I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
Parallel translations
- WEB “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
- KJV And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
- NKJV “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
- NASB “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
- NLT I will examine you carefully and hold you to the terms of the covenant.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will make them pass under the rod and bring them into the bond of the covenant. Like a shepherd counting his flock, He will reclaim and bind them to Himself.
Overview
Passing 'under the rod' pictures a shepherd inspecting and numbering his sheep (Leviticus 27:32), here signifying both scrutiny and ownership. God will hold His people to covenant accountability, sorting and claiming them as His own. The shepherd imagery anticipates Christ, the Good Shepherd, who knows His sheep and brings them into the new covenant in His blood.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jer 33:13In the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev, in the land of Benjamin and the cities surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD.
- Lev 27:32Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.
- Matt 25:32–33All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
- Ps 89:30–32If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,
- Ezek 16:59–60For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.
- Amos 3:2“Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
- Lev 26:25And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
- Ezek 34:17This is what the Lord GOD says to you, My flock: ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the goats.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 20:37 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.