Ezekiel 6:11

11. Smite with thine hand… and say, Alas These are even to this day common expressions of emotional excitement among orientals. They denote either energetic signals for immediate action (Ezekiel 21:14), or expressions of anger or grief (Ezekiel 22:13; Numbers 24:10), or gestures of triumphant scorn (Ezekiel 25:3-6). The prophet here is personifying for the moment the nations who are watching the siege of Jerusalem. He had previously pictured the horrors of the siege; he now pictures the insults of enemies. The view of Smend, that this expresses Ezekiel’s personal feeling, entirely misses the point. In this picture-prophecy Ezekiel never speaks or acts from a personal standpoint, but as representing now Jehovah, now Israel, and now the heathen.