Ezekiel 33:21--39:29
<08147> [in the twelfth.]
This was on Wednesday, January 25, A.M. 3416 or 3417. According to the date here given, this escaped Jew did not come to the prophet, with intelligence of Jerusalem being smitten, till about eighteen months after the event; but instead of the "twelfth year," eight MSS. and the Syriac read the eleventh.
refugee <06412> [one.]
city <05892> [The city.]
This was the very message which God had promised to the prophet.
hand <03027> [the hand.]
mouth .............. mouth <06310> [and my.]
living <03427> [they that.]
The small remnant which continued in the land under Gedaliah, after the desolation of Jerusalem, flattered themselves, notwithstanding all their crimes, that they should inherit the whole land.
ruins <02723> [wastes.]
Abraham <085> [Abraham.]
many <07227> [but we.]
eat <0398> [Ye eat.]
pray <05375> [lift up.]
shed <08210> [and shed.]
possess <03423> [shall ye.]
rely <05975> [stand.]
commit <06213> [work.]
defiles <02930> [and ye.]
possess <03423> [and shall.]
ruins <02723> [surely.]
give <05414> [will I.]
food <0398> [to be devoured. Heb. to devour him. in the caves.]
I ... turn <05414> [I will lay.]
desolate ruin <04923 08077> [most desolate. Heb. desolation and desolation. and the pomp.]
mountains <02022> [and the mountains.]
know <03045> [shall.]
abominable deeds <08441> [because.]
son ..... people <01121> [the children.]
[against thee. or, of thee. Come.]
crowds ........... people <03996 05971> [as the people cometh. Heb. according to the coming of the people.]
crowds .... sit ... front ...... people <06440 05971 03427> [they sit before thee as my people. or, my people sit before thee. and they.]
talk <06310> [for with.]
obey ...... lustfully <05690 06213> [shew much love. Heb. make loves, or jests.]
heart <03820> [but their.]
beautiful <03303> [of one.]
beautiful voice <06963 03303> [a pleasant voice. Heb. a song of loves.]
comes ...... will <0935> [when.]
know <03045> [shall.]
shepherds ........... shepherds ............ shepherds ....... feeding themselves .... shepherds feed <07462> [the shepherds.]
The shepherds of Israel, signify their kings and princes, priests and prophets; the flock, the whole of the people; the fat and wool, the tithes and offerings, taxes and imposts: these they exacted with great rigour, and even oppressed and destroyed the people to enrich themselves; but they bestowed no pains to provide for the welfare of the state, or for the souls of those entrusted to them. They knew nothing about their flock: it might be diseased, infirm, bruised, maimed, strayed, or lost, for they watched not over them.
Woe <01945> [Woe.]
shepherds ........... shepherds ............ shepherds ....... feeding themselves .... shepherds feed <07462> [feed.]
eat <0398> [eat.]
slaughter <02076> [ye kill.]
weak .... sick <02470> [diseased.]
sought <01245> [sought.]
force <02394> [but with.]
scattered .............. beast <06327> [they were.]
shepherd <07462> [because there is no shepherd. or, without a shepherd, and so ver.]
food <0402> [and they became.]
wandered <07686> [wandered.]
sheep ............. sheep <06629> [my flock.]
searching <01875> [and none.]
prey <0957> [prey.]
shepherd .... shepherds ...... my .... fed ...... feed <07462> [the shepherds.]
shepherds .................. shepherds ...... feed <07462> [I am.]
demand <01875> [and I will.]
no longer <07673> [and cause.]
shepherds .................. shepherds ...... feed <07462> [neither shall.]
rescue <05337> [for I will.]
seek <01875> [I.]
seek <01875> [search.]
shepherd seeks <07462 01243> [As a shepherd seeketh out. Heb. According to the shepherd's seeking of, etc.]
cloudy <06051> [in the cloudy.]
out <03318> [I will bring.]
feed <07462> [and feed.]
good ..... feed ................... lush ...... feed <07462 02896> [feed them.]
lie <07257> [there shall.]
seek ... lost <01245 06> [seek that.]
destroy <08045> [but I.]
feed <07462> [I will feed.]
judge <08199> [I judge.]
sheep ... another <07716> [cattle and cattle. Heb. small cattle of lambs and kids. he goats. Heb. great he goats.]
not enough <04592> [a small.]
feed .................... drink <07462 08354> [to have.]
[bread.]
judge <08199> [Behold.]
thrust ........... scatter <01920 06327> [ye have.]
at ..... sheep <05055> [pushed.]
save <03467> [will I.]
judge <08199> [and I.]
set <06965> [I will.]
servant <05650> [my servant.]
David king of Israel had been dead upwards of 400 years; and from that time till now there never has been a ruler of any kind in the Jewish nation of the name of David. By David, then, we must understand the Messiah, as the Jews themselves acknowledge, so called because descended from him, and also as being the well beloved, [o agapetos,] Son of the Father, as the name imports, and in whom all the promises made to David were fulfilled. See the references.
Lord ..... God ............. Lord <03068 0430> [I the Lord will.]
prince <05387> [a prince.]
make <03772> [I will make.]
<07451> [and will.]
live <03427> [and they.]
I ... turn ...... around <05414 05439> [make them.]
hill <01389> [my hill.]
showers .......... showers <01653> [I will cause.]
showers .......... showers <01653> [showers.]
trees <06086> [the tree.]
know ...... Lord <03045 03068> [know that.]
break <07665> [when I.]
enslaved <05647> [served.]
prey ............... live <0957 03427> [they shall.]
It is evident that this prophecy could at most have only a typical accomplishment in the return from captivity under Zerubbabel, and in their consequent prosperity; but the restoration of the Jews from their present captivity, and the consequent peace and prosperity of the church and world, fully answer to this energetic language.
beasts <02416> [neither.]
prepare <06965> [I will.]
healthy <08034> [of renown. or, for renown.]
victims <0622> [consumed. Heb. taken away.]
bear <05375> [neither.]
you ... sheep ... sheep <0859 06629> [ye my.]
God <0430> [I.]
turn <07760> [set.]
Mount <02022> [mount.]
prophesy <05012> [and prophesy.]
stretch <05186> [I am.]
stretch <05186> [and I will stretch.]
desolate ruin <08077 04923> [most desolate. Heb. desolation and desolation.]
lay <07760> [lay.]
desolate ..... know <08077 03045> [and thou.]
unrelenting <05769> [thou hast had.]
unrelenting hostility <0342 05769> [perpetual hatred. or, hatred of old.]
poured ... people <05064 01121> [shed the blood of. Heb. poured out. force. Heb. hands.]
time ....... time <06256> [in the.]
<06213> [I will.]
Since <0518> [sith.]
desolate ruin <08077> [most desolate. Heb. desolation and desolation.]
passes <05674> [passeth.]
<05414> [I will make.]
After being subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, many of the Edomites, during the Babylonian captivity, being driven from their ancient habitation by the Nabatheans, seized upon the south-western part of Judea; but afterwards they were conquered by Hyrcanus, and reduced to the necessity of embracing the Jewish religion; and at last became either incorporated with that nation, or swallowed up and lost among the Nabathean Arabs, so that the very name was abolished and disused about the end of the first century after Christ. Their country is now barren; and their cities, even Bozra and Petra, totally demolished and in ruins.
perpetual <05769> [perpetual.]
know <03045> [and ye.]
said <0559> [thou hast.]
Lord <03068> [whereas. or, though.]
deal ................ acted <06213> [I will even.]
reveal <03045> [and I.]
know <03045> [And thou.]
heard <08085> [I have heard.]
given <05414> [they are given.]
food <0402> [consume. Heb. devour.]
speech <06310> [with.]
exalted <01431> [boasted. Heb. magnified. have multiplied.]
heard <08085> [I have.]
rejoiced <08057> [didst.]
desolate <08077> [shalt.]
Edom <0123> [Idumea.]
know <03045> [and they.]
mountains ....... mountains <02022> [the mountains.]
hear <08085> [hear.]
enemy <0341> [Because.]
ancient <05769> [even.]
[our's.]
desolate <08074> [Because. Heb. Because for because.]
desolate <08074> [they have made.]
crushed <07602> [swallowed.]
become <05927> [and ye.]
become ..... gossip <08193 03956 05927> [taken up in the lips of talkers. or, made to come upon the lip of the tongue. and are.]
mountains .................... mountains <02022> [mountains.]
ravines <0650> [rivers. or, bottoms, or dales. desolate.]
prey <0957> [a prey.]
fire <0784> [Surely.]
rest <07611> [against the.]
Edom <0123> [against all.]
made <05414> [appointed.]
joy <08057> [with the.]
utter <07589> [with despiteful.]
endure <05375> [I have lifted.]
nations <01471> [the heathen.]
grow <05414> [ye shall.]
<07126> [for.]
The Edomites, and other enemies of the Jews, who thought they would soon be in possession of the whole land of Judea, might be assured that the predicted seventy years of the captivity were wearing away, and the time would soon arrive when the Jews would repossess and cultivate their own land, and eat its fruits.
<07126> [at hand.]
multiply <07235> [I will.]
ruins <02723> [the wastes.]
increase ............ increase <07235> [I will multiply.]
inhabited <03427> [and I will settle.]
The circumstances of the Jews were never so prosperous after the captivity as they had been before; hence this prophecy must refer to the times of the Gospel and the future conversion and restoration of the Jews.
more good <02895> [will do.]
know <03045> [and ye.]
people <0120> [I will cause.]
The prophet is still personifying the mountains, valleys, and wastes of Judea.
possess <03423> [they shall.]
<03254> [no more.]
<07921> [no more.]
<07921> [bereave. or, cause to fail.]
I ..... subject <08085> [men.]
bear <05375> [thou bear.]
defiled <02930> [they defiled.]
uncleanness <02932> [as the.]
poured ........... shed <08210> [I poured.]
blood <01818> [for the.]
scattered <06327> [I scattered.]
behavior <01870> [according to their way.]
profaned <02490> [they profaned.]
The Jews, when thus scattered, appeared to them an abject and wretched company of people. They were recognized as the worshippers of Jehovah wherever they went; but they were looked upon as a viler and more worthless race than any of the idolaters among whom they were driven. Many would ascribe their wickedness to the tendency of their religion, which they abhorred, and not to their having acted inconsistently with it; and regard their miseries, not as the punishment of their sins, but as proofs of God's inability to protect them. This profanation of his holy name, Jehovah was determined to wipe away, by shewing mercy unto them.
people <05971> [These.]
magnify ................................. magnify <06942> [sanctify.]
nations ......... nations <01471> [and the heathen.]
magnify ................................. magnify <06942> [when I shall.]
sight <05869> [their. or, your.]
sprinkle .......... clean ........ purify <02236 02891> [will I.]
impurities <02932> [filthiness.]
idols <01544> [from all your idols.]
new heart ....... new ......... heart ........... heart <03820 02319> [new heart.]
stone <068> [the stony.]
put <05414> [I will.]
initiative .......... observe <06213> [cause.]
live <03427> [dwell.]
[be people.]
save <03467> [save.]
call <07121> [call.]
disgrace <02781> [reproach.]
remember <02142> [shall ye.]
loathe <06962> [shall lothe.]
act ............ behavior <06213 01870> [for your.]
ashamed <0954> [be ashamed.]
populate <03427> [cause.]
ruins <02723> [wastes.]
say <0559> [they shall.]
garden <01588> [like the.]
know <03045> [know.]
Lord ............. Lord ... spoken <03068 01696> [I the Lord have.]
ask <01875> [I will yet.]
multiply <07235> [I will increase.]
sheep ... offerings .... sheep ................ flocks <06629 06944> [holy flock. Heb. flock of holy things. as the flock.]
ruined <02720> [the waste.]
hand <03027> [hand.]
In this vision, the dry bones aptly represent the ruined and desperate state of both Israel and Judah; and the revivification of these bones signifies their restoration to their own land after their captivity, and also their recovery from their present long dispersion. Although this is the primary and genuine scope of the vision, yet the doctrine of a general resurrection of the dead may justly be inferred from it; for "a simile of the resurrection," says Jerome, after Tertullian and others, "would never have been used to signify the restoration of the people of Israel, unless such a future resurrection had been believed and known; because no one attempts to confirm uncertain things by things which have no existence."
out <03318> [carried.]
valley <01237> [valley. or, champaign.]
great .......... very <03966> [they were.]
bones <06106> [can.]
Sovereign Lord <0136 03069> [O Lord God.]
Prophesy <05012> [Prophesy.]
Dry <03002> [O ye.]
breath <07307> [I will.]
put ................. put <05414> [I will.]
live ..... know <02421 03045> [ye shall.]
prophesied ..... commanded ........ prophesied <05012 06680> [I prophesied as.]
sound <06963> [there.]
breath .......... breath ............. winds ... breath <07307> [wind. or, breath. Come.]
breath <07307> [the breath.]
house <01004> [whole house.]
bones ............. bones <06106> [Our bones.]
prophesy <05012> [Therefore.]
open <06605> [I will open.]
This is a pointed allusion to the resurrection; under which figure Isaiah (ch. 26:9) also describes the restoration of the house of Israel, when he says, "thy dead men shall live;" at which time their bones are said to flourish, (ch. 66:14,) or to be restored to their former strength and vigour; and, in like manner, St. Paul, (Ro 11:15,) expresses their conversion by "life from the dead." In the land of their captivity, they seemed as absolutely deprived of their country as persons committed to the grave are cut off from the land of the living; but when Cyrus issued his proclamation, Jehovah, as it were, opened their graves, and when he stirred up their spirits to embrace the proffered liberty, he put his Spirit within them, that they might live; and their re-establishment in their own land evinced the truth of God in the prediction, and his power in its accomplishment.
bring <0935> [and bring.]
place <05414> [shall put.]
Lord ........... Lord <03068> [I the Lord.]
take one ................. take another <03947 0259> [take thee.]
Judah <03063> [For Judah.]
Joseph <03130> [For Joseph.]
tell <05046> [Wilt.]
take <03947> [Behold.]
hand <03027> [in thine.]
make <06213> [I will make.]
one ............ one <0259> [and one.]
It is evident that the grand union of Israel and Judah here predicted, and their government under one king, and that king to be David, must still be future; for, politically speaking, they never had a king from that day to this, far less a king or prince of that name. (See on ch. 34:23.)
defile <02930> [shall they defile.]
save <03467> [but.]
purify <02891> [will cleanse.]
people <05971> [they be.]
David <01732> [David.]
one <0259> [one.]
<03212> [they shall.]
live .... land ............ lived .... live <03427 0776> [they shall dwell in.]
children .... grandchildren <01121> [even they.]
servant ....................... servant <05650> [and my.]
make <03772> [I will make.]
increase <07235> [multiply.]
I will ...... numbers <05414> [set.]
dwelling place <04908> [tabernacle.]
God <0430> [I will.]
nations <01471> [the heathen.]
sanctify <06942> [sanctify.]
Son <01121> [Son.]
turn <07760> [set.]
Gog <01463> [Gog.]
Rather, "Gog (the prince) of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal." By Magog is most probably meant the Scythians or Tartars, called so by Arabian and Syrian writers, and especially the Turks, who were originally natives of Tartary; and by Rosh, the Russians, descendants of the ancient inhabitants on the river Araxes or Rosh.
Magog <04031> [Magog.]
chief prince <07218 05387> [the chief prince of. or, prince of the chief of. Meshech.]
Gog <01463> [I am.]
turn ... around <07725> [I will turn.]
horses <05483> [horses.]
armed ............. armed <03847 08610> [all of them.]
armed <08610> [handling.]
Persia <06539> [Persia.]
Put <06316> [Libya. or, Phut.]
[Put.]
Gomer <01586> [Gomer.]
Togarmah <08425> [Togarmah.]
many days ....................... many <03117 07227> [many days.]
summoned <06485> [thou shalt be.]
land <0776> [into the land.]
mountains <02022> [the mountains.]
brought out <03318> [it is.]
living <03427> [and they shall.]
advance <05927> [shalt ascend.]
storm ....... cloud <07722 06051> [like.]
troops <0102> [all thy.]
day <03117> [that at.]
thoughts .......... devise ... evil <07451 04284 02803> [think an evil thought. or, conceive a mischievous purpose.]
invade <05927> [go up.]
advance ..... quietly <0935 08252> [go to.]
security <0983> [safely. or, confidently.]
loot ... plunder <07997 07998 0962 0957> [take a spoil, and to take a prey. Heb. spoil the spoil, and to prey the prey.]
attack <07725> [turn.]
ruins <02723> [the desolate.]
people <05971> [and upon.]
center <02872> [midst. Heb. navel.]
Sheba <07614> [Sheba.]
young warriors <03715> [with.]
day <03117> [in that.]
when ...... living <03427> [dwelleth.]
notice <03045> [shalt.]
place <04725> [thy place.]
many ................ vast <07227> [and many.]
cloud <06051> [as a cloud.]
latter <0319> [it shall be.]
Though it is not generally agreed what people or transactions are here predicted, yet it seems evident that the prophecy is not yet accomplished. Nothing occurred in the wars of Cambyses, or Antiochus Epiphanes with the Jews, that answers to it; and the expression here used, in the latter days, plainly implies that there should be a succession of many ages between the publication of the prediction and its accomplishment. It is therefore supposed, with much probability, that its fulfilment will be posterior to the conversion of the Jews and their restoration to their own land; and that the Turks, Tarters, or Scythians, from the northern parts of Asia, perhaps uniting with the inhabitants of some more southern regions, will make war upon the Jews and be cut off in a manner predicted here.
nations <01471> [that the.]
spoke <01696> [whom.]
by <03027> [by. Heb. the hands of.]
rage <02534> [that.]
zeal <07068> [in my.]
day <03117> [Surely.]
fish <01709> [the fishes.]
cliffs <04095> [steep places. or, towers, or stairs.]
call <07121> [I will.]
man's <0376> [every.]
judge <08199> [I will plead.]
plague <01698> [with pestilence.]
torrential <07857> [an overflowing.]
magnify <01431> [magnify.]
reveal ......... know <03045> [and I.]
son <01121> [son.]
Gog ................. Gog <01463> [Behold.]
chief prince ... Meshech ... Tubal <07218 05387 04902 08422> [the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.]
Or, "prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal."
turn ... around <07725> [I will.]
It is probable that none of the invaders will escape: but perhaps the inhabitants of Magog in general are meant. The immense army of Gog, led forth against Israel, will almost empty his land; and the subsequent judgments of God upon those that remain at home, will reduce them to a sixth of the whole.
drag ... along .... lead ... up <08338 05927> [leave but the sixth part of thee. or, strike thee with six plagues; or, draw thee back with a hook of six teeth, as ch.]
38:4. and will cause.
remotest parts .... north <03411 06828> [north parts. Heb. sides of the north.]
fall dead <05307> [fall.]
give <05414> [I will.]
kind <03671> [sort. Heb. wing. to be devoured. Heb. to devour.]
open field <07704 06440> [open field. Heb. face of the field.]
send <07971> [I will.]
Some terrible judgment will destroy the countries whence the army of Gog was led forth, about the same time that the army itself shall be cut off.
securely <0983> [carelessly. or, confidently.]
coastlands <0339> [in the isles.]
holy ................ holy <06944> [will I.]
profaned <02490> [and I will.]
nations <01471> [the heathen.]
Holy One <06918> [the Holy.]
coming <0935> [it is come.]
The prophet, seeing in vision the accomplishment of the prediction, speaks of it as already come and done.
day <03117> [this.]
go out <03318> [shall go.]
use ................. burn <01197> [and shall.]
use ................. burn <0784 01197> [set on fire.]
The language here employed seems to intimate that the army of Gog will be cut off by miracle, as that of Sennacherib; for the people are described as going forth, not to fight and conquer, but merely to gather the spoil, and to destroy the weapons of war, as no longer of use.
war clubs <03027> [hand staves. or, javelins. and they.]
When the immense number and destruction of the invaders are considered, and also the little fuel comparatively which is necessary in warm climates, we may easily conceive of this being literally fulfilled.
use ................. burn <0784 01197> [burn them with fire. or, make a fire of them.]
take the loot ..... looted <07997> [shall spoil.]
valley ................................ valley <01516> [the valley.]
Probably the valley near the Sea of Gennesareth, as the Targum renders, and so called because it was the great road by which the merchants and traders from Syria and other Eastern countries went into Egypt. Perhaps what is now called the plains of Haouran, south of Damascus.
east <06926> [on the east.]
travel ............. travelers <05674> [noses. or, mouths. Hamon-gog. that is, The multitude of]
Gog.
cleanse <02891> [cleanse.]
memorial <08034> [a renown.]
day <03117> [the day.]
designate <0914> [they shall.]
continually <08548> [continual employment. Heb. continuance. to cleanse.]
<01129> [set. Heb. build.]
valley <01516> [in the.]
Hamonah <01997> [Hamonah. that is, The multitude. cleanse.]
says <0559> [Speak.]
bird <06833 03671> [every feathered fowl. Heb. the fowl of every wing. to my.]
slaughter ............ slaughter <02077 02076> [sacrifice. or, slaughter.]
eat <0398> [eat.]
goats <06260> [goats. Heb. great goats.]
bulls <06499> [of bullocks.]
fattened animals <04806> [fatlings.]
I will display <05414> [I will set.]
power <03027> [and my.]
know <03045> [know.]
nations <01471> [the heathen.]
hid ... face <05641 06440> [hid I.]
handed them over <05414 03027> [gave them.]
restore <07725> [Now will.]
The return of a few Jews from Babylon, and their continuance, increase, partial reformation, and prosperity, till the days of Christ, followed by their present long continued dispersion, under the frown of God, and destitute of his Spirit, could in no degree answer to these predictions. Hence we must conclude, that some future events, exactly suitable to them, shall yet take place relative to the nation of Israel.
house <01004> [the whole.]
zealous <07065> [and will.]
bear <05375> [they have borne.]
live <03427> [when they.]
back <07725> [I have.]
magnify <06942> [and am.]
know <03045> [shall they.]
exile <01540> [which caused them. Heb. by my causing of them, etc.]
any <03498> [and have.]
hide <05641> [hide.]
pour <08210> [for.]
