Ezekiel 35 commentary

All who have God against them, have the word of God against them. Those that have a constant hatred to God and his people, as the carnal mind has, can only expect to be made desolate for ever.

When we see the vanity of the world in the disappointments, losses, and crosses, which others meet with, instead of showing ourselves greedy of worldly things, we should sit more loose to them. In the multitude of words, not one is unknown to God; not the most idle word; and the most daring is not above his rebuke. In the destruction of the enemies of the church, God designs his own glory; and we may be sure that he will not come short of his design. And when the fulness of the Jews and Gentiles shall come into the church, all antichristian opposers shall be destroyed.

CHAPTER 35

Eze 35:1-15. Judgment on Edom.

Another feature of Israel's prosperity; those who exulted over Israel's humiliation, shall themselves be a "prey." Already stated in Eze 25:12-14; properly repeated here in full detail, as a commentary on Eze 34:28. The Israelites "shall be no more a prey"; but Edom, the type of their most bitter foes, shall be destroyed irrecoverably.

2. Mount Seir--that is, Idumea (Ge 36:9). Singled out as badly pre-eminent in its bitterness against God's people, to represent all their enemies everywhere and in all ages. So in Is 34:5; 63:1-4, Edom, the region of the greatest enmity towards God's people, is the ideal scene of the final judgments of all God's foes. "Seir" means "shaggy," alluding to its rugged hills and forests.

3. most desolate--literally, "desolation and desolateness" (Jr 49:17, &c.). It is only in their national character of foes to God's people, that the Edomites are to be utterly destroyed. A remnant of Edom, as of the other heathen, is to be "called by the name of God" (Am 9:12).

5. perpetual hatred--(Psa 137:7; Am 1:11; Ob 10-16). Edom perpetuated the hereditary hatred derived from Esau against Jacob.

shed the blood of, &c.--The literal translation is better. "Thou hast poured out the children of Israel"; namely, like water. So Psa 22:14; 63:10, Margin; Jr 18:21. Compare 2Sa 14:14.

by the force of the sword--literally, "by" or "upon the hands of the sword"; the sword being personified as a devourer whose "hands" were the instruments of destruction.

in the time that their iniquity had an end--that is, had its consummation (Eze 21:25, 29). Edom consummated his guilt when he exulted over Jerusalem's downfall, and helped the foe to destroy it (Psa 137:7; Ob 11).

6. I will prepare thee unto blood--I will expose thee to slaughter.

sith--old English for "seeing that" or "since."

thou hast not hated blood--The Hebrew order is, "thou hast hated not--blood"; that is, thou couldst not bear to live without bloodshed [Grotius]. There is a play on similar sounds in the Hebrew; Edom resembling dam, the Hebrew for "blood"; as "Edom" means "red," the transition to "blood" is easy. Edom, akin to blood in name, so also in nature and acts; "blood therefore shall pursue thee." The measure which Edom meted to others should be meted to himself (Psa 109:17; Mt 7:2; 26:52).

7. cut off ... him that passeth--that is, every passer to and fro; "the highways shall be unoccupied" (Eze 29:11; Jud 5:6).

9. shall not return--to their former state (Eze 16:55); shall not be restored. The Hebrew text (Chetib) reads, "shall not be inhabited" (compare Eze 26:20; Mal 1:3, 4).

10. So far from being allowed to enter on Israel's vacated inheritance, as Edom hoped (Eze 36:5; Psa 83:4, 12; Ob 13), it shall be that he shall be deprived of his own; and whereas Israel's humiliation was temporary, Edom's shall be perpetual.

Lord was there--(Eze 48:35; Psa 48:1, 3; 132:13, 14). Jehovah claimed Judea as His own, even when the Chaldeans had overthrown the state; they could not remove Him, as they did the idols of heathen lands. The broken sentences express the excited feelings of the prophet at Edom's wicked presumption. The transition from the "two nations and two countries" to "it" marks that the two are regarded as one whole. The last clause, "and Jehovah was there," bursts in, like a flash of lightning, reproving the wicked presumption of Edom's thought.

11. according to thine anger--(Jas 2:13). As thou in anger and envy hast injured them, so I will injure thee.

I will make myself known among them--namely, the Israelites. I will manifest My favor to them, after I have punished thee.

12-13. blasphemies ... against ... Israel ... against me--God regards what is done against His people as done against Himself (Mt 25:45; Ac 9:2, 4, 5). Edom implied, if he did not express it, in his taunts against Israel, that God had not sufficient power to protect His people. A type of the spirit of all the foes of God and His people (1Sa 2:3; Re 13:6).

14. (Is 65:13, 14). "The whole earth" refers to Judea and the nations that submit themselves to Judea's God; when these rejoice, the foes of God and His people, represented by Edom as a nation, shall be desolate. Things shall be completely reversed; Israel, that now for a time mourns, shall then rejoice and for ever. Edom, that now rejoices over fallen Israel, shall then, when elsewhere all is joy, mourn, and for ever (Is 65:17-19; Mt 5:4; Lu 6:25). Havernick loses this striking antithesis by translating, "According to the joy of the whole land (of Edom), so I will make thee desolate"; which would make Eze 35:15 a mere repetition of this.

15. (Ob 12, 15).

Set thy face against Mount Seir - That is, against the Edomites. This prophecy was probably delivered about the time of the preceding, and before the destruction of Idumea by Nebuchadnezzar, which took place about five years after.

Calmet supposes that two destructions of Idumea are here foretold; one by Nebuchadnezzar, and the other by the Jews after their return from their captivity.

Most desolate - Literally, "A desolation and a wilderness."

A perpetual hatred - The Edomites were the descendants of Esau; the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. Both these were brothers; and between them there was contention even in the womb, and they lived generally in a state of enmity. Their descendants kept up the ancient feud: but the Edomites were implacable; they had not only a rooted but perpetual enmity to the Israelites, harassing and distressing them by all possible means; and they seized the opportunity, when the Israelites were most harassed by other enemies, to make inroads upon them, and cut them off wherever they found them.

To afflict the afflicted is cruel. This is scarcely of man, bad as he is. He must be possessed by the malignant spirit of the devil, when he wounds the wounded, insults over the miseries of the afflicted, and seeks opportunities to add affliction to those who are already under the rod of God.

Blood shall pursue thee - Thou lovest blood, and thou shalt have blood. It is said that Cyrus and two hundred thousand men were slain in an ambush by Thomyris, queen of the Scythians, and that she cut ok his head, and threw it into a vessel filled with blood, with this severe sarcasm: -

Satia te sanguine quem sitisti, Cyre. "O Cyrus, now satisfy thyself with blood."

Hence, the figure: - "Sarcasmus, with this biting taunt doth kill:

Cyrus, thy thirst was blood, now drink thy fill."

Perpetual desolations - Thou shalt have perpetual desolation for thy perpetual hatred.

These two nations - Israel and Judah. The Idumeans thought of conquering and possessing both; and they would have succeeded, but only the Lord was there; and this spoiled their projects, and blasted their hopes.

They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume - They exulted in seeing Judea overrun; and they rejoiced in the prospect of completing the ruin, when the Chaldeans had withdrawn from the land.

Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me - Ye have said you would enter into those lands, and take them for your inheritance; though ye knew that God had promised them to the Israelites, and that you should never have them for your portion.

When the whole earth rejoiceth - When the whole land shall rejoice in the restoration of the Jews, I will make thee desolate. Probably this refers to the time of the Maccabees.

So will I do unto thee - Others shall rejoice in thy downfall as thou hast rejoiced at their downfall.

This whole chapter strongly inculcates this maxim: Do as thou wouldst be done by; and what thou wouldst not have done to thee, do not to others. And from it we learn that every man may, in some sort, be said to make his own temporal good or evil; for as he does to others, God will take care to do to him, whether it be evil or good, weal or wo. Would you not be slandered or backbitten? Then do not slander nor backbite. Wouldst thou wish to live in peace? Then do not disturb the peace of others. Be merciful, and thou shalt obtain mercy.

Mount Seir - The Edomites, who inhabited it.

Their iniquity - When their iniquity was punished on them, which brought them to final ruin.

And blood - Thy guilt, and my just revenge of innocent blood. Hast not hated - Thou hast loved, rather than hated, blood - shed; therefore vengeance for it follows thee.

That passeth out - All travellers that go to or from Edom.

Return - To their former glory.

Though - Though God was with Israel.

Judged - Punished thee.

The whole earth - The inhabitants of all the countries round about thee. Rejoiceth - Is in peace and plenty.

2 Son of man, set thy face against Mount Seir , and prophesie against it.

Put thy self in a posture, looking towards Mount Seir, but with a stern and menacing Countenance, the phrase you meet, chap. 20. ver. 46. let. n. and chap. 21. ver. 2 and chap. 25. ver. 2.

The Countrey for the Inhabitants of it, as is usual in Scripture; this was a Mountainous Countrey, yet fruitful.

So called from its old Lord of it, Stir the Horite, or Mountainer from Hor, whose posterity were ou[illegible: 1 letter]ed of it by Esau's posterity, Deut. 2.12.

Foretell what sad things are coming on them.

Marginal references: Jer. 49.7. Amo. 1.11. Obad. 10. &c.

3 And say unto it, thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.

By a Prosopopaela, or personating a Discourse with them; speak of them, as if thou wer[illegible: 1 letter] speaking to them.

See chap. 28. ver. 22. let. f. and chap. 34. ver. 10. let. q.

Chap. 25. ver. 7. let. s. and chap. 6. ver. 14.

Or over, denoting how inevitable the stroak will be, which God gives from above.

Wasted, forsaken, and nothing but solitariness left in thee.

Marginal references: Heb. a desolatio n, and a desolation.

4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

God doth what he stirs up his Servants to do, it was Nebuchadnezzar, who was appointed to do this, and who did it as Ier. 27.36, 14, 17.

In the plural there were many, and strong Cities in Edom, yet all should be wasted, as chap. 25.12, 13, 14. where he in like manner is threatned.

5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred , and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword , in the time of their calamity , in the time that their iniquity had an end .

Edom was of the same stock, brother to Iacob, and 'twas sin to disgust or envy, but greater to hate, and greatest to retain a perpetual hatred, an hereditary enmity from Esaus time the Father of the Edomites, till now; near 1200 years had the Seed of Es[illegible: 1 letter]u hated Iacobs seed for inheriting the blessing, which yet I have some cause to think they, as little valued as their Father did before them.

By s[illegible: 1 letter]dden incursions sometime, by a formed war at other times, and by taking side with those, who warred upon him at all times, thus the sword of Edom was e[illegible: 1 letter]er drawn, or ready against Iacobs seed.

With fierceness, cruelty, and burning hatred, as appears Obad. 11, 12, 13, 14. which see.

Deepest calamity when all was lost, and their City taken▪ and none to pity, or help, then did Edom cruelly execute his hatred. Psal. 137.7.

When their iniquity was charged and punished on them.

Which brought them to final ruine. See 21.25. let. c.

Marginal references: Or, hatred of [illegible: 1 word].; Heb. poured o[illegible: 1 letter]t the children.; Heb. [illegible: 1 letter]ands.

6 Therefore, as I live , saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood , blood shall pursue thee.

God is true and constant to his threats against hardned sinner[illegible: 1 letter], and will be so as sure as he lives.

I'le dispose all things for War against thee, for a bloody War, in which thy blood shall be shed.

Thy guilt and my just revenges of innocent blood.

Never leave till thou die for it.

Thou hast loved, rather then hated blood-shed, therefore vengeance for it follows thee.

Marginal references: Psal. 1[illegible: 2 letters].17.

7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out , and him that returneth.

See ver. 3. let. h.

All Travellers that go to, or from Edoms Countrey, or his Cities, or possibly it may intimate the close Sieges with which his Cities should be so begirt, that none should attempt to go out, or go in, but it should cost them their life, so Iericho close besieged none went in or out, Ioshua 6.1.

8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers shall they fall, that are slain with the sword.

See this phrase ch. 30.11. but explained chap. 32.5. let. b.

There they will fortifie, or thither they will fly, and there the Enemy shall take and slay his men every where, as it follows in the words, slaughter shall be made of his men pursued by the [illegible: 1 letter]ager Chaldaean, but more by the vengeance of God.

9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return : and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Edoms sin was perpetual hatred, and Edoms punishment shall be perpetual desolations.

Edomites would never return into friendship with the Israelites but still hate and molest and waste them, now for just recompences Edoms Cities shall be wasted, and never return to their former glory.

Marginal references: Jer. 49.18. Ma[illegible: 1 letter]. 1.3, 4.

10 Because thou hast said, These two nations, and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possesse it , whereas the LORD was there :

Covetousness is here charged upon these Edomites.

Israel and Iudah two ever after the revolt of the Ten Tribes.

With arrogance they determine what they will do, they reckon, the right was theirs as being the descendents of the Elder brother, and now the possession they say shall be theirs too.

Either thus, though God was with Israel Patron of them, and their right, this is blasphemous pride, to resolve thus against God himself, or though he was present among them, heard their resolutions, and would disappoint them.

Marginal references: Psal. 83.4, 12.; Or, though the Lord was [illegible: 1 word].

11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make my self known amongst them, when I have judged thee.

Deal with thee, O Mount Seir.

I will take my measures from thy using of Israel, thou wast angry, and that very fiercely, in which anger thou didst smite. In fierce anger against thee I will smite thee, thou thoughtest with an envious heart, all Israel had was too good for him, and wouldst spoil him of all. And I know thee unworthy of all thou hast, and I will take it from thee. Thy hatred edged both thine anger and thine envy to extirpate, and root them out, and in my hatred against such sins, and obstinate sinners I will utterly destroy thee, and root thee out.

So God is known by the judgme nts that he executeth, when such wicked ones are taken in their own works, as snares, which themselves have laid.

12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying , they are laid desolate, they are given us to consume .

Thou didst reproach, scoffe, and vilifie my people, as if they had been the people of some deaf Idol, but I will make thee know I am the Lord, who heard all thy blasphemies, and can, for I have punisht them.

Not speaking this without insulting and rejoycing as Tyre did, chap. 27.

Their God hath left, either unable to rescue them, or changed in his kindness, and gone back from his word; or some such like impious thoughts, and discourses they had against God, whose City, and Temple they saw the Babylonians ruine, and which Edomites helpt in doing.

Either by the Chald[illegible: 1 letter]ans or else by God.

Utterly to consume and to satisfie our hatred against them in the destruction of them.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] ▪

13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.

Though the very words be not reported, yet 'tis certain from this passage, that they spake proudly against the God of Israel, boasting, what they wo[illegible: 1 letter]ld do will he, [illegible: 1 letter]ill he.

And these blasphemous words or discourses were not once or twice, they multiplied them 'tis probable, not much unlike the words of Senacherib, but they shall smart for all this and know 'tis for this, when God acts against them, who durst proudly speak against him. I have heard your words, you shall feel my Sword.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word].; 1 Sam. [illegible: 1 span]

14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoyceth , I will make thee desolate.

The inhabitants of the Countries round about thee, the whole that thou knowest.

Is in peace and plenty, and enjoy both, thou shalt want all, and then envy at the welfare of others shall break thy heart. Envy was thy sin, and now what is the object of envy shall be thy grief, viz. the prosperity of others.

15 As thou didst rejoyce at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Thou took'st pleasure in the ruin of my people, for this thy sin, I will ruin thee, and then do to thee as thou didst, I will retaliate, and rejoyce in thy ruin: thou helpest to make Ierusalem desolate, I will make thee so; thou criedst to ruin them all, to destroy all the land, all thy land shall be ruin'd, and by these Judgments I will be known to be the Lord.

Devastation of Edom, and Restoration of the Land of Israel - Ezekiel 35:1-36:15

The two sections, Eze 35:1-15 and Eze 36:1-15, form a connected prophecy. This is apparent not only from their formal arrangement, both of them being placed together under the introductory formula, “And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,” but also from their contents, the promise in relation to the mountains of Israel being so opposed to the threat against the mountains of Seir (Eze 35:1-15) as to form the obverse and completion of the latter; whilst allusion is evidently made to it in the form of expression employed (compare Eze 36:4, Eze 36:6, with Eze 35:8; and Eze 36:5 with Eze 35:15). The contents are the following: The mountains of Seir shall be laid waste (Eze 35:1-4), because Edom cherishes eternal enmity and bloody hatred towards Israel (Eze 35:5-9), and because it has coveted the land of Israel and blasphemed Jehovah (Eze 35:10-15). On the other hand, the mountain-land of Israel, which the heathen have despised on account of its devastation, and have appropriated to themselves as booty (Eze 36:1-7), shall be inhabited by Israel again, and shall be cultivated and no longer bear the disgrace of the heathen (Eze 35:8-15). This closing thought (Eze 35:15) points back to Eze 34:29, and shows that our prophecy is intended as a further expansion of that conclusion; and at the same time, that in the devastation of Edom the overthrow of the heathen world as a whole, with its enmity against God, is predicted, and in the restoration of the land of Israel the re-erection of the fallen kingdom of God.

The Devastation of Edom

Eze 35:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 35:2. Son of man, set thy face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, Eze 35:3. And say to it, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with thee, Mount Seir, and will stretch out my hand against thee, and make thee waste and devastation. Eze 35:4. Thy cities will I make into ruins, and thou wilt become a waste, and shalt know that I am Jehovah. Eze 35:5. Because thou cherishest eternal enmity, and gavest up the sons of Israel to the sword at the time of their distress, at the time of the final transgression, Eze 35:6. Therefore, as truly as I live, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, I will make thee blood, and blood shall pursue thee; since thou hast not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue thee. Eze 35:7. I will make Mount Seir devastation and waste, and cut off therefrom him that goeth away and him that returneth, Eze 35:8. And fill his mountains with his slain; upon thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy low places, those pierced with the sword shall fall. Eze 35:9. I will make thee eternal wastes, and thy cities shall not be inhabited; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Eze 35:10. Because thou sayest, The two nations and the two lands they shall be mine, and we will take possession of it, when Jehovah was there; Eze 35:11. Therefore, as truly as I live, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, I will do according to thy wrath and thine envy, as thou hast done because of thy hatred, and will make myself known among them, as I shall judge thee. Eze 35:12. And thou shalt know that I, Jehovah, have heard all thy reproaches which thou hast uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, “they are laid waste, they are given to us for food.” Eze 35:13. Ye have magnified against me with your mouth, and heaped up your sayings against me; I have heard it. Eze 35:14. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will prepare devastation for thee. Eze 35:15. As thou hadst thy delight in the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was laid waste, so will I do to thee; thou shalt become a waste, Mount Seir and all Edom together; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

The theme of this prophecy, viz., “Edom and its cities are to become a desert” (Eze 35:2-4), is vindicated and earnestly elaborated in two strophes, commencing with 'יען וגו (Eze 35:5 and Eze 35:10), and closing, like the announcement of the theme itself (Eze 35:4), with 'כּי אני  (וידעוּ) וידעתּם, by a distinct statement of the sins of Edom. - Already, in Ezekiel 25, Edom has been named among the hostile border nations which are threatened with destruction (Eze 35:12-14). The earlier prophecy applied to the Edomites, according to their historical relation to the people of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. In the present word of God, on the contrary, Edom comes into consideration, on the ground of its hostile attitude towards the covenant people, as the representative of the world and of mankind in its hostility to the people and kingdom of God, as in Isa 34 and Isa 63:1-6. This is apparent from the fact that devastation is to be prepared for Edom, when the whole earth rejoices (Eze 35:14), which does not apply to Edom as a small and solitary nation, and still more clearly from the circumstance that, in the promise of salvation in Ezekiel 36, not all Edom alone (Eze 35:5), but the remnant of the heathen nations generally (Eze 36:3-7 and Eze 36:15), are mentioned as the enemies from whose disgrace and oppression Israel is to be delivered. For Eze 35:2, compare Eze 13:17. הר  is the name given to the mountainous district inhabited by the Edomites, between the Dead Sea and the Elanitic Gulf (see the comm. on Gen 36:9). The prophecy is directed against the land; but it also applies to the nation, which brings upon itself the desolation of its land by its hostility to Israel. For Eze 35:3, compare Eze 6:14, etc. חרבּה, destruction. The sin of Edom mentioned in Eze 35:5 is eternal enmity toward Israel, which has also been imputed to the Philistines in Eze 25:15, but which struck deeper root, in the case of Edom, in the hostile attitude of Esau toward Jacob (Gen 25:22. and Gen 27:37), and was manifested, as Amos (Amo 1:11) has already said, in the constant retention of its malignity toward the covenant nation, so that Edom embraced every opportunity to effect its destruction, and according to the charge brought against it by Ezekiel, gave up the sons of Israel to the sword when the kingdom of Judah fell. הנּיר על , lit., to pour upon ( - into) the hands of the sword, i.e., to deliver up to the power of the sword (cf. Psa 63:11; Jer 18:21). בּעת recalls to mind בּיום אידם in Oba 1:13; but here it is more precisely defined by בּעת עון , and limited to the time of the overthrow of the Israelites, when Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by the Chaldeans. בּעת עון קץ, as in Eze 21:30. On account of this display of its hostility, the Lord will make Edom blood (Eze 35:6). This expression is probably chosen for the play upon the words דּם and אדם. Edom shall become what its name suggests. Making it blood does not mean merely filling it with bloodshed, or reddening the soil with blood (Hitzig); but, as in Eze 16:38, turning it as it were into blood, or causing it to vanish therein. Blood shall pursue thee, “as blood-guiltiness invariably pursues a murderer, cries for vengeance, and so delivers him up to punishment” (Hävernick). אם לא cannot be the particle employed in swearing, and dependent upon חי־אני, since this particle introduces an affirmative declaration, which would be unsuitable here, inasmuch as דּם in this connection cannot possibly signify blood-relationship. אם לא means “if not,” in which the conditional meaning of אם coincides with the causal, “if” being equivalent to “since.” The unusual separation of the לא from the verb is occasioned by the fact that דּם is placed before the verb to avoid collision with ודּם. To hate blood is the same as to have a horror of bloodshed or murder. This threat is carried out still further in Eze 35:7 and Eze 35:8. The land of Edom is to become a complete and perpetual devastation; its inhabitants are to be exterminated by war. The form שׁממה stands for שׁמּמה, and is not to be changed into משׁמּה. Considering the frequency with which משׁמּה occurs, the supposition that we have here a copyist’s error is by no means a probable one, and still less probable is the perpetuation of such an error. עבר ושׁב, as in Zec 7:14. For Eze 35:8 compare Eze 32:5-6 and Eze 31:12. The Chetib תּישׁבנה is scriptio plena for תּשׁבנה, the imperfect Kal of ישׁב in the intransitive sense to be inhabited. The Keri תּשׁבנה, from שׁוּב, is a needless and unsuitable correction, since שׁוּב does not mean restitui.

In the second strophe, Eze 35:10-15, the additional reason assigned for the desolation of Edom is its longing for the possession of Israel and its land, of which it desired to take forcible possession, although it knew that they belonged to Jehovah, whereby the hatred of Edom toward Israel became contempt of Jehovah. The two peoples and the two lands are Israel and Judah with their lands, and therefore the whole of the holy people and land. את is the sign of the accusative: as for the two peoples, they are mine. The suffix appended to ירשׁנוּה is neuter, and is to be taken as referring generally to what has gone before. ויהוה שׁם היה is a circumstantial clause, through which the desire of Edom is placed in the right light, and characterized as an attack upon Jehovah Himself. Jehovah was there - namely, in the land of which Edom wished to take possession. Kliefoth’s rendering, “and yet Jehovah is there,” is opposed to Hebrew usage, by changing the preterite היה into a present; and the objection which he offers to the only rendering that is grammatically admissible, viz., “when Jehovah was there,” to the effect “that it attributes to Ezekiel the thought that the Holy Land had once been the land and dwelling-place of God, but was so no longer,” calls in question the actual historical condition of things without the slightest reason. For Jehovah had really forsaken His dwelling-place in Canaan before the destruction of the temple, but without thereby renouncing His right to the land; since it was only for the sins of Israel that He had given up the temple, city, and land to be laid waste by the heathen. “But Edom had acted as if Israel existed among the nations without God, and Jehovah had departed from it for ever” (Hävernick); or rather as if Jehovah were a powerless and useless Deity, who had not been able to defend His people against the might of the heathen nations. The Lord will requite Edom for this, in a manner answering to its anger and envy, which had both sprung from hatred. נודעתּי בם, “I will make myself known among them (the Israelites) when I judge thee;” i.e., by the fact that He punishes Edom for its sin, He will prove to Israel that He is a God who does not suffer His people and His possession to be attacked with impunity. From this shall Edom learn that He is Jehovah, the omniscient God, who has heard the revilings of His enemies (Eze 35:12, Eze 35:13), and the almighty God, who rewards those who utter such proud sayings according to their deeds (Eze 35:14 and Eze 35:15). נאצות has retained the Kametz on account of the guttural in the first tone, in contrast with נאצות in Neh 9:18, Neh 9:26 (cf. Ewald, §69 b). - The expression “mountains of Israel,” for the land of Israel, in Eze 35:12 and Eze 36:1, is occasioned by the antithesis “mountain (mountain-range) of Seir.” The Chetib hmmhs is to be pronounced שׁממה, and to be retained in spite of the Keri. The singular of the neuter gender is used with emphasis in a broken and emotional address, and is to be taken as referring ad sensum to the land. הגדּיל בּפה, to magnify or boast with the mouth, i.e., to utter proud sayings against God, in other words, actually to deride God (compare הגדּיל פּה in Oba 1:12, which has a kindred meaning). העתיר, used here according to Aramean usage for העשׁיר, to multiply, or heap up. In כּשׂמה, in Eze 35:14, כּ is a particle of time, as it frequently is before infinitives (e.g., Jos 6:20), when all the earth rejoices, not “over thy desolation” (Hitzig), which does not yield any rational thought, but when joy is prepared for all the world, I will prepare devastation for thee. Through this antithesis כּל־הארץ is limited to the world, with the exception of Edom, i.e., to that portion of the human race which stood in a different relation to God and His people from that of Edom; in other words, which acknowledged the Lord as the true God. It follows from this, that Edom represents the world at enmity against God. In כּשׂמחתך (Eze 35:15) כ is a particle of comparison; and the meaning of Eze 35:15 is: as thou didst rejoice over the desolation of the inheritance of the house of Israel, so will I cause others to rejoice over thy desolation. In Eze 35:15 we agree with the lxx, Vulgate, Syriac, and others, in taking תּהיה as the second person, not as the third. כּל־אדום כּלּהּ serves to strengthen הר־שׂעיר (compare Eze 11:15 and Eze 36:10).

The Fall of Edom. (b. c. 587.)

1 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. 4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord . 5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: 6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God , I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. 7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. 8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. 9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the Lord .

Mount Seir was mentioned as partner with Moab in one of the threatenings we had before (ch. xxv. 8); but here it is convicted and condemned by itself, and has woes of its own. The prophet must boldly set his face against Edom, and prophesy particularly against it; for the God of Israel has said, O Mount Seir! I am against thee. Note, Those that have God against them have the word of God against them, and the face of his ministers, nor dare they prophesy any good to them, but evil. The prophet must tell the Edomites that God has a controversy with them, and let them know,

I. What is the cause and ground of that controversy, v. 5. God espouses his people's cause, and will plead it, takes what is done against them as done against himself, and will reckon for it; and it is upon their account that God now contends with the Edomites. 1. Because of the enmity they had against the people of God, that was rooted in the heart. "Thou hast had a perpetual hatred to them, to the very name of an Israelite." The Edomites kept up an hereditary malice against Israel, the same that Esau bore to Jacob, because he got the birth-right and the blessing. Esau had been reconciled to Jacob, had embraced and kissed him (Gen. xxxiii.), and we do not find that ever he quarrelled with him again. But the posterity of Esau would never be reconciled to the seed of Jacob, but hated them with a perpetual hatred. Note, Children will be more apt to imitate the vices than the virtues of their parents, and to tread in the steps of their sin than in the steps of their repentance. Parents should therefore be careful not to set their children any bad example, for though, through the grace of God, they may return, and prevent the mischief of what they have done amiss to themselves, they may not be able to obviate the bad influence of it upon their children. It is strange how deeply rooted national antipathies sometimes are, and how long they last; but it is not to be wondered at that profane Edomites hate pious Israelites, since the old enmity that was put between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Gen. iii. 15) will continue to the end. Marvel not if the world hate you. 2. Because of the injuries they had done to the people of God. They shed their blood by the force of the sword, in the time of their calamity; they did not attack them as fair and open enemies, but laid wait for them, to cut off those of them that had escaped (Obad. 14), or they drove them back upon the sword of the pursuers, by which they fell. It was cowardly, as well as barbarous, to take advantage of their distress; and for neighbours, with whom they had lived peaceably, to smite them secretly when strangers openly invaded them. It was in the time that their iniquity had an end, when the measure of it was full and destruction came. Note, Even those that suffer justly, and for their sins, are yet to be pitied and not trampled upon. If the father corrects one child, he expects the rest should tremble at it, not triumph in it.

II. What should be the effect and issue of that controversy. If God stretch out his hand against the country of Edom, he will make it most desolate, v. 3. Desolation and desolation. 1. The inhabitants shall be slain with the sword (v. 6): I will prepare thee unto blood. Edom shall be gradually weakened, and so be the more easily conquered, and the enemy shall gather strength the more effectually to subdue it. Thus preparation is in the making a great while before for this destruction. Thou hast not hated blood; it implies, "Thou hast delighted in it and thirsted after it." Those that do not keep up a rooted hatred of sin, when a temptation to it is very strong, will be in danger of yielding to it. Some read it, "Unless thou hatest blood" (that is, "unless thou dost repent, and put off this bloody disposition) blood shall pursue thee." And then it is an intimation that the judgment may yet be prevented by a thorough reformation. If he turn not, he will whet his sword, Ps. vii. 12. But, if he turn, he will lay it by. Blood shall pursue thee, the guilt of the blood which thou hast shed or the judgment of blood; thy blood-thirsty enemies shall pursue thee, which way soever thou seekest to make thy escape. A great and general slaughter shall be made of the Idumeans, such as had been foretold (Isa. xxxiv. 6): The mountains and hills, the valleys and rivers, shall be filled with the slain, v. 8. The pursuers shall overtake those that flee and shall give no quarter, but put them all to the sword. Note, When God comes to make inquisition for blood those that have shed the blood of his Israel shall have blood given them to drink, for they are worthy. Satia te sanguine quem sitisti—Glut thyself with blood, after which thou hast thirsted. 2. The country shall be laid waste. The cities shall be destroyed (v. 4), the country made most desolate (v. 7); for God will cut off from both him that passes out and him that returns; and when the inhabitants are cut off that should keep the cities in repair they will decay and go into ruins, and when those are cut off that should till the land that will soon be over-run with briers and thorns and become a wilderness. Note, Those that help forward the desolations of Israel may expect to be themselves made desolate. And that which completes the judgment is that Edom shall be made perpetual desolations (v. 9) and the cities shall never return to their former state, nor the inhabitants of them come back from their captivity and dispersion. Note, Those that have a perpetual enmity to God and his people, as the carnal mind has, can expect no other than to be made a perpetual desolation. Implacable malice will justly be punished with irreparable ruin.

The Fall of Edom. (b. c. 587.)

10 Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there: 11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God , I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. 12 And thou shalt know that I am the Lord , and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. 13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them. 14 Thus saith the Lord God ; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. 15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the Lord .

Here is, I. A further account of the sin of the Edomites, and their bad conduct towards the people of God. We find the church complaining of them for setting on the Babylonians, and irritating them against Jerusalem, saying, Rase it, rase it, down with it, down with it (Ps. cxxxvii. 7), inflaming a rage that needed no spur; here it is further charged upon them that they triumphed in Jerusalem's ruin and in the desolations of the country. Many blasphemies they spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying, with pride and pleasure, They are laid desolate, v. 12. Note, The troubles of God's church, as they give proofs of the constancy and fidelity of its friends, so they discover and draw out the corruptions of its enemies, in whom there then appears more brutish malice than one would have thought of. Now their triumphing in Jerusalem's ruin is here said to proceed, 1. From a sinful passion against the people of Israel; from anger and envy, and hatred against them (v. 11), that perpetual hatred spoken of v. 5. Though they were not a match for them, and therefore could not do them a mischief themselves, yet they were glad when the Chaldeans did them a mischief. 2. From a sinful appetite to the land of Israel. They pleased themselves with hopes that when the people of Israel were destroyed they should be let into the possession of their country, which they had so often grudged and envied them. They thought they could make out something of a title to it, ob defectum sanguinis—for want of other heirs. If Jacob's issue fail, they think that they are next in the entail, and that the remainder will be to his brother's issue: "These two nations of Judah and Israel shall be mine. Now is the time for me to put in for them." At least they hope to come in as first occupants, being near neighbours: We will possess it when it is deserted. Ceditur occupanti—Let us get possession and that will be title enough. Note, Those have the spirit of Edomites who desire the death of others because they hope to get by it, or are pleased with their failing because they expect to come into their business. When we see the vanity of the world in the disappointments, losses, and crosses, that others meet with in it, instead of showing ourselves, upon such an occasion, greedy of it, we should rather be made thereby to sit more loose to it, and both take our affections off it and lower our expectations from it. But in this case of the Edomites' coveting the land of Israel, and gaping for it, there was a particular affront to God, when they said, "These lands are given us to devour, and we shall have our bellies full of their riches." God says, You have boasted against me and have multiplied your words against me; for they expected possession upon a vacancy, because Israel was driven out, whereas the Lord was still there, v. 10. His temple indeed was burnt, and the other tokens of his presence were gone; but his promise to give that land to the seed of Jacob for an inheritance was not made void, but remained in full force and virtue; and by that promise he did in effect still keep possession for Israel, till they should in due time be restored to it. That was Immanuel's land (Isa. viii. 8); in that land he was to be born, and therefore that people shall continue in it of whom he is to be born, till he has passed his time in it, and then let who will take it. The Lord is there, the Lord Jesus is to be there; and therefore Israel's discontinuance of possession is no defeasance of their right, but it shall be kept for them, and they shall have, hold, and enjoy it by virtue of the divine grant, till the promise of this Canaan shall by the Messiah be changed into the promise of a far better. Note, It is a piece of presumption highly offensive to God for Edomites to lay claim to those privileges and comforts that are peculiar to God's chosen Israel and are reserved for them. It is blasphemy against the mountains of Israel, the holy mountains, to say, because they are for the present made a prey of and trodden under foot of the Gentiles (Rev. xi. 2), even the holy city itself, that therefore the Lord has forsaken them, their God has forgotten them. The apostle will by no means admit such a thought as this, that God hath cast away his people, Rom. xi. 1. No; though they are cast down for a time, they are not cast off for ever. Those reproach the Lord who say they are.

II. The notice God took of the barbarous insolence of the Edomites, and the doom passed upon them for it: I have heard all thy blasphemies, v. 12. And again (v. 13), You have multiplied your words against me, and I have heard them, I have observed them, I have kept an account of them. Note, In the multitude of words, not one escapes God's cognizance; let men speak ever so much, ever so fast, though they multiply words, which they themselves regard not, but forget immediately, yet none of them are lost in the crowd, not the most idle words; but God hears them, and will be able to charge the sinner with them. All the haughty and hard speeches, particularly, which are spoken against the Israel of God, the words which are magnified (as it is in the margin, v. 13) as well as the words which are multiplied, God takes notice of. For, as the most trifling words are not below his cognizance, so the most daring are not above his rebuke. I have heard all thy blasphemies. This is a good reason why we should bear reproach as if we heard it not, because God will hear, Ps. xxxviii. 13, 15. God has heard the Edomites' blasphemy; let them therefore hear their doom, v. 14, 15. It was a national sin (the blasphemies charged upon them were the sense and language of all the Edomites), and therefore shall be punished with a national desolation. And, 1. It shall be a distinguishing punishment. As God has peculiar favours for Israelites, so he has peculiar plagues for Edomites: so that "When the whole earth rejoices I will make thee desolate; when other nations have their desolations repaired, to their joy, thine shall be perpetual," v. 9. 2. The punishment shall answer to the sin: "As thou didst rejoice in the desolation of the house of Israel, God will give thee enough of desolation; since thou art so fond of it, thou shalt be desolate; I will make thee so." Note, Those who, instead of weeping with the mourners, make a jest of their grievances, may justly be made to weep like the mourners, and themselves to feel the weight, to feel the smart, of those grievances which they set so light by. Some read v. 14 so as to complete the resemblance between the sin and the punishment: The whole earth shall rejoice when I make thee desolate, as thou didst rejoice when Israel was made desolate. Those that are glad at the death and fall of others may expect that others will be glad of their death, of their fall. 3. In the destruction of the enemies of the church God designs his own glory, and we may be sure that he will not come short of his design. (1.) That which he intends is to manifest himself, as a just and jealous God, firm to his covenant and faithful to his people and their injured cause (v. 11): I will make myself known among them when I have judged thee. The Lord is and will be known by the judgments which he executes. (2.) His intention shall be fully answered; not only his own people shall be made to know it to their comfort, but even the Edomites themselves, and all the other enemies of his name and people, shall know that he is the Lord, v. 4, 9, 15. As the works of creation and common providence demonstrate that there is a God, so the care taken of Israel shows that Jehovah, the God of Israel, is that God alone, the true and living God.

CHAP. XXXV.

Ver. 1. MOreover the Word of the Lord] Chap. 18.1.

Ver. 2. Set thy face] Chap. 6.2.

Againſt mount Seir] Inhabited by the Edomites.

And prophecy againſt it] This had been done before, chap. 25.12. but not enough. God hath a further ſaying to them, and that for the comfort of his poor people who might thus object: Peace and ſecurity from danger is promiſed us in the foregoeing Chapter; but we have ſtill many deadly enemies, and none worſe then our near allies and next neighbours the Edomites. Here therefore they are heavily threatened with utter deſolation for their malignity againſt Iſrael, and their blaſphemy againſt God.

Ver. 3. Behold O mount Seir, I am againſt thee] Ecce ego ad te, have at thee.

And I will ſtretch out my hand againſt thee] I will have my full blow at thee.

I will make thee moſt deſolate] Heb. deſolation and deſolation: I will make an utter end: deſolation ſhall not riſe up the ſecond time, Nahum. 1.9. I will make ſhort work, Rom. 9.28.

4. I will lay thy Cities waſte] Even Theman, Dedan, Bozra mentioned in Scripture: beſides many others mentioned by Geographers, Mareſa, Rhinocorura, Raphia, Gaza, Anthedon, &c.

And thou ſhall know] To thy ſmall comfort.

That I am the Lord] A Lord of Lords, a God of Gods, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not perſons, nor taketh reward, Deut. 10.17.

Ver. 5. Becauſe thou haſt had a perpetual hatred] An hereditary deadly feud againſt Iſrael; Heb. an enemy of ages, yea of many ages continuance; ſuch as is (as we uſe to ſay of Runnet) the older the ſtronger.

And haſt ſhed the blood of the children of Iſrael] Ʋt diffluant, haſt let out their life-blood: all malice is bloody.

In time of their calamity] Watching the worſt time, to do them the moſt miſchief.

In the time that their iniquity had an end] When I had in a manner done with them, yet thou hadſt not done with them: but didſt ſtir up Nebuzaradan to burn the City and Temple with fire. This was to help forward the affliction, Zach. 1.15. See the Note there.

Ver. 6. I will prepare thee unto blood] Thou ſhalt have blood thy bellyful, which thou haſt ſo greedily ſought and ſucked. Satiabis te ſanguine quem ſitiiſti, cujuſque inſatiabilis ſemper fuiſti, as the Scythian Queen ſaid to Cyrus's head.

Even blood ſhall purſue thee] As a bloodhound: It ſhall, it ſhall, believe me, it ſhall.

Ver. 7. Moſt deſolate] See ver. 3. Iterum repetit, ne excidiſſe videatur. I am in good earneſt.

Ver. 8. And I will fill his mountains] Oh the woe of war! [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Bellum à belluis. the Greek word for it ſignifies much blood.

Ver. 9. I will make thee perpetual deſolations] For thy perpetual hatred, ver. 5.

And thy Cities] See ver. 4.

Ver. 10. Becauſe thou hast ſaid] Ungodly men muſt anſwer for their ungodly ſpeeches alſo, Jude 15.

Theſe two Nations] Iſrael, and Judah.

Shall be mine] Such was their avarice and ambition that they made account all was their own: they had in their hopes devoured theſe two Countries, which God had reſerved for a better purpoſe. He kept the room empty till the rerurn of the natives; and the land kept her Sabbaths, reſting from tillage, &c. And yet theſe miſcreants added

Whereas the Lords was there] Or, be it that the Lord is there, Though it be a Jehovah ſhammah, as chap. 48.3[illegible: 1 letter]. ſc. to keep poſſeſſion againſt us, we will out him, and have it, in deſpite of him. O tongues worthy to be puld out, cut in gobbets, and driven down their throats, that did thus blaſpheme.

Ver. 11. I Will do even according to thine anger] Let the Romiſh Edomites expect the like puniſhment: their malice and miſchief will come home to them.

And according to thine envy] That quick ſighted and ſharp-fanged malignity, which none can ſtand before, Prov. 27.4.

Ver. 12. And that I have heard all thy blaſphemies] Of both ſorts: thoſe in the firſt table againſt my ſelf, and thoſe in the ſecond table, againſt my people.

They are ſaid deſolate] And we have helpt after.

They are given us to conſume] Heb. to devour; Nay, but ſtay till they be: and then know, that ye may devour that on earth, that ye ſhall diſgeſt in hell.

Ver. 13. Thus with your mouth ye have boaſted] Heb. magnified, ſetting your mouths againſt heaven, your tongues alſo have walked thorough the earth, Pſal. 73.9. See the Notes there.

And have multiplied your words againſt me] When it would have better become you to have multiplied your words before me in prayer and praiſes, [non-Latin text not transcribed] as the Hebrew word here uſed (moſtly) ſignifieth.

Ver. 14. When the whole earth rejoyceth] ſc. For my peoples deliverances. Or, when the whole land, ſc. of Iſrael rejoyceth: as it is ſometimes hail and well with the Church, when the wicked are in the ſuds. Judea was the world of the world, as Athens was the Epitome of Greece, the Greece of Greece.

Ver. 15. As thou didſt rejoyce] As thou waſt ſick of the devils diſeaſe, rejoiceing at other mens harms: ſo, by a ſtrange turn of things, others ſhall rejoyce at thy juſt deſtruction, and revel in thy ruines: and at the laſt day eſpcially, when thou ſhalt be awarded thy portion with the devil and his angels, 2. Theſ. 1.6, 7, 8.

Thou ſhalt be deſolate, O mount Seir] This was accordingly effected ſhortly after by Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldees, Lib. 12. cap. 11. as Joſephus teſtifieth: and is daily executed on the Churches enemies, who ſhall all be ere long in the place that is fitteſt for them, ſc. under Chriſts feet.

And all Idumea, even all of it] The Edomites that thought of ſeizing on others lands, loſt their own. They who covet all, do oft loſe all: yea even the pleaſure of that they poſſeſſe; as a greedy dog ſwalloweth the whole meat that is caſt him, without any pleaſure, as gaping ſtill for the next morſel.