Ezekiel 25 commentary

It is wicked to be glad at the calamities of any, especially of God's people; it is a sin for which he will surely reckon. God will make it appear that he is the God of Israel, though he suffers them for a time to be captives in Babylon. It is better to know Him, and to be poor, than to be rich and ignorant of him.

Though one event seem to the righteous and wicked, it is vastly different. Those who glory in any other defence and protection than the Divine power, providence, and promise, will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their glorying. Those who will not leave it to God to take vengeance for them, may expect that he will take vengeance on them. The equity of the Lord's judgments is to be observed, when he not only avenges injuries upon those that did them, but by those against whom they were done. Those who treasure up old hatred, and watch for the opportunity of manifesting it, are treasuring up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath.

CHAPTER 25

Eze 25:1-17. Appropriately in the Interval of Silence as to the Jews in the Eight Chapters, (Twenty-fifth through Thirty-second) Ezekiel Denounces Judgments on the Heathen World Kingdoms.

If Israel was not spared, much less the heathen utterly corrupt, and having no mixture of truth, such as Israel in its worst state possessed (1Pe 4:17, 18). Their ruin was to be utter: Israel's but temporary (Jr 46:28). The nations denounced are seven, the perfect number; implying that God's judgments would visit, not merely these, but the whole round of the heathen foes of God. Babylon is excepted, because she is now for the present viewed as the rod of God's retributive justice, a view too much then lost sight of by those who fretted against her universal supremacy.

3. (Jr 49:1).

when ... profaned; ... when ... desolate; ... when ... captivity--rather, "for ... for ... for": the cause of the insolent exultation of Ammon over Jerusalem. They triumphed especially over the fall of the "sanctuary," as the triumph of heathenism over the rival claims of Jehovah. In Jehoshaphat's time, when the eighty-third Psalm was written (Psa 83:4, 7, 8, 12, "Ammon ... holpen the children of Lot," who were, therefore, the leaders of the unholy conspiracy, "Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession"), we see the same profane spirit. Now at last their wicked wish seems accomplished in the fall of Jerusalem. Ammon, descended from Lot, held the region east of Jordan, separated from the Amorites on the north by the river Jabbok, and from Moab on the south by the Arnon. They were auxiliaries to Babylon in the destruction of Jerusalem (2Ki 24:2).

4. men of ... east--literally, "children of the East," the nomad tribes of Arabia-Deserta, east of the Jordan and the Dead Sea.

palaces--their nomadic encampments or folds, surrounded with mud walls, are so called in irony. Where thy "palaces" once stood, there shall their very different "palaces" stand. Fulfilled after the ravaging of their region by Nebuchadnezzar, shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem (compare Eze 21:22; Jr 49:1-28).

5. Rabbah--meaning "the Great," Ammon's metropolis. Under the Ptolemies it was rebuilt under the name Philadelphia; the ruins are called Amman now, but there is no dwelling inhabited.

Ammonites--that is, the Ammonite region is to be a "couching place for flocks," namely of the Arabs. The "camels," being the chief beast of burden of the Chaldeans, are put first, as their invasion was to prepare the Ammonite land for the Arab "flocks." Instead of busy men, there shall be "still and couching flocks."

6-7. "Because thou hast clapped thine hands," exulting over the downfall of Jerusalem, "I also will stretch out Mine hand upon thee" (to which Eze 21:17 also may refer, "I will smite Mine hands together").

hands ... feet ... heart--with the whole inward feeling, and with every outward indication. Stamping with the foot means dancing for joy.

8. Moab, Seir, and Ammon were contiguous countries, stretching in one line from Gilead on the north to the Red Sea. They therefore naturally acted in concert, and in joint hostility to Judea.

Judah is like ... all ... heathen--The Jews fare no better than others: it is of no use to them to serve Jehovah, who, they say, is the only true God.

9-10. open ... from the cities--I will open up the side, or border of Moab (metaphor from a man whose side is open to blows), from the (direction of) the cities on his northwest border beyond the Arnon, once assigned to Reuben (Jos 13:15-21), but now in the hands of their original owners; and the "men of the east," the wandering Bedouin hordes, shall enter through these cities into Moab and waste it. Moab accordingly was so wasted by them, that long before the time of Christ it had melted away among the hordes of the desert. For "cities," Grotius translates the Hebrew as proper names, the Ar and Aroer, on the Arnon. Hence the Hebrew for "cities," "Ar" is repeated twice (Nu 21:28; De 2:36; Is 15:1).

glory of the country--The region of Moab was richer than that of Ammon; it answers to the modern Belka, the richest district in South Syria, and the scene in consequence of many a contest among the Bedouins. Hence it is called here a "glorious land" (literally, "a glory," or "ornament of a land") [Fairbairn]. Rather, "the glory of the country" is in apposition with "cities" which immediately precedes, and the names of which presently follow.

Beth-jeshimoth--meaning "the city of desolations"; perhaps so named from some siege it sustained; it was towards the west.

Baal-meon--called also "Beth-meon" (Jr 48:23), and "Beth-baal-meon" (Jos 13:17, called so from the worship of Baal), and "Bajith," simply (Is 15:2).

Kiriathaim--"the double city." The strength of these cities engendered "the pride" of Moab (Is 16:6).

12. taking vengeance--literally, "revenging with revengement," that is, the most unrelenting vengeance. It was not simple hatred, but deep-brooding, implacable revenge. The grudge of Edom or Esau was originally for Jacob's robbing him of Isaac's blessing (Ge 25:23; 27:27-41). This purpose of revenge yielded to the extraordinary kindness of Jacob, through the blessing of Him with whom Jacob wrestled in prayer; but it was revived as an hereditary grudge in the posterity of Esau when they saw the younger branch rising to the pre-eminence which they thought of right belonged to themselves. More recently, for David's subjugation of Edom to Israel (2Sa 8:14). They therefore gave vent to their spite by joining the Chaldeans in destroying Jerusalem (Psa 137:7; La 4:22; Ob 10-14), and then intercepting and killing the fugitive Jews (Am 1:11) and occupying part of the Jewish land as far as Hebron.

13. Teman ... they of Dedan--rather, "I will make it desolate from Teman (in the south) even to Dedan (in the northwest)" [Grotius], (Jr 49:8), that is, the whole country from north to south, stretching from the south of the Dead Sea to the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea.

14. by ... my people Israel--namely, by Judas Maccabeus. The Idumeans were finally, by compulsory circumcision, incorporated with the Jewish state by John Hyrcanus (see Is 34:5; 63:1, &c.; 1 Maccabees 5:3). So complete was the amalgamation in Christ's time, that the Herods of Idumean origin, as Jews, ruled over the two races as one people. Thus the ancient prophecy was fulfilled (Ge 25:23), "The elder shall serve the younger."

15. (1Sa 13:1-14:52; 2Ch 28:18). The "old hatred" refers to their continual enmity to the covenant-people. They lay along Judea on the seacoast at the opposite side from Ammon and Moab. They were overthrown by Uzziah (2Ch 26:6), and by Hezekiah (2Ki 18:8). Nebuchadnezzar overran the cities on the seacoast on his way to Egypt after besieging Tyre (Jr 47:1-7). God will take vengeance on those who take the avenging of themselves out of His hands into their own (Ro 12:19-21; Jas 2:13).

16. cut off the Cherethims--There is a play on similar sounds in the Hebrew, hichratti cherethim, "I will slay the slayers." The name may have been given to a section of the Philistines from their warlike disposition (1Sa 30:14; 31:3). They excelled in archery, whence David enrolled a bodyguard from them (2Sa 8:18; 15:18; 20:7). They sprang from Caphtor, identified by many with Crete, which was famed for archery, and to which the name Cherethim seems akin. Though in emigration, which mostly tended westwards, Crete seems more likely to be colonized from Philistia than Philistia from Crete, a section of Cretans may have settled at Cherethim in South Philistia, while the Philistines, as a nation, may have come originally from the east (compare De 2:23; Jr 47:4; Am 9:7; Zep 2:5). In Ge 10:14 the Philistines are made distinct from the Caphtorim, and are said to come from the Casluhim; so that the Cherethim were but a part of the Philistines, which 1Sa 30:14 confirms.

remnant of--that is, "on the seacoast" of the Mediterranean: those left remaining after the former overthrows inflicted by Samuel, David, Hezekiah, and Psammetichus of Egypt, father of Pharaoh-necho (Jr 25:20).

17. know ... vengeance--They shall know Me, not in mercy, but by My vengeance on them (Psa 9:16).

The word of the Lord - The chronological order of this chapter is after Eze 33:21, etc. See Abp. Newcome.

Set thy face against the Ammonites - We have already seen, Eze 21:19, etc., that when Nebuchadnezzar left Babylon he was in doubt whether he should besiege Riblath, the capital of the Ammonites, or Jerusalem, the capital of the Jews, first: and having used his divination. he was determined, by the result, to attack Jerusalem the first. He did so and the Ammonites, seeing the success of his arms, made friends with him, and exulted in the ruin of the Jews. God resents this, and predicts their downfall with that of Edom, Moab, and the Philistines. The fulfillment of this prediction is not noted in Scripture: but Josephus tells us, that about five years after the taking of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar turned his arms against the Ammonites and Moabites, and afterwards against Egypt; and having subdued those nations, he returned to Babylon. Joseph. Antiq., 50 x., c. 2. Berosus states, as quoted by Josephus, contra App., that Nebuchadnezzar subdued Syria, Arabia, Phoenicia, and Egypt: and consequently, that he had brought under his dominion the Ammonites, Moabites, and Idumeans, who were included among the Philistines. See Calmet.

Will deliver thee to the men of the east - Probably the Scenite Arabs, Ishmaelites, and people of Kedar, who seized upon the provinces of the vanquished Ammonites, etc. The following description suits this people only, living on fruits, the milk of their flocks, using camels, etc. Some think the people of the east mean the Chaldeans.

I will cause thee to perish - Except in history, the name of the Ammonites does not now exist.

Moab and Seir do say - Seir means the Idumeans. It appears that both these, with the Ammonites, had made a league with Zedekiah, Jer 27:3, which they did not keep; and it is supposed that they even joined with the Chaldeans.

I will open the side - קתף ketheph, the shoulder, the strongest frontier place. Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim were strong frontier towns of Moab.

That the Ammonites - The Syriac has, "That Rabbah of the sons of Ammon be not remembered."

Because that Edom hath dealt - The Edomites were the most inveterate enemies of the Jews from the very earliest times, and ever did all that they could to annoy them.

I will make it desolate from Teman - Teman and Dedan were both cities of the Moabites, and apparently at each extremity of the land.

I will lay my vengeance upon Edom - God will not allow men to insult those whom he has cast down. His judgment is sufficient; to add more is an insult to God.

By the hand of may people Israel - This was fulfilled by the Maccabees, who not only defeated them and brought them under complete subjection, but obliged them to receive circumcision, Joseph. Antiq. 50 xiii., c. 17; 1 Maccabees 5:65; 2 Maccabees 10:16.

Because the Philistines - They were as inimical to the Jews as the Ammonites, etc., were. Nebuchadnezzar punished them because they had assisted the Tyrians during the time he was besieging their city.

I will cut of the Cherethims - See the note on 2Sam 8:18.

The remnant of the sea coasts - The different seignories of the Philistines inhabited the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, from Judea to Egypt. For other matters relative to these prophecies, see Jer 47:4 (note).

Aha - When thou shouldest have pitied, thou didst proudly insult over my people.

The men of the east - The Arabians, associates of Nebuchadnezzar, who recompensed their service, with giving them this country when it was conquered, as it was five years after the desolation of Jerusalem.

Rabbah - The royal city, called since Philadelphia from the king of Egypt who built it. The Ammonites - The land they dwelt in.

Know - Thus God will bring those that were strangers to him into an acquaintance with him, and it will be a blessed effect of their calamities. How much better is it, to be poor and know God, than to be rich, and ignorant of him?

Seir - The seed of Esau, the Edomites. Seir was the mountain where they first planted themselves. Is like - Are no more a select people than others.

The side - That part of his country which was best fortified. Bethjeshimoth - An ancient city; it was a fortress toward the desert, which watched lest any should make an inroad on the country.

With the Ammonites - As I have given Ammon, so I will with them give Moab to the Chaldeans, who will give it to the Arabians.

Teman - A country in the southern coast of Edom. Dedan - Adjoining to Edom.

It - Israel.

The Cherethim - The bowmen, the strength of Philistia. The remnant - Who had escaped the sword of Samuel, David, Hezekiah, and of Psammetichus king of Egypt.

1 THE word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

Though he had order no more yet a while to prophesie against the Jews, he was to be dumb as to them, yet he hath Commission to foretel sad tidings to other Nations round about the Jews.

2 Son of man set thy face against the Ammonites , and prophesie against them:

The phrase you have, chap. 20.46. let. o. It includeth Anger, Menaces, and intention of mind.

The posterity of Lot by the younger Daughter, near Neighbours, but bitter Enemies to the Jews.

Leave recorded what heavy things shall befall them in after dayes.

Marginal references: Jer. [illegible: 2 letters] ▪ &c. ch. 21.[illegible: 1 letter] Amo. 1.[illegible: 1 letter]

3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD p; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidest, Aha , against my sanctuary , when it was prophaned , and against the land of Israel , when it was desolate , and against the land of Judah when it went into captivity ;

Either tell Ammonite Merchants, or Travellers of which some might likely be in Babylon for Trade, or to see its State: or else, send by Letter to them of their Nation, who may serve in Nebuchadnezzars Camp, which was in that time a School of Armes, that they may tell others: or else, so plainly declare it, that in time they may know this. 'Tis not the ambiguous, or delusive Oracle of your Idols, but the plain, and true, and unfailing word of the only true God, the God of Israel, as Zeph. 2.8.

When thou shouldest have pitied, and been sorry, thou didst rejoyce, and proudly didst insult, magnified thy self, and reproachedst my people, wert glad that so great Calamities were come upon them.

Both the Temple, and the Worship of God, 'tis like in their pride, they boasted their Idols power to Preserve their Temples, and blasphemed God as unable to preserve his Sacred Rites, and Worship.

When the Heathen entred into, and when they burnt it.

They insulted on the Ten Tribes, the Kingdom of Israel when afflicted.

Wasted by Pul and Tiglath Pileser, and captivated by Salmanezer.

The Two Tribes, the Kingdom of Iudah.

First, with Iehojakim, then with Iekoniah, and which was worse, then both these, when it was captivated with Zedekiah, and the City burnt; a most mournful sight, and at which none, but inhumane barbarous men could do less, then weep, but these rejoyce, and cry, Aha.

Marginal references: chap. [illegible: 1 span]

4 Behold, therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession , and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk .

The God whom thou hast despised, whose People thou hast reproacht, whose Worship thou hast vilified, I will avenge my self, and deliver thee up.

The M[illegible: 1 letter]des and Persians say some, the Babylonians say others, but this suits not well with Geographie; Arabians say others, associates of Nebuchadnezzar, who 'tis likely, recompenced their labour and service with giving them this Countrey when it was conquered, as 'twas five years after the desolation of Ierusalem.

They shall settle on it, as a very convenient Country for their Sheep and Camels, and possess it, as their Inheritance.

The word Palaces seems little to agree with Arabians, who dwelt in Tents, but this manner of dwelling many of them would be ready to change, where they might to so great advantage, as in that Countrey, which was fruitful, as this was; beside the word signifieth, what is fenced, as Isa. 2.15. and is paraphrased by Camp, and Arabians had their Munitions and fortified Camps, and these they shall set here, while they stay. And I add this also that the next words explain these.

They shall set up their Tents, as the word properly; their Tents and Habitations they would fortifie in some manner, or other, that in their Camp they might be safe, if they did not build Cities in the Countrey.

The Fruit of that Land was once thine, of the Trees thou plantedst.

Which in so fruitful Land, and rich Pastures they had in abundance from the multitude of their Kine, and 'twas a drink that well suited with those hot Regions.

Marginal references: Heb. children.

5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for Camels , and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

The Royal City, and Seat of the Kings of Ammon, called since Philadelphia, from Ptolemaeus Philadelphus, King of Egypt, who built it.

Turn it from a Royal Palace to be a recep[illegible: 1 letter]acle of Camels, and their drivers.

Wherewith not the Chaldaeans, and Bactrians, but the Arabians also were well stored; all the men of the East, as appears in Iob, using them for conveying Merchandize, and for Travels.

The people for the Land they dwelt in.

Then shall you know, I was as able to have defended my own People, House, and Worship, as I was able to destroy your Gods, your Cities, and your People

6 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands , and stamped with the feet , and rejoyced in heart with all thy despight against the land of Israel .

Exprest thy joy in that insolent manner.

And added this sign of more, then ordinary Joy at this.

It was that which affected thy heart with gladness, thy soul, and mind were in this thy rejoycing.

Hatred and contempt, thou wast heartily glad, such vile people, as thou countedst them, were made, what thou thoughtest they best deserved, Slaves, Beggars, and Captives.

For the people.

Either the Ten Tribes, or rather the Two Tribes with the small remnant of the others, that kept to the House of David.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 letter]and.; Heb. foot.; Heb. soul.

7 Behold therefore, I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen , and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countrey: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

Thou stretchedst out thy hand in Joy, I will stretch out mine in Wrath, thou, against my people, I, against thee.

For a prey, or for meat, so the word will bear. The greedy covetous Souldier shall make thy wealth his prey; the hungry Enemy shall eat thee up.

Babylonians, and their Confederates.

Explained by that follows, Ammon, thou shalt no more be accounted among the Nations, but cease from being a people.

So shalt thou be destroyed.

Vide ver. 5. let. l.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1 letter]eat.

8 Thus saith the Lord GOD; because that Moab , and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen.

The Children of Lot by the Elder Daughter▪ the whole Nation going under the Name of the first Father of them▪ near but evil Neighbours to Israel, and Iudah.

The seed of Esau, who are, Edom, Idumaeans, or Seir, from the Mountain, where they first planted themselves; near of Kin in blood, but bitter Enemies to the Jews, though both here joyned, yet Moab is first doomed here, ver. 9, 10, 11. and Seir next, ver. 12▪ 13, 14.

The peculiar people of God, who had his Law, Temple, Worship of his own appointment among them.

Are no more a select people than others; their Religion no better, nor their God, but as the Gods of their Neighbours. And they no more benefited by their worshipping of him, thus Atheist like, they dethrone God, and debase him to an equality with their own Idols, more particularly Moab's sin is set out. Ier. 48. t[illegible: 2 letters].

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 15. and Amo. 2.1.

9 Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities , from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon , and Kiriathaim .

When the Lord will open the Gates of Iron, and say, the Gates shall not be shut, as Isa. 45.1. 2, Every attempt shall be easie, and his Souldiers shall break through the defences, that were vainly boasted impregnable.

That part of his Country, which was best fortified for the safeguard of the whole.

From the Cities of strength, called here his, because he gloryed, and trusted in them such as Har and Aroer seated on Arnon, very strong Garrisons.

Or from his Frontiers, (for 'tis the same construction Hebr.) or from his outmost bounds, I will lay all open to the Chaldaeans, they shall over-run it, as if 'twere an open Countrey, as easily, as if no Fortresses to impede them.

So the great, strong, and beautiful, or regularly built, and fortified Cities are ever accounted the Glory of the Countrey, and these are reckoned beside Ar and Aroer.

Called also Meon, and Baiith, and Beth-Baal-Meon, Mansion-House of Baal, word for word; it was scituate on the North Coast of Moab, as the other on the West.

A City, which probably consisted of two Cities, or principal parts, a very strong Frontier Town, but not able to keep out those that God would lead in.

Bethjesimoth, an ancient City, and formerly Reuben's lot, Ioh. 13.20. its name tells you, it was a fortress toward the desert, which watched, lest any should, through those wastes, make an inroad on the Countrey.

Marginal references: Heb. shoulder.

10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession that the Ammonites may not be remembred among the nations.

See ver. 4. let. a.

Rather against, and so the Hebr. and the sense is plain, or as our Translation reads it, with i. e. as I have given Ammon, so I will with them give Moab to the Chaldaeans first, who will give Moab to the Arabians.

Ver. 4. let. b.

I suppose here is either an ellipsis, thus, that as the Ammonites should so perish, as not to be remembred, so should Moab also, or else Ammon is appellative here, and speaks the numerousness of Moab, which yet should so cease as to be forgotten.

Marginal references: Or. against the children of Ammon.; chap. 21.32.

11 And I will execute judgment upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Tho' the Chaldaeans do it, 'tis by God's direction, and he is principal therein.

The judgment passed by my Prophet.

Those brutish Nations shall know this is my hand.

12 Thus saith the LORD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance , and hath greatly offended , and revenged himself upon them;

The Idumaeans Children of Esau.

The Kingdom of David after the division of the Tribes, when but two remained constant to the House of David.

For the old quarrel, because Iacob got the blessing from Esau, or rather in revenging a later quarrel, which they had against Iudah for the Slaughter, spoil, and captivity they suffered by David's conquering Sword.

Both in the thing it self; for vengeance belongs to God, and in the manner and measures of executing it, as appears, both from Psal. 137.7. and the prophesie of Obadia[illegible: 1 letter] 10. to 15. we see, and consider.

Marginal references: Jer. 49.7, 8. chap. 35.2. Amos 1.11.

13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it, and I will make it desolate from Teman ; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.

See ver. 7. let. [illegible: 1 letter]. and cap. 16. ver. 27. let. n, o.

By the Sword of the Chaldaeans, and by other wasting evils, which accompany Wars as Famine, Pestilence, and other Diseases.

Either their Cattel should be driven away by the plundring Souldier, or devoured by the mighty numerous Army of Nebuchadnezzar, or wasted with murrain, or all should concur to unstock their pastures.

A desolation, i. e. most desolate.

From the South, so the Chald. Paraph. but 'tis rather the Name of the Region, called by the name of Esau's Grandson Teman, who also gave name to the Metropolis of Idu[illegible: 1 letter]aea, and probably 'twas in the Southern Coast of Edoms Countrey.

The Dedanites, who were of Abraham by Keturah, Gen. 25.3. and these were Neighbours to Edom, on Arabia side, or else intermixt with the Edomites in Habitation and Commerce, so that it might be a City reckoned; either to Edom, or Arabia from Teman to Dedan, the Chaldaean Sword should waste all.

Marginal references: Or, they shall fall by the sword unto Dedan.

14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel ; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger, and according to my fury ; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.

Which as 'tis great, so just, sure, and opportune, their foot slideth in due time, Deut. 32.35.

No History mentions the fulfilling of this, as it sounds in the letter of it, unless 1 Mac. 5.3. and 2 Mac. 10.16, 17. some therefore interpret; by the hand, by the same hand, that I used in punishing my people Israel; others refer it to a spiritual meaning, as Isa. 11.14. and Ier. 49.2. and Obad. ver. 21.

The Instruments God used, whether Maccabees in after times, or the Chaldaeans in that present age.

My just displeasure, as it set them on work, shall give them their strength, and measures; they shall do as much as I intended agai[illegible: 3 letters] Edom.

Redoubled to affect the more, and confirm the pr[illegible: 1 letter]diction.

Both Edom, my people▪ and those I employ shall see this was my quarrel, which I threatned to revenge, and now have done it, and Edom shall know, I am not like their Gods, though they said so, ver. 8.

15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge , and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred.

Next Neighbours to the Iews, between whom, many quarrels, wars, and mutual spoil, slaughter, and injuries happened, as ever among Borderers, who make all their own they can catch.

Took the opportunity to revenge themselves, when the Jews were weak and low.

With hatred to them, and contempt of them.

This tells us what their hatred appeared in, 'twas a hatred to the Name, and being of Israel they would cut them off; as Psal. 83.7.

With a perpetuated endless enmity pursuing them.

Marginal references: Jer. 25.20. and 47.2. Amo. 1.6.; Or, with perpetual hatred.

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the cheruthims , and destroy the remnant of the sea coast .

See chap. 7. ver. 5. let. s. and chap. 16. ver. 27. let. n, o.

Either a name for all the Philistines, 1 Sam. 30.14. or else the principal Souldiers, expert Bowmen, the strength of Philistia.

Which had escapt the sword of Samuel, David, Hezekiah, and of Psammetichus King of Egypt.

Mediterran about Az[illegible: 1 letter]tus.

Marginal references: Or, Haven of the Sea.

17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

Great for measure, and many for number, vengeances, as Heb.

In fierceness of anger, and without pity.

They, as other stupid Nations, will not see, till they feel, and then they shall confess 'tis the hand of an angry, but just, and mighty God.

This verse is a confirmation of all spoken against the Philistines, and is in all the particulars explained in what went before.

Marginal references: Heb. vengeances.

Predictions of Judgment upon the Heathen Nations - Ezekiel 25-32

While the prophet’s mouth was to be mute to Israel, the Lord directed him to speak against the heathen nations, and to foretell to them the judgment of destruction, that they might not be lifted up by the fall of the people and kingdom of God, but might recognise in the judgment upon Israel a work of the omnipotence and righteousness of the Lord, the Judge of the whole earth. There are seven heathen nations whose destruction Ezekiel foretells in this section of his book, viz., (1) Ammon; (2) Moab; (3) Edom; (4) The Philistines (Ezekiel 25); (5) Tyre, (6) Sidon (Ezekiel 26-28); and (7) Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32). These prophecies are divided into thirteen words of God by the introductory formula, “The word of Jehovah came to me,” the utterances against Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines, being all comprehended in one word of God; whereas there are four separate words of God directed against Tyre, one against Sidon, and seven against Egypt. In the seven nations and the seven words of God directed against Egypt we cannot fail to discover an allusion to the symbolical significance of the number. Sidon, which had lost its commanding position and become dependent upon Tyre long before the time of Ezekiel, is evidently selected for a special word of God only for the purpose of making up the number seven. And in order to make it the more apparent that the number has been chosen on account of its significance, Ezekiel divides his announcement of the judgment upon the seventh people into seven words of God. On the basis of Gen 1, seven is the number denoting the completion of the works of God. When, therefore, Ezekiel selects seven nations and utters seven words of God concerning the principal nation, namely Egypt, he evidently intends to indicate thereby that the judgment predicted will be executed and completed upon the heathen world and its peoples through the word and acts of God. - The predictions of judgment upon these seven heathen nations are divisible, accordingly, into two groups. Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Sidon form one group, while the second treats of Egypt alone. This is certainly the way in which the cycle of these prophecies is to be divided rather than the plan ordinarily adopted, according to which the nations included in Ezekiel 25, as representatives of the one phase of the world-power, are placed in contrast with the other phase of heathenism represented by Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt. The latter is the opinion entertained by Hävernick, for example, with regard to the “beautiful and symmetrical arrangement” of these prophecies. “First of all,” says he, “the prophet shows in one series of nations how the idea of the judgment of God was realized in the case of those nations which rose up in direct and open hostility to the theocracy, and thereby represented the might of heathenism as turned away from God and engaged in downright rebellion against Him (Ezekiel 25). The prophecies concerning Tyre and Sidon contemplate heathenism in a second aspect (Ezekiel 26-28). In Tyre we have an exhibition of pride or carnal security, which looks away from god, and plunges deeper and deeper into the sin and worthlessness of the natural life. Both aspects are then finally combined in Egypt, that ancient fore of the covenant nation, which had grown into a world-power, and while displaying in this capacity unbending arrogance and pride, was now, like all the rest, about to be hurled down from the summit of its ancient glory into a bottomless deep.” But this interpretation is, in more than one respect, manifestly at variance with the substance of the prophecies. This applies, in the first place, to the antithesis which is said to exist between the nations threatened in Ezekiel 25 on the one hand, and Tyre and Sidon on the other. In the case of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines, for example, the sins mentioned as those for which they would be overthrown by the judgment are their malicious delight at the fall of Israel, and their revengeful, hostile behaviour towards the covenant nation (Eze 25:3, Eze 25:8,Eze 25:12, Eze 25:15). And in the same way, according to Eze 26:2, Tyre had involved itself in guilt by giving utterance to its delight at the destruction of Jerusalem, which inspired the hope that everything would now flow into its own store. On the other hand, nothing more is said in the case of Pharaoh and Egypt about malicious pleasure, or hostility, or enmity towards Israel or the kingdom of God; but Pharaoh has rendered himself guilty by saying: the Nile is mine, I have made it for myself; and by the fact that Egypt had become a staff of reed to the house of Israel, which broke when they sought to lean upon it (Eze 29:3, Eze 29:6-7). According to these obvious explanations, Ezekiel reckoned Tyre and Sidon among the nations that were inimically disposed towards Israel, even though the hostile attitude of the Phoenicians was dictated by different motives from those of Edom and the other nations mentioned in Ezekiel 25; and the heathen nations are arranged in two groups, and not in three. This is established beyond all doubt, when we observe that each of these two groups terminates with a promise for Israel. To the threat of judgment uttered against Sidon there is appended the promise: and there shall be no more for Israel a malicious briar and smarting thorn from all that are round about them who despise them; and when the Lord shall gather Israel from its dispersion, then will He cause it to dwell safely and prosperously in His land, inasmuch as He will execute judgment upon all round about them who despise them (Eze 28:24-26). And the prediction of judgment upon Egypt in the last prophecy uttered concerning this land, in the twenty-seventh year of the captivity (Eze 29:17), closes in a similar manner, with the promise that at the time when the Lord gives Egypt as spoil to the king of Babylon, He will cause a horn to grow to the house of Israel (Eze 29:21). The fact that these two prophecies correspond to each other would not have been overlooked by the commentators if the prophecy concerning Egypt, which was really the last in order of time, had been placed in its proper chronological position in the book of Ezekiel, namely, at the close of the words of God directed against that land.

The date of the great mass of these prophecies falls within the period of the last siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, that is to say, in the interval between Ezekiel 24 and Ezekiel 33, as the chronological data in the headings plainly affirm. The first word concerning Tyre is from the eleventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin (Eze 26:1). Of the prophecies against Egypt, the one in Ezekiel 29:1-16 dates from the tenth month of the tenth year; that in Eze 30:20-26, from the first month of the eleventh year; that in Ezekiel 31, from the third month of the same year; the two in Eze 32:1. and 17ff., from the twelfth month of the twelfth year; and lastly, the brief utterance in Eze 29:17-21, from the twenty-seventh year of the captivity. There are no chronological data attached to the others. But the short, threatening words against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines in Ezekiel 25 belong to the time immediately succeeding the fall of Jerusalem, since they presuppose its having occurred. The second and third utterances concerning Tyre in Ezekiel 27 and Ezekiel 28:1-19, as well as that concerning Sidon in Eze 28:20., are closely connected, so far as their contents are concerned, with the first word of God against Tyre belonging to the eleventh year of the captivity. And lastly, the threatening word concerning Egypt in Ezekiel 30:1-19, to which no definite chronological data are attached, appears to stand nearer in point of time to Ezekiel 29:1-16 than to Eze 29:17-21. - Consequently the arrangement is based upon the subject-matter of the prophecies, and the chronological sequence is kept subordinate to this, or rather to the comparative importance of the several nations in relation to the theocracy.

These prophecies evidently rest upon the predictions of the earlier prophets against the same nations, so far as their contents are concerned; and in the threats directed against Tyre and Egypt, more especially, many of the thoughts contained in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa 23 and 19) are reproduced and expanded. But notwithstanding this resting upon the utterances of earlier prophets, Ezekiel’s prophecy against the heathen nations is distinguished in a characteristic manner from that of the other prophets, by the fact that he does not say a word about the prospect of these nations being ultimately pardoned, or of the remnant of them being converted to the Lord, but stops with the announcement of the utter destruction of the earthly and temporal condition of all these kingdoms and nations. The prophecy concerning Egypt in Eze 29:13-16, to the effect that after forty years of chastisement God will turn its captivity, and gather it together again, is only an apparent and not a real exception to this; for this turning of the judgment is not to bring about a restoration of Egypt to its former might and greatness or its glorification in the future; but, according to Eze 24:14., is simply to restore a lowly and impotent kingdom, which will offer no inducement to Israel to rely upon its strength. Through this promise, therefore, the threat of complete destruction is only somewhat modified, but by no means withdrawn. The only thing which Ezekiel positively holds out to view before the seven heathen nations is, that in consequence of the judgment falling upon them, they will learn that God is Jehovah, or the Lord. This formula regularly returns in the case of all the nations (vid., Eze 25:5, Eze 25:7,Eze 25:11, Eze 25:17; Eze 26:6; Eze 28:22-23; Eze 29:6, Eze 29:9; Eze 30:8, Eze 30:19, Eze 30:25-26; Eze 32:15); and we might take it to mean, that through the judgment of their destruction in a temporal respect, these nations will come to the knowledge of the God of salvation. And with this interpretation it would contain a slight allusion to the salvation, which will flourish in consequence of and after the judgment, in the case of those who have escaped destruction. If, however, we consider, on the one hand, that in the case of Edom (Eze 25:14) the formula takes a harsher form, namely, not that they shall know Jehovah, but that they shall experience His vengeance; and, on the other hand, that the mighty Tyre is repeatedly threatened with destruction, even eternal extinction (Eze 26:20-21; Eze 27:36; Eze 28:19), and that the whole cycle of these prophecies closes with a funeral-dirge on the descent of all the heathen nations into Sheol (Ezekiel 32:17-32), - we shall see that the formula in question cannot be taken in the sense indicated above, as Kliefoth maintains, but must be understood as signifying that these nations will discern in their destruction the punitive righteousness of God, so that it presents no prospect of future salvation, but simply increases the force of the threat. There is nothing in this distinction, however, to establish a discrepancy between Ezekiel and the earlier prophets; for Ezekiel simply fixes his eye upon the judgment, which will fall upon the heathen nations, partly on account of their hostile attitude towards the kingdom of God, and partly on account of their deification of their own might, and is silent as to the salvation which will accrue even to them out of the judgment itself, but without in the least degree denying it. The reason for his doing this is not that the contemplation of the particular features, which form the details of the immediate fulfilment, has led him to avert his eye from the more comprehensive survey of the entire future;Drechsler (in his commentary on BIBLE:Isaiah 23) has given the following explanation of the distinction to be observed between the prophecies of Isaiah and those of Ezekiel concerning Tyre, - namely, that in the case of Isaiah the spirit of prophecy invests its utterances with the character of totality, in accordance with the position assigned to this prophet at the entrance upon a new era of the world, embracing the entire future even to the remotest times, and sketching with grand simplicity the ground-plan and outline of the whole; whereas in the case of the later prophets, such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who were living in the midst of the historical execution, the survey of the whole gives place to the contemplation of particular features belonging to the details of the immediate fulfilment. But this explanation is not satisfactory, inasmuch as Jeremiah, notwithstanding the fact that he lived in the midst of the execution of the judgment, foretold the turning of judgment into salvation at least in the case of some of the heathen nations. For example, in Isa. 48:47 he prophesies to the Moabites, and in Isa 49:6 to the Ammonites, that in the future time Jehovah will turn their captivity; and in Isa 46:1-13 :26 he says, concerning Egypt, that after the judgment it will be inhabited as in the days of old. but that the proclamation of the spread of salvation among the heathen lay outside the limits of the calling which he had received from the Spirit of God. The prophetic mission of Ezekiel was restricted to the remnant of the covenant nation, which was carried into exile, and scattered among the heathen. To this remnant he was to foretell the destruction of the kingdom of Judah, and after the occurrence of that catastrophe the preservation and eventual restoration of the kingdom of God in a renewed and glorified form. With this commission, which he had received from the Lord, there was associated, it is true, the announcement of judgment upon the heathen, inasmuch as such an announcement was well fitted to preserve from despair the Israelites, who were pining under the oppression of the heathen, and to revive the hope of the fulfilment of the promise held out before the penitent of their future redemption from their state of misery and restoration to the position of the people of God. But this would not apply to the prophecies of the reception of the heathen into the renovated kingdom of God, as they contained no special element of consolation to the covenant people in their depression.

In connection with this we have the equally striking circumstance, that Ezekiel does not mention Babylon among the heathen nations. This may also be explained, not merely from the predominance of the idea of the judgment upon Israel and Jerusalem, which the Chaldeans were to execute as “righteous men” (Eze 23:45), so that they only came before him as such righteous men, and not as a world-power also (Kliefoth), but chiefly from the fact that, for the reason described above, Ezekiel’s prophecy of the judgment upon the heathen is restricted to those nations which had hitherto cherished and displayed either enmity or false friendship toward Israel, and the Chaldeans were not then reckoned among the number. - For the further development of the prophecy concerning the future of the whole heathen world, the Lord had called the prophet Daniel at the same time as Ezekiel, and assigned him his post at the seat of the existing heathen imperial power.

Against the Ammonites

Eze 25:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 25:2. Son of man, direct thy face towards the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them, Eze 25:3. And say to the sons of Ammon, Hear ye the word of the Lord Jehovah! Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou sayest, Aha! concerning my sanctuary, that it is profaned; and concerning the land of Israel, that it is laid waste; and concerning the house of Judah, that they have gone into captivity; Eze 25:4. Therefore, behold, I will give thee to the sons of the east for a possession, that they may pitch their tent-villages in thee, and erect their dwellings in thee; they shall eat thy fruits, and they shall drink thy milk. Eze 25:5. And Rabbah will I make a camel-ground, and the sons of Ammon a resting-place for flocks; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Eze 25:6. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou hast clapped thy hand, and stamped with thy foot, and hast rejoiced in soul with all thy contempt concerning the house of Israel, Eze 25:7. Therefore, behold, I will stretch out my hand against thee, and give thee to the nations for booty, and cut thee off from the peoples, and exterminate thee from the lands; I will destroy thee, that thou mayst learn that I am Jehovah. - In Eze 21:28., when predicting the expedition of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem, Ezekiel had already foretold the destruction of the Ammonites, so that these verses are simply a resumption and confirmation of the earlier prophecy. In the passage referred to, Ezekiel, like Zephaniah before him (Zep 2:8, Zep 2:10), mentions their reviling of the people of God as the sin for which they are to be punished with destruction. This reviling, in which their hatred of the divine calling of Israel found vent, was the radical sin of Ammon. On the occasion of Judah’s fall, it rose even to contemptuous and malicious joy at the profanation of the sanctuary of Jehovah by the destruction of the temple (a comparison with Eze 24:21 will show that this is the sense in which נחל is to be understood), at the devastation of the land of Israel, and at the captivity of Judah, - in other words, at the destruction of the religious and political existence of Israel as the people of God. The profanation of the sanctuary is mentioned first, to intimate that the hostility to Israel, manifested by the Ammonites on every occasion that presented itself (for proofs, see the comm. on Zep 2:8), had its roots not so much in national antipathies, as in antagonism to the sacred calling of Israel. As a punishment for this, they are not only to lose their land (Eze 25:4 and Eze 25:5), but to be cut off from the number of the nations (Eze 25:6 and Eze 25:7). The Lord will give up their land, with its productions, for a possession to the sons of the east, i.e., according to Gen 25:13-18, to the Arabs, the Bedouins (for בּני קדם, see the comm. on Jdg 6:3 and Job 1:3). The Piel ישּׁבוּ, although only occurring here, is not to be rejected as critically suspicious, and to be changed into Kal, as Hitzig proposes. The Kal would be unsuitable, because the subject of the sentence can only be בּני קדם, and not טירותיהם; and ישׁב in the Kal has an intransitive sense. For טירות, tent-villages of nomads, see the comm. on Gen 25:16. משׁכּנים, dwellings, are the separate tents of the shepherds. In the last clauses of Eze 25:4, המּה is repeated for the sake of emphasis; and Hitzig’s opinion, that the first המּה corresponds to the subject in the clause 'וישּׁבוּ וגו, the second to that in ונתנוּ, is to be rejected as a marvellous flight of imagination, which approaches absurdity in the assertion that פּרי הארץ signifies the folds, i.e., the animals, of the land. Along with the fruit of the land, i.e., the produce of the soil, milk is also mentioned as a production of pastoral life, and the principal food of nomads. On the wealth of the Ammonites in flocks and herds, see Jdg 6:5. The words are addressed to Ammon, as a land or kingdom, and hence the feminine suffix. The capital will also share the fate of the land. Rabbah (see the comm. on Deu 3:11) will become a camel-ground, a waste spot where camels lie down and feed. This has been almost literally fulfilled. The ruins of Ammân are deserted by men, and Seetzen found Arabs with their camels not far off (vid., von Raumer, Palestine, p. 268). In the parallel clause, the sons of Ammon, i.e., the Ammonites, are mentioned instead of their land.

In Eze 25:6 and Eze 25:7, the Lord announces to the nation of the Ammonites the destruction that awaits them, and reiterates with still stronger emphasis the sin which occasioned it, namely, the malicious delight they had manifested at Israel’s fall. בּכל־שׁאטך is strengthened by בּנפשׁ: with all thy contempt in the soul, i.e., with all the contempt which thy soul could cherish. In Eze 25:7 the ἁπ λεγ.. לבג occasions some difficulty. The Keri has substituted לבז, for booty for the nations (cf. Eze 26:5); and all the ancient versions have adopted this. Consequently בּג might be a copyist’s error for בּז; and in support of this the circumstance might be adduced, that in Eze 47:13, where גּה stands for זה, we have unquestionably a substitution of ג for ז. But if the Chetib בז be correct, the word is to be explained - as it has been by Benfey (Die Montasnamen, p. 194) and Gildemeister (in Lassen’s Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, iv. 1, p. 213ff.) - from the Sanscrit bha=ga , pars , portio, and has passed into the Semitic languages from the Aryan, like the Syriac bagaa' , esca, which P. Boetticher (Horae aram. p. 21) has correctly traced to the Sanscrit bhaj , conquere. - The executors of the judgment are not named; for the threat that God will give up the land of the Ammonites to the Bedouins for their possession, does not imply that they are to exterminate the Ammonites. On the contrary, a comparison of this passage with Amo 1:13-15 and Jer 49:1-5, where the Ammonites are threatened not only with the devastation of their land, but also with transportation into exile, will show that the Chaldeans are to be thought of as executing the judgment. (See the comm. on Eze 25:11.)

Eze 25:8-11

Against the Moabites

Eze 25:8. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because Moab, like Seir, saith, Behold, like all other nations is the house of Judah: Eze 25:9. Therefore, behold, I will open the shoulder of Moab from the cities, from its cities even to the last, the ornament of the land, Beth-hayeshimoth, Baal-meon, and as far as Kiryathaim, Eze 25:10. To the sons of the east, together with the sons of Ammon, and will give it for a possession, that the sons of Ammon may no more be remembered among the nations. Eze 25:11. Upon Moab will I execute judgments; and they shall learn that I am Jehovah. - Moab has become guilty of the same sin against Judah, the people of God, as Ammon, namely, of misunderstanding and despising the divine election of Israel. Ammon gave expression to this, when Judah was overthrown, in the malicious assertion that the house of Judah was like all the heathen nations, - that is to say, had no pre-eminence over them, and shared the same fate as they. There is something remarkable in the allusion to Seir, i.e., Edom, in connection with Moab, inasmuch as no reference is made to it in the threat contained in Eze 25:9-11; and in Eze 25:12-13, there follows a separate prediction concerning Edom. Hitzig therefore proposes to follow the example of the lxx, and erase it from the text as a gloss, but without being able in the smallest degree to show in what way it is probable that such a gloss could have found admission into an obviously unsuitable place. Seir is mentioned along with Moab to mark the feeling expressed in the words of Moab as springing, like the enmity of Edom towards Israel, from hatred and envy of the spiritual birthright of Israel, i.e., of its peculiar prerogatives in sacred history. As a punishment for this, Moab was to be given up, like Ammon, to the Bedouins for their possession, and the people of the Moabites were to disappear from the number of the nations. Eze 25:9 and Eze 25:10 form one period, לבני קדם in Eze 25:10 being governed by פּתח in Eze 25:9. The shoulder of Moab is the side of the Moabitish land. In the application of the word כּתף to lands or provinces, regard is had to the position of the shoulder in relation to the whole body, but without reference to the elevation of the district. We find an analogy to this in the use of כּתף in connection with the sides of a building. In 'מהערים וגו'  , the מן cannot be taken, in a privative sense, for מהיות; for neither the article הערים, nor the more emphatic מעריו מקּצהוּ, allows this; but מן indicates the direction, “from the cities onwards,” “from its cities onwards, reckoning to the very last,” - that is to say, in its whole extent. מקּצהוּ, as in Isa 56:11; Gen 19:4, etc. This tract of land is first of all designated as a glorious land, with reference to its worth as a possession on account of the excellence of its soil for the rearing of cattle (see the comm. on Num 32:4), and then defined with geographical minuteness by the introduction of the names of some of its cities. Beth-Hayeshimoth, i.e., house of wastes (see the comm. on Num 22:1), has probably been preserved in the ruins of Suaime, which F. de Saulcy discovered on the north-eastern border of the Dead Sea, a little farther inland (vid., Voyage en terre sainte, Paris 1865, t. i. p. 315). Baal-meon, - when written fully, Beth-Baal-Meon (Jos 13:17) - contracted into Beth-Meon in Jer 48:23, is to be sought for to the south-east of this, in the ruins of Myun, three-quarters of an hour’s journey to the south of Heshbon (see the comm. on Num 32:38). Kiryathaim was still farther south, probably on the site of the ruins of El Teym (see the comm. on Gen 14:5 and Num 32:37). The Chetib קריתמה is based upon the form קריתם, a secondary form of קריתים , like דּתן, a secondary form of דּתין, in 2Ki 6:13. The cities named were situated to the north of the Arnon, in that portion of the Moabitish land which had been taken from the Moabites by the Amorites before the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan (Num 21:13, Num 21:26), and was given to the tribe of Reuben for its inheritance after the defeat of the Amoritish kings by the Israelites; and then, still later, when the tribes beyond the Jordan were carried into captivity by the Assyrians, came into the possession of the Moabites again, as is evident from Isa 15:1-9 and Isa 16:1-14, and Jer 48:1, Jer 48:23, where these cities are mentioned once more among the cities of the Moabites. This will explain not only the naming of this particular district of the Moabitish country, but the definition, “from its cities.” For the fact upon which the stress is laid in the passage before us is, that the land in question rightfully belonged to the Israelites, according to Num 32:37-38; Num 33:49; Jos 12:2-3; Jos 13:20-21, and that it was therefore unlawfully usurped by the Moabites after the deportation of the trans-Jordanic tribes; and the thought is this, that the judgment would burst upon Moab from this land and these cities, and they would thereby be destroyed (Hävernick and Kliefoth). על, not “over the sons of Ammon,” but “in addition to the sons of Ammon.” They, that is to say, their land, had already been promised to the sons of the east (Eze 25:4). In addition to this, they are now to receive Moab for their possession (Hitzig and Kliefoth). Thus will the Lord execute judgments upon Moab. Eze 25:11 sums up what is affirmed concerning Moab in Eze 25:9 and Eze 25:10, in the one idea of the judgments of God upon this people.

The execution of these judgments commenced with the subjugation of the Ammonites and Moabites by Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem (vid., Josephus, Antt. x. 9. 7, and M. von Niebuhr, Gesch. Assurs, etc., p. 215). Nevertheless the Ammonites continued to exist as a nation for a long time after the captivity, so that Judas the Maccabaean waged war against them (1 Macc. 5:6, 30-43); and even Justin Martyr speaks of  ̓Αμμανιτῶν νῦν πολὺ πληθος (Dial. Tryph. p. 272). - But Origen includes their land in the general name of Arabia (lib. i. in Job). The name of the Moabites appears to have become extinct at a much earlier period. After the captivity, it is only in Ezr 9:1; Neh 13:1, and Dan 11:41, that we find any notice of them as a people. Their land is mentioned by Josephus in the Antiq. xiii. 14. 2, and xv. 4, and in the Bell. Jud. iii. 3. 3. - A further fulfilment by the Messianic judgment, which is referred to in Zep 2:10, is not indicated in these words of Ezekiel; but judging from the prophecy concerning the Edomites (see the comm. on Eze 25:14), it is not to be excluded.

Eze 25:12-14

Against the Edomites

Eze 25:12. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because Edom acteth revengefully towards the house of Judah, and hath been very guilty in avenging itself upon them, Eze 25:13. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will stretch out my hand over Edom, and cut off man and beast from it, and make it a desert from Teman, and unto Dedan they shall fall by the sword. Eze 25:14. And I will inflict my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, that they may do to Edom according to my anger and my wrath; and they shall experience my vengeance, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - Whilst the Ammonites and the Moabites are charged with nothing more than malicious pleasure at the fall of Israel, and disregard of its divine calling, the Edomites are reproached with revengeful acts of hostility towards the house of Judah, and threatened with extermination in consequence. The עשׂות, doing or acting of Edom, is more precisely defined as 'בּנקום וגו, i.e., as consisting in the taking of vengeance, and designated as very guilty, ישׁמוּ אשׁום. עשׂה, followed by בּ with an infinitive, as in Eze 17:17. Edom had sought every opportunity of acting thus revengefully towards Israel (vid., Oba 1:11; Amo 1:11), so that in Eze 35:5 Ezekiel speaks of the “eternal enmity” of Edom against Israel. For this reason we must not restrict the reproach in Eze 25:12 to particular outbreaks of this revenge at the time of the devastation and destruction of Judah by the Chaldeans, of which the Psalmist complains in Psa 137:1-9, and for which he invokes the vengeance of God upon Edom. Man and beast are to be cut off from Edom in consequence, and the land to become a desert from Teman to Dedan. These names denote not cities, but districts. Teman is the southern portion of Idumaea (see the comm. on Amo 1:12); and Dedan is therefore the northern district. Dedan is probably not the Cushite tribe mentioned in Gen 10:7, but the tribe of the same name which sprang from the sons of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25:3), and which is also mentioned in Jer 49:8 in connection with Edom. דּדנה has ה local with Seghol instead of Kametz, probably on account of the preceding a (vid., Ewald, §216 c). There is no necessity to connect מתּימן with the following clause, as Hitzig and Kliefoth have done, in opposition to the accents. The two geographical names, which are used as a periphrasis for Idumaea as a whole, are distributed equally through the parallelismus membrorum between the two clauses of the sentence, so that they belong to both clauses, so far as the sense is concerned. Edom is to become a desert from Teman to Dedan, and its inhabitants from Teman to Dedan are to fall by the sword. This judgment of vengeance will be executed by God through His people Israel. The fulfilment of this threat, no doubt, commenced with the subjugation of the Edomites by the Maccabees; but it is not to be limited to that event, as Rosenmüller, Kliefoth, and others suppose, although the foundation was thereby laid for the disappearance of the national existence of Edom. For it is impossible with this limitation to do justice to the emphatic expression, “my people Israel.” On the ground, therefore, of the prophecies in Amo 9:12 and Oba 1:17, that the people of God are to take possession of Edom, when the fallen tabernacle of David is raised up again, i.e., in the Messianic times, which prophecies point back to that of Balaam in Num 24:18, and have their roots, as this also has, in the promise of God concerning the twin sons of Isaac, “the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen 25:23), we must seek for the complete fulfilment in the victories of the people of God over all their foes, among whom Edom from time immemorial had taken the leading place, at the time when the kingdom of God is perfected. For even here Edom is not introduced merely as a single nation that was peculiarly hostile to Judah, but also as a type of the implacable enmity of the heathen world towards the people and kingdom of God, as in Eze 35:1-15, Isa. 34:63, etc. The vengeance, answering to the anger and wrath of Jehovah, which Israel, as the people of God, is to execute upon Edom, consists not merely in the annihilation of the national existence of Edom, which John Hyrcanus carried into effect by compelling the subjugated Edomites to adopt circumcision (see the comm. on Num 24:18), but chiefly in the wrathful judgment which Israel will execute in the person of Christ upon the arch-enemy of the kingdom of God by its complete extinction.

Eze 25:15-17

Against the Philistines

Eze 25:15. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because the Philistines act with revenge, and avenge themselves with contempt in the soul to destroy in everlasting enmity, Eze 25:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will stretch out my hand over the Philistines, and cut off the Cretans, and destroy the remnant by the seashore. Eze 25:17. And I will execute great vengeance upon them through chastisements of wrath, and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I bring my vengeance upon them. - The Philistines resembled the Edomites and Ammonites in their disposition towards the covenant nation, the former in their thirst for revenge, the latter in their malicious rejoicing at Israel’s fall. For this reason they had already been classed by Isaiah (Isa 11:14) with Edom, Moab, and Ammon as enemies, who would be successfully attacked and overcome by Israel, when the Lord had gathered it again from its dispersion. In the description of its sin towards Israel we have a combination of elements taken from the conduct of Edom and Ammon (vv. 12 and 6). They execute revenge with contempt in the soul (שׁאט בּנפשׁ, as in v. 6), with the intention to destroy (למשׁחית) Israel; and this revenge springs from eternal, never-ending hostility. The Lord will cut off the whole of the people of the Philistines for this. כּרתים, Cretans, originally a branch of the Philistian people, settled in the south-west of Canaan. The name is used by Ezekiel for the people, as it had already been by Zephaniah (Zep 2:5), for the sake of the paronomasia with הכרתּי. The origin of the name is involved in obscurity, as the current derivation from Creta rests upon a very doubtful combination (cf. Stark, Gaza, pp. 66 and 99ff.). By the “remnant of the sea-coast,” i.e., the remnant of the inhabitants of the coast of the Mediterranean, in other words, of the Philistines, the destruction of which had already been predicted by Amos (Amo 1:8), Isaiah (Isa 14:30), and Jeremiah (Jer 42:4), we are to understand the whole nation to the very last man, all that was still left of the Philistines (see the comm. on Amo 1:8). - The execution of the vengeance threatened by God began in the Chaldean period, in which Gaza was attacked by Pharaoh, and, judging from Jer 47:1-7, the whole of Philistia was laid waste by the Chaldeans (see the fuller comments on this in the exposition of Jer 47:1-7). But the ultimate fulfilment will take place in the case of Philistia also, through the Messianic judgment, in the manner described in the commentary on Zep 2:10.

Various Nations Threatened. (b. c. 590.)

1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; 3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God ; Thus saith the Lord God ; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; 4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. 5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching-place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord . 6 For thus saith the Lord God ; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; 7 Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord .

Here, I. The prophet is ordered to address himself to the Ammonites, in the name of the Lord Jehovah the God of Israel, who is also the God of the whole earth. But what can Chemosh, the god of the children of Ammon, say, in answer to it? He is bidden to set his face against the Ammonites, for he is God's representative as a prophet, and thus he must signify that God set his face against them, for the face of the Lord is against those that do evil, Ps. xxxiv. 16. He must speak with boldness and assurance, as one that knew whose errand he went upon, and that he should be borne out in delivering it. He must therefore set his face as a flint, Isa. i. 7. He must show his displeasure against these proud enemies of Israel, and face them down, though they were very impudent, and thus must show that, though he had prophesied so much and so long against Israel, yet still he was for Israel, and, while he witnessed against their corruptions, he adhered to and gloried in God's covenant with them. Note, Those are miserable that have the preaching and praying of God's prophets against them, against whom their faces are set.

II. He is directed what to say to them. Ezekiel is now a captive in Babylon, and has been so many years, and knows little of the state of his own nation, much less of the nations that were about it; but God tells him both what they were doing and what he was about to do with them. And thus by the spirit of prophecy he is enabled to speak as pertinently to their case as if he had been among them.

1. He must upbraid the Ammonites with their insolent and barbarous triumphs over the people of Israel in their calamities, v. 3. The Ammonites said, when all went against the Jews, Aha! so would we have it. They were glad to see, (1.) The temple burned, the sanctuary profaned by the victorious Chaldeans. This is put first, to intimate what was the cause of the controversy; they had an enmity to the Jews for the sake of their religion, though it was only some poor remains of the profession of it that were to be found among them. (2.) The nation ruined. They rejoiced when the land of Israel was made desolate, the cities burnt, the country wasted, and both depopulated, and when the house of Judah went into captivity. When they had not power to oppress God's Israel themselves they were pleased to see the Chaldeans oppress them, partly because they envied their wealth and the good land they enjoyed, partly because they feared their growing power, and partly because they hated their religion and the divine oracles they were favoured with. It is repeated again (v. 6): They clapped with their hands, to irritate the rage of the Chaldeans, and to set them on as dogs upon the game; or they clapped their hands in triumph, attended this tragedy with their Plaudite—Give us your applause, thinking it well acted; never was there any thing more diverting or entertaining to them. They stamped with their feet, ready to leap and dance for joy upon this occasion; they not only rejoiced in heart, but they could not forbear showing it, though every one that had any sense of honour and humanity would cry shame upon them for it, especially considering that they rejoiced thus, not for any thing they got by Israel's fall (if so, they would have been the more excusable: most people are for themselves); but this as purely from a principle of malice and enmity: Thou hast rejoiced in heart with all thy despite (which signifies both scorn and hatred) against the land of Israel. Note, The people of God have always had a great deal of ill-will borne them by this wicked world; and their calamities have been their neighbours' entertainments. See to what unnatural instances of malice the enmity that is in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman will carry them. The Ammonites, of all people, should not have rejoiced in Jerusalem's ruin, but should rather have trembled, because they themselves had such a narrow escape at the same time; it was but "cross or pile" [the toss of a halfpenny] which should be besieged first, Rabbath or Jerusalem, ch. xxi. 20. And they had reason to think that the king of Babylon would set upon them next. But thus were their hearts hardened to their ruin, and their insolence against Jerusalem was to them an evident token of perdition, Phil. i. 28. It is a very wicked thing to be glad at the calamities of any, especially of God's people, and a sin that God will surely reckon for; such delight has God in showing mercy, and so backward is he to punish, that nothing is more pleasing to him than to be stopped in the ways of his judgments by intercessions, not any thing more provoking than to help forward the affliction when he is but a little displeased, Zech. i. 15.

2. He must threaten the Ammonites with utter ruin for this insolence which they were guilty of. God turns away his wrath from Israel against them, as is said, Prov. xxiv. 17, 18. God is jealous for his people's honour, because his own is so nearly interested in it. And therefore those that touch that shall be made to know that they touch the apple of his eye. He had before predicted the destruction of the Ammonites, ch. xxi. 28. Had they repented, that would have been revoked; but now it is ratified. (1.) A destroying enemy is brought against them: I will deliver thee to the men of the east, first to the Chaldeans, who came from the north-east, and whose army, under the command of Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the country of the Ammonites, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem (as Josephus relates, Antiq. 10.181), and then to the Arabians, who were properly the children of the east, who, when the Chaldeans had made the country desolate, and quitted it, came and took possession of it for themselves, probably with the consent of the conquerors. Shepherds' tents were their palaces; these they set up in the country of the Ammonites; there they made their dwellings, v. 4. They enjoyed the products of the country: They shall eat thy fruit and drink thy milk; and the milk from the cattle is the fruit of the ground at second-hand. They made use even of the royal city for their cattle (v. 5): I will make Rabbath, that was a nice and splendid city, to be a stable for camels; for its new masters, whose wealth lies all in cattle, will not think they can put the palaces of Rabbath to a better use. Rabbath had been a habitation of brutish men; justly therefore is it now made a stable for camels and the country a couching-lace for flocks, more innocent beasts than those with which it had been before replenished. (2.) God himself acts as an enemy to them (v. 7): I will stretch out my hand upon thee, a hand that will reach far and strike home, which there is no resisting the blow of, for it is a mighty hand, nor bearing the weight of, for it is a heavy hand. God's hand stretched out against the Ammonites will not only deliver them for a spoil to the heathen, so that all their neighbours shall prey upon them, but will cut them off from the people and made them perish out of the countries, so that there shall be no remains of them in that place. Compare with this, Jer. xlix. 1, &c. What can sound more terrible than that resolution (v. 7), I will destroy thee? For the almighty God is able both to save and to destroy, and it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands. Both the threatenings here (v. 5 and v. 7) conclude with this, You shall know that I am the Lord. For, [1.] Thus God will maintain his own honour, and will make it appear that he is the God of Israel, though he suffers them for a time to be captives in Babylon. [2.] Thus he will bring those that were strangers to him into an acquaintance with him, and it will be a blessed effect of their calamities. Better know God and be poor than be rich and ignorant of him.

Various Nations Threatened. (b. c. 590.)

8 Thus saith the Lord God ; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen; 9 Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, 10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. 11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord . 12 Thus saith the Lord God ; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God . 15 Thus saith the Lord God ; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. 17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord , when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

Three more of Israel's ill-natured neighbours are here arraigned, convicted, and condemned to destruction, for contributing to and triumphing in Jerusalem's fall.

I. The Moabites. Seir, which was the seat of the Edomites, is joined with them (v. 8), because they said the same as the Moabites; but they were afterwards reckoned with by themselves, v. 12. Now observe,

1. What was the sin of the Moabites; they said, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen. They triumphed, (1.) In the apostasies of Israel, were please to see them forsake their God and worship idols, and hoped that in a while their religion would be quite lost and forgotten and the house of Judah would be like all the heathen, perfect idolaters. When those that profess religion walk unworthy of their profession they encourage the enemies of religion to hope that it will in time sink, and be run down, and quite abandoned; but let the Moabites know that, though there are those of the house of Judah who have made themselves like the heathen, yet there is a remnant that retain their integrity, the religion of the house of Judah shall recover itself, its peculiarities shall be preserved, it shall not lose itself among the heathen, but distinguish itself from them, till it deliver itself honourably into a better institution. (2.) In the calamities of Israel. They said, "The house of Judah is like all the heathen, in as bad a state as they; their God is no more able to deliver them from this overflowing scourge of these parts of the world than the gods of the heathen are to deliver them. Where are the promises they gloried in and all the wonders which they and their fathers told us of? What the better are they for the covenant of peculiarity, upon which they so much valued themselves? Those that looked with so much scorn upon all the heathen are now set upon a level with them, or rather sunk below them." Note, Those who judge only by outward appearance are ready to conclude that the people of God have lost all their privileges when they have lost their worldly prosperity, which does not follow, for good men, even in affliction, in captivity among the heathen, have graces and comforts within sufficient to distinguish them from all the heathen. Though the event seem one to the righteous and wicked, yet indeed it is vastly different.

2. What should be the punishment of Moab for this sin; because they triumphed in the overthrow of Judah, their country shall be in like manner overthrown with that of the Ammonites, who were guilty of the same sin (v. 9, 10): "I will open the side of Moab, will uncover its shoulder, will take away all its defences, that it may become an easy prey to any that will make a prey of it." (1.) See here how it shall be exposed; the frontier-towns, that were its strength and guard, shall be demolished by the Chaldean forces, and laid open. Some of the cities are here named, which are said to be the glory of the country, which they trusted in, and boasted of as impregnable; these shall decay, be deserted, or betrayed, or fall into the enemies' hands, so that Moab shall lie exposed, and whoever will may penetrate into the heart of the country. Note, Those who glory in any other defence and protection than that of the divine power, providence, and promise, will sooner or later see cause to be ashamed of their glorying. (2.) See here to whom it shall be exposed: The men of the east, when they come to take possession of the country of the Ammonites, shall seize that of the Moabites too. God, the Lord of all lands, will give them that land; for the kingdoms of men he gives to whomsoever he will. The Arabians, who are shepherds, and live quietly, plain men dwelling in tents, shall by an overruling Providence be put in possession of the land of the Moabites, who are soldiers, men of war, and cunning hunters, that live turbulently. The Chaldeans shall get it by war, and the Arabians shall enjoy it in peace. Concerning the Ammonites it is said, They shall no more be remembered among the nations (v. 10), for they had been accessory to the murder of Gedaliah, Jer. xl. 14. But of the Moabites it is said, I will execute judgments upon Moab; they shall feel the weight of God's displeasure, but perhaps not to that degree that the Ammonites shall; however, so far as that they shall know that I am the Lord, that the God of Israel is a God of power, and that his covenant with his people is not broken.

II. The Edomites, the posterity of Esau, between whom and Jacob there had been an old enmity. And here is,

1. The sin of the Edomites, v. 12. They not only triumphed in the ruin of Judah and Jerusalem, as the Moabites and Ammonites had done, but they took advantage from the present distressed state to which the Jews were reduced to do them some real mischiefs, probably made inroads upon their frontiers and plundered their country: Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance. The Edomites had of old been tributaries to the Jews, according to the sentence that the elder should serve the younger. In Jehoram's time they revolted. Amaziah severely chastised them (2 Kings xiv. 7), and for this they took vengeance. Now they would pay off all the old scores, and not only incensed the Babylonians against Jerusalem, crying, Rase it, rase it (Ps. cxxxvii. 7), but cut off those that escaped, as we find in the prophecy of Obadiah, which is wholly directed against Edom, v. 11, 12, &c. It is called here revenging a revenge, which intimates that they were not only eager upon it, but very cruel in it, and recompensed to the Jews more than double. "Herein he has greatly offended." Note, It is a great offence to God for us to revenge ourselves upon our brother; for God has said, Vengeance is mine. We are forbidden to revenge or to bear a grudge. Suppose Judah had been hard upon Edom formerly, it was a base thing for the Edomites now, in revenge for it, to smite them secretly. But the Jews had a divine warrant to reign over the Edomites, for that therefore they ought not to have made reprisals; and it was the more disingenuous for them to retain the old enmity when God had particularly commanded his people to forget it. Deut. xxiii. 7, Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite.

2. The judgments threatened against them for this sin. God will take them to task for it (v. 13): I will stretch out my hand upon Edom. Their country shall be desolate from Teman, which lay in the south part of it; and they shall fall by the sword unto Dedan, which lay north; the desolations of war should go through the nation. (1.) They had taken vengeance, and therefore God will lay his vengeance upon them (v. 14): They shall know my vengeance. Those that will not leave it to God to take vengeance for them may expect that he will take vengeance on them; and those that will not believe and fear his vengeance shall be made to know and feel his vengeance; they shall be dealt with according to God's anger and according to his fury, not according to the weakness of the instruments that are employed in it, but according to the strength of the arm that employs them. (2.) They had taken vengeance on Israel, and God will lay his vengeance on them by the hand of his people Israel. They suffered much by the Chaldeans, which seems to be referred to, Jer. xlix. 8. But besides that there were saviours to come upon Mount Zion, who should judge the mount of Esau (Obad. 21), and Israel's Redeemer comes with dyed garments from Bozrah (Isa. lxiii. 1), this implies a promise that Israel should recover itself again to such a degree as to be in a capacity of curbing the insolence of its neighbours. And we find (1 Mac. v. 3) that Judas Maccabeus fought against the children of Esau in Idumea, gave them a great overthrow, abated their courage, and took their spoil; and Josephus says (Antiq. 13.257), that Hircanus made the Edomites tributaries to Israel. Note, The equity of God's judgments is to be observed when he not only avenges injuries upon those that did them, but by those against whom they were done.

III. The Philistines. And, 1. Their sin is much the same with that of the Edomites: They have dealt by revenge with the people of Israel, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, not to disturb them only, but to destroy them, for the old hatred (v. 15), the old grudge they bore them, or (as the margin reads it) with perpetual hatred, a hatred that began long since and which they resolved to continue. The anger was implacable: they dealt by revenge, traded in the acts of malice; it was their constant practice, and their heart, their spiteful heart, was upon it. 2. Their punishment likewise is much the same, v. 16. Those that were for destroying God's people shall themselves be cut off and destroyed; and (v. 17) those that were for avenging themselves shall find that God will execute great vengeance upon them. This was fulfilled when that country was wasted by the Chaldean army, not long after the destruction of Jerusalem, which is foretold, Jer. xlvii. It was strange that these nations, which bordered upon the land of Israel, were not alarmed by the success of the Chaldean army, and made to tremble in the apprehension of their own danger; when their neighbour's house was on fire it was time to look to their own; but their impiety and malice made them forget their politics, till God by his judgments convinced them that the cup was going round, and they were the less safe for being secure.

CHAP. XXV.

Ver. 1. THe Word of the Lord] Contra Gentes, againſt thoſe Nations chiefly that moleſted the Jews after their overthrow by the Babylonians. Sins they had enow beſides: but for none did they ſuffer more deeply then for their malignity toward Gods poor afflicted. The Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philiſtines are here more briefly threatened: The Tyrians and Egyptians more at large; becauſe it ſeemed impoſſible that they ſhould be brought down.

Ver. 2. Set thy face againſt the Ammonites] Look upon them firmo, torvo, & minaci vultu, as if then wouldſt look through them: and having ſo lightened, thunder accordingly.

Againſt the Ammonites] Who have had their part already of threatnings, chap. 21.28. but not therir full due.

Ver. 3. Becauſe thou ſaidſt Aha] Inſolently inſulting over mine Iſrael, when under hatches: as when a tree is down, every man will be pulling at the branches, and Leoni mortuo vel mus inſultat: but it is ill medling againſt Gods Church, be it but by a frown or a frump, as here; An Aha or an Euge ſhall not eſcape unpuniſhed, Pſal. 35.21.

Ver. 4. I will deliver thee to the men of the Eaſt] To the Arabians (Keturah's poſterity) who were Shepherds, and Camel-maſters.

They ſhall eat thy fruit, and drink thy milk] Sept. Thy fatneſſe; [non-Latin text not transcribed]. est enim adeps lac coagulatum. The Ammonites (as now the Flemmings) were [non-Latin text not transcribed], butter-boxes, as we ſay; and lived much upon milk-meats: So do we. Let us uſe our plenty to Gods glory, leſt we loſe all.

Ver. 5. And I will make Rabbah] The Metropolis of the Ammonites: it ſignifieth that Great City, and was afterwards rebuilt by Ptolomy Philadelph, and called Philadelphia.

— Valet ima ſummis Mutare,Hor. lib. 1. Od. 34. & inſignem attenuat Deus Obſcura premens, &c.

Ver. 6. Becauſe thou haſt clapped thine hands] Manibus plaudis, pedibus complodis, &c. God is very ſenſible of the leaſt indignity and injury, affront or offence done to his poor people, by words, looks, geſtures, &c. Cavete.

Ver. 7. Behold therefore I will ſtretch out my hand upon thee] God loveth to retaliate.

I will cauſe thee to periſh out of the Country] So little a diſtance is there eftſoones, ſaith Seneca, betwixt a great City and no City.

Ludit in humanis divina potentia rebus: Et certam praeſans vix habet hora fidem.

Ver. 8. Behold the houſe of Judah is like unto all the Heathen] As ill-protected and provided for as they; as much ſcourged by the Babylonian. See to the contrary, Deut. 33.29. Happy art thou, O Iſrael: who is like unto thee, O people ſaved by the Lord, the ſhield of thy help, and who is the ſword of thine excellency, and thine enemies ſhall be found lyars unto thee, and thou ſhalt tread upon their high places! Some read it, Behold the houſe of Jehovah, and note an Emphaſis in that word, as ſavouring of contempt and blaſphemy, as 2 Kings 18.33, 34.

Ver. 9. Behold I will open the ſide of Moab] Heb. the ſhoulder (that is, the border that is fortified) to let in the enemy: like as the ſide being opened, an entrance is given into the body through the ribs, for the deſtruction thereof,D. Mayr. becauſe the ſtrongeſt defence is taken away.

Ver. 10. That the Ammonites may not be remembred among the nations] A fearful hand of God upon them: as it was alſo upon ſome other peoples, who are ſo utterly extinct, that the learned can now hardly divine where their ſeats were.

Ver. 11. And I will execute judgements upon Moab] Or, in Moab, where was no care to execute juſtice and judgement, ſed frigebant leges: jus ſitum erat in manibus, &c. Might overcame right.

Ver. 12. By taking vengeance] Heb. by revenging revengement, out of a vindictive ſpirit rejoycing at Juda's harms, and ſaying they were well enough ſerved. See the Prophecy of Obadiah, and Pſal. 137. Their father Eſau was of a ſpiteful ſpirit, Gen. 27.41. and they took after him, proceeding upon the old ſcore. Hence they are put for Gods and the Churches enemies by a ſpecialty, Iſa. 63. Joel 3. Amos 9. A learned man hath given us this Note: Eſau ſignifieth a Doer or a Worker: Edom a ruddy, bloody, or earthy man. Theſe Edomites were a type of Juſtitiaries, who will needs be ſaved by their works and merites. Theſe are the deadlyeſt enemies of Gods people, war upon them continually, ſeek and ſuck their blood, and ſhalt at length ſuffer condigne puniſhment.

And hath grealy offended and revenged himſelf upon them] Wiſhing (as Caligula did by the people of Rome) that they had all but one neck, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. that he might cut them off at one blow. Planè ſunt ſerpentes (ſaith Luther concerning hypocrites) quo nullum eſt animal vindictae cupidius, they are very ſerpents, then which there is no living creature more revengeful.

Ver. 13. I will ſtretch out mine hand upon Edom] God hath vengeance ready for revengers. Immane verbum eſt ultio, ſaith Seneca: they ſhall not eſcape unpuniſhed. See Prov. 24.17, 18. The Duke of Burbon being diſpleaſed at Cardinal Wolſy, intended to have ſacked Rome, and taken the Pope: But at the firſt aſſault of the town, the Duke was the firſt man that was ſlain.

Ver. 14. I will lay my vengeance upon Edom] Edam ultionem in Edom: See v. 13.

By the hand of my people Iſrael] In the time of the Macchabees, likely this was done. Or, by the hand wherewith I ſhall ſmite my people, that is, by the Babylonians; ſo Piſcator.

Joſeph. According to my fury] And not as the Commanders will. Titus would have ſaved the Temple at Jeruſalem from being burnt: but the ſouldiers would not.

Ver. 15. Becauſe the Philiſtines have dealt by revenge] See on ver. 12, 13. Heathens thought revenge lawful: and tallying of injuries to be but Juſtice. But Chriſtianity teacheth us that non minus mali eſt referre injuriam, Lactant. quam inferre.

For the old hatred] The Philiſtins were of the old inhabitants the Canaanites; and kept up a deadly feud.

Exſcindam exſciſſores.Ver. 16. I will out of the Cherethims] Theſe were a part of the Philiſtines, Zeph. 2.5. There is an elegancy in the Original: q. d. I will cut off the Cutters.

And deſtroy the remnant of the Sea-coaſt] Paleſtina lay upon the Midland-ſea, Zeph. 3.5.

Ver. 17. And I will execute great vengeance upon them] Heb. vengeances. I will pay them for the new and the old together.