Ezekiel 25:12-17

A Prophecy Against Edom

25:12 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom ¹  has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable ²  by taking vengeance ³  on them. ⁴  25:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, ⁵  and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die ⁶  by the sword. 25:14 I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience ⁷  my vengeance, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

A Prophecy Against Philistia

25:15 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines ⁸  have exacted merciless revenge, ⁹  showing intense scorn ¹⁰  in their effort to destroy Judah ¹¹  with unrelenting hostility. ¹²  25:16 So this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note, I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines. I will kill ¹³  the Cherethites ¹⁴  and destroy those who remain on the seacoast. 25:17 I will exact great vengeance upon them with angry rebukes. ¹⁵  Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I exact my vengeance upon them.’”

[25:12]  ¹ sn Edom was located south of Moab.

[25:12]  ² tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.

[25:12]  ³ tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”

[25:12]  ⁴ sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. (Ps 137:7; Lam 5:21, 23; Joel 3:19; Obadiah).

[25:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”

[25:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “fall.”

[25:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “know.”

[25:15]  ⁸ sn The Philistines inhabited the coastal plain by the Mediterranean Sea, west of Judah.

[25:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “have acted with vengeance and taken vengeance with vengeance.” The repetition emphasizes the degree of vengeance which they exhibited, presumably toward Judah.

[25:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with scorn in (the) soul.”

[25:15]  ¹¹ tn The object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but has been clarified as “Judah” in the translation.

[25:15]  ¹² tn Heb “to destroy (with) perpetual hostility.” Joel 3:4-8 also speaks of the Philistines taking advantage of the fall of Judah.

[25:16]  ¹³ tn In Hebrew the verb “and I will cut off” sounds like its object, “the Cherethites,” and draws attention to the statement.

[25:16]  ¹⁴ sn This is a name for the Philistines, many of whom migrated to Palestine from Crete.

[25:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with acts of punishment of anger.”