8 This is what the Lord has said: Because Moab and Seir are saying, See, the people of Judah are like all the nations;
Of Moab. The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Sorrow on Nebo, for it has been made waste; Kiriathaim has been put to shame and is taken: the strong place is put to shame and broken down. The praise of Moab has come to an end; as for Heshbon, evil has been designed against her; come, let us put an end to her as a nation. But your mouth will be shut, O Madmen; the sword will go after you. There is the sound of crying from Horonaim, wasting and great destruction; Moab is broken; her cry has gone out to Zoar. For by the slope of Luhith they will go up, weeping all the way; for on the way down to Horonaim the cry of destruction has come to their ears. Go in flight, get away with your lives, and let your faces be turned to Aroer in the Arabah. For because you have put your faith in your strong places, you, even you, will be taken: and Chemosh will go out as a prisoner, his priests and his rulers together. And the attacker will come against every town, not one will be safe; and the valley will be made waste, and destruction will come to the lowland, as the Lord has said. Put up a pillar for Moab, for she will come to a complete end: and her towns will become a waste, without anyone living in them. Let him be cursed who does the Lord's work half-heartedly; let him be cursed who keeps back his sword from blood. From his earliest days, Moab has been living in comfort; like wine long stored he has not been drained from vessel to vessel, he has never gone away as a prisoner: so his taste is still in him, his smell is unchanged. So truly, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send to him men who will have him turned over till there is no more wine in his vessels, and his wine-skins will be completely broken. And Moab will be shamed on account of Chemosh, as the children of Israel were shamed on account of Beth-el their hope. How say you, We are men of war and strong fighters? He who makes Moab waste has gone up against her; and the best of her young men have gone down to their death, says the King, whose name is the Lord of armies. The fate of Moab is near, and trouble is coming on him very quickly. All you who are round about him, give signs of grief for him, and all you who have knowledge of his name, say, How is the strong rod broken, even the beautiful branch! Come down from your glory, O people of Dibon, and take your seat in the place of the waste; for the attacker of Moab has gone up against you, sending destruction on your strong places. O daughter of Aroer, take your station by the way, on the watch: questioning him who is in flight, and her who has got away safe, say, What has been done? Moab has been put to shame, she is broken: make loud sounds of grief, crying out for help; give the news in Arnon, that Moab has been made waste. And punishment has come on the lowlands; on Holon and Jahzah, and on Mephaath, And on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim, And on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon, And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the Lord. Make him full of wine, for his heart has been lifted up against the Lord: and Moab will be rolling in the food he was not able to keep down, and everyone will be making sport of him. For did you not make sport of Israel? was he taken among thieves? for whenever you were talking about him, you were shaking your head over him. O people of Moab, go away from the towns and take cover in the rock; be like the dove of the Arabah, which makes her living-place in holes. We have had word of the pride of Moab, how great it is; how he is lifted up in pride; and his great opinion of himself, and that his heart is lifted up. I have knowledge of his wrath, says the Lord, that it is nothing; his high-sounding words have done nothing. For this cause I will give cries of grief for Moab, crying out for Moab, even for all of it; I will be sorrowing for the men of Kir-heres. My weeping for you, O vine of Sibmah, will be more than the weeping of Jazer: your branches have gone over the sea, stretching even to Jazer: destruction has come down on your summer fruits and your cut grapes. All joy is gone; no longer are they glad for the fertile field and for the land of Moab; I have made the wine come to an end from the crushing vessels: no longer will the grapes be crushed with the sound of glad voices. The cry of Heshbon comes even to Elealeh; to Jahaz their voice is sounding; from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim will become dry. And I will put an end in Moab, says the Lord, to him who is making offerings in the high place and burning perfumes to his gods. So my heart is sounding for Moab like the sound of pipes, and my heart is sounding like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: for the wealth he has got for himself has come to an end. For everywhere the hair of the head and the hair of the face is cut off: on every hand there are wounds, and haircloth on every body. On all the house-tops of Moab and in its streets there is weeping everywhere; for Moab has been broken like a vessel in which there is no pleasure, says the Lord. How is it broken down! how is Moab's back turned in shame! so Moab will be a cause of sport and of fear to everyone round about him. For the Lord has said, See, he will come like an eagle in flight, stretching out his wings against Moab. Kerioth is taken, and the strong places have been forced, and the hearts of Moab's men of war in that day will be like the heart of a woman in birth-pains. And Moab will come to an end as a people, because he has been lifting himself up against the Lord. Fear and death and the net have come on you, O people of Moab, says the Lord. He who goes in flight from the fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for I will make this come on Moab, even the year of their punishment, says the Lord. Those who went in flight from the fear are waiting under the shade of Heshbon: for a fire has gone out from Heshbon and a flame from the house of Sihon, burning up the pride of Moab and the crown of the head of the violent ones. Sorrow is yours, O Moab! the people of Chemosh are overcome: for your sons have been taken away as prisoners, and your daughters made servants. But still, I will let the fate of Moab be changed in the last days, says the Lord.
The word about Moab. For in a night Ar of Moab has become waste, and is seen no longer; for in a night Kir of Moab has become waste, and is seen no longer. The daughter of Dibon has gone up to the high places, weeping: Moab is sounding her cry of sorrow over Nebo, and over Medeba: everywhere the hair of the head and of the face is cut off. In their streets they are covering themselves with haircloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their public places, there is crying and bitter weeping. Heshbon is crying out, and Elealeh; their voice is sounding even to Jahaz: for this cause the heart of Moab is shaking; his soul is shaking with fear. My heart is crying out for Moab; her people go in flight to Zoar, and to Eglath-shelishiyah: for they go up with weeping by the slope of Luhith; on the way to Horonaim they send up a cry of destruction. The waters of Nimrim will become dry: for the grass is burned up, the young grass is coming to an end, every green thing is dead. For this cause they will take away their wealth, and the stores they have got together, over the stream of the water-plants. For the cry has gone round the limits of Moab; as far as to Eglaim and Beer-elim. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood: and I'm sending even more on Moab, a lion on those of Moab who go in flight, and on the rest of the land.
About Edom. This is what the Lord of armies has said. Is there no more wisdom in Teman? have wise suggestions come to an end among men of good sense? has their wisdom completely gone? Go in flight, go back, take cover in deep places, you who are living in Dedan; for I will send the fate of Edom on him, even the time of his punishment. If men came to get your grapes, would they not let some be uncut on the vines? if thieves came by night, would they not make waste till they had enough? I have had Esau searched out, uncovering his secret places, so that he may not keep himself covered: his seed is wasted and has come to an end, and there is no help from his neighbours. Put in my care your children who have no father, and I will keep them safe; and let your widows put their faith in me. For the Lord has said, Those for whom the cup was not made ready will certainly be forced to take of it; and are you to go without punishment? you will not be without punishment, but will certainly be forced to take from the cup. For I have taken an oath by myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah will become a cause of wonder, a name of shame, a waste and a curse; and all its towns will be waste places for ever. Word has come to me from the Lord, and a representative has been sent to the nations, to say, Come together and go up against her, and take your places for the fight. For see, I have made you small among the nations, looked down on by men. ... the pride of your heart has been a false hope, O you who are living in the cracks of the rock, keeping your place on the top of the hill: even if you made your living-place as high as the eagle, I would make you come down, says the Lord. And Edom will become a cause of wonder: everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder, and make sounds of fear at all her punishments. As at the downfall of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring towns, says the Lord, no man will be living in it, no son of man will have a resting-place there. See, he will come up like a lion from the thick growth of Jordan against the resting-place of Teman: but I will suddenly make him go in flight from her; and I will put over her the man of my selection: for who is like me? and who will put forward his cause against me? and what keeper of sheep will be able to keep his place before me? For this cause give ear to the decision of the Lord which he has made against Edom, and to his purposes designed against the people of Teman: Truly, they will be pulled away by the smallest of the flock; truly, he will make waste their fields with them. The earth is shaking with the noise of their fall; their cry is sounding in the Red Sea. See, he will come up like an eagle in flight, stretching out his wings against Bozrah: and the hearts of Edom's men of war on that day will be like the heart of a woman in birth-pains.
My ears have been open to the bitter words of Moab and the words of shame of the children of Ammon, which they have said against my people, lifting themselves up against the limit of their land. For this cause, by my life, says the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, truly Moab will become like Sodom and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah, given up to waste plants and salt pools and unpeopled for ever: the rest of my people will take their property, the overflow of my nation will take their heritage. This will be their fate because of their pride, because they have said evil, lifting themselves up against the people of the Lord of armies. The Lord will let himself be seen by them: for he will make all the gods of the earth feeble; and men will go down before him in worship, everyone from his place, even all the sea-lands of the nations.
The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord has said about Edom: We have had word from the Lord, and a representative has been sent among the nations, saying, Up! and let us make war against her. See, I have made you small among the nations: you are much looked down on. You have been tricked by the pride of your heart, O you whose living-place is in the cracks of the rock, whose house is high up; who has said in his heart, Who will make me come down to earth? Though you go up on high like an eagle, though your house is placed among the stars, I will make you come down from there, says the Lord. If thieves came, attacking you by night, (how are you cut off!) would they not go on taking till they had enough? if men came cutting your grapes would they take them all? How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his secret stores looked for! All the men who were united with you have been false to you, driving you out to the edge of the land: the men who were at peace with you have overcome you; they have taken their heritage in your place. Will I not, in that day, says the Lord, take away the wise men out of Edom, and wisdom out of the mountain of Esau? And your men of war, O Teman, will be overcome with fear, so that every one of them may be cut off from the mountain of Esau.
And some of your sons I made prophets, and some of your young men I made separate for myself. Is it not even so, O children of Israel? says the Lord. But to those who were separate you gave wine for drink; and to the prophets you said, Be prophets no longer.
These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Moab, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because he had the bones of the king of Edom burned to dust. And I will send a fire on Moab, burning up the great houses of Kerioth: and death will come on Moab with noise and outcries and the sound of the horn: And I will have the judge cut off from among them, and all their captains I will put to death with him, says the Lord.
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, let your face be turned to Mount Seir, and be a prophet against it, And say to it, This is what the Lord has said: See, I am against you, O Mount Seir, and my hand will be stretched out against you, and I will make you a waste and a cause for wonder. I will make your towns unpeopled and you will be a waste; and you will be certain that I am the Lord. Because yours has been a hate without end, and you have given up the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their trouble, in the time of the punishment of the end: For this cause, by my life, says the Lord, because you have been sinning through blood, blood will come after you. And I will make Mount Seir a cause for wonder and a waste, cutting off from it all comings and goings. I will make his mountains full of those who have been put to death; in your valleys and in all your water-streams men will be falling by the sword. I will make you waste for ever, and your towns will be unpeopled: and you will be certain that I am the Lord. Because you have said, The two nations and the two countries are to be mine, and we will take them for our heritage; though the Lord was there: For this cause, by my life, says the Lord, I will do to you as you have done in your wrath and in your envy, which you have made clear in your hate for them; and I will make clear to you who I am when you are judged by me. And you will see that I the Lord have had knowledge of all the bitter things which you have said against the mountains of Israel, saying, They have been made waste, they are given to us to take for our heritage. And you have made yourselves great against me with your mouths, increasing your words against me; and it has come to my ears. This is what the Lord has said: Because you were glad over my land when it was a waste, so will I do to you: You will become a waste, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.
This is what the Lord has said: Because Edom has taken his payment from the people of Judah, and has done great wrong in taking payment from them; The Lord has said, My hand will be stretched out against Edom, cutting off from it man and beast: and I will make it waste, from Teman even as far as Dedan they will be put to the sword. I will take payment from Edom because of my people Israel; and I will take Edom in hand in my wrath and in my passion: and they will have experience of my reward, says the Lord.
Who is this who comes from Edom, with blood-red robes from Bozrah? he whose clothing is fair, stepping with pride in his great strength? I whose glory is in the right, strong for salvation. Why is your clothing red, and why are your robes like those of one who is crushing the grapes? I have been crushing the grapes by myself, and of the peoples there was no man with me: in my wrath and in my passion, they were crushed under my feet; and my robes are marked with their life-blood, and all my clothing is red. For the day of punishment is in my heart, and the year for the payment of the price for my people has come. And I saw that there was no helper, and I was wondering that no one gave them support: so my arm did the work of salvation, and my wrath was my support. And in my passion the peoples were crushed under my feet, and broken in my wrath, and I put down their strength to the earth.
Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe. Has any one of the gods of the nations kept his land from falling into the hands of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? where are the gods of Samaria? and have they kept Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of these countries have kept their country from falling into my hand, to give cause for the thought that the Lord will keep Jerusalem from falling into my hand?
Come near, you nations, and give ear; take note, you peoples: let the earth and everything in it give ear; the world and all those living in it. For the Lord is angry with all the nations, and his wrath is burning against all their armies: he has put them to the curse, he has given them to destruction. Their dead bodies will be thick on the face of the earth, and their smell will come up, and the mountains will be flowing with their blood, and all the hills will come to nothing. And the heavens will be rolled together like the roll of a book: and all their army will be gone, like a dead leaf from the vine, or a dry fruit from the fig-tree. For my sword in heaven is full of wrath: see, it is coming down on Edom, in punishment on the people of my curse. The sword of the Lord is full of blood, it is fat with the best of the meat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the best parts of the sheep: for the Lord has a feast in Bozrah, and much cattle will be put to death in the land of Edom. And the strong oxen will go down to death together with the smaller cattle. For it is the day of the Lord's punishment, when he gives payment for the wrongs done to Zion. And its streams will be turned into boiling oil, and its dust into burning stone, and all the land will be on fire. It will not be put out day or night; its smoke will go up for ever: it will be waste from generation to generation; no one will go through it for ever. But the birds of the waste land will have their place there; it will be a heritage for the bittern and the raven: and it will be measured out with line and weight as a waste land. The jackals will be there, and her great ones will be gone; they will say, There is no longer a kingdom there, and all her chiefs will have come to an end. And thorns will come up in her fair houses, and waste plants in her strong towers: and foxes will make their holes there, and it will be a meeting-place for ostriches. And the beasts of the waste places will come together with the jackals, and the evil spirits will be crying to one another, even the night-spirit will come and make her resting-place there. The arrowsnake will make her hole and put her eggs there, and get her young together under her shade: there the hawks will come together by twos. See what is recorded in the book of the Lord: all these will be there, not one without the other: the mouth of the Lord has given the order, and his spirit has made them come together. And he has given them their heritage, and by his hand it has been measured out to them: it will be theirs for ever, their resting-place from generation to generation.
Will not the fate of Calno be like that of Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand has come on the kingdoms of the images, whose pictured images were more in number than those of Jerusalem and Samaria; So, as I have done to Samaria and her images, I will do to Jerusalem and her images.
They have said, Come, let us put an end to them as a nation; so that the name of Israel may go out of man's memory. For they have all come to an agreement; they are all joined together against you: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagarites; Gebal and Ammon and Amalek; the Philistines and the people of Tyre; Assur is joined with them; they have become the support of the children of Lot. (Selah.)
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 25
Commentary on Ezekiel 25 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 (Jer 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. (Jer 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 (Ps 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; Jer 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.
7. a spoil—so the Hebrew Margin, or Keri, for the text or Chetib, "meat" (so Eze 26:5; 34:28). Their goods were to be a "spoil to the foe"; their state was to be "cut off," so as to be no more a "people"; and they were as individuals, for the most part, to be "destroyed."
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; Isa 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" (Jer 48:23), and "Beth-baal-meon" (Jos 13:17, called so from the worship of Baal), and "Bajith," simply (Isa 15:2).
Kiriathaim—"the double city." The strength of these cities engendered "the pride" of Moab (Isa 16:6).
10. with the Ammonites—Fairbairn explains and translates, "upon the children of Ammon" (elliptically for, "I will open Moab to the men of the east, who, having overrun the children of Ammon, shall then fall on Moab"). Maurer, as English Version, "with the Ammonites," that is, Moab, "together with the land of Ammon," is to be thrown "open to the men of the east," to enter and take possession (Jer 49:1-39).
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 (Ps 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], (Jer 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 Isa 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 (Jer 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; Jer 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 (Jer 25:20).
17. know … vengeance—They shall know Me, not in mercy, but by My vengeance on them (Ps 9:16).