your evil practices; because ye have caused remembrance of them, in these shall ye be taken. ³⁰ And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day, even an end, is come in a season of iniquity, thus saith the Lord; ³¹ Thou hast taken off the mitre and put on the crown, it shall not have such another after it: thou hast abased that which was high, and exalted that which was low. ³² Injustice, injustice, injustice, will I make it: woe to it: such shall it be until he comes to whom it belongs; and I will deliver it to him.

The king of Babylon uses divination at the fork in the road. He consults arrows, images, and victims. Ezekiel does not approve his pagan methods. The shock is that even a pagan king’s road can become the place where Jerusalem’s sins are remembered. False religion cannot control the Lord, but neither can Judah hide behind the paganism of Babylon to avoid her own guilt.

The phrase “because ye have caused remembrance” is severe. Sin that was denied becomes visible. Wickedness that was managed becomes public. Judgment is not only punishment. It is revelation. The Lord uncovers what the city tried to make normal.

The profane wicked prince is addressed at the end of the unit. His day has come. Crown and mitre language shows the humiliation of public order. Rule is overturned because rule has become unjust. Brenton’s triple “Injustice, injustice, injustice” presses the collapse into the ear. Authority without righteousness becomes instability.

The final phrase, “until he comes to whom it belongs,” should be handled with restraint. It points beyond the failed prince to the one to whom rule rightly belongs. Christians can hear a canonical resonance with Christ the true King, but the guide should not flatten every detail into simple allegory. The contrast is enough: Jerusalem’s prince is profane and wicked; Christ receives the Kingdom through obedience, humility, suffering love, and resurrection.

The sword against Ammon (Ezekiel 21:33-37)

³³ And thou, son of man, prophesy, and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and thou shalt say, O sword, sword, drawn for slaughter, and drawn for destruction, awake, that thou mayest gleam. ³⁴ While thou art seeing vain visions, and while thou art prophesying falsehoods, to bring thyself upon the necks of ungodly transgressors, the day is come, even an end, in a season of iniquity. ³⁵ Turn, rest not in this place wherein thou wert born: in thine own land will I judge thee. ³⁶ And I will pour out my wrath upon thee, I will blow upon thee with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver thee into the hands of barbarians skilled in working destruction. ³⁷ Thou shalt be fuel for fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of thy land; there shall be no remembrance at all of thee: for I the Lord have spoken it.

Ammon is not spared because Jerusalem is guilty. The sword against Jerusalem does not mean the neighboring nations are morally invisible. Ammon has reproach, vain visions, falsehood, and its own season of iniquity. The Lord judges among the nations, not only within Judah.

This short unit also keeps the teacher from reducing Ezekiel to a private morality lesson. The Lord governs peoples, cities, rulers, and histories. False visions can appear outside the covenant community as well as inside it. Nations can mock, exploit, and speak lies, then discover that their own land becomes the place of judgment.

Theologically, this prepares the later oracles against the nations. The Lord’s sovereignty is not tribal. Jerusalem’s election does not make her immune to judgment, and Ammon’s outsider status does not make Ammon unaccountable. The same Lord sees both covenant unfaithfulness and Gentile violence.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

The sword oracle against Ammon is read at the Ninth Hour of the Eve of Good Friday, printed as Ezekiel 21:28–32 in the service book and corresponding to Brenton 21:33–37. The Lord’s judgment crosses national boundaries. Hearing it before the Cross leaves the Church no warrant for gloating over another people; Christ’s mercy calls us to pray even for enemies.

The bloody city named (Ezekiel 22:1-16)

¹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, declare thou to her all her iniquities. ³ And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord God: O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself; ⁴ in their blood which thou hast shed, thou hast transgressed; and in thy devices which thou hast formed, thou hast polluted thyself; and thou hast brought nigh thy days, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all the countries, ⁵ to those near thee, and to those far distant from thee; and they shall mock thee, thou that art notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities. ⁶ Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in thee each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood. ⁷ In thee they have reviled father and mother; and in thee they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow. ⁸ And they have set at nought my holy things, and in thee they have profaned my sabbaths. ⁹ There are robbers in thee, to shed blood in thee; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of thee. ¹⁰ In thee they have uncovered the father’s shame; and in thee they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness. ¹¹ They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbour’s wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in thee they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father. ¹² In thee they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in thee interest and usurious increase; and by oppression thou hast brought thy wickedness to the full, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord. ¹³ And if I shall smite my hand at thine iniquities which thou hast accomplished, which thou hast wrought, and at thy blood that has been shed in the midst of thee, ¹⁴ shall thy heart endure? shall thine hands be strong in the days which I bring upon thee? I the Lord have spoken, and will do it. ¹⁵ And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee in the countries, and thy uncleanness shall be removed out of thee. ¹⁶ And I will give heritages in thee in the sight of the nations, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 22 names the sins plainly. Jerusalem sheds blood, forms devices against herself, and becomes polluted by what she does. Bloodguilt is not only murder in the narrow sense. It includes the whole pattern by which a community treats human life as expendable.

The list is devastating because it crosses every boundary people often use to excuse themselves. Political power is corrupt: princes conspire to shed blood. Family order is broken: father and mother are reviled. Immigrants and outsiders are treated unjustly: the stranger is oppressed. The vulnerable are crushed: orphan and widow suffer. Worship is profaned: holy things and Sabbaths are despised. Sexual sin is named directly: the passage speaks of unlawful relations and the humiliation of women within family structures. Money is corrupted: bribes, interest, usurious increase, and oppression fill up wickedness.

Ezekiel is not giving servants permission to shame abuse survivors, expose private wounds carelessly, or speak of sexual sin with fascination. He is showing that God sees what violent households, corrupt courts, predatory leaders, and greedy systems hide. The phrase “thou hast forgotten me” is the root. Forgetting God does not remain inside the mind. It becomes blood, money, sex, worship, and public injustice disordered.

The scattering among the nations is judgment, but verse 15 also says uncleanness will be removed. Even here, the Lord’s aim is not destruction for its own sake. Judgment strips away what the people refused to surrender. The hard question in verse 14 remains for every generation: shall thy heart endure when God confronts what has been built on blood?

Dross, corrupt leaders, and no one in the gap (Ezekiel 22:17-31)

¹⁷ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ Son of man, behold, the house of Israel are all become to me as it were mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰ As silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take you in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you. ²¹ And I will blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. ²² As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you. ²³ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ Son of man, say to her, Thou art the land that is not rained upon, neither has rain come upon thee in the day of wrath: ²⁵ whose princes in the midst of her are as roaring lions seizing prey, devouring souls by oppression, and taking bribes; and thy widows are multiplied in the midst of thee. ²⁶ Her priests also have set at nought my law, and profaned my holy things: they have not distinguished between the holy and profane, nor have they distinguished between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them. ²⁷ Her princes in the midst of her are as wolves ravening to shed blood, that they may get dishonest gain. ²⁸ And her prophets that daub them shall fall, that see vanities, that prophesy falsehoods, saying, Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ That sorely oppress the people of the land with injustice, and commit robbery; oppressing the poor and needy, and not dealing justly with the stranger. ³⁰ And I sought from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found him not. ³¹ So I have poured out my wrath upon her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish it. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads, saith the Lord God.

The final unit gives two images. First, Israel has become mixed metal in a furnace: brass, iron, tin, lead, and silver all gathered for melting. The image is a furnace of judgment, not a promise that every person placed in the fire will emerge purified. The emphasis falls on the Lord gathering and melting the corrupted city. The city that should have reflected holiness now reveals dross.

Second, the Lord names the failed leaders. Princes are roaring lions and ravening wolves. They devour souls by oppression, take bribes, shed blood, and multiply widows. Priests profane holy things by refusing to distinguish holy from profane and clean from unclean. Prophets daub the wall with false visions, saying, “Thus saith the Lord,” when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land oppress, rob, and deal unjustly with the poor, needy, and stranger.

This is one of Ezekiel’s clearest pictures of social and spiritual collapse. When princes devour, priests blur holiness, prophets baptize lies, and ordinary people exploit the vulnerable, the whole land becomes dry. The rain is absent because truth, mercy, and justice have been rejected.

Then comes the wound at the center of the unit: the Lord sought a man standing before Him in the time of wrath, but found none. This does not mean one impressive personality could fix corruption by charisma. It means the city lacked righteous intercession, truthful leadership, and costly obedience. No one stood in the breach between judgment and destruction.

The Church reads this absence toward Christ with trembling, not triumphalism. Hebrews 7:25 speaks of Christ’s continual intercession. First Peter 2:22-24 says He did no sin, bore sins in His own body on the tree, and heals by His wounds. St. John Chrysostom, reflecting on 1 Peter 2:22 in connection with the Cross, stresses both Christ’s sinlessness and His free self-offering: “It lay then in His power, if so He willed, not to come to the Cross.”¹ Christ stands in the gap by taking the place of the wounded and the guilty without becoming a predator. He does not excuse bloodguilt. He exposes it, forgives from within its violence, and opens the only true repentance.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

Ezekiel 22:17–22 and 22:23–28 are printed at the First Hour of Wednesday Eve; 22:23–28 appears again at the Sixth Hour of the Eve of Good Friday. These readings join the corruption of worship to the harm done by leaders. In the Passion services, they require the Church to examine her own truthfulness and care for the vulnerable rather than assign all guilt to people outside her.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

1. Let God name bloodguilt where we prefer euphemism. Ezekiel does not hide behind vague language. Violence, bribery, extortion, oppression, sexual sin, and abuse of the vulnerable are named. In prayer, ask where you have renamed sin as necessity, tradition, family privacy, business practice, or keeping the peace.

2. Groan before speaking hard truth. Ezekiel must groan with the breaking of his loins. The servant of God should not speak about judgment as if enjoying it. Before correcting another person, pray until the word becomes grief for healing, not a tool for superiority.

3. Protect the vulnerable as a test of worship. Jerusalem’s holy things and Sabbaths are profaned in the same city where stranger, orphan, widow, poor, and needy are oppressed. Fasting, liturgy, and service are not escapes from justice. They train the heart to see Christ in the person who can be ignored without consequence.

4. Do not let authority become appetite. Princes become lions and wolves when power serves gain. Priests profane holy things when they stop discerning. Prophets lie when they speak comfort God has not spoken. Every Christian with influence should ask: does my authority feed others, or does it feed on them?

5. Stand in the gap by standing in Christ. Ezekiel 22:30 is not a demand to become a savior. It is a call to intercession, truth, repentance, and protection of life within the one Savior. Pray for the city, the Church, the poor, leaders, enemies, and victims. Then take the concrete step of justice or mercy that prayer reveals.

The prophet groans before the sword he announces. Lord Jesus, let our words about judgment carry grief for those who suffer, and let our prayers for mercy lead to protection of those in danger. Keep us from calling silence peace when another person is being harmed.

Teaching Notes

Ezekiel 21:1-7 - The forest fire turns toward Jerusalem

• Ask: Why does the Lord translate the fire parable into direct prophecy against Jerusalem and the holy places?
• Emphasize: Figurative language can make judgment clearer, not less real. The fire that consumes green and dry alike shows total exposure.
• Watch for: Dismissing prophetic warning as “just a parable.”
• Connect: The Lord kindles the fire; all flesh will know it is He.

Ezekiel 21:8-17 - The sword drawn against transgressor and unrighteous

• Ask: What does it mean that the Lord draws the sword out of its sheath?
• Emphasize: The sword is the Lord’s even when Babylon wields it. Divine judicial agency uses the nations to expose the blood that has filled the covenant city.
• Watch for: Reducing the judgment to geopolitics alone; the reason is the city’s own violence and corruption.
• Connect: The Lord does not delight in the sword, but He will not pretend a bloody city is healthy. Christ bears violence without becoming violent.

Ezekiel 21:18-32 - The road of Babylon and the overturned crown

• Ask: How does the pagan divination at the fork still serve the Lord’s purpose?
• Emphasize: The king of Babylon stands at the head of two ways, but the Lord has marked the road to Jerusalem. The crown and mitre will be removed; rule collapses when it no longer protects life and holiness.
• Watch for: Assuming that imperial power acts independently of the Lord’s sovereignty.
• Connect: The profane wicked prince’s day has come. Christ is the true King whose crown is not overturned.

Ezekiel 21:33-37 - The sword against Ammon

• Ask: Why does the sword oracle extend beyond Judah to Ammon?
• Emphasize: The Lord’s judgment is not tribal favoritism; the nations who gloat over Jerusalem’s fall will also face the sword.
• Watch for: Using another people’s judgment as excuse for our own.
• Connect: The Lord sees all bloodguilt.

Ezekiel 22:1-16 - The bloody city named

• Ask: Why does the Lord name Jerusalem “the bloody city”?
• Emphasize: Bloodguilt is public and systemic: princes devour, priests profane, prophets lie, the poor and stranger are oppressed. The city meant to be holy has become a place of violence, extortion, and sexual violation.
• Watch for: Treating private piety as cover for public injustice.
• Connect: The Lord sees the vulnerable whom the powerful erase.

Ezekiel 22:17-31 - Dross, corrupt leaders, and no one in the gap

• Ask: Why is there no one found to stand in the gap?

• Emphasize: The leaders (princes, priests, prophets) have all failed to intercede or protect. The land is not rained upon in the day of wrath. Yet the Lord still seeks someone to stand before Him.

• Watch for: Cynicism that says “no one can make a difference.”

• Connect: Christ is the true Intercessor who stands in the gap by the Cross, bearing the bloodguilt of the world without becoming its cause.

Glossary

• Bloodguilt: Guilt attached to the shedding of blood and to a wider pattern of treating human life as expendable through violence, bribery, oppression, and injustice.
• Sword oracle: A prophetic announcement using sword imagery to describe imminent judgment, here especially through Babylon’s attack.
• Thæman, Darom, and Nageb: Southern place language in Brenton’s Ezekiel 21:2. It connects the forest-fire image with judgment spreading from south to north.
• Rabbath of Ammon: The Ammonite capital east of the Jordan, named as one branch of the road before the king of Babylon.
• Divination: A pagan method of seeking guidance through signs. Ezekiel reports Babylonian divination without approving it.
• Profane wicked prince: The corrupt royal figure whose day has come, representing failed covenant rule before Jerusalem’s fall.
• Dross: Impure mixture in metal imagery. Ezekiel uses it for Israel’s corrupted condition under judgment.
• Standing in the gap: Interceding and acting uprightly before God in a time of wrath. In Christian reading, this finds its fullness in Christ’s intercession and Cross.
• Holy and profane, clean and unclean: Priestly distinctions meant to guard worship, holiness, and covenant life. In Ezekiel 22, priests fail by blurring what they were called to discern.

Sources

Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX).

1. Ezekiel 21–22; compare Luke 23:34; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Peter 2:22–24. Brenton 21:1–5 corresponds to the forest-fire oracle commonly numbered 20:45–49; Brenton 21:6–37 corresponds to the following chapter’s 21:1–32. Appointed-reading references retain the service book’s numbering. 🔗 🔗

2. St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, Ottawa, Katameros of the Holy Pascha, English edition: pp. 210–211 (Tuesday, Sixth Hour); pp. 251–252 (Wednesday Eve, First Hour); p. 502 (Eve of Good Friday, Sixth Hour); p. 512 (Eve of Good Friday, Ninth Hour). Service headings, not inconsistent secondary day labels, determine these placements.

3. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews, Homily 28, section 4, on Christ’s voluntary, sinless suffering, a thematic witness to the Christian reading rather than direct commentary on Ezekiel. 🔗

Footnotes

1. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews, Homily 28, section 4. 🔗 ↩