11 And in Moab I do judgments, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah.
Concerning Moab: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Wo unto Nebo, for it is spoiled, Put to shame, captured hath been Kiriathaim, Put to shame hath been the high tower, Yea, it hath been broken down. There is no more praise of Moab, In Heshbon they devised against it evil: Come, and we cut it off from `being' a nation, Also, O Madmen, thou art cut off, After thee goeth a sword. A voice of a cry `is' from Horonaim, Spoiling and great destruction. Destroyed hath been Moab, Caused a cry to be heard have her little ones. For the ascent of Luhith with weeping, Go up doth weeping, For in the descent of Horonaim Adversaries a cry of desolation have heard. Flee ye, deliver yourselves, Ye are as a naked thing in a wilderness. For, because of thy trusting in thy works, And in thy treasures, even thou art captured, And gone out hath Chemosh in a removal, His priests and his heads together. And come in doth a spoiler unto every city, And no city doth escape, And perished hath the valley, And destroyed been the plain, as Jehovah said. Give wings to Moab, for she utterly goeth out, And her cities are for a desolation, Without an inhabitant in them. Cursed `is' he who is doing the work of Jehovah slothfully, And cursed `is' he Who is withholding his sword from blood. Secure is Moab from his youth, And at rest `is' he for his preserved things, And he hath not been emptied out from vessel unto vessel, And into captivity he hath not gone, Therefore hath his taste remained in him, And his fragrance hath not been changed. Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent to him wanderers, And they have caused him to wander, And his vessels they empty out, And his bottles they dash in pieces. And ashamed hath been Moab because of Chemosh, As the house of Israel have been ashamed Because of Beth-El their confidence. How do ye say, We `are' mighty, And men of strength for battle? Spoiled is Moab, and her cities hath one gone up, And the choice of its young men Have gone down to slaughter, An affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts `is' His name. Near is the calamity of Moab to come, And his affliction hath hasted exceedingly. Bemoan for him, all ye round about him, And all knowing his name, say ye: How hath it been broken, the staff of strength, The rod of beauty. Come down from honour, sit in thirst, O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon, For a spoiler of Moab hath come up to thee, He hath destroyed thy fenced places. On the way stand, and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer, Ask the fugitive and escaped, Say, What hath happened? Put to shame hath been Moab, For it hath been broken down, Howl and cry, declare ye in Arnon, For spoiled is Moab, And judgment hath come in unto the land of the plain -- unto Holon, And unto Jahazah, and on Mephaath, And on Dibon, and on Nebo, And on Beth-Diblathaim, and on Kirathaim, And on Beth-Gamul, and on Beth-Meon, And on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, And on all cities of the land of Moab, The far off and the near. Cut down hath been the horn of Moab, And his arm hath been broken, An affirmation of Jehovah. Declare ye him drunk, For against Jehovah he made himself great And Moab hath stricken in his vomit, And he hath been for a derision -- even he. And was not Israel the derision to thee? Among thieves was he found? For since thy words concerning him, Thou dost bemoan thyself. Forsake cities, and dwell in a rock, Ye inhabitants of Moab, And be as a dove making a nest in the passages of a pit's mouth. We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, Exceeding proud! His haughtiness, and his arrogance, And his pride, and the height of his heart, I -- I have known, an affirmation of Jehovah, His wrath, and `it is' not right, His devices -- not right they have done. Therefore for Moab I howl, even for Moab -- all of it, I cry for men of Kir-Heres, it doth mourn, With the weeping of Jazer, I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah, Thy branches have passed over a sea, Unto the sea of Jazer they have come, On thy summer fruits, and on thy harvest, A spoiler hath fallen. And removed hath been joy and gladness From the fruitful field, Even from the land of Moab, And wine from wine-presses I have caused to cease, Shouting doth not proceed, The shouting `is' no shouting! Because of the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, Unto Jahaz they have given their voice, From Zoar unto Horonaim, A heifer of the third `year', For even waters of Nimrim become desolations. And I have caused to cease to Moab, An affirmation of Jehovah, Him who is offering in a high place, And him who is making perfume to his god. Therefore my heart for Moab as pipes doth sound, And my heart for men of Kir-Heres As pipes doth sound, Therefore the abundance he made did perish. For every head `is' bald, and every beard diminished, On all hands cuttings, and on the loins -- sackcloth. On all roofs of Moab, and in her broad-places, All of it -- `is' lamentation, For I have broken Moab as a vessel in which there is no pleasure, An affirmation of Jehovah. How hath it been broken down! they have howled, How hath Moab turned the neck ashamed, And Moab hath been for a derision. And for a terror to all round about her. For thus said Jehovah: Lo, as an eagle he doth flee, And hath spread his wings unto Moab. Captured have been the cities, And the strongholds are caught, And the heart of the mighty of Moab Hath been in that day as the heart of a distressed woman. And Moab hath been destroyed from `being' a people, For against Jehovah he exerted himself. Fear, and a snare, and a gin, `are' for thee, O inhabitant of Moab -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Whoso is fleeing because of the fear falleth into the snare, And whoso is coming up from the snare is captured by the gin, For I bring in unto her -- unto Moab -- The year of their inspection, An affirmation of Jehovah. In the shadow of Heshbon stood powerless have fugitives, For fire hath gone forth from Heshbon, And a flame from within Sihon, And it consumeth the corner of Moab, And the crown of the sons of Shaon. Wo to thee, O Moab, Perished hath the people of Chemosh, For thy sons were taken with the captives, And thy daughters with the captivity. And I have turned back `to' the captivity of Moab, In the latter end of the days, An affirmation of Jehovah! Hitherto `is' the judgment of Moab.
Lo, days are coming -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have laid a charge on all circumcised in the foreskin, On Egypt, and on Judah, and on Edom, And on the sons of Ammon, and on Moab, And on all cutting the corner `of the beard', Who are dwelling in the wilderness, For all the nations `are' uncircumcised, And all the house of Israel `are' uncircumcised in heart!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 25
Commentary on Ezekiel 25 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 25
In this chapter the prophet foretells the judgments of God upon the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines, for their ill usage of the Jews; on the Ammonites, Ezekiel 25:1, on the Moabites, Ezekiel 25:8, on the Edomites, Ezekiel 25:12, on the Philistines, Ezekiel 25:15.
The word of the Lord came unto me,.... After he had done prophesying to the Jews, he is bid to prophesy against the Gentiles, the nations that lay nearest the Jews:
saying; as follows:
Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites,.... Who were of the posterity of Lot, implacable enemies of the Jews; who hated their religion, and envied their wealth and happiness; against these the prophet is bid to "set his face"; to look that way where they lived, and to put on a frowning countenance, and a menacing aspect: "strengthen thy face", as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it; look boldly at them:
and prophesy against them; deliver out the following prophecy concerning them.
And say unto the Ammonites,.... Either to their ambassadors at Babylon, or merchants there; or by letters to them, the prophet being in Chaldea, at a distance from them:
hear the word of the Lord God; not Chemosh their idol, nor their lying oracles, but the word of the true and living God; which is always accomplished, and is never frustrated:
thus saith the Lord God, because thou saidst, aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; that is, expressed joy, as the Targum paraphrases it, at the destruction of the temple, when it was burnt by Nebuchadnezzar; it was foreknown by the Lord that they would do so, and are here threatened before hand; for as yet the temple was not destroyed; a proof this of God's prescience of future contingencies:
and against the land of when it was desolate; the country of the ten tribes, which had been desolate from the sixth year of Hezekiah, when the people of it were carried captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria; this also was matter of joy to the Ammonites:
and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar; part of which had already been carried captive under Jeconiah, and the rest would be, and were, under Zedekiah; which completed the destruction of Israel and Judah, and gave the utmost pleasure to their enemies the Ammonites; who were so impious as to rejoice at the destruction of their temple, the place of their religious worship, which they abhorred; and so inhuman as to express the delight and satisfaction they had in the ruin of their fellow creatures and neighbours, and who were originally related to them; this brutish and barbarous behaviour of theirs is resented by the Lord.
Behold, therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession,.... The Chaldeans and Syrians, which were on the east side, as Jarchi; or the Medes and Persians, as Kimchi, which lay more eastward; or it may be the Arabians, who are commonly called the men of the east; who were a part of Nebuchadnezzar's army, and whom he might reward with this country, when taken by him; for this prophecy, according to JosephusF17Antiqu. l. 16. c. 9. sect. 7. , was fulfilled five years after the destruction of Jerusalem:
and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee; or, "their camps and their tents"F18טירותיהם "arces suas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus, Coeccius. משכניהם "tentoria sua", V. L. "tabernacala sus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus, Cocceius, Starckius. ; and so the Syriac version renders it, their armies and their tents; who should subdue them, and take possession of their cities and fields, and enjoy what they found there:
they shall eat thy fruit, and drink thy milk; the fruit of their land, their vineyards and fields, and the milk of their flocks and herds, which was commonly drank in those countries; these are put for the whole of their substance. So the Targum,
"they shall eat the good of thy land, and spoil thy substance.'
And I will make Rabbath a stable for camels,.... Creatures much used by the eastern nations, especially the Arabians; who pitching their tents about Rabbath, the royal city, the metropolis of the children of Ammon, would convert the houses, and even palaces in it, into stables for their camels. This city, in Jerom's time, as he says, was called Philadelphia, from Ptolemy Philadelphus, who rebuilt it.
And the Ammonites a couching place for flocks; that is, the land of the Ammonites should be made a place for flocks of sheep to lie down in, which the Arabians would bring and feed upon it:
and ye shall know that I am the Lord; omniscient, and sees and observes all your insults upon the children of Israel and Judah; and omnipotent, able to perform all that is threatened; and immutable, bringing about all that is here prophesied of.
For thus saith the Lord God,.... Their sin and punishment are further enlarged upon:
because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with thy feet: gestures expressive of joy and gladness, Isaiah 55:12, the Ammonites clapped their hands together, and leaped and skipped for joy, when they heard of the calamities of the Jews; who yet had more reason to be sorrowful, since they might expect their turn would be next; for the king of Babylon had a design against them, at the same time he came against Jerusalem, and was in doubt for a while which he should attack first; see Ezekiel 21:20,
and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; they had a secret joy in their heart, which they expressed by gestures, in the most spiteful and scornful manner they were capable of; which showed the wretched malignity of their dispositions against the children of Israel; they hated them with a perfect hatred.
Behold, therefore, I will stretch out mine hand upon thee,.... In just retaliation for clapping their hands against his people; and which hand of the Lord they would find to be a heavy one, and which they would not be able either to resist or bear. The Targum is,
"I will lift up the stroke of my power upon thee:'
and will deliver thee for a spoil to the Heathen; to the Chaldeans first, and then to the Arabians, to be spoiled and plundered by them of their wealth and substance: some render it, "for meat"F19לבג "in cibum", Montanus, Gussetius. This is the Cetib or textual writing; but the Keri or marginal reading is לבן, "in direptionem", Pagninus, Cocceius; "in praedam", Junius & Tremeilius, Piscator. Both come to much one and the same sense, as Ben Melech observes, for food was of the spoil; and one word answers to another by "athbash", which is a certain form of placing the alphabet; See Gill on Jeremiah 25:26 unto them; to be devoured and consumed by them:
and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries; so as to be no more a people and a country; or be reckoned among the people and countries; or have any alliance with them, or help from them:
I will destroy thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; who has said and done all this; See Gill on Ezekiel 25:5.
Thus saith the Lord God,.... By his servant the prophet, to whom the word of the Lord came; as concerning the Ammonites, so likewise concerning the Moabites, as follows:
because that Moab and Seir do say; that is, the Moabites, and the Edomites, which latter are meant by Seir, that being the seat of them; these lived near one another, and bore a like enmity to the Israelites and Jews, and had the same sentiments concerning them, and said the same things of them: only Moab is mentioned in the Septuagint and Arabic versions: the Moabites are first prophesied of, and then the Edomites, who both joined in saying, behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the Heathen; it fares no better with them than with the rest of the nations, who do not profess and serve the same God they do; they are fallen into the hands of the king of Babylon, as well as others; and have no more security against him, nor protection from him, than other people; they pretend to serve and worship the one only living and true God, and to be his covenant people, and to be favoured with privileges above all other nations; and yet are brought into the same miserable circumstances, and left in them, as others are; where is the God they boast of, and their superior excellence to the rest of the world? thus blasphemously, as well as wickedly, did they insult them, which was provoking to the Lord. The Targum renders it interrogatively,
in what do the house of Judah differ from all people?'
and so the Septuagint,
"behold, are not the house of Israel and Judah in like manner as all nations?'
Jerom, on the place, relates a fable of the Jews, that when the city and temple were opened, the Ammonites, Moobites, and Edomites, went into the temple, and saw the cherubim over the mercy seat, and said, as all nations worship images, so Judah hath the idols of their religion. Jarchi makes mention of such a Midrash, but with some difference.
Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities,.... Or, "the shoulder of Moab"F20כתף τον ωμον, Sept.; "humerum", V. L. Montanus. ; that part of their country where their greatest strength lay, So the Targum renders it,
"the strength of Moab;'
where their principal cities were, their frontier towns, and fortified places, as appears by what follows:
from his cities which are on his frontiers; or, "from his Ars"F21מהערים "ab ipsis", Haris, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. ,
from his cities which are at his end; at the extreme part of the land, upon the borders of his countries; the two cities of Ar and Aroer, Numbers 21:28,
the glory of the country; as the above cities were, and what follow:
Bethjeshimoth; this was formerly in the tribe of Reuben, now in the possession of the Moabites, and one of their principal cities, Joshua 13:20,
Baalmeon; the same with Bethbaalmeon, and which was also of the tribe of Reuben, Joshua 13:17, in Jerom's time it was a large village in Moab, about nine miles from Heshbon: some think by Meon is meant Menes, or Osiris the god of the Egyptians, and so this might be a temple of his; or at least he might have a temple in it, from whence it had its name:
and Kirjathaim; or the double city, built also by the Reubenites, Numbers 32:37, now in the hands of the Moabites, ten miles from Medeba; on this side of the country of Moab, and through these cities, the Lord threatens to open a way for their enemies to enter in and destroy them, as follows:
Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and I will give them in possession,.... Or, "against the Ammonites", as the Targum; that is, way should be made for the same people of the east, the Chaldeans or Arabians, that came against the Ammonites and destroyed them, to enter into the land of Moab and possess it, as they had done the land of Ammon:
that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations: the name of that people, which is entirely lost; and Moab likewise, which underwent the same fate.
I will execute judgments upon Moab,.... For though the Chaldeans and Arabians were the instruments of their ruin, their destruction was of the Lord; it was his hand that was upon them, and his vengeance that was executed on them, for their hard sayings against his people; for though he had spoke against them in his providence, and chastised them for their sins, yet he will not suffer others to speak against them:
and they shall know that I am the Lord; that takes part with Judah, and will avenge himself of all their enemies.
Thus saith the Lord God,.... Concerning Seir or the Edomites, the prophecy concerning the Moabites being finished:
because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance: or, "revenging a revenge"F23בנקם נקם "in ulciscendo ultionem", Montanus, Starckius. ; the Edomites bore an old grudge against the Jews, not only because their father Jacob had got the birthright and blessing from their father Esau; but because they were made tributaries to them in David's time, and afterwards severely chastised by Amaziah; these things they laid up in their minds, and vowed revenge whenever they had an opportunity; and now one offered at the destruction of Jerusalem, which they took:
and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them: not only by rejoicing at the destruction of the Jews, but by encouraging the Babylonians in it; assisting them therein, joining with them in plundering the city, and in cutting off those with the sword who endeavoured to make their escape; see Psalm 137:7.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Because of such base and barbarous usage, from a people that were originally brethren:
I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, by the sword of the Chaldeans, and by famine and pestilence, and such like sore judgments; in which the hand of God is manifestly seen:
and I will make it desolate from Teman; a very principal city of Edom, so called from Teman, the son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, Genesis 36:15 it lay in the south of the land of Idumea; the Targum renders it, "from the south":
and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword; of the Babylonians; this was another city of Edom, it lay in the north of that country; so that hereby is signified that destruction should go through it from the southern to the northern parts of it.
And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by fie hand of my people Israel,.... This was fulfilled in the times of the Maccabees, when Judas Maccabins overthrew and conquered them,
"Then Judas fought against the children of Esau in Idumea at Arabattine, because they besieged Gael: and he gave them a great overthrow, and abated their courage, and took their spoils.' (1 Maccabees 5:3)
and when Hyrcanus took their cities, and subdued them, and they became Jews, as JosephusF24Antiqu. l. 13. c. 9. sect. 1. relates; though Kimchi thinks this refers to future time, and is yet to be accomplished; and it is, by the ancient JewsF25In Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 2. fol. 179. 3. , understood of the times of the Messiah: some choose to understand the phrase,
by the hand of my people Israel, the same hand by which judgment was inflicted upon Israel; suggesting that by the same hand vengeance would be inflicted on the Edomites, namely, by the Babylonians:
and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; that is, shall execute all the anger and fury, or all that punishment in anger and fury, which the Lord in righteous judgment has appointed them to, and has determined shall be performed upon them, by the children of Israel or the Babylonians, as his instruments:
and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God; the meaning is, they shall feel it, and be sensible of it, and know that it comes from the Lord himself; full of resentment against them, and highly displeased at their behaviour towards his people Israel.
Thus saith the Lord God,.... Once more, and concerning another enemy of the people of Israel, and who had been of old an implacable one:
because the Philistines have dealt by revenge: for what they suffered in the times of Saul, when Goliath was slain by David, and their army was discomfited; and for the overthrow of them by David, when he came to throne; and for his burning their images, and subduing them, 1 Samuel 17:51, this revenge they took in the time of Ahaz, 2 Chronicles 28:18, and very probably also showed their spite at the time of Jerusalem's destruction:
and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; which they bore to the people of Israel, from their first settlement in Canaan; from the times of the judges, particularly Samson; and from the times of Saul and David: it was an old grudge they bore, they had spite and malice in their hearts, and wanted an opportunity to vent it; having determined to take vengeance when they could, and utterly destroy them from being a people; very likely, through despite, they assisted the Chaldean army: or, this they did "with a perpetual hatred"F26איבת עולם "inimictias perpetuas", Pagninus; "iuimietia perpetua", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; they did everything they could, in a spiteful and malicious way, to perpetuate the hatred between them and Israel.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Because of such wretched malice and despiteful usage:
behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines; as is foretold, Jeremiah 47:1,
and I will cut off the Cherethims: one of the tribes of the Philistines, a principal part of their country, which lay to the south, 1 Samuel 30:14, there is a beautiful play on wordsF9 in the Hebrew:
and destroy the remnant of the seacoast; as that of Ashdod, Caphtor, and Ashkelon, formerly spoiled by other persons; what they left should now be utterly destroyed; see Isaiah 20:1.
And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes,.... By way of retaliation for their vengeance and fury, wrath and malice, against his people; suggesting, that the judgments inflicted on them, for quantity and quality, should be very great:
and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them; they shall see the hand of God in it, acknowledge his justice, and confess that their gods were idols, and that the God of Israel is the only true God.