15 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of the doings of the Philistines in vengeance, And they take vengeance with despite in soul, To destroy -- the enmity age-during!
Rejoice not thou, Philistia, all of thee, That broken hath been the rod of thy smiter, For from the root of a serpent cometh out a viper, And its fruit `is' a flying saraph. And delighted have the first-born of the poor, And the needy in confidence lie down, And I have put to death with famine thy root, And thy remnant it slayeth. Howl, O gate; cry, O city, Melted art thou, Philistia, all of thee, For from the north smoke hath come, And there is none alone in his set places.
That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh smiteth Gaza: `Thus said Jehovah: Lo, waters are coming up from the north, And have been for an overflowing stream, And they overflow the land and its fulness, The city, and the inhabitants in it, And men have cried out, And howled hath every inhabitant of the land. From the sound of the stamping of the hoofs of his mighty ones, From the rushing of his chariot, the noise of his wheels, Fathers have not turned unto sons, From feebleness of hands, Because of the day that hath come to spoil all the Philistines, To cut off to Tyre and to Zidon every helping remnant. For Jehovah is spoiling the Philistines, The remnant of the isle of Caphtor. Come hath baldness unto Gaza, Cut off hath been Ashkelon, O remnant of their valley, Till when dost thou cut thyself? Ho, sword of Jehovah, till when art thou not quiet? Be removed unto thy sheath, rest and cease. How shall it be quiet, And Jehovah hath given a charge to it, Against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? There hath He appointed it!'
See doth Ashkelon and fear, Also Gaza, and she is exceedingly pained, Also Ekron -- for her expectation dried up, And perished hath a king from Gaza, And Ashkelon doth not remain, And dwelt hath a foreigner in Ashdod, And I have cut off the excellency of the Philistines. And turned aside his blood from his mouth, His abominations from between his teeth, And he hath remained, even he, to our God, And he hath been as a leader in Judah, And Ekron as a Jebusite. And I have pitched for My house a camp, Because of the passer through, and of the returner, And pass not through against them again doth an exactor, For, now, I have seen with My eyes.
For Gaza is forsaken, And Ashkelon `is' for a desolation, Ashdod! at noon they do cast her forth, And Ekron is rooted up. Ho! O inhabitants of the sea-coast, Nation of the Cherethites, A word of Jehovah `is' against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines, And I have destroyed thee without an inhabitant. And the sea-coast hath been habitations, Cottages `for' shepherds, and folds `for' a flock. And the coast hath been for the remnant of the house of Judah, By them they have pleasure, In houses of Ashkelon at even they lie down, For inspect them doth Jehovah their God, And He hath turned back `to' their captivity.
Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of their removing a complete captivity, To deliver up to Edom, And I have sent a fire against the wall of Gaza, And it hath consumed her palaces; And I have cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And a holder of a sceptre from Ashkelon, And have turned back My hand against Ekron, And perished have the remnant of the Philistines, Said the Lord Jehovah.
And also, what `are' ye to Me, O Tyre and Zidon, And all circuits of Philistia? Recompence are ye rendering unto Me? And if ye are giving recompence to Me, Swiftly, hastily, I turn back your recompence on your head. In that My silver and My gold ye took, And My desirable things that are good, Ye have brought in to your temples. And sons of Judah, and sons of Jerusalem, Ye have sold to the sons of Javan, To put them far off from their border. Lo, I am stirring them up out of the place Whither ye have sold them, And I have turned back your recompence on your head, And have sold your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the sons of Judah, And they have sold them to Shabeans, Unto a nation far off, for Jehovah hath spoken. Proclaim ye this among nations, Sanctify a war, stir up the mighty ones, Come nigh, come up, let all the men of war. Beat your ploughshares to swords, And your pruning-hooks to javelins, Let the weak say, `I `am' mighty.' Haste, and come in, all ye nations round, And be gathered together, Thither cause to come down, O Jehovah, Thy mighty ones. Wake and come up let the nations unto the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I sit to judge all the nations around. Send ye forth a sickle, For ripened hath harvest, Come in, come down, for filled hath been the press, Overflowed hath wine-presses, For great `is' their wickedness. Multitudes, multitudes `are' in the valley of decision, For near `is' the day of Jehovah in the valley of decision. Sun and moon have been black, And stars have gathered up their shining. And Jehovah from Zion doth roar, And from Jerusalem giveth forth His voice, And shaken have the heavens and earth, And Jehovah `is' a refuge to his people, And a stronghold to sons of Israel. And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain, And Jerusalem hath been holy, And strangers do not pass over into it again. And it hath come to pass, in that day, Drop down do the mountains juice, And the hills do flow `with' milk, And all streams of Judah do go `with' water, And a fountain from the house of Jehovah goeth forth, And hath watered the valley of Shittim. Egypt a desolation becometh, And Edom a desolation, a wilderness, becometh, For violence `to' sons of Judah, Whose innocent blood they shed in their land. And Judah to the age doth dwell, And Jerusalem to generation and generation. And I have declared their blood innocent, `That' I did not declare innocent, And Jehovah is dwelling in Zion!
And Samson goeth down to Timnath, and seeth a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, and cometh up and declareth to his father, and to his mother, and saith, `A woman I have seen in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines; and now, take her for me for a wife.' And his father saith to him -- also his mother, `Is there not among the daughters of thy brethren, and among all my people, a woman, that thou art going to take a woman from the uncircumcised Philistines?' and Samson saith unto his father, `Take her for me, for she is right in mine eyes.' And his father and his mother have not known that from Jehovah it `is', that a meeting he is seeking of the Philistines; and at that time the Philistines are ruling over Israel. And Samson goeth down -- also his father and his mother, to Timnath, and they come unto the vineyards of Timnath, and lo, a lion's whelp roareth at meeting him, and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and he rendeth it as the rending of a kid, and there is nothing in his hand, and he hath not declared to his father and to his mother that which he hath done. And he goeth down and speaketh to the woman, and she is right in the eyes of Samson; and he turneth back after `some' days to take her, and turneth aside to see the carcase of the lion, and lo, a company of bees `are' in the body of the lion -- and honey. And he taketh it down on to his hands, and goeth on, going and eating; and he goeth unto his father, and unto his mother, and giveth to them, and they eat, and he hath not declared to them that from the body of the lion he took down the honey. And his father goeth down unto the woman, and Samson maketh there a banquet, for so the young men do; and it cometh to pass when they see him, that they take thirty companions, and they are with him. And Samson saith to them, `Let me, I pray you, put forth to you a riddle; if ye certainly declare it to me `in' the seven days of the banquet, and have found `it' out, then I have given to you thirty linen shirts, and thirty changes of garments; and if ye are not able to declare `it' to me, then ye have given to me thirty linen shirts, and thirty changes of garments.' And they say to him, `Put forth thy riddle, and we hear it!' And he saith to them: `Out of the eater came forth meat, And out of the strong came forth sweetness;' and they were not able to declare the riddle `in' three days. And it cometh to pass, on the seventh day, that they say to Samson's wife, `Entice thy husband, that he declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and the house of thy father with fire; to possess us have ye called for us? is it not?' And Samson's wife weepeth for it, and saith, `Thou hast only hated me, and hast not loved me; the riddle thou hast put forth to the sons of my people -- and to me thou hast not declared it;' and he saith to her, `Lo, to my father and to my mother I have not declared `it' -- and to thee I declare `it'!'
And it cometh to pass afterwards that David smiteth the Philistines, and humbleth them, and David taketh the bridle of the metropolis out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smiteth Moab, and measureth them with a line, causing them to lie down on the earth, and he measureth two lines to put to death, and the fulness of the line to keep alive, and the Moabites are to David for servants, bearers of a present. And David smiteth Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, in his going to bring back his power by the River `Euphrates;' and David captureth from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and David destroyeth utterly the whole of the charioteers, only he leaveth of them a hundred charioteers. And Aram of Damascus cometh to give help to Hadadezer king of Zobah, and David smiteth of Aram twenty and two thousand men; and David putteth garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and Aram is to David for a servant, bearing a present; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone; and David taketh the shields of gold which were on the servants of Hadadezer, and bringeth them to Jerusalem; and from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, hath king David taken very much brass. And Toi king of Hamath heareth that David hath smitten all the force of Hadadezer, and Toi sendeth Joram his son unto king David to ask of him of welfare, and to bless him, (because that he hath fought against Hadadezer, and smiteth him, for a man of wars `with' Toi had Hadadezer been), and in his hand have been vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass, also them did king David sanctify to Jehovah, with the silver and the gold which he sanctified of all the nations which he subdued: of Aram, and of Moab, and of the Bene-Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob king of Zobah. And David maketh a name in his turning back from his smiting Aram in the valley of Salt -- eighteen thousand; and he putteth in Edom garrisons -- in all Edom he hath put garrisons, and all Edom are servants to David; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone. And David reigneth over all Israel, and David is doing judgment and righteousness to all his people, and Joab son of Zeruiah `is' over the host, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud `is' remembrancer, and Zadok son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, `are' priests, and Seraiah `is' scribe, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada `is over' both the Cherethite and the Pelethite, and the sons of David have been ministers.
And David cometh in to Nob, unto Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech trembleth at meeting David, and saith to him, `Wherefore `art' thou thyself alone, and no man with thee?' And David saith to Ahimelech the priest, `The king hath commanded me a matter, and he saith unto me, Let no man know anything of the matter about which I am sending thee, and which I have commanded thee; and the young men I have caused to know at such and such a place; and now, what is there under thy hand? five loaves give into my hand, or that which is found.' And the priest answereth David, and saith, `There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the youths have been kept only from women.' And David answereth the priest, and saith to him, `Surely, if women have been restrained from us as heretofore in my going out, then the vessels of the young men are holy, and it `is' a common way: and also, surely to-day it is sanctified in the vessel.' And the priest giveth to him the holy thing, for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence which is turned aside from the presence of Jehovah to put hot bread in the day of its being taken away. And there `is' a man of the servants of Saul on that day detained before Jehovah, and his name `is' Doeg the Edomite, chief of the shepherds whom Saul hath. And David saith to Ahimelech, `And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for neither my sword nor my vessels have I taken in my hand, for the matter of the king was urgent.' And the priest saith, `The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou didst smite in the valley of Elah, lo, it is wrapt in a garment behind the ephod, if it thou dost take to thyself, take; for there is none other save it in this `place'.' And David saith, `There is none like it -- give it to me.' And David riseth and fleeth on that day from the face of Saul, and cometh in unto Achish king of Gath; and the servants of Achish say unto him, `Is not this David king of the land? is it not of this one they sing in dances, saying, `Saul smote among his thousands, and David among his myriads?' And David layeth these words in his heart, and is exceedingly afraid of the face of Achish king of Gath, and changeth his behaviour before their eyes, and feigneth himself mad in their hand, and scribbleth on the doors of the gate, and letteth down his spittle unto his beard. And Achish saith unto his servants, `Lo, ye see a man acting as a madman; why do ye bring him in unto me? A lack of madmen `have' I, that ye have brought in this one to act as a madman by me! doth this one come in unto my house?'
And the Philistines gather their camps to battle, and are gathered to Shochoh, which `is' to Judah, and encamp between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-Dammim; and Saul and the men of Israel have been gathered, and encamp by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array to meet the Philistines. And the Philistines are standing on the mountain on this side, and the Israelites are standing on the mountain on that side, and the valley `is' between them. And there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath `is' his name, from Gath; his height `is' six cubits and a span, and a helmet of brass `is' on his head, and `with' a scaled coat of mail he `is' clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail `is' five thousand shekels of brass, and a frontlet of brass `is' on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders, and the wood of his spear `is' like a beam of weavers', and the flame of his spear `is' six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the buckler is going before him. And he standeth and calleth unto the ranks of Israel, and saith to them, `Why are ye come out to set in array the battle? `am' not I the Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose for you a man, and let him come down unto me; if he be able to fight with me, and have smitten me, then we have been to you for servants; and if I am able for him, and have smitten him, then ye have been to us for servants, and have served us.' And the Philistine saith, `I have reproached the ranks of Israel this day; give to me a man, and we fight together.' And Saul heareth -- and all Israel -- these words of the Philistine, and they are broken down and greatly afraid. And David `is' son of this Ephrathite of Beth-Lehem-Judah, whose name `is' Jesse, and he hath eight sons, and the man in the days of Saul hath become aged among men; and the three eldest sons of Jesse go, they have gone after Saul to battle; and the name of his three sons who have gone into battle `are' Eliab the first-born, and his second Abinadab, and the third Shammah. And David is the youngest, and the three eldest have gone after Saul, and David is going and returning from Saul, to feed the flock of his father at Beth-Lehem. And the Philistine draweth nigh, morning and evening, and stationeth himself forty days. And Jesse saith to David his son, `Take, I pray thee, to thy brethren, an ephah of this roasted `corn', and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; and these ten cuttings of the cheese thou dost take in to the head of the thousand, and thy brethren thou dost inspect for welfare, and their pledge dost receive.' And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel `are' in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. And David riseth early in the morning, and leaveth the flock to a keeper, and lifteth up, and goeth, as Jesse commanded him, and he cometh in to the path, and to the force which is going out unto the rank, and they have shouted for battle; and Israel and the Philistines set in array rank to meet rank. And David letteth down the goods from off him on the hand of a keeper of the goods, and runneth into the rank, and cometh and asketh of his brethren of welfare. And he is speaking with them, and lo, a man of the duellists is coming up, Goliath the Philistine `is' his name, of Gath, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and he speaketh according to those words, and David heareth; and all the men of Israel when they see the man flee from his presence, and are greatly afraid. And the men of Israel say, `Have ye seen this man who is coming up? for, to reproach Israel he is coming up, and it hath been -- the man who smiteth him, the king doth enrich him with great riches, and his daughter he doth give to him, and his father's house doth make free in Israel.' And David speaketh unto the men who are standing by him, saying, `What is done to the man who smiteth this Philistine, and hath turned aside reproach from Israel? for who `is' this uncircumcised Philistine that he hath reproached the ranks of the living God?' And the people speak to him according to this word, saying, `Thus it is done to the man who smiteth him.' And Eliab, his eldest brother, heareth when he speaketh unto the men, and the anger of Eliab burneth against David, and he saith, `Why `is' this -- thou hast come down! and to whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I have known thy pride, and the evil of thy heart -- for, to see the battle thou hast come down.' And David saith, `What have I done now? is it not a word?' And he turneth round from him unto another, and saith according to this word, and the people return him word as the first word. And the words which David hath spoken are heard, and they declare before Saul, and he receiveth him; and David saith unto Saul, `Let no man's heart fall because of him, thy servant doth go, and hath fought with this Philistine.' And Saul saith unto David, `Thou art not able to go unto this Philistine, to fight with him, for a youth thou `art', and he a man of war from his youth.' And David saith unto Saul, `A shepherd hath thy servant been to his father among the sheep, and the lion hath come -- and the bear -- and hath taken away a sheep out of the drove, and I have gone out after him, and smitten him, and delivered out of his mouth, and he riseth against me, and I have taken hold on his beard, and smitten him, and put him to death. Both the lion and the bear hath thy servant smitten, and this uncircumcised Philistine hath been as one of them, for he hath reproached the ranks of the living God.' And David saith, `Jehovah, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He doth deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul saith unto David, `Go, and Jehovah is with thee.' And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword above his long robe, and beginneth to go, for he hath not tried `it'; and David saith unto Saul, `I am not able to go with these, for I had not tried;' and David turneth them aside from off him. And he taketh his staff in his hand, and chooseth for him five smooth stones from the brook, and putteth them in the shepherds' habiliments that he hath, even in the scrip, and his sling `is' in his hand, and he draweth nigh unto the Philistine. And the Philistine goeth on, going and drawing near unto David, and the man bearing the buckler `is' before him, and the Philistine looketh attentively, and seeth David, and despiseth him, for he was a youth, and ruddy, with a fair appearance. And the Philistine saith unto David, `Am I a dog that thou art coming unto me with staves?' and the Philistine revileth David by his gods, and the Philistine saith unto David, `Come unto me, and I give thy flesh to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the field.' And David saith unto the Philistine, `Thou art coming unto me with sword, and with spear, and with buckler, and I am coming unto thee in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, God of the ranks of Israel, which thou hast reproached. This day doth Jehovah shut thee up into my hand -- and I have smitten thee, and turned aside thy head from off thee, and given the carcase of the camp of the Philistines this day to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and all the earth do know that God is for Israel. and all this assembly do know that not by sword and by spear doth Jehovah save, that the battle `is' Jehovah's, and He hath given you into our hand.' And it hath come to pass, that the Philistine hath risen, and goeth, and draweth near to meet David, and David hasteth and runneth to the rank to meet the Philistine, and David putteth forth his hand unto the vessel, and taketh thence a stone, and slingeth, and smiteth the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sinketh into his forehead, and he falleth on his face to the earth. And David is stronger than the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death, and there is no sword in the hand of David, and David runneth and standeth over the Philistine, and taketh his sword, and draweth it out of its sheath, and putteth him to death, and cutteth off with it his head; and the Philistines see that their hero `is' dead, and flee. And the men of Israel rise -- also Judah -- and shout, and pursue the Philistines till thou enter the valley, and unto the gates of Ekron, and the wounded of the Philistines fall in the way of Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron, and the sons of Israel turn back from burning after the Philistines, and spoil their camps. And David taketh the head of the Philistine, and bringeth it in to Jerusalem, and his weapons he hath put in his own tent. And when Saul seeth David going out to meet the Philistine, he hath said unto Abner, head of the host, `Whose son `is' this -- the youth, Abner?' and Abner saith, `Thy soul liveth, O king, I have not known.' And the king saith, `Ask thou whose son this `is' -- the young man.' And when David turneth back from smiting the Philistine, then Abner taketh him and bringeth him in before Saul, and the head of the Philistine in his hand; and Saul saith unto him, `Whose son `art' thou, O youth?' and David saith, `Son of thy servant Jesse, the Beth-Lehemite.'
A son of a year `is' Saul in his reigning, yea, two years he hath reigned over Israel, and Saul chooseth for himself three thousand `men' out of Israel; and two thousand are with Saul in Michmash, and in the hill-country of Beth-El; and a thousand have been with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; and the remnant of the people he hath sent each to his tents. And Jonathan smiteth the garrison of the Philistines which `is' in Geba, and the Philistines hear, and Saul hath blown with a trumpet through all the land, saying, `Let the Hebrews hear.' And all Israel have heard, saying, `Saul hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines,' and also, `Israel hath been abhorred by the Philistines;' and the people are called after Saul to Gilgal. And the Philistines have been gathered to fight with Israel; thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and a people as the sand which `is' on the sea-shore for multitude; and they come up and encamp in Michmash, east of Beth-Aven. And the men of Israel have seen that they are distressed, that the people hath been oppressed, and the people hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. And Hebrews have passed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; and Saul `is' yet in Gilgal, and all the people have trembled after him. And he waiteth seven days, according to the appointment with Samuel, and Samuel hath not come to Gilgal, and the people are scattered from off him. And Saul saith, `Bring nigh unto me the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings;' and he causeth the burnt-offering to ascend. And it cometh to pass at his completing to cause the burnt-offering to ascend, that lo, Samuel hath come, and Saul goeth out to meet him, to bless him; and Samuel saith, `What hast thou done?' And Saul saith, `Because I saw that the people were scattered from off me, and thou hadst not come at the appointment of the days, and the Philistines are gathered to Michmash, and I say, Now do the Philistines come down unto me to Gilgal, and the face of Jehovah I have not appeased; and I force myself, and cause the burnt-offering to ascend.' And Samuel saith unto Saul, `Thou hast been foolish; thou hast not kept the command of Jehovah thy God, which He commanded thee, for now had Jehovah established thy kingdom over Israel unto the age; and, now, thy kingdom doth not stand, Jehovah hath sought for Himself a man according to His own heart, and Jehovah chargeth him for leader over His people, for thou hast not kept that which Jehovah commanded thee.'
And the word of Samuel is to all Israel, and Israel goeth out to meet the Philistines for battle, and they encamp by Eben-Ezer, and the Philistines have encamped in Aphek, and the Philistines set themselves in array to meet Israel, and the battle spreadeth itself, and Israel is smitten before the Philistines, and they smite among the ranks in the field about four thousand men. And the people cometh in unto the camp, and the elders of Israel say, `Why hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? we take unto us from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and it cometh into our midst, and He doth save us out of the hand of our enemies.' And the people sendeth to Shiloh, and they take up thence the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of Hosts, inhabiting the cherubs, and there `are' two sons of Eli, with the ark of the covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas. And it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto the camp, that all Israel shout -- a great shout -- and the earth is moved. And the Philistines hear the noise of the shouting, and say, `What `is' the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?' and they perceive that the ark of Jehovah hath come in unto the camp.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 25
Commentary on Ezekiel 25 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Predictions of Judgment upon the Heathen Nations - Ezekiel 25-32
While the prophet's mouth was to be mute to Israel, the Lord directed him to speak against the heathen nations, and to foretell to them the judgment of destruction, that they might not be lifted up by the fall of the people and kingdom of God, but might recognise in the judgment upon Israel a work of the omnipotence and righteousness of the Lord, the Judge of the whole earth. There are seven heathen nations whose destruction Ezekiel foretells in this section of his book, viz., (1) Ammon; (2) Moab; (3) Edom; (4) The Philistines (Ezekiel 25); (5) Tyre, (6) Sidon (Ezekiel 26-28); and (7) Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32). These prophecies are divided into thirteen words of God by the introductory formula, “The word of Jehovah came to me,” the utterances against Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines, being all comprehended in one word of God; whereas there are four separate words of God directed against Tyre, one against Sidon, and seven against Egypt. In the seven nations and the seven words of God directed against Egypt we cannot fail to discover an allusion to the symbolical significance of the number. Sidon, which had lost its commanding position and become dependent upon Tyre long before the time of Ezekiel, is evidently selected for a special word of God only for the purpose of making up the number seven. And in order to make it the more apparent that the number has been chosen on account of its significance, Ezekiel divides his announcement of the judgment upon the seventh people into seven words of God. On the basis of Gen 1, seven is the number denoting the completion of the works of God. When, therefore, Ezekiel selects seven nations and utters seven words of God concerning the principal nation, namely Egypt, he evidently intends to indicate thereby that the judgment predicted will be executed and completed upon the heathen world and its peoples through the word and acts of God. - The predictions of judgment upon these seven heathen nations are divisible, accordingly, into two groups. Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Sidon form one group, while the second treats of Egypt alone. This is certainly the way in which the cycle of these prophecies is to be divided rather than the plan ordinarily adopted, according to which the nations included in Ezekiel 25, as representatives of the one phase of the world-power, are placed in contrast with the other phase of heathenism represented by Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt. The latter is the opinion entertained by Hהvernick, for example, with regard to the “beautiful and symmetrical arrangement” of these prophecies. “First of all,” says he, “the prophet shows in one series of nations how the idea of the judgment of God was realized in the case of those nations which rose up in direct and open hostility to the theocracy, and thereby represented the might of heathenism as turned away from God and engaged in downright rebellion against Him (Ezekiel 25). The prophecies concerning Tyre and Sidon contemplate heathenism in a second aspect (Ezekiel 26-28). In Tyre we have an exhibition of pride or carnal security, which looks away from god, and plunges deeper and deeper into the sin and worthlessness of the natural life. Both aspects are then finally combined in Egypt, that ancient fore of the covenant nation, which had grown into a world-power, and while displaying in this capacity unbending arrogance and pride, was now, like all the rest, about to be hurled down from the summit of its ancient glory into a bottomless deep.” But this interpretation is, in more than one respect, manifestly at variance with the substance of the prophecies. This applies, in the first place, to the antithesis which is said to exist between the nations threatened in Ezekiel 25 on the one hand, and Tyre and Sidon on the other. In the case of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines, for example, the sins mentioned as those for which they would be overthrown by the judgment are their malicious delight at the fall of Israel, and their revengeful, hostile behaviour towards the covenant nation (Ezekiel 25:3, Ezekiel 25:8,Ezekiel 25:12, Ezekiel 25:15). And in the same way, according to Ezekiel 26:2, Tyre had involved itself in guilt by giving utterance to its delight at the destruction of Jerusalem, which inspired the hope that everything would now flow into its own store. On the other hand, nothing more is said in the case of Pharaoh and Egypt about malicious pleasure, or hostility, or enmity towards Israel or the kingdom of God; but Pharaoh has rendered himself guilty by saying: the Nile is mine, I have made it for myself; and by the fact that Egypt had become a staff of reed to the house of Israel, which broke when they sought to lean upon it (Ezekiel 29:3, Ezekiel 29:6-7). According to these obvious explanations, Ezekiel reckoned Tyre and Sidon among the nations that were inimically disposed towards Israel, even though the hostile attitude of the Phoenicians was dictated by different motives from those of Edom and the other nations mentioned in Ezekiel 25; and the heathen nations are arranged in two groups, and not in three. This is established beyond all doubt, when we observe that each of these two groups terminates with a promise for Israel. To the threat of judgment uttered against Sidon there is appended the promise: and there shall be no more for Israel a malicious briar and smarting thorn from all that are round about them who despise them; and when the Lord shall gather Israel from its dispersion, then will He cause it to dwell safely and prosperously in His land, inasmuch as He will execute judgment upon all round about them who despise them (Ezekiel 28:24-26). And the prediction of judgment upon Egypt in the last prophecy uttered concerning this land, in the twenty-seventh year of the captivity (Ezekiel 29:17), closes in a similar manner, with the promise that at the time when the Lord gives Egypt as spoil to the king of Babylon, He will cause a horn to grow to the house of Israel (Ezekiel 29:21). The fact that these two prophecies correspond to each other would not have been overlooked by the commentators if the prophecy concerning Egypt, which was really the last in order of time, had been placed in its proper chronological position in the book of Ezekiel, namely, at the close of the words of God directed against that land.
The date of the great mass of these prophecies falls within the period of the last siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, that is to say, in the interval between Ezekiel 24 and Ezekiel 33, as the chronological data in the headings plainly affirm. The first word concerning Tyre is from the eleventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin (Ezekiel 26:1). Of the prophecies against Egypt, the one in Ezekiel 29:1-16 dates from the tenth month of the tenth year; that in Ezekiel 30:20-26, from the first month of the eleventh year; that in Ezekiel 31, from the third month of the same year; the two in Ezekiel 32:1. and 17ff., from the twelfth month of the twelfth year; and lastly, the brief utterance in Ezekiel 29:17-21, from the twenty-seventh year of the captivity. There are no chronological data attached to the others. But the short, threatening words against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines in Ezekiel 25 belong to the time immediately succeeding the fall of Jerusalem, since they presuppose its having occurred. The second and third utterances concerning Tyre in Ezekiel 27 and Ezekiel 28:1-19, as well as that concerning Sidon in Ezekiel 28:20., are closely connected, so far as their contents are concerned, with the first word of God against Tyre belonging to the eleventh year of the captivity. And lastly, the threatening word concerning Egypt in Ezekiel 30:1-19, to which no definite chronological data are attached, appears to stand nearer in point of time to Ezekiel 29:1-16 than to Ezekiel 29:17-21. - Consequently the arrangement is based upon the subject-matter of the prophecies, and the chronological sequence is kept subordinate to this, or rather to the comparative importance of the several nations in relation to the theocracy.
These prophecies evidently rest upon the predictions of the earlier prophets against the same nations, so far as their contents are concerned; and in the threats directed against Tyre and Egypt, more especially, many of the thoughts contained in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa 23 and 19) are reproduced and expanded. But notwithstanding this resting upon the utterances of earlier prophets, Ezekiel's prophecy against the heathen nations is distinguished in a characteristic manner from that of the other prophets, by the fact that he does not say a word about the prospect of these nations being ultimately pardoned, or of the remnant of them being converted to the Lord, but stops with the announcement of the utter destruction of the earthly and temporal condition of all these kingdoms and nations. The prophecy concerning Egypt in Ezekiel 29:13-16, to the effect that after forty years of chastisement God will turn its captivity, and gather it together again, is only an apparent and not a real exception to this; for this turning of the judgment is not to bring about a restoration of Egypt to its former might and greatness or its glorification in the future; but, according to Ezekiel 24:14., is simply to restore a lowly and impotent kingdom, which will offer no inducement to Israel to rely upon its strength. Through this promise, therefore, the threat of complete destruction is only somewhat modified, but by no means withdrawn. The only thing which Ezekiel positively holds out to view before the seven heathen nations is, that in consequence of the judgment falling upon them, they will learn that God is Jehovah, or the Lord. This formula regularly returns in the case of all the nations (vid., Ezekiel 25:5, Ezekiel 25:7,Ezekiel 25:11, Ezekiel 25:17; Ezekiel 26:6; Ezekiel 28:22-23; Ezekiel 29:6, Ezekiel 29:9; Ezekiel 30:8, Ezekiel 30:19, Ezekiel 30:25-26; Ezekiel 32:15); and we might take it to mean, that through the judgment of their destruction in a temporal respect, these nations will come to the knowledge of the God of salvation. And with this interpretation it would contain a slight allusion to the salvation, which will flourish in consequence of and after the judgment, in the case of those who have escaped destruction. If, however, we consider, on the one hand, that in the case of Edom (Ezekiel 25:14) the formula takes a harsher form, namely, not that they shall know Jehovah, but that they shall experience His vengeance; and, on the other hand, that the mighty Tyre is repeatedly threatened with destruction, even eternal extinction (Ezekiel 26:20-21; Ezekiel 27:36; Ezekiel 28:19), and that the whole cycle of these prophecies closes with a funeral-dirge on the descent of all the heathen nations into Sheol (Ezekiel 32:17-32), - we shall see that the formula in question cannot be taken in the sense indicated above, as Kliefoth maintains, but must be understood as signifying that these nations will discern in their destruction the punitive righteousness of God, so that it presents no prospect of future salvation, but simply increases the force of the threat. There is nothing in this distinction, however, to establish a discrepancy between Ezekiel and the earlier prophets; for Ezekiel simply fixes his eye upon the judgment, which will fall upon the heathen nations, partly on account of their hostile attitude towards the kingdom of God, and partly on account of their deification of their own might, and is silent as to the salvation which will accrue even to them out of the judgment itself, but without in the least degree denying it. The reason for his doing this is not that the contemplation of the particular features, which form the details of the immediate fulfilment, has led him to avert his eye from the more comprehensive survey of the entire future;
(Note: Drechsler (in his commentary on BIBLE:Isaiah 23) has given the following explanation of the distinction to be observed between the prophecies of Isaiah and those of Ezekiel concerning Tyre, - namely, that in the case of Isaiah the spirit of prophecy invests its utterances with the character of totality, in accordance with the position assigned to this prophet at the entrance upon a new era of the world, embracing the entire future even to the remotest times, and sketching with grand simplicity the ground-plan and outline of the whole; whereas in the case of the later prophets, such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who were living in the midst of the historical execution, the survey of the whole gives place to the contemplation of particular features belonging to the details of the immediate fulfilment. But this explanation is not satisfactory, inasmuch as Jeremiah, notwithstanding the fact that he lived in the midst of the execution of the judgment, foretold the turning of judgment into salvation at least in the case of some of the heathen nations. For example, in Isa. 48:47 he prophesies to the Moabites, and in Isaiah 49:6 to the Ammonites, that in the future time Jehovah will turn their captivity; and in Isaiah 46:1-13 :26 he says, concerning Egypt, that after the judgment it will be inhabited as in the days of old.)
but that the proclamation of the spread of salvation among the heathen lay outside the limits of the calling which he had received from the Spirit of God. The prophetic mission of Ezekiel was restricted to the remnant of the covenant nation, which was carried into exile, and scattered among the heathen. To this remnant he was to foretell the destruction of the kingdom of Judah, and after the occurrence of that catastrophe the preservation and eventual restoration of the kingdom of God in a renewed and glorified form. With this commission, which he had received from the Lord, there was associated, it is true, the announcement of judgment upon the heathen, inasmuch as such an announcement was well fitted to preserve from despair the Israelites, who were pining under the oppression of the heathen, and to revive the hope of the fulfilment of the promise held out before the penitent of their future redemption from their state of misery and restoration to the position of the people of God. But this would not apply to the prophecies of the reception of the heathen into the renovated kingdom of God, as they contained no special element of consolation to the covenant people in their depression.
In connection with this we have the equally striking circumstance, that Ezekiel does not mention Babylon among the heathen nations. This may also be explained, not merely from the predominance of the idea of the judgment upon Israel and Jerusalem, which the Chaldeans were to execute as “righteous men” (Ezekiel 23:45), so that they only came before him as such righteous men, and not as a world-power also (Kliefoth), but chiefly from the fact that, for the reason described above, Ezekiel's prophecy of the judgment upon the heathen is restricted to those nations which had hitherto cherished and displayed either enmity or false friendship toward Israel, and the Chaldeans were not then reckoned among the number. - For the further development of the prophecy concerning the future of the whole heathen world, the Lord had called the prophet Daniel at the same time as Ezekiel, and assigned him his post at the seat of the existing heathen imperial power.
Against the Ammonites
Ezekiel 25:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Ezekiel 25:2. Son of man, direct thy face towards the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them, Ezekiel 25:3. And say to the sons of Ammon, Hear ye the word of the Lord Jehovah! Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou sayest, Aha! concerning my sanctuary, that it is profaned; and concerning the land of Israel, that it is laid waste; and concerning the house of Judah, that they have gone into captivity; Ezekiel 25:4. Therefore, behold, I will give thee to the sons of the east for a possession, that they may pitch their tent-villages in thee, and erect their dwellings in thee; they shall eat thy fruits, and they shall drink thy milk. Ezekiel 25:5. And Rabbah will I make a camel-ground, and the sons of Ammon a resting-place for flocks; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Ezekiel 25:6. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou hast clapped thy hand, and stamped with thy foot, and hast rejoiced in soul with all thy contempt concerning the house of Israel, Ezekiel 25:7. Therefore, behold, I will stretch out my hand against thee, and give thee to the nations for booty, and cut thee off from the peoples, and exterminate thee from the lands; I will destroy thee, that thou mayst learn that I am Jehovah. - In Ezekiel 21:28., when predicting the expedition of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem, Ezekiel had already foretold the destruction of the Ammonites, so that these verses are simply a resumption and confirmation of the earlier prophecy. In the passage referred to, Ezekiel, like Zephaniah before him (Zephaniah 2:8, Zephaniah 2:10), mentions their reviling of the people of God as the sin for which they are to be punished with destruction. This reviling, in which their hatred of the divine calling of Israel found vent, was the radical sin of Ammon. On the occasion of Judah's fall, it rose even to contemptuous and malicious joy at the profanation of the sanctuary of Jehovah by the destruction of the temple (a comparison with Ezekiel 24:21 will show that this is the sense in which נחל is to be understood), at the devastation of the land of Israel, and at the captivity of Judah, - in other words, at the destruction of the religious and political existence of Israel as the people of God. The profanation of the sanctuary is mentioned first, to intimate that the hostility to Israel, manifested by the Ammonites on every occasion that presented itself (for proofs, see the comm. on Zephaniah 2:8), had its roots not so much in national antipathies, as in antagonism to the sacred calling of Israel. As a punishment for this, they are not only to lose their land (Ezekiel 25:4 and Ezekiel 25:5), but to be cut off from the number of the nations (Ezekiel 25:6 and Ezekiel 25:7). The Lord will give up their land, with its productions, for a possession to the sons of the east, i.e., according to Genesis 25:13-18, to the Arabs, the Bedouins (for בּני קדם , see the comm. on Judges 6:3 and Job 1:3). The Piel ישּׁבוּ , although only occurring here, is not to be rejected as critically suspicious, and to be changed into Kal , as Hitzig proposes. The Kal would be unsuitable, because the subject of the sentence can only be בּני קדם , and not טירותיהם ; and ישׁב in the Kal has an intransitive sense. For טירות , tent-villages of nomads, see the comm. on Genesis 25:16. משׁכּנים , dwellings, are the separate tents of the shepherds. In the last clauses of Ezekiel 25:4, המּה is repeated for the sake of emphasis; and Hitzig's opinion, that the first המּה corresponds to the subject in the clause ' וישּׁבוּ וגו , the second to that in ונתנוּ , is to be rejected as a marvellous flight of imagination, which approaches absurdity in the assertion that פּרי הארץ signifies the folds, i.e., the animals, of the land. Along with the fruit of the land, i.e., the produce of the soil, milk is also mentioned as a production of pastoral life, and the principal food of nomads. On the wealth of the Ammonites in flocks and herds, see Judges 6:5. The words are addressed to Ammon, as a land or kingdom, and hence the feminine suffix. The capital will also share the fate of the land. Rabbah (see the comm. on Deuteronomy 3:11) will become a camel-ground, a waste spot where camels lie down and feed. This has been almost literally fulfilled. The ruins of Ammân are deserted by men, and Seetzen found Arabs with their camels not far off (vid., von Raumer, Palestine , p. 268). In the parallel clause, the sons of Ammon, i.e., the Ammonites, are mentioned instead of their land.
In Ezekiel 25:6 and Ezekiel 25:7, the Lord announces to the nation of the Ammonites the destruction that awaits them, and reiterates with still stronger emphasis the sin which occasioned it, namely, the malicious delight they had manifested at Israel's fall. בּכל־שׁאטך is strengthened by בּנפשׁ : with all thy contempt in the soul, i.e., with all the contempt which thy soul could cherish. In Ezekiel 25:7 the ἁπ λεγ . . לבג occasions some difficulty. The Keri has substituted לבז , for booty for the nations (cf. Ezekiel 26:5); and all the ancient versions have adopted this. Consequently בּג might be a copyist's error for בּז ; and in support of this the circumstance might be adduced, that in Ezekiel 47:13, where גּה stands for זה , we have unquestionably a substitution of ג for ז . But if the Chetib בז be correct, the word is to be explained - as it has been by Benfey ( Die Montasnamen , p. 194) and Gildemeister (in Lassen's Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes , iv. 1, p. 213ff.) - from the Sanscrit bha=ga , pars , portio , and has passed into the Semitic languages from the Aryan, like the Syriac bagaa' , esca , which P. Boetticher ( Horae aram . p. 21) has correctly traced to the Sanscrit bhaj , conquere . - The executors of the judgment are not named; for the threat that God will give up the land of the Ammonites to the Bedouins for their possession, does not imply that they are to exterminate the Ammonites. On the contrary, a comparison of this passage with Amos 1:13-15 and Jeremiah 49:1-5, where the Ammonites are threatened not only with the devastation of their land, but also with transportation into exile, will show that the Chaldeans are to be thought of as executing the judgment. (See the comm. on Ezekiel 25:11.)
Against the Moabites
Ezekiel 25:8. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because Moab, like Seir, saith, Behold, like all other nations is the house of Judah: Ezekiel 25:9. Therefore, behold, I will open the shoulder of Moab from the cities, from its cities even to the last, the ornament of the land, Beth-hayeshimoth, Baal-meon, and as far as Kiryathaim, Ezekiel 25:10. To the sons of the east, together with the sons of Ammon, and will give it for a possession, that the sons of Ammon may no more be remembered among the nations. Ezekiel 25:11. Upon Moab will I execute judgments; and they shall learn that I am Jehovah. - Moab has become guilty of the same sin against Judah, the people of God, as Ammon, namely, of misunderstanding and despising the divine election of Israel. Ammon gave expression to this, when Judah was overthrown, in the malicious assertion that the house of Judah was like all the heathen nations, - that is to say, had no pre-eminence over them, and shared the same fate as they. There is something remarkable in the allusion to Seir, i.e., Edom, in connection with Moab, inasmuch as no reference is made to it in the threat contained in Ezekiel 25:9-11; and in Ezekiel 25:12-13, there follows a separate prediction concerning Edom. Hitzig therefore proposes to follow the example of the lxx, and erase it from the text as a gloss, but without being able in the smallest degree to show in what way it is probable that such a gloss could have found admission into an obviously unsuitable place. Seir is mentioned along with Moab to mark the feeling expressed in the words of Moab as springing, like the enmity of Edom towards Israel, from hatred and envy of the spiritual birthright of Israel, i.e., of its peculiar prerogatives in sacred history. As a punishment for this, Moab was to be given up, like Ammon, to the Bedouins for their possession, and the people of the Moabites were to disappear from the number of the nations. Ezekiel 25:9 and Ezekiel 25:10 form one period, לבני קדם in Ezekiel 25:10 being governed by פּתח in Ezekiel 25:9. The shoulder of Moab is the side of the Moabitish land. In the application of the word כּתף to lands or provinces, regard is had to the position of the shoulder in relation to the whole body, but without reference to the elevation of the district. We find an analogy to this in the use of כּתף in connection with the sides of a building. In ' מהערים וגו' , the מן cannot be taken, in a privative sense, for מהיות ; for neither the article הערים , nor the more emphatic מעריו מקּצהוּ , allows this; but מן indicates the direction, “from the cities onwards,” “from its cities onwards, reckoning to the very last,” - that is to say, in its whole extent. מקּצהוּ , as in Isaiah 56:11; Genesis 19:4, etc. This tract of land is first of all designated as a glorious land, with reference to its worth as a possession on account of the excellence of its soil for the rearing of cattle (see the comm. on Numbers 32:4), and then defined with geographical minuteness by the introduction of the names of some of its cities. Beth-Hayeshimoth , i.e., house of wastes (see the comm. on Numbers 22:1), has probably been preserved in the ruins of Suaime , which F. de Saulcy discovered on the north-eastern border of the Dead Sea, a little farther inland (vid., Voyage en terre sainte , Paris 1865, t. i. p. 315). Baal-meon , - when written fully, Beth-Baal-Meon (Joshua 13:17) - contracted into Beth-Meon in Jeremiah 48:23, is to be sought for to the south-east of this, in the ruins of Myun , three-quarters of an hour's journey to the south of Heshbon (see the comm. on Numbers 32:38). Kiryathaim was still farther south, probably on the site of the ruins of El Teym (see the comm. on Genesis 14:5 and Numbers 32:37). The Chetib קריתמה is based upon the form קריתם , a secondary form of קריתים , like דּתן , a secondary form of דּתין , in 2 Kings 6:13. The cities named were situated to the north of the Arnon, in that portion of the Moabitish land which had been taken from the Moabites by the Amorites before the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan (Numbers 21:13, Numbers 21:26), and was given to the tribe of Reuben for its inheritance after the defeat of the Amoritish kings by the Israelites; and then, still later, when the tribes beyond the Jordan were carried into captivity by the Assyrians, came into the possession of the Moabites again, as is evident from Isaiah 15:1-9 and Isaiah 16:1-14, and Jeremiah 48:1, Jeremiah 48:23, where these cities are mentioned once more among the cities of the Moabites. This will explain not only the naming of this particular district of the Moabitish country, but the definition, “from its cities.” For the fact upon which the stress is laid in the passage before us is, that the land in question rightfully belonged to the Israelites, according to Numbers 32:37-38; Numbers 33:49; Joshua 12:2-3; Joshua 13:20-21, and that it was therefore unlawfully usurped by the Moabites after the deportation of the trans-Jordanic tribes; and the thought is this, that the judgment would burst upon Moab from this land and these cities, and they would thereby be destroyed (Hävernick and Kliefoth). על , not “over the sons of Ammon,” but “in addition to the sons of Ammon.” They, that is to say, their land, had already been promised to the sons of the east (Ezekiel 25:4). In addition to this, they are now to receive Moab for their possession (Hitzig and Kliefoth). Thus will the Lord execute judgments upon Moab. Ezekiel 25:11 sums up what is affirmed concerning Moab in Ezekiel 25:9 and Ezekiel 25:10, in the one idea of the judgments of God upon this people.
The execution of these judgments commenced with the subjugation of the Ammonites and Moabites by Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem (vid., Josephus, Antt . x. 9. 7, and M. von Niebuhr, Gesch. Assurs, etc., p. 215). Nevertheless the Ammonites continued to exist as a nation for a long time after the captivity, so that Judas the Maccabaean waged war against them (1 Macc. 5:6, 30-43); and even Justin Martyr speaks of ̓Αμμανιτῶν νῦν πολὺ πληθος ( Dial. Tryph . p. 272). - But Origen includes their land in the general name of Arabia (lib. i. in Job ). The name of the Moabites appears to have become extinct at a much earlier period. After the captivity, it is only in Ezra 9:1; Nehemiah 13:1, and Daniel 11:41, that we find any notice of them as a people. Their land is mentioned by Josephus in the Antiq . xiii. 14. 2, and xv. 4, and in the Bell. Jud . iii. 3. 3. - A further fulfilment by the Messianic judgment, which is referred to in Zephaniah 2:10, is not indicated in these words of Ezekiel; but judging from the prophecy concerning the Edomites (see the comm. on Ezekiel 25:14), it is not to be excluded.
Against the Edomites
Ezekiel 25:12. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because Edom acteth revengefully towards the house of Judah, and hath been very guilty in avenging itself upon them, Ezekiel 25:13. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will stretch out my hand over Edom, and cut off man and beast from it, and make it a desert from Teman, and unto Dedan they shall fall by the sword. Ezekiel 25:14. And I will inflict my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, that they may do to Edom according to my anger and my wrath; and they shall experience my vengeance, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah . - Whilst the Ammonites and the Moabites are charged with nothing more than malicious pleasure at the fall of Israel, and disregard of its divine calling, the Edomites are reproached with revengeful acts of hostility towards the house of Judah, and threatened with extermination in consequence. The עשׂות , doing or acting of Edom, is more precisely defined as ' בּנקום וגו , i.e., as consisting in the taking of vengeance, and designated as very guilty, ישׁמוּ אשׁום . עשׂה , followed by בּ with an infinitive, as in Ezekiel 17:17. Edom had sought every opportunity of acting thus revengefully towards Israel (vid., Obadiah 1:11; Amos 1:11), so that in Ezekiel 35:5 Ezekiel speaks of the “eternal enmity” of Edom against Israel. For this reason we must not restrict the reproach in Ezekiel 25:12 to particular outbreaks of this revenge at the time of the devastation and destruction of Judah by the Chaldeans, of which the Psalmist complains in Psalms 137:1-9, and for which he invokes the vengeance of God upon Edom. Man and beast are to be cut off from Edom in consequence, and the land to become a desert from Teman to Dedan. These names denote not cities, but districts. Teman is the southern portion of Idumaea (see the comm. on Amos 1:12); and Dedan is therefore the northern district. Dedan is probably not the Cushite tribe mentioned in Genesis 10:7, but the tribe of the same name which sprang from the sons of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:3), and which is also mentioned in Jeremiah 49:8 in connection with Edom. דּדנה has ה local with Seghol instead of Kametz , probably on account of the preceding a (vid., Ewald, §216 c ). There is no necessity to connect מתּימן with the following clause, as Hitzig and Kliefoth have done, in opposition to the accents. The two geographical names, which are used as a periphrasis for Idumaea as a whole, are distributed equally through the parallelismus membrorum between the two clauses of the sentence, so that they belong to both clauses, so far as the sense is concerned. Edom is to become a desert from Teman to Dedan, and its inhabitants from Teman to Dedan are to fall by the sword. This judgment of vengeance will be executed by God through His people Israel. The fulfilment of this threat, no doubt, commenced with the subjugation of the Edomites by the Maccabees; but it is not to be limited to that event, as Rosenmüller, Kliefoth, and others suppose, although the foundation was thereby laid for the disappearance of the national existence of Edom. For it is impossible with this limitation to do justice to the emphatic expression, “ my people Israel.” On the ground, therefore, of the prophecies in Amos 9:12 and Obadiah 1:17, that the people of God are to take possession of Edom, when the fallen tabernacle of David is raised up again, i.e., in the Messianic times, which prophecies point back to that of Balaam in Numbers 24:18, and have their roots, as this also has, in the promise of God concerning the twin sons of Isaac, “the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23), we must seek for the complete fulfilment in the victories of the people of God over all their foes, among whom Edom from time immemorial had taken the leading place, at the time when the kingdom of God is perfected. For even here Edom is not introduced merely as a single nation that was peculiarly hostile to Judah, but also as a type of the implacable enmity of the heathen world towards the people and kingdom of God, as in Ezekiel 35:1-15, Isa. 34:63, etc. The vengeance, answering to the anger and wrath of Jehovah, which Israel, as the people of God, is to execute upon Edom, consists not merely in the annihilation of the national existence of Edom, which John Hyrcanus carried into effect by compelling the subjugated Edomites to adopt circumcision (see the comm. on Numbers 24:18), but chiefly in the wrathful judgment which Israel will execute in the person of Christ upon the arch-enemy of the kingdom of God by its complete extinction.
Against the Philistines
Ezekiel 25:15. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because the Philistines act with revenge, and avenge themselves with contempt in the soul to destroy in everlasting enmity, Ezekiel 25:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will stretch out my hand over the Philistines, and cut off the Cretans, and destroy the remnant by the seashore. Ezekiel 25:17. And I will execute great vengeance upon them through chastisements of wrath, and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I bring my vengeance upon them. - The Philistines resembled the Edomites and Ammonites in their disposition towards the covenant nation, the former in their thirst for revenge, the latter in their malicious rejoicing at Israel's fall. For this reason they had already been classed by Isaiah (Isaiah 11:14) with Edom, Moab, and Ammon as enemies, who would be successfully attacked and overcome by Israel, when the Lord had gathered it again from its dispersion. In the description of its sin towards Israel we have a combination of elements taken from the conduct of Edom and Ammon (vv. 12 and 6). They execute revenge with contempt in the soul ( שׁאט בּנפשׁ , as in v. 6), with the intention to destroy ( למשׁחית ) Israel; and this revenge springs from eternal, never-ending hostility. The Lord will cut off the whole of the people of the Philistines for this. כּרתים , Cretans, originally a branch of the Philistian people, settled in the south-west of Canaan. The name is used by Ezekiel for the people, as it had already been by Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:5), for the sake of the paronomasia with הכרתּי . The origin of the name is involved in obscurity, as the current derivation from Creta rests upon a very doubtful combination (cf. Stark, Gaza , pp. 66 and 99ff.). By the “remnant of the sea-coast,” i.e., the remnant of the inhabitants of the coast of the Mediterranean, in other words, of the Philistines, the destruction of which had already been predicted by Amos (Amos 1:8), Isaiah (Isaiah 14:30), and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 42:4), we are to understand the whole nation to the very last man, all that was still left of the Philistines (see the comm. on Amos 1:8). - The execution of the vengeance threatened by God began in the Chaldean period, in which Gaza was attacked by Pharaoh, and, judging from Jeremiah 47:1-7, the whole of Philistia was laid waste by the Chaldeans (see the fuller comments on this in the exposition of Jeremiah 47:1-7). But the ultimate fulfilment will take place in the case of Philistia also, through the Messianic judgment, in the manner described in the commentary on Zephaniah 2:10.