I will kindle a fire - I will send war, "and it shall devour every green tree," the most eminent and substantial of the inhabitants; and every dry tree, the lowest and meanest also.
The flaming flame shall not be quenched - The fierce ravages of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans shall not be stopped till the whole land is ruined.
All faces from the south to the north shalt be burned - From the one end of the land to the other there shall be nothing but fear, dismay, terror, and confusion, occasioned by the wide-wasting violence of the Chaldeans. Judea lay in length from north to south.
This paragraph is in the Hebrew text, Septuagint and Vulgate the beginning of Ezekiel 20:46
In this verse occur three Hebrew synonyms for “south,” denoting:
(1) the region on the right, Teman 1 Samuel 23:24;
(2) the region of dryness, Negeb Joshua 15:4;
(3) the region of brightness, Darom Deuteronomy 33:23.
The variety of terms helps the force of the application. Chebar is in the north of Babylonia; from the north the Chaldaeans came upon Judaea (see the Ezekiel 1:4 note).
Ezekiel 20:47
Forest of the south - The land of Israel. See Ezekiel 21:1-2.
Ezekiel 20:49
Parables - Compare Ezekiel 17:2. The meaning of the prophet was clear enough, if those whom he addressed had chosen to understand.