ezekiel

“You will have delivered your soul” in Ezekiel 3

I’m trying to understand the “Watchman” passage in Ezekiel 3:16-21 (largely repeated in 33:1-9). Excerpting from 3:18-19 (ESV):

If….you give him no warning….in order to save his life (ləḥayyōtô), that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand (dāmô mîyyādəkā ʾăbaqqēš).

But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness….he shall die (yāmût) for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul (ʾet–napšəkā hiṣṣaltā).

I’m trying to determine whether “deliver your soul” means anything different from “save [your] life”. For some reason, each time the wicked man turns from his wickedness he “saves his life”, but the watchman, by his obedience, “delivers [his] soul”.

In the logic of the contingencies, these two don’t seem to be exactly interchangeable. They have different opposites:

  • “save his life” ↔ “die”, whereas
  • “deliver his soul” ↔ “his blood I will require…” .

The last I understand (mostly from looking at the more dynamic translations) to mean “I will hold you responsible for his death”. This makes me wonder whether “deliver his soul” actually means “not be held responsible [for another’s death]”.

Does “deliver your soul” mean anything different from “save your life”?

What is the significance of "east" in the Scriptures?

There seems to be some significance to the east in the Scriptures.

The garden is planted in the east of Eden
Cherubim are stationed on the east side of the Garden of Eden
Parts of the burnt offering are to be thrown to the …

WAR of Ezekiel 38

The Ezekiel 38 war!!! Israel has just gone through a horrible and furious war between its neighbors, the war described in Psalm 83 and…