John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Ezekiel 37:1



INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 37



This chapter contains a prophecy of the Jews' return from captivity to their own land; of the union of the each tribes with one another; and of the glorious kingdom of Christ among them. Their restoration is represented by a vision of dry bones made alive; the place in which they were; the condition they were in; and the manner in which they were made to live, are described, Eze 37:1, the explication and application of this vision to the Jews, Eze 37:11, their union is signified by a sign or emblem of two sticks, which became one in the hand of the prophet,

Eze 37:15, the meaning of this is shown, Eze 37:18, then follow promises of their return to their own land, in express words; of their being one kingdom, under one King, Christ, the antitype of David, of their sanctification; of their covenant interest in God, made manifest to them; and of his presence, and dwelling among them,

Eze 37:21.



Ver. 1. The hand of the Lord was upon me,.... The Spirit of the Lord, a powerful impulse of his upon the prophet; the Targum interprets it a spirit of prophecy; See Gill on "Eze 1:3":



and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord: out of the place where he was to another; not really, but visionally, as things appeared to him, and as they were represented to his mind by the Spirit of God:



and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones: of men, as the Targum adds: this valley, Kimchi thinks, was the same by the river Chebar, where the prophet had his visions at first. R. Jochanan says it was the valley of Dura, and these the bones of them that were slain by Nebuchadnezzar there, Da 3:1. Rab says these were the children of Ephraim, slain by the men of Gath, 1Ch 7:20. Some of the Jewish Rabbins think there was a real resurrection at this time. R. Eliezer says, the dead Ezekiel quickened stood upon their feet, sung a song, and died. R. Eliezer, the son of R. Jose the Galilean, says, they went up into the land of Israel, married wives, and begat sons and daughters. R. Judah ben Bethira stood upon his feet, and said, I am of their children's children, and these are the "tephillim" my father's father left me {r}; but these are all fabulous and romantic: others of them understand the whole in a parabolical way: these bones, and the quickening of them, were an emblem of the restoration of the Jews from their captivity, who were in a helpless and hopeless condition, as appears from Eze 37:11, and of the conversion of that people in the latter day, which will be as life from the dead; and of the revival of the interest and church of Christ, when the slain witnesses shall rise, and ascend to heaven; and of the resurrection of the dead at the last day; and may be applied unto and be used to illustrate the quickening of dead sinners, by the efficacious grace of the Spirit of God.



{r} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 92. 2. Vid. Kimchi & Abendana in loc.







Ezekiel 37:2



Ver. 2. And caused me to pass by them round about,....



Round, round {s}; several times round, that he might take exact notice of them, of their number, situation, and condition:



and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; as the Jews were in captivity; and as they will be when they shall be converted; and as the number of Christians will be in the spiritual reign of Christ; and as the dead will be at the time of their resurrection, both of the just and unjust:



and, lo, they were very dry; through length of time they had lain there, exposed to wind and weather; the flesh being wholly consumed from off of them, and the marrow within quite dried up; so that there was no probability or hope, humanly speaking, of their being quickened: these are a fit emblem of men in a state of nature and unregeneracy, who have no spiritual life, but are dead in trespasses and sins; have no sense of sin or danger; no strength to redeem and regenerate themselves, or do anything that is spiritually good; have no spiritual motion; no inward desires after God, or affection to him; no lifting up of the heart to him, or going out of the soul in faith and love to Christ; but in themselves entirely lifeless, helpless, and hopeless.



{s} bybo bybo "circum circa", Pagninus; "undique undique", Montanus.





Ezekiel 37:3



Ver. 3. And he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live?.... Is there any probability of it? is there any reason to believe they shall live? can any ways and means be devised, or any methods taken, to cause them to live?



and I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest; the prophet does not pronounce at once that it was improbable and impossible; he knew indeed it was not probable, or possible, that these bones should revive of themselves; and he knew that neither he nor any creature could quicken them; but he wisely refers it to an omniscient and omnipotent God, who knew what he could and what he would do: the conversion of sinners is not of themselves, nor of ministers, but of God; it is wholly owing to his will and power, Joh 1:13 nothing else can make it probable, or possible.







Ezekiel 37:4



Ver. 4. Again he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones,.... Or, "over these bones" {t}; or, "concerning these bones" {u}; foretell that they shall live; tell others of it, and them also:



and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord; the word of prophecy concerning you, as the Jews did in Babylon: so unconverted sinners may be preached unto, and their lost and miserable estate in which they are, like dry bones, may be set before them: they may be called upon to attend the external ministry of the word; and they are capable of hearing it with their bodily ears; though it is not profitable to them, for want of faith, yet faith comes hereby; and therefore it is right to attend upon the means, and hear the word.



{t} hlah twmueh le "super ossa haec", Starckius. {u} "De ossibus istis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Piscator.





Ezekiel 37:5



Ver. 5. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones,.... By the prophet, who was sent to prophesy over them:



behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; and none could do this but the living God, who breathed the breath of life into Adam at first, and he became a living soul; to which there seems to be an allusion here; and when the Lord puts his Spirit into men, or bestows his grace on them, then they shall live, and not till then.





Ezekiel 37:6



Ver. 6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and I will bring up flesh upon you,.... That is, before he should cause breath to enter into them; for though it is first mentioned, it is the last done: this is the orderly process; first sinews are laid to join the bones together; then flesh is laid to cover them, and fill up all vacancies, and form muscles to make the bones capable of motion:



and cover you with skin; both bones, sinews, and flesh; for this is uppermost of all, and which makes the whole smooth and beautiful. Job expresses his formation in much such language, "thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews",

Job 10:11:



and put breath in you, and ye shall live; which is repeated for the confirmation of it:



and ye shall know that I am the Lord; the Lord God omnipotent, the Lord gracious and merciful, and your Lord and God: so men, when they are called by grace, know the Lord, they did not before; having an experience of his powerful and efficacious grace upon their hearts, they know him to be theirs and own and acknowledge him, and profess him before men.







Ezekiel 37:7



Ver. 7. So I prophesied as I was commanded,.... The prophet was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; he was right to observe the orders and instructions given, whatever were the issue and success of them; that he was to leave with the Lord, and did. So Gospel ministers prophesy or preach according to the commission given them, and leave their work with the Lord: this was the first prophesying; for there is another after mentioned: these two are carefully to be observed and distinguished, different effects following the one and the other: this was a prophesying to the dry bones, upon them, over them, and concerning them; and what is next related was the consequence of it;



and as I prophesied, there was a noise; or, "a voice" {w}; this, in the literal sense, was the proclamation by Cyrus, giving the Jews leave to return to their own land, Ezr 1:1, at the revival of the interest of Christ, a great voice will be heard from heaven, saying to the witnesses, come up hither, Re 11:12, and at the descent of Christ to raise his dead first, there will be the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, 1Th 4:16, and, as while the prophet was prophesying, there was not only his voice heard, but the voice of God, perhaps a thunder clap: so in the ministry of the Gospel there is a voice heard, which, at first, is only externally heard; men hear a noise, a voice, but it is a confused one; they do not know what to make of it, and yet it has some effect upon them; it causes a noise in them, an outcry about sin, and hell, and damnation; and yet, at present, no spiritual life or breath is in them:



and behold a shaking; of the bones; a rattling among them, as may be conceived must be where there is, as here, a tumbling of dry bones one over another, to get to their proper bone: so in the first effect of the word upon the conscience of a sinner, which works wrath there, there is a shaking and trembling through fear of damnation; which in some issues in real conversion, as in Saul and the jailer, Ac 9:6, but in others it goes off again, and comes to nothing, as in Felix, Ac 24:25:



and the bones came together, bone to his bone: so the Jews scattered up and down in the provinces of Babylon gathered together upon the proclamation of Cyrus, and went up in a body to their own land; as they will do also at the time of their conversion, Ho 1:11, thus, when persons are only under slight convictions, they may gather together, and have their religious meetings and societies, and yet be only a parcel of dry bones, without any spiritual life and breath in them.



{w} lwq yhyw "et exstitit vox", Cocceius, Starckius; "et fuit vox", Montanus.







Ezekiel 37:8



Ver. 8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them,.... And they began to look like men, in the shape of men, and were a body of them, as the Jews did when gathered together:



and the skin covered them above; and so looked comely and beautiful, as in the proper form of men; as did the Jews enriched and protected by Cyrus: and this may be an image of such persons so far wrought upon under the word as to look like Christians; to have the form of godliness, and appear outwardly righteous before men, submitting to ordinances, and performing the duties of religion; and yet no principle of spiritual life in them; but, like Adam's body, of the earth, earthly, and breathless, before the breath of life was breathed into it; so here, but there was no breath in them; no spirit in the Jews to return to their land, though they had liberty, till the Lord stirred up their spirits, Ezr 1:5, all this, in a spiritual sense, shows how far persons may go under temporary convictions by the word, and yet not be living Christians.





Ezekiel 37:9



Ver. 9. Then said he unto me, prophesy unto the wind,.... Before he had been prophesying to the bones, and over them; and something was done, but not to purpose, breath being wanting; wherefore he is bid to prophesy a second time, and that not to bones, but to the "wind", afterwards rendered "breath"; and may allude to the soul or breath of man reentering the body, as at a resurrection, which causes it to live: it signifies the "spirit" {x}, for the same word is used for the wind, for breath, and for the spirit; and in the mystical sense may be applied to the Spirit of God: and if ever ministers prophesy or preach to purpose, it must be with a view to the Spirit of God, both to assist them in their work, and to make their ministrations effectual; without which, how many formal professors soever may be made, not one dead sinner will be quickened. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "concerning the Spirit": and to discourse concerning the person, operations, and grace of the Spirit, is one part of the Gospel ministry, and a means of the conversion of sinners.



Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind; ministers must not only preach, but they must pray for the Spirit to accompany the word with his power, and make it the savour of life unto life:



thus saith the Lord, come from the four winds, O breath; or "spirit": because the Jews were to be brought from each of the parts where they were, as they will be at their conversion in the latter day; and so the Lord has a people in each of the parts of the world, that lie dead in sin, and must be quickened by the Spirit:



and breathe upon these slain, that they may live; though not slain with the sword, yet being as dead men, who are slain by death, are so called: so in a spiritual sense men are slain by sin, and are slain by the words of the Lord's mouth; killed with the law, the killing letter; and it is only the Spirit of God that can give them life; and the breath or spirit here is applied to the Spirit of the Messiah by the ancient Jews {y}.



{x} xwrh "ad spiritum", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Starckius; "alloquens spiritum", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. {y} Zohar in Nunb. fol. 92. 1.







Ezekiel 37:10



Ver. 10. So I prophesied as he commanded me,.... The second time he prophesied to the wind, as he had done to the bones, as he was ordered: and the issue of it was,



and breath came into them; or, "the spirit"; a spirit of courage in the Jews, to go up to their own land; the Spirit of life from Christ, which will enter into the witnesses slain, and revive them; and into the Jews in the latter day, and convert them; and which enters into dead sinners, and quickens them; and this he does while ministers are preaching the Gospel to them; see Re 11:11:



and then lived; as men do spiritually, when the Spirit of God has produced a principle of spiritual life in them; they live by faith on Christ, in union and fellowship with him; they live in newness of life, and a holy life and conversation; and shall live and reign with Christ upon the first resurrection, and for evermore:



and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army; as the Jews did when they returned from the Babylonish captivity; they were many, and in a posture of defence; and as they will be in the latter day, when converted, Ho 1:10, and as the number of the saints will be upon the first resurrection, Re 7:9, so when men are quickened by the Spirit of God, "they stand upon their feet"; they stand in the grace of God, and on the foundation Christ; they stand by faith in him, and in the doctrine of faith, and in the house of God; and they stand firm against all their enemies: they are an "army"; they are in a military state; fighting against sin, Satan, and the world; and though few in comparison of others, yet considered by themselves are very numerous; and as they will appear when the Jews will be converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; and especially when they will be all gathered together at the coming of Christ.







Ezekiel 37:11



Ver. 11. Then he said unto me, son of man,.... Here follow the explication and application of the above vision:



these bones are the whole house of Israel; an emblem of them, of their state and condition in the Babylonish captivity, and of them in their present state; and of the whole Israel of God, while in a state of unregeneracy: this phrase takes in the ten tribes, as well as the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah, which returned from Babylon; and shows that respect is had to something more than that restoration barely:



behold, they say, our bones are dried; the house of Israel say we are like dry bones indeed; we have no spirit, nor strength, nor courage, nor life in us:



and our hope is lost; of being delivered from the present captivity; or of the Messiah's coming; or of ever enjoying their own land, and of the promises of those things made unto them:



we are cut off for our parts; from the land of Israel, and have no hope of possessing it again, whatever others have; indeed they are cut off from the olive tree, and are cut down like a tree, both as to their civil and church state. The Targum is,



"and we are perished;''



it is all over with us; we are lost and undone; all the expressions show the desperate and despairing condition they were in.





Ezekiel 37:12



Ver. 12. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them,.... For their comfort, in order to revive their hope, and encourage their faith, in these distressed circumstances:



thus saith the Lord, behold, O my people: they were his people still, and he had a covenant interest in them, and they in him, though in such a low estate; and which was the ground of his care of them, and concern for them, and or doing all the good things to them after mentioned; all proceeded from his covenant, and the grace of it, and their relation to him:



I will open your graves, and cause you to come out of your graves; the cities and prisons in Chaldea and other places; where they were confined and held captives, and out of which they could no more deliver themselves than a dead man of himself can rise up out of his grave: this is both an emblem of the resurrection of the dead at the last day {z}, when they shall come forth out of their graves at the voice of Christ, some to the resurrection of life, and others to the resurrection of damnation; and of dead sinners, raised out of the graves of sin by the power and efficacy of the grace of God; see Joh 5:25:



and bring you into the land of Israel; to dwelt in it, and abide there, and be no more dispossessed of it; as they will not, any more, when once settled in it, upon their conversion in the latter day.



{z} To which it is applied in T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 152. 2, & Taanith, fol. 2. 2.





Ezekiel 37:13



Ver. 13. And ye shall know that I am the Lord,....

See Gill on "Eze 37:6":



when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves; which is doing that for them which none but the omnipotent God could do; and they seeing his hand and power, his grace and mercy in it, will know, own, and acknowledge him.





Ezekiel 37:14



Ver. 14. And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live,.... Not only a spirit of courage to go up into their own land, and live a civil and comfortable life there; but the Spirit of God, as a spirit of grace and supplication, of truth and holiness, of faith and adoption; and as a spirit of life, having produced a principle of life in them, and so should live spiritually and soberly, righteously and godly; see

Eze 36:27:



and I shall place you in your own land; settle them there in peace and quietness, in safety and security and in enjoyment of all mercies and privileges, temporal and spiritual:



then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord; that all this was a promise of his, foretold by him, notified to them by his prophets, and now fully accomplished exactly; which they would observe with wonder and thankfulness, and give him the glory of it.





Ezekiel 37:15



Ver. 15. The word of the Lord came unto me again,.... Immediately or quickly after he had the above vision of the dry bones, and the explanation of it:



saying: as follows:





Ezekiel 37:16



Ver. 16. Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick,.... Or "wood" {a}; a stick of wood; or table, as the Targum; a board or plank. The Septuagint version renders it a "rod"; and so the Arabic; an emblem of a kingdom or government, as this was:



and write upon it; the following words:



for Judah, and the children of Israel his companions; for the tribe of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, which adhered together, and as many of the other tribes which joined them; the godly and religious of the rest of the tribes, who could not give into the idolatry of Jeroboam:



then take another stick; like the former:



and write upon it; these words:



for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions; for the tribe of Ephraim, and the other nine tribes, which together made up one kingdom. It should be observed, that in the times of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, there was a division in the kingdom of Israel; ten tribes revolted from him, and only the two whole tribes of Judah and Benjamin continued with him; and from that time to the captivity, and even during that, as it seems, there were continual animosities and bickerings between the two kingdoms, on account both of their political and religious affairs, especially the latter; and an union between them this emblem is designed to signify, as will hereafter appear. Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, was of the tribe of Ephraim; and Samaria, the metropolis of the kingdom, was in that tribe; hence Ephraim often stands for all the ten tribes, for the kingdom of Israel, as distinct from that of Judah. Writing words on sticks or rods seems to be in allusion to what was done Nu 17:2.



{a} dxa Ue "lignum unuin", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





Ezekiel 37:17



Ver. 17. And join them one to another into one stick,.... Clap the sticks, planks, boards, or tables, to one another; glue them together, or set them so close to one another, that they may seem as one stick, plank, board, or table:



and they shall become one in thine hand; they shall look as if they were one. R. Joseph Kimchi, the father of David, thinks they really became one, by means of a miracle wrought; but there is no need to suppose this; it is enough that they appeared to be so.





Ezekiel 37:18



Ver. 18. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying,.... The children of Israel and Judah in captivity, of which people Ezekiel was and to whom he was sent as a prophet; who seeing him take two sticks, and write on them, and then join them together, would naturally put such a question to him:



wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? for they concluded he had some meaning in it, and that it was not a mere childish diversion and amusement; and therefore would desire that he would let them know what it was: whether they would ask this seriously or in banter, out of curiosity or in contempt, as they sometimes did; it matters not, he was to give them an answer, as follows; though, by the manner of their putting the question, it looks as if they were doubtful whether he would or not; since they had treated him in a sneering way on such like occasions before.





Ezekiel 37:19



Ver. 19. Say unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... Here follows the explanation of the sign or emblem:



behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows: that is, the kingdom of Israel, consisting of the ten tribes, of which Ephraim was the chief:



and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah; with the kingdom of Judah:



and make them one stick; these two kingdoms one kingdom:



and they shall be one in my hand: in Christ, the hand and arm of the Lord; one under his care, government, and protection, as after explained: this had in part, and as a shadow of what was to come, its fulfilment upon the Jews' return from Babylon; when many of the ten tribes, as well as the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, came from thence, and became one nation and kingdom under one prince, until the coming of Christ; and it had a further accomplishment in the union of converted Jews and Gentiles in one body: but this is chiefly designed as an emblem of the union of the Jews one to another, when they shall be converted in the latter day; when they shall join together in seeking the Lord, and David, their King, the Messiah; who shall be the one King over them, as is afterwards said; and when all animosities shall cease, both among them, and among all the spiritual Israel of God in general; see

Isa 11:13







Ezekiel 37:20



Ver. 20. And the sticks whereon thou writest,.... Or art about to write the above things, according to order and direction:



shall be in thine hand before their eyes; shall be held up to them to look at for some time, and observe the cement of the two sticks; and learn and lay up in their minds what is meant by this emblem; and be assured that what is hereafter said as a further explication of it shall certainly be fulfilled.





Ezekiel 37:21



Ver. 21. And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... Or, as the Targum,



"thou shalt prophesy to them;''



for what follows is a prophecy of what shall be in the latter day:



behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the Heathen, whither they be gone, or, "from among the Gentiles" {b}; not only the Chaldeans, where they were carried captives; but from among the nations where they are now dispersed, and among whom they go freely of their own accord from place to place, for the sake of traffic: and this phrase, "whither they be gone", or "are going" {c}, travelling about from one country to another, better describes the present Jews, and their state, than those in the Babylonian captivity:



and will gather them on every side, or, "round about" {d}; from the several parts of the world where they are:



and bring them into their own land; the land of Canaan, given by the Lord to their fathers, and to them their posterity, for an inheritance; though now in the possession of others, who, it seems, are not the right owners.



{b} Myywgh Nybm "e medio ipsarum gentium", Junius & Tremellius; "ex gentibus", Starckius; "e [vel] medio gentium", Piscator, Cocceius. {c} wklh "ambulant, vel ambulantes sunt". {d} bybom "circumquaque", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius.







Ezekiel 37:22



Ver. 22. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, &c;] As they were in the times of David and Solomon, who were both types of the Messiah; and to whose times is referred this prophecy by the ancient Jews {e}, as then to have its accomplishment:



and one king shall be king to them all, not Zerubbabel, nor Nehemiah, nor Judas Maccabaeus; for these were neither of them kings; and much less such as reigned for ever, as it is said this king shall, Eze 37:25, besides, he is expressly said to be David, that is, the Messiah the son of David; and this clause is by a modern Jewish {f} writer applied to him:



and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; which is the very thing the two sticks made one were an emblem of.



{e} Zohar in Gen. fol. 85. 4. {f} R. Abendana, Not. in Miclol Yophi in 1 Kings xi. 39.







Ezekiel 37:23



Ver. 23. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols,....



With their dung, or dunghill gods {g}; either with the idols of the Gentiles, or their own: after their return from the Babylonish captivity, the Jews were no more addicted to idolatry; and the image worship of the Papists is an abhorrence to them at this day, and a stumblingblock to them in their embracing Christianity: and when they are effectually called and converted to Christ; they will no more have respect to the idols, the works of their own hands; or to the idol of their own righteousness, which they have set up, and have gone about to establish, and to make to stand; they will then see it to be as filthy rags, defiling to them, instead of justifying of them; and therefore shall reject it, and no more defile themselves with it; but seek the righteousness of Christ, which justifies from all sin, and renders pure and spotless in the sight of God,



nor with their detestable things; or "abominations" {h}; the traditions of the elders, which they have preferred to the word of God, and made the rule of their faith, worship, and conversation; which has made them detestable unto God:



nor with any of their transgressions; particularly their disbelief of Christ and their blasphemy against him; nor shall they indulge themselves in those sins which now prevail among them, as pride, covetousness, uncleanness, fraud, and tricking in their trade and commerce:



but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned; as wherever they dwell they do; they are notorious for their wickedness; but God will bring them out of all these places, where they have lived in sin, and been the occasion of it to some, as well as followed the example of others:



and will cleanse them; by sprinkling clean water upon them; by applying the blood of Christ to them, which cleanses from all sin see Eze 36:25:



so they shall be my people, and will be their God; the "loammi" will be taken off, and the covenant of grace shall be renewed with them, and made manifest to them; and the blessings and promises shall be applied to them, and particularly this; see Jer 31:1.



{g} Mhylwlgb "diis stercoreis suis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "stercoribus suis", Cocceius, Starckius. {h} Mhyuwqvb "abominandis suis", Starckius; "abominationibus", Pagninus, Cocceius.







Ezekiel 37:24



Ver. 24. And David my servant shall be king over them,.... The King Messiah, as Kimchi interprets it; and so Abarbinel {i} and others; being of the seed of David, and of whom David was an eminent type; and who, as Mediator, is the Lord's servant, and as man appeared in the form of one: this shows that this prophecy looks further than the times of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity:



and they all shall have one shepherd: or king, the same as before: kings are called shepherds; see Eze 34:23:



and they shall also walk in my judgments, and keep my statutes, and do them; not the statutes and ordinances of the ceremonial law, which are abolished; and which the Jews, when converted, shall have no regard unto; but rather the precepts of the moral law, and chiefly the evangelic ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper; which ordinances they shall walk in, and attend unto with constancy and pleasure; and which statutes they shall keep, as they have been delivered, impartially, without delay, in faith and love, and with a view to the glory of God; see Eze 36:27.



{i} Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 47. 4. Vid. Sepher Ikkarim, l. 2. c. 28.







Ezekiel 37:25



Ver. 25. And they shall dwell in the land which I have given to Jacob my servant,.... Abraham and Isaac are not mentioned, as Kimchi observes, because they had other children, who did not inherit the land; only Jacob, because the land was given to him, and his seed alter him:



wherein your fathers have dwelt; and so the more desirable to them; and whose inhabitation and possession of it were a pledge of theirs:



and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children's children for ever; unto the end of the world, or personal coming of Christ: and so everything after promised them is said to be for ever: this shows that this prophecy had not its accomplishment in the return of the Jews from Babylon to their own land; since they have been dispossessed of that again, in which state they now are; but that it refers to time to come, when, being converted to Christ, they shall possess their land again, and dwell in it, as long as the sun and moon endure:



and my servant David shall be their prince for ever; or their king, as the Targum; and which cannot be understood of any temporal prince, but of the King Messiah, whose throne is for ever and ever; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; and who shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and ever, Ps 45:6 and to whom it is applied by several Jewish writers {k}.



{k} T. Bab. Sanhedrin. fol. 98. 2. Ben Melech in Psal. cxliv. 14. Abendana Not. in Miclol Yophi in Hagg. ii. 23. Abarbinel, Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 8. 4. & 26. 1.





Ezekiel 37:26



Ver. 26. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them,.... So the covenant of grace is called, Isa 54:10, one principal article of which is peace and reconciliation made between God and his people by the blood of Christ, agreed on in that covenant, from whence it has its name: now here it signifies that this covenant should be made known to the converted Jews, and their interest in it; in virtue of which they shall see that peace is made for them by the blood of Christ; and shall have a true conscience peace in themselves, through that blood of the covenant being sprinkled on them; and be at peace with converted Gentiles, and even with their worst enemies, enjoying all kind of prosperity, temporal and spiritual:



it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; it shall not wax old, and vanish away, as the former covenant did; under which they were before the coming of Christ, which was exhibited in types and shadows, legal sacrifices and carnal ordinances; and besides, God will always have a covenant people among them from this time to the end of the world; so that a "loammi" shall no more be written upon them:



and I will place them, and multiply them; that is, place them in their own land, and increase their number there: or, "I will give them" {l}; a place in their land, and every blessing temporal and spiritual: so the Targum,



"I will bless them, and multiply them:''



and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore; not any material temple, but his word and ordinances; in which he will grant his spiritual presence with them, and which shall continue to the end of the world.



{l} Myttn "dabo eos", Montanus, Piscator; "dabo ipsos", Cocceius, Starckius.





Ezekiel 37:27



Ver. 27. My tabernacle also shall be with them,.... The symbol of his presence: the meaning is, that he shall dwell in them by his Spirit and grace; and everyone of them shall be the temple of the living God, in whom he will walk and dwell:



yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people; which is repeated for the confirmation of it; see Eze 37:23.





Ezekiel 37:28



Ver. 28. And the Heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel,.... Or the Gentiles, the converted Gentiles, shall observe and take notice of the gracious dealings of God with his people the Jews; that he calls them with an holy calling; implants principles of grace and holiness in them; separates and consecrates them for his service, and enables them to walk holily, soberly, and righteously:



when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore; when his worship shall be set up among them; his Gospel shall be preached unto them, and received by them; and his ordinances administered unto them; and which shall continue till the second coming of Christ.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Ezekiel 38:1



INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 38



This chapter gives an account of an enemy of the Jews, under the name of Gog, that shall invade their land, and disturb their peace, after they are settled in it; who is described by the countries over which he rules; and against whom the prophet is bid to set his face, and prophesy of him, the Lord being against him; and who would cause him to return from Judea unsuccessful, Eze 38:1, the number of his confederates, their warlike accoutrements and preparations for the invasion of the land of Israel, are foretold, Eze 38:4, his wicked designs and intentions to spoil and plunder the inhabitants of it, Eze 38:10, the notice taken of his projects by the merchants of Tarshish and others,

Eze 38:13, his coming up to invade the land is again observed for the certainty of it; and the place from whence, and the time when he should come, are mentioned, as well as God's design in it, and which had been before predicted by his prophets, Eze 38:14, and the chapter is concluded with a denunciation of divine wrath, which shall be terrible to all the inhabitants of the earth, and to all creatures in heaven, earth, and sea; when he and his forces shall be destroyed by the sword, by pestilence, and by dreadful storms and tempests, Eze 38:18, of which destruction a fuller account is given in the next chapter.



Ver. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me,.... At the same time as the preceding prophecy did, as the copulative and shows; which predicts the restoration and conversion of the Jews; the union of their tribes under the King Messiah; and their settlement in their own land: and this respects some disturbance they should meet with upon it, for a short time, by a powerful enemy hereafter described:



saying; as follows:







Ezekiel 38:2



Ver. 2. Son of man, set thy face against Gog,.... Of the phrase, "setting the face towards", or "against", See Gill on "Eze 6:2" See Gill on "Eze 21:2" See Gill on "Eze 25:2" but who this Gog is the prophet is bid boldly to face, and intrepidly declare the wrath of God against, interpreters are divided about. Calmet {m} thinks that Cambyses and his army are meant by Gog and Magog, which to mention is enough; and it is the opinion of St. Ambrose {n} that the Goths who ravaged the Roman empire in the fifth and sixth ages are meant: others, who suppose this prophecy was fulfilled after the Jews' return from the Babylonish captivity, and before the coming of Christ, take Gog to be a common name of the kings of the lesser Asia and Syria, or the Seleucidae, who distressed the Jews in the times of the Maccabees; the chief of whom was Antiochus Epiphanes, who is supposed, to be more especially designed, and was a type of antichrist; and they are the more strengthened in this opinion, because they find, in Pliny {o}, that the city of Hierapolis in Syria was called by the Syrians Magog; and they fancy the name of Gog is the same with Gyges a king of Lydia, whose country was called from him Gygea, or Gog's land, who was grandfather to Croesus; and which country came into the hands of Cyrus, and from the Persians into the hands of the Greeks, and so to the Seleucidae; for which reason they may bear this name in this prophecy; but it is certain that the prophecy refers to what should be in "latter years", and in the "latter days",

Eze 38:8, phrases which respect the times of the Messiah, the Gospel dispensation, and oftentimes the latter part of that; and even those times when the Jews shall return to their own land, and continue in it for ever, as the preceding prophecy, with which this is connected, shows; and so the Jews always understand it of an enemy of theirs yet to come. Cocceius is of opinion, that the Romish antichrist is meant; and that Gog signifying the covering or roof of a house, fitly points him out; who puts himself between God and man, as the roof is between heaven and earth; and who keeps out the light of divine things, the heat of love, and rain of spiritual blessings, from the church; and compares with this the veil over all nations, Isa 25:7 and the covering cherub, Eze 28:14, but I rather think the Turk is here meant, the eastern antichrist, in whose possession the land of Judea now is; and which, when recovered by the Jews, will greatly exasperate him, and he will gather all his forces together to regain it, but in vain. The learned Vitringa {p}, though he is of opinion that this prophecy, according to its first and proper sense, respects the kings of Syria, the persecutors of the church, that should bring large and well disciplined armies into the land of the people of God, gathered out of the northern nations, and Scythians, and would be defeated in the land of Canaan; yet mystically intends the Turks, the Scythian nation and northern people, who, by a like attempt, will infest the church of the people of God, and invade their country; and this he makes no doubt of is the proper aspect of Gog and Magog: and Samuel Dauderstat, a Lutheran divine, has wrote a dissertation, "De Antichristo Orientali", concerning the eastern antichrist, which he explains of Gog and Magog: and Michael Buckenroder, another Lutheran, has written upon the irruption to be made by Gog and Magog into the mountains of Israel {q}. Osiander thus explains the several names mentioned; by Gog I think the Turk is meant, by Magog the Tartarian, by Meshec the Muscovites, and by Tubal the Wallachians; and Starckius on the place observes, that if this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, we shall easily find our Gog, and point out his metropolis Constantinople; so that I am not singular in my opinion. Gog signifies "high" {r} and eminent, one in a very exalted station: it comes from the same root, and has the same signification, as Agag, to whose height and exaltation there is an allusion in Nu 24:7, where the Samaritan and Septuagint versions read Gog: it is the same with , "Jagog", by which name the Arabians called the Scythians that lived far east, particularly those that were situated to the north of China beyond Imaus, as Golius {s} observes; and Josephus {t} says that the posterity of Magog are called Scythians, and these inhabited Tartary; and there, as Paulus Venetus {u} affirms, are the countries of Gog and Magog, which they call Gug and Mungug now; from hence came the Turks, even from Tartary, which is called by the eastern writers Turchestan, whence they had their name; and so may with great propriety be called by the name of Gog; their emperor also being a high and mighty one, whose empire must be destroyed; and which is signified by the passing away of the second woe, and the drying up of the river Euphrates,

Re 11:14, upon which passages this and the following chapter may be thought a good commentary: and so the Jews {w} make Gog to be the general of the Ishmaelites or Turks, as Armillus of the Christians, and who shall reign in the kingdom of Magog or Scythia. Gog is the name of a man, 1Ch 5:4, as it is here, and not of a country. The country of Gog is called, as follows,



the land of Magog, of which Gog is king, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it: it may be supplied in connection with the former clause,



set thy face against Gog, in the land of Magog; or, "against Gog", against "the land of Magog", so Kimchi. The countries of Jagog and Magog, according to the Arabic geographer {x}, are surrounded by Mount Caucasus, which Bochart {y} conjectures has its name from thence; it being in the Semi-Chaldee language, the language of the Colchi and Armenians, Noxgwg, "Gog-hasan", or Gog's fortress. This land of Magog is the same with Cathaia or Scythia, that part of Tartary from whence the Turks came; and which perhaps may come into their hands again before this prophecy is fulfilled; and even now the Turk calls himself king of Tartary; and the Magog of Pliny in Syria, the same with Aleppo, is in his dominions; which Maimonides {z} also takes notice of as in Syria, though he seems to distinguish it from Haleb or Aleppo; however, according to him, they were near to one another; though some {a} think the place in Pliny is corrupted, and that it ought to be read Magog, as it is, by Maimonides, Magbab. Gog is further described as



the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: some render it, "prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal"; taking Rosh, as the rest, for the name of a place, a part of Scythia, from whence the Russians came, and had their name. So it is rendered by the Septuagint, Symmachus, and Theodotion; and some later Greek writers {b} make mention of a country called Ros, which, they say, is a Scythian nation, situated between the Euxine Pontus and the whole maritime coast to the north of Taurus, a people fierce and wild. Meshech and Tubal were the brethren of Magog, and sons of Japheth, Ge 10:2, whose posterity inhabited those counties called after their name; who, according to Josephus {c}, are the Cappadocians and Iberians; and among the former is a place called Mazaca, which has some affinity with Meshech; and there was a country called Gogarene {d}, a part of Iberia. According to Bochart {e}, these are the Moschi and Tybarenes, people that dwell near the Euxine sea, and under the dominion of the Turk; wherefore the Grand Turk may be called the chief prince of them:



and prophesy against him: foretell his ruin and destruction, which is hinted before. Mention is made of his invasion of the land of Judea, and that for the comfort of the Jews, that they might have nothing to fear from this formidable army.



{m} Dictionary in the words "Gog" and "Magog". {n} "De fide ad Gratianum", l. 2. sect. 4. col. 144. tom. 4. {o} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. {p} Comment. in Jesaiam, vol. 1. p. 954. {q} Vid. Calmet. Bibliotheca Sacra, art. 67. p. 442. {r} Hiller. Ononmastic. Sacr. p. 67, 406, 477. {s} Lexic. Arabic in Rad. col. 26. {t} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1. {u} Apud Schindler. Lex. Polyglott. col. 288. And Harris's Voyages and Travels, vol. 1. p. 604. {w} Vid. Huls. Theolog. Jud. par. 2. p. 511. {x} Geograph. Arab. par. 9. clim. 5. lin. 22, 23. {y} Phaleg. l. 3. c. 13. col. 187. {z} Hilchot Terumot, c. 1. sect. 9. {a} See Hyde Not, in Peritsol. Itinera Mundi, p. 42. {b} Zonaras, Cedrenus, & Joan. Curopalates apud Selden. de Synedriis, l. 2. c. 3. sect. 6. {c} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1. {d} Strabo. Geograph. l. 11. p. 364. {e} Phaleg. l. 3. c. 13. col. 188.







Ezekiel 38:3



Ver. 3. And say, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Which is repeated for the confirmation of it, that so it would certainly be; that the Lord, the mighty God, and King of kings, would in his providence frown upon him, and appear against him; and his titles are repeated also, to show that all his greatness, grandeur, and power, would not protect him from the vengeance of God.





Ezekiel 38:4



Ver. 4. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,.... Or, I will put hooks in thy jaws, and with them turn thee back; or rather, "turn thee about" {f}; and lead thee where and as I please; for this is not to be understood of God's putting hooks into his jaws, and leading him back from his enterprise of invading the land of Judea; as he put a hook in the nose and a bridle in the lips of the king of Assyria, and brought him back from Jerusalem, Isa 37:29, but of his using him thus in his providence to draw him to the land of Israel, out of his own land, as fishes are drawn with the hook out of the water. The sense is, that he would so work upon and influence the heart of Gog, that he should be inclined to come out of his own land and invade Judea; just as the Lord is said to draw Sisera and his army, Jud 4:7, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe. So the Targum,



"I will persuade thee, and put hooks in thy jaws;''



that is, incline his heart to take such a step, which should be to his destruction:



and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army; all his janizaries, and large army out of Turkey, and other parts of his dominions:



horses and horsemen; the Turkish armies, chiefly consisting of cavalry;

See Gill on "Re 9:16":



all of them clothed with all sorts of [armour]; or completely clothed, as the Targum; for the word "armour" is not in the text; and besides, their armour is particularly mentioned afterwards; and so Kimchi has it, with all kind of ornaments, richly clothed and decorated, especially the principal officers, and, so made a fine show: even a



great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords; or large armies, as the Targum; the Turks have always been used to bring prodigious large armies into the field; See Gill on "Re 9:16".



{f} Kytbbwv "circumducam te", Piscator; "circumagam te", Grotius.





Ezekiel 38:5



Ver. 5. Persia, Ethiopia, and Lybia with them,.... These are the confederates or auxiliaries of the Turks, which shall join with them in this expedition. Persia is a neighbouring kingdom to the Turks, and may fall into their hands before this comes to pass; and is in a fair way for it at this time, through the internal divisions in it; however, it will be confederate with them. Ethiopia or Cush does not design the country of the Abyssines in the dominions of the Great Mogul, but Arabia Chusea, which lay between Judea and Egypt, and is now in the hands of the Turks; and Lybia or Phut is the name of one of the sons of Ham, Ge 10:6 who, according to Josephus {g}, founded Lybia; and from him the inhabitants of it were called Phuteans (as they are here by the Targum); and he observes that there is a river of his name in Mauritania. Lybia is a country in Africa, to the west of Egypt and subject to the Turks:



all of them with shield and helmet; the Lybians are described by Jeremiah, Jer 46:9, as



those that handle the shield; and the Egyptians, to whom the Lybians were near neighbours, and whom they might imitate in their warlike arms, as in other things, wore shields down to the feet, as Xenophon {h} relates.



{g} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 2. {h} Cyropaedia, l. 6. c. 14. & l. 7. c. 11.







Ezekiel 38:6



Ver. 6. Gomer, and all his bands,.... Or all his army, as the Targum. Gomer was the eldest son of Japheth, Ge 10:2, from whom descended the people called by the Greeks Galatians, or Galio-Grecians, as Josephus {i} says, who before were from him called Gomarians: others think that Phrygia, and the inhabitants of it, are meant; but, whether one or the other, they were both people of the lesser Asia, which is now in the hands of the Turks:



the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands; Togarmah was one of the sons of Gomer, Ge 10:3 whose posterity, according to the Greeks, as Josephus {k} says, were the Phrygians; but others rather think the Cappadocians descended from him; and that Togarmah designs their country, which also is a part of the Turkish dominions; See Gill on "Eze 27:14". Several moderns, as Calmet {l} observes, believe that the children of Togarmah peopled Turcomania in Tartary, and Scythia, and which he approves of; and the Turks are mentioned by Ben Gorion {m} as one of the ten families of Togarmah. The Targum renders it here the province of Germany; as it is also interpreted in the Talmud {n}, but wrongly:



and many people with thee; from other places and nations, besides those named; especially out of the lesser Asia, as Pamphylia, Cilicia, and other places; and perhaps from Tartary, and elsewhere,



{i} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1. {k} lbid. {l} Dictionary in the word "Togarmah". {m} Heb. Hist. l. 1. c. 1. p. 3. {n} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 10. 1.







Ezekiel 38:7



Ver. 7. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself,.... All warlike stores and provisions: this is ironically said; and suggests that he would do so, and yet all would be in vain, and to no purpose:



thou and all thy company, that are assembled unto thee; or all thine armies, as the Targum, gathered out of his dominions, and made up of his auxiliaries and allies; let them all be furnished with arms, and everything proper for the expedition designed:



and be thou a guard unto them; the general of them; let them observe and obey thy word of command; guide and direct, guard and protect them in their march; and take care of them when entered the land of Judea, that they are not exposed to any unnecessary danger, or cut off by any stratagem or ambush: this is also sarcastically said; signifying that let him use all the care and caution that a wise and prudent general can do, yet he and his army should perish.







Ezekiel 38:8



Ver. 8. After many days thou shalt be visited,.... After the Ottoman empire has stood a long time, as it has already; when the many days will be ended that Israel should be without a king and a prince, &c. Ho 3:4, then shall Gog or the Turk be visited of God, not in a way of grace, but vengeance; he shall be punished for all his iniquities, and his punishment or destruction will be brought about in the following manner:



in the latter years thou shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword; that is, into the land of Judea, the right owners of which shall now be returned unto it; who have been for many years drove and kept out of it by the sword of their enemies; see Jer 31:2 and these "latter years" are the same with the "latter days", in which these people shall seek the Lord and the Messiah, and fear him and his goodness, and return to their own land, Ho 3:5, when the Turks, enraged at it, will raise a numerous army, and enter it, in order to repossess it. The description of the Jews, who are most manifestly pointed at, is continued: and



is gathered out of many people against the mountains of Israel; or rather, "to the mountains of Israel" {o}; for it seems to design the land of Judea, that is, the people of it; who shall be gathered out of the several nations where they are now dispersed, and brought into their own land; described by the mountains of Israel, because a mountainous country, and a very fruitful one; Eze 34:13, and not the army of Gog gathered out of many nations, as before observed, to march against the people of the Jews; though this seems to be the sense of the Targum,



"in the end of years thou shalt come into the land, against which are turned those that slay with the sword, who are gathered out of many people against the mountains of the land of Israel:''



which have been always waste: of a longer time than the seventy years' captivity, even ever since the destruction of it by the Romans; and if the time of the carrying captive of the ten tribes by Salmanezer is respected, it is longer still:



but it brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them; that is, the people of the Jews, the proprietors of the land of Israel, shall now be brought forth out of each the nations where they are scattered, and shall inhabit their own land, and dwell in the utmost security, having nothing to fear from their most potent enemies, even Gog himself; and though he shall come against them in the following manner.



{o} larvy yrh le "ad montes Israel", Pagninus, Cocceius, Starckius.







Ezekiel 38:9



Ver. 9. Thou shall ascend and come like a storm,.... That comes suddenly, looks black and terrible, and causes darkness and horror; makes a great noise, and is very threatening of danger; signifying, that the Turks will come into the land of Judea suddenly to surprise it, and with great wrath and fury, and threaten them with utter destruction; so the king of the north is said to come like a whirlwind, which many interpret of the Turk also, Da 11:40:



thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land; with darkness and distress; suggesting the vast number of his army, which should overspread the land of Judea, as it follows:



thou and all thy bands, and many people with thee; his own army should be very numerous, and this increased by his confederates, or such who will voluntarily join him in this expedition.





Ezekiel 38:10



Ver. 10. Thus saith the Lord, it shall also come to pass,.... Who is the Lord God omniscient, and knows the thoughts of men's hearts afar off; which, though they are contingent and voluntary, yet certain to the foreknowledge of God; who knows them before they are conceived, and can foretell what they will be, and which come to pass accordingly: it is now above two thousand years ago since this was said, and as yet is not fulfilled, but certainly will be: that



at the same time shall things come into thy mind; when the Jews shall be in their own land, dwelling in great security; and when Gog or the Turk shall make preparation to disturb them, and shall enter into their land suddenly and furiously; many thoughts shall come into his mind, many schemes and devices, but not good ones:



and thou shall think an evil thought; to do mischief to the Jews; to disturb their peace, to dispossess them of their land, and plunder their substance.





Ezekiel 38:11



Ver. 11. And thou shall say,.... What came into his mind, and what he thought of; this he shall say to his privy counsellors and ministers of state; or to the generals and officers of his army; or to his confederates and allies, and even to them all, to have their opinion and approbation of it; and to encourage them to join him, and go with him:



I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; a land which has nothing but villages in it, and those no walls about them to protect them: this he said by way of contempt; and the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it "the abject land"; and to observe how easily he could conquer it, there being nothing in his way to hinder him, or give him trouble:



I will go to them that are at rest, and dwell safely: as the Jews will do in the latter day, when they shall own and acknowledge the Messiah,

Jer 23:5, and dwell in their own land, where they will be quiet and peaceable, and think and do no harm to any, nor mistrust their neighbours doing any harm to them; but shall live in the utmost tranquillity and security; and which Gog or the Turks will take the advantage of; and from hence promise themselves an easy conquest of them:



all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates; no walls to their cities; no gates to walls; nor bars to gates; but without either; being under the protection of God, and putting their trust in him, who is a wall of fire round about his people; and is better to them, than gates with bars.





Ezekiel 38:12



Ver. 12. To take a spoil, and to take a prey,.... These are the words of Gog continued; suggesting that he should have no occasion to fight; should have nothing else to do but to seize upon the goods and plunder the substance of these people:



to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited: such as were before desolate, and had lain long so, but now peopled and cultivated; these he would attack and demolish, and make a spoil and prey of:



and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations; a description of the Jews, as before; Eze 38:8



which have gotten cattle and goods; so that it should seem that Gog or the Turks will not immediately attack the Jews upon their possession of the land of Judea; but some time after, when they have settled in it, and have acquired much wealth and riches in cattle and goods, and then think to have a fine booty of them:



that dwell in the midst of the land; or, "the navel of the land" {p}; which may design Jerusalem, situated in the midst of the land of Israel, and so called the navel of it, as that is in the midst of the body; as Enna is said by Cicero to be the navel of Sicily: or, as Kimchi thinks, the land of Israel itself is meant; which is in the midst of the world, and so the navel of it; though the former seems best.



{p} Urah rwbj le epi ton omfalon thv ghv, Sept.; "in [vel] super umbilico terrae", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Starckius.







Ezekiel 38:13



Ver. 13. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish,.... These are not any of the people that shall come along with Gog on his expedition; but some neighbouring nations bordering on Judea, who will address him in the following manner, as he passes through them, or by them. Sheba and Dedan design the Arabians inhabiting that part of Arabia which lay near to Judea, even Arabia Petraea and Felix; and the merchants of Tarshish are the Tyrians and Zidonians that traded by sea, as Tarshish sometimes signifies; or to Tartessus in Spain, where they had much traffic; and may design the people of those places that will at this time be living in Palestine, that trade by sea to foreign parts. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it the "Carthaginian merchants", or "the merchants of Carthage":



with all the young lions thereof; which some interpret of sea pirates, for their cruelty and voraciousness. The Targum paraphrases it, all the kings thereof; and so Kimchi thinks kings and princes are meant; but the Septuagint version renders it, all their villages; and so the Syriac version, all the cities:



shall say unto thee, art thou come to take a spoil? either out of compassion to the people of the Jews; or rather by way of congratulation, and as expressive of joy at it; or else out of envy that they have no share in it; suggesting that they would gladly join with him, and partake of the booty:



hast thou gathered thy company together to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? all which it is supposed might easily be done; only they might wonder that so rich a potentate as the Turk should give himself the trouble to raise such an army, and come so far, for cattle and goods, and silver and gold of which he had such plenty. Gog gives no answer, but God does.





Ezekiel 38:14



Ver. 14. Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog,.... Since these are his thoughts and designs, and those his big words, and which he will endeavour to put in practice, and be applauded for it by others; deliver this prophecy to him, or concerning him:



thus saith the Lord God, in that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shall thou not know it? that Israel are returned to their own land? that they dwell in it safely? that they have abundance of cattle, gold, and silver that they have no walls, gates, and bars to protect them? that they live without fear or suspicion of any enemy to annoy them, and therefore may be easily surprised and taken? this, when it comes to pass, will soon be known by the Turks, through their spies and informers: or, "shall thou not know?" {q} or experience the divine vengeance for thy wicked thoughts, intentions, and attempts against Israel? he should. So the Targum,



"shalt thou not know the vengeance of my power?''



or shalt thou not know that all attempts to make them uneasy and uncomfortable will be in vain?



{q} edt "experturus esses", Junius & Tremellius; "experieris, scil. poenam meam", Piscator.







Ezekiel 38:15



Ver. 15. And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts,.... Whose original was from Scythia, or Cathaia in Tartary, that lies to the north of China; and who will bring with him many people from the Euxine and Caspian seas, and from the northern parts of lesser Asia; and the Turk is, by many interpreters, thought to be the king of the north, in Da 11:44 as before observed:



thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses; the Turkish armies consisting chiefly of horse, as has been observed on

Eze 38:4:



a great company, and a mighty army; for quantity many, for quality strong and mighty. The Targum is,



"many armies, and much people;''



the Turks usually have large armies; See Gill on "Eze 38:4".







Ezekiel 38:16



Ver. 16. And thou shall come up against my people of Israel,.... Which is repeated for the certainty of it; and not for his comfort, but his ruin; not to the terror of Israel, but for the glory of God:



as a cloud to cover the land; the land of Israel, so great should be his army; See Gill on "Eze 38:9",



it shall be in the latter days; of the Gospel state, or kingdom of the Messiah, when the Jews shall be converted, and are returned to their own land, Ho 3:5:



and I will bring thee against my land; not to possess it, nor to hurt it, or to any injury to the people of it: but



that the Heathen may know me; the Pagan kingdoms of China, and others; who by God's judgments on the Turks will come to the knowledge of the true God, and acknowledge him, and will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, Re 11:15:



when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes; that is, when God shall appear to be a holy and just God, in inflicting deserved punishment on the enemies of his people; when his omniscience and omnipotence, his power and faithfulness, and other perfections of his will be displayed, in fulfilling those prophecies concerning Gog or the Turks; infidels will be convinced of the truth of divine revelation; of the God of Israel being the true God; of Jesus being the Messiah; and of the Christian religion being of God, and shall profess the same. The, Targum is,



"that the people may know the vengeance of my power, when I shall be sanctified in thee, who shall see thy vengeance, O Gog.''





Ezekiel 38:17



Ver. 17. Thus saith the Lord God,.... Putting the question that follows:



art thou he of whom I have spoken of old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I will bring thee against them? certainly thou art he: but who were the prophets that prophesied of Gog before Ezekiel, since he is the first that makes mention of him? to this it may be replied, that though he is not mentioned by name, yet he might be prophesied of under other names, as by Isaiah under the name of Leviathan, Isa 27:1 and by Micah under the name of the Assyrian, Mic 5:5. The Jews {r} say that Eldad and Medad prophesied of him, which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abendana remark; who all observe, agreeably to the Talmudists in the place referred to, that these two are the prophets meant; and therefore it is directed to be read not "shanim", years, but "shenaim", two; namely, those two prophets prophesied one prophecy at one time, or together; but this is not to be depended upon: it should be observed, that this must be considered as spoken at the time of the accomplishment of this prophecy, and so may have respect to the Prophet Ezekiel himself, or to Joel, Joe 3:1, and to Zechariah, Zec 14:1, and even to the book of the Revelation, Re 16:14.



{r} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 17. 1. & Gloss. in ib.







Ezekiel 38:18



Ver. 18. And it shall come to pass at the same time, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God,.... As before prophesied of and described:



that my fury shall come up in my face; as a man's blood rises up in his face, and his colour appears, when he is wroth and angry: or, "in my nose" {s}; as men when they are angry puff and blow, expand their nose, breathe through it; but against whom is all this wrath and fury? Starckius, a modern interpreter, thinks it is against the land of Israel, against the church; but it rather seems to be against Gog himself; the Lord being provoked at his attempt against the land of Israel, and the wicked designs he had to spoil and plunder it.



{s} ypab "in nasum meum", Piscator, Cocceius, Starckius.





Ezekiel 38:19



Ver. 19. For in my jealousy, and in the fire of my wrath, have I spoken,.... Not against his people Israel, but against Gog, who had thought evil against them, and now was about to put it in practice; and therefore in zeal for his own glory, and for the good of his people, and in indignation against his and their enemies, he declares, resolves, and determines:



surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; not a consternation among the people of Israel frightened at the armies of Gog, and the terrible appearance they shall make, and the devastations they threaten; but in Gog himself, and his army, through the wrath of God upon them, and the vengeance he will take of them in the land of Israel, they will enter upon to destroy; not but that there may be some dread in the minds of the Jews upon the appearance of so formidable an army in their land: this shaking, according to Jarchi, will be by thunder and lightning. Kimchi understands it of an earthquake, in a literal sense, and compares with it Zec 14:4, see also Re 16:18, which speaks of an earthquake that will be about this time.







Ezekiel 38:20



Ver. 20. So that the fishes of the sea shall shake at my presence,.... From whence it appears that this great shaking shall not be on account of the army of Gog, and the devastations that it shall make; but on account of the powerful presence of God, which will be manifest in the destruction of his army: and what is here said of the shaking of the fishes of the sea,



and the fowls of the heaven, and the beast of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the earth, must be understood figuratively and hyperbolically, as Kimchi observes, and in allusion to earthquakes, which both shake and terrify all kind of creatures; the blow given to Gog will be so terrible, that all nature will seem to be thrown into a convulsion and agitation by it; see Jer 4:24:



and the mountains shall be thrown down; as they are sometimes by earthquakes; and as the mount of Olives will at this time cleave asunder; and perhaps other mountains will, as Kimchi observes, see

Zec 14:2:



and the steep places shall fall; the Targum renders the word "towers"; and so the Syriac version, and Piscator: the word signifies stairs or steps {t}, such as in a ladder; and is translated "stairs", So 2:14 it seems to me to design such mounts as are raised by besiegers of a city, by means of which they may be able to scale the walls of it, which Jarchi suggests; though he says he had heard it said that these, are rocks bending over and hanging, and appear as if they were falling; which agrees with our version; and it may be observed, in some of those precipices, there are like stairs or steps to go up them:



and every wall shall fall to the ground: this shows that the words are not to be taken literally, but figuratively; only to express how sensibly the power of God should be felt and perceived by all creatures, and in all parts of the land; since now the Jews will dwell in a land of unwalled villages, and in cities without walls, bars, and gates; see

Eze 38:11.



{t} twgrdmh "gradus", Munster, Pagninus, Montanus.







Ezekiel 38:21



Ver. 21. And I will call for a sword against him,.... That is, against Gog; or, as I would choose to render the words, "for I will call for a sword", so the particle is rendered, Eze 38:19 and which Noldius {u} agrees to; and this gives a reason why there should be such a commotion in the land of Israel; because the Lord, who has the swords of princes at his command, will call for the Christian kings to come to the assistance of the Jews, and fight against the Turk: who will pursue him



throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God; throughout the land of Israel, which is mountainous; and is called the Lord's, because he hath chosen it for his people, given it to them, and now dwelt among them; and in all parts of it where the enemy is, the sword of the Jews, and of those princes that should come in to their assistance at the call of God, shall be sent against them, and cut them off: and not only so,



but every man's sword shall be against his brother; as the swords of the Midianites were, Jud 7:22, and of the enemies of Jehoshaphat,

2Ch 20:22. The Turkish army will consist of a mixed people of many nations, who will quarrel among themselves, and destroy one another.



{u} Concordant. Ebr. Partic. p. 285, 286.





Ezekiel 38:22



Ver. 22. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood,.... Not only the sword of the Jews and the sword of Christian princes shall be drawn against him, and the sword of Gog's soldiers against one another; but the Lord himself would plead with him by his judgments, or take vengeance on him, as the Targum; and send a pestilence in his army, which should destroy vast numbers of it; as the army of Sennacherib was destroyed by one when before Jerusalem; and make a great slaughter among them by that and other judgments:



and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain; a horrible tempest of divine wrath, Ps 11:6 as he came into the land of Israel like a storm, so he shall be destroyed by one much more terrible:



and great hailstones; such as were cast upon the Canaanites,

Jos 10:11 and as there will be on men, the enemies of the church of God, at the pouring out of the seventh vial, Re 16:21:



fire and brimstone; as God rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah,

Ge 19:24, signifying that in like manner will God deal with those enemies of his people; so at the battle of Armageddon, which seems to be the same with this here, the beast and the false prophet will be taken alive, and cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone, Re 19:20, and to this rain or tempest of fire and brimstone upon Gog there is an allusion in Re 20:9.





Ezekiel 38:23



Ver. 23. Thus will l magnify myself, and sanctify myself,.... Show the greatness of his power, and the strictness of his justice and holiness, and glorify these, and all other of his perfections, in the destruction of the enemies of his people:



and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord; Heathen nations shall now come to the knowledge of the true God, and his Son Jesus Christ, and of the Christian religion, and shall embrace and profess it; See Gill on "Eze 38:16", the kingdoms of the world will now become the Lord's, Re 11:15.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Ezekiel 39:1



INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 39



This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy of the destruction of Gog, which is both repeated, and more largely described, Eze 39:1, then follows an account of the burning of his weapons of war, which will last seven years in burning, during which time there will be no need of the use of wood, Eze 39:9, and of the burial of him, and many of his army; the place where, and the time that will be taken up in doing this, even seven months, are observed, Eze 39:11, and every feathered fowl and beast of the field are called upon to feed on the flesh of those that are left unburied, Eze 39:17 and by all this the glory of the Lord will be seen, known, and acknowledged, both by the Heathens, and by the house of Israel, Eze 39:21, and the former will also be informed that the present captivity of the Jews has been for their sins and transgressions, Eze 39:23, and the chapter is concluded with a promise of their return from captivity, when they shall know the Lord, and their interest in him; who will after this no more hide his face from them, but pour out his Spirit upon them, under whose influence they shall ever continue, Eze 39:25.



Ver. 1. Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,.... As he had been ordered to do before, and must still continue to do it:



behold, I am against thee, O Gog; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and to inject terror into him; for terrible it is to have God against any:



the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; See Gill on "Eze 38:2", the Septuagint version adds "Ros" here as there.







Ezekiel 39:2



Ver. 2. And I will turn thee back,.... Not from the land of Israel; for thither it is said in the latter part of the text he would bring him; but the meaning is, that he would "turn him about", as the word {w} signifies, in his own land, and lead him about at his pleasure, and bring him out of it, unto the land of Israel; signifying hereby that the providence of God would be greatly concerned in this affair; and in which much glory would be brought unto him by the destruction of such a potent enemy of his people; which is the design of bringing him out;

See Gill on "Eze 38:4":



and leave but a sixth part of thee; meaning, not that a sixth part only should escape the vengeance of God, and all but a sixth part be destroyed in the land of Israel; for it looks as if the whole army would be utterly destroyed, and none left; but that, when he should come out of his own country upon this expedition, a sixth part of his subjects only should be left behind; five out of six should accompany him; so numerous should his army be, and so drained his country by this enterprise of his. Some render the words, "will draw thee out with an hook of six teeth" {x}; that is, out of his own land; and this clause stands in the same place and order as the phrase and "put hooks into thy jaws" does in Eze 38:4 and so may be thought to explain one another, and agrees with what follows: for, as for the sense of it given by Joseph Kimchi and others,



"I will judge thee with six judgments {y}, Eze 38:12, pestilence, blood, an overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone,''



it must be rejected; seeing as yet the account of his punishment is not come to; only an account is given how and by what means he shall be drawn out of his own land; wherefore much better is the Targum,



"I will persuade thee, and I will seduce thee;''



so Jarchi seems to understand it: and the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "I will lead thee", agreeably to what follows:



and will cause thee to come up from the north parts;

See Gill on "Eze 38:15"



and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel; not to inherit them, but to fall upon them, as in Eze 39:4.



{w} Kytbbv "circumducam te", Piscator; "circumagam", Grotius. {x} Kytavv "harpagone sextuplici extraham te", Vinarienses apud Starckius. So Buxtorf. {y} "Sex poenis, [sive] plagis afficiam te", Munster, Tigurine version.







Ezekiel 39:3



Ver. 3. And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand,.... In which it is usually held, to have the arrow fitted to it:



and I will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand; where they are commonly held when put into the bow, and then the bow is drawn with it; signifying hereby, that though he should come into the land of Israel, he should not succeed; he would be stripped of his armour, and it would be useless to him: bows and arrows are put for all kind of warlike instruments; and are particularly mentioned because they were chiefly used in war when this prophecy was delivered.





Ezekiel 39:4



Ver. 4. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel,.... Be slain, and his carcass lie there; so the Targum,



"upon the mountains of the land of Israel thy carcass shall be cast:''



thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee; Gog and his army, auxiliaries and allies:



I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured: a great part of his army being slain, should not be buried, but be devoured by birds of prey, and savage beasts; such as eagles and vultures of the former sort, and lions, bears, wolves, &c. of the latter. This was always reckoned a very sore judgment and dreadful calamity, not to have a burial, but to be exposed to birds and beasts of prey; this was threatened to the Israelites, in case of disobedience to the law of God, De 28:26 and to the wicked Jews in the times of Jeremiah; and to that evil king of Judah, Jehoiakim, Jer 16:4 and is lamented as one of the greatest evils that could befall good men, Ps 79:2, and nothing was more dreadful among the Heathens themselves; hence Homer {z}, among the many calamities Achilles was the cause of to the Grecians, mentions this as one, that he was the means of giving the bodies of a great number of their heroes to the dogs, and to the fowls of the air; so Virgil {a} represents the want of a burial, and being left to be fed upon by birds of prey, as severe a punishment of a wicked man as can be wished for.



{z} Iliad. 1. l. 4, 5. {a} "----non te optima mater Condet humi, patriove onerrabit membra sepulchro Alitibus linquere feris". Aeneid. l. 10.







Ezekiel 39:5



Ver. 5. Thou shalt fall upon the open field,.... Some part of his army should fall upon the mountains, and others upon the plain; wherever they will be found, they will be destroyed, either by the sword of the Jews and Christian princes, or by God's judgments from heaven:



for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God; and therefore it should surely come to pass, since no word of his ever fails; this is added to assure of the truth of it, since it might be thought incredible that so large an army should be destroyed.





Ezekiel 39:6



Ver. 6. And I will send a fire on Magog,.... On the land of Magog; see

Eze 38:2, while Gog is in the land of Israel, and he and his army perish there, his country shall be destroyed by fire, or by some judgment or judgments of God, which shall consume like fire. The Septuagint version renders it, "I will send a fire on Gog"; but he before is said to fall upon the mountains of Israel; his country is meant; it designs the destruction of the Ottoman empire:



and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: that belong to the Turkish dominions; not only the habitants of the Continent shall be consumed, but those that dwell in islands, and think themselves safe and secure, and so live carelessly; or such who live on the sea coasts, it being usual in Scripture to call such places isles; and may intend those who dwell near the Exine and Caspian seas:



and they shall know that I am the Lord: by his judgments executed upon them.





Ezekiel 39:7



Ver. 7. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel,.... That is, his perfections; his holiness and justice in punishing their enemies; his truth and faithfulness in fulfilling his promises to them; his power in inflicting judgments on Gog and his army; and his goodness in their preservation and protection:



and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: either the Heathens round about who before blasphemed it, saying that God was not able to deliver his people from such a potent enemy; but now their mouth will be stopped, and they will not dare to speak any more after this manner: or else the Israelites, who shall be so influenced by the grace and goodness of God unto them, as to fear the Lord and his goodness, and not dare to commit the sins they formerly did, whereby his name was polluted and blasphemed among the Heathens:



and the Heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel; they shall know, by these judgments and providences, that he is the true God, and they shall acknowledge and confess it; and that he is a holy and just God, and dwells in Israel, and grants his gracious as well as powerful presence to his people; nor shall they dare to molest them any more.







Ezekiel 39:8



Ver. 8. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God,.... That is, the salvation of his people, and the destruction of their enemies; the prophecy concerning all this is come to pass, and the whole is accomplished; thus, because of the certainty thereof, it is represented as if the time was actually come, and the thing was really done; for the event is as sure as if it was now fulfilled:



this is the day whereof I have spoken; by the Prophet Ezekiel and others; See Gill on "Eze 38:17".





Ezekiel 39:9



Ver. 9. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth,.... Out of their houses into the streets, where Gog's soldiers will lie dead, and their armour by them; or rather out of their cities, where they dwelt safely, and where they kept themselves, and were secure from the enemy: these seem to be distinct from the militia of Israel, engaged in battle with Gog; these were the inhabitants that will stay at home, and yet share in the spoil and plunder; see

Ps 68:12, these, after the battle is over, and the victory obtained, of which they will have information, will then march out without fear into the open fields and mountains, where the army of Gog will fall,

Eze 39:4:



and shall set on fire and burn the weapons; the armour of Gog's army, which they shall find lie by the dead, or upon them; or which they that flee will cast away; these they shall gather together, and lay on a heap, and burn, as sometimes has been the practice of conquerors; or rather they shall take them to their own houses, and make fuel of them, and burn them, instead of wood out of the fields and forests, as the following verse shows:



both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows; which were the weapons that Gog and his associates used; see Eze 38:4,



and the handstaves, and the spears; the "handstaves" were either half pikes or truncheons, as some think; or javelins, as others:



and they shall burn them with fire seven years; which some take to be a certain number for an uncertain, and others an hyperbolical expression; but when it is considered what a vast army this of Gog's will be, and what prodigious numbers of weapons of all sorts must be carried by them, and the little use of fire in those hot countries: it may be very well taken in a literal sense, and the meaning be, that so great will be the quantity of warlike weapons that will be found and gathered, that they will serve for fuel for the space of seven years.





Ezekiel 39:10



Ver. 10. So that they shall take no wood out of the field,.... During that seven years; or they shall have no need to do so, as the Syriac version; having a sufficiency of armour:



neither cut down any out of the forest: out of the forest of Lebanon, or any other, where they used to fetch wood for their necessary uses; but so great a quantity of armour shall now be brought home by them to their houses, that they should have no need to be at the trouble and expense of fetching wood from the forests:



for they shall burn the weapons with fire; the reason of which will be, because they will have no occasion for them hereafter; for when this battle is over, which seems to be the same with that at Armageddon, there will be an entire destruction of all the enemies of Christ and his church; the world will be cleared of them, and there will be war no more, and so no more use of weapons; this will be the last battle that will be fought; see Isa 2:4:



and they shall spoil those that spoil them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God: not only take their weapons and burn them, but strip them of their garments, and take away their gold, and silver, and jewels, and everything of value they shall find about them.





Ezekiel 39:11



Ver. 11. And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When this destruction of the army of Gog shall be made:



that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel; or, "a place there, a grave in Israel" {b}; he that thought to have subdued the whole land, and taken possession of it, shall have no more of it than just a place for a grave, to be buried in; a place fit for a grave, as the Targum; and where that will be is next observed: "the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea"; a valley through which travellers used to pass from Syria, Babylon, and other places, to Egypt and Arabia Felix, which lay east of the sea; not the Mediterranean sea, which lies west of Judea; but either the Dead sea, the sea of Sodom, a sulphurous lake, to which there may be an allusion,

Re 19:20 or the sea of Chinnereth, or Genesareth, as the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi; the same with the sea or lake of Tiberias and Galilee, mentioned in the New Testament; which sense is approved of by Gussetius {c}; where was a passage from the land of Canaan to the east of the same sea. Calmet {d} thinks it stands for the great road at the foot of Mount Carmel, to go from Judea, Egypt, and the country of the Philistines, into Phoenicia, which road was to the east of the Mediterranean sea.



And it shall stop the noses of the passengers; or the passengers shall stop their noses, because of the ill smell of the carcasses {e}; or their mouths, the mouths of blasphemers, who shall no more blaspheme the God of Israel, when they shall observe this monument of his power, in the destruction of his and his people's enemies. It may be rendered, "it shall stop the passengers {f}; from passing that way, because of the multitude of the carcasses that shall fall there", and which is the reason of their being buried out of the way; this sense Jarchi takes notice of. The Targum is,



"and it is near to two mountains;''



as if this clause described the situation of the valley.



And there shall they bury Gog, and all his multitude; all his army, such of it as the fowls and beasts had not devoured, and the bones they had left; not his army only, but himself also, the Sultan or Grand Seignior of the Turks, the general of his mighty army: this was not true of Antiochus; he died not, nor was he buried in the land of Israel.



And they shall call it the valley of Hamon-gog: Hamon signifies a multitude; and this name will be imposed upon the place of Gog's sepulchre, because of the multitude slain and buried here, and to perpetuate the memory of it: there never was yet a place of this name in the land of Israel, which shows that this event is yet future. Calmet takes it to be the valley of Jezreel, in which he thinks the army of Cambyses was defeated, after the death of that prince; wrongly taking Cambyses and his army for Gog and Magog.



{b} rbq Mv Mwqm "locum ibi sepulchrum", Starckius; "locum ubi sit sepulchrum", Cocceius. {c} Ebr. Comment. p. 585. {d} Dictionary in the word "Vale" {e} So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 66. 2. {f} Myrbeh ta ayh tmoxw "et erit illa obturans transeuntes", Starckius; "et erit illa frenans transeuntes", Cocceius.





Ezekiel 39:12



Ver. 12. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them,.... So long time will the burial of Gog's army take up, because of the multitude of it, and by reason their bones will be scattered here and there; which will require time to gather them together, and bring them to one place: the reason of the burial of them will be, partly out of humanity, which the Christian religion, which will then be embraced by the Jews, teaches and encourages; and partly because of the disagreeable sight and ill smell of the carcasses of the slain, and to prevent the air being infected therewith, which might cause noxious diseases. Jarchi gives the reason of it, because Gog is of the seed of Japheth, who covered his father's nakedness, and therefore worthy of a funeral: but a better reason follows,



that they may cleanse the land: not from ceremonial uncleanness, a place being unclean, by the ceremonial law, where dead carcasses, or the bones of dead men, lay; for the ceremonial law, as it is abrogated, will now be disused by the Jews themselves, when converted; but from natural pollution, before mentioned.





Ezekiel 39:13



Ver. 13. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them,.... That is, a great number of the common people of the land of Israel, especially of those that dwell near the field of battle, shall be employed in burying the slain; and which they will be very ready to do, for the reasons above mentioned:



and it shall be to them a renown; or, "for a name" {g}; they shall be commended for their humanity to their enemies, and shall be spoken of with honour, as being the peculiar people of God, whom he has so remarkably appeared for, protected, and defended:



the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God; the day that will be renown to them will be to the glory of God; whose greatness, goodness, power, and wisdom, will be seen in saving his people, and destroying their enemies.



{g} Mvl "in nomen", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius, Starckius.





Ezekiel 39:14



Ver. 14. And they shall sever out men of continual employment,.... That is, the principal of the house of Israel, their magistrates and governors, shall select certain persons, to be daily employed in the following work, till ended:



passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it; these men will be appointed to go through the land of Israel, to gather up such carcasses and bones of dead men as remain anywhere after the seven months' burial before observed; and all passengers or travellers shall be assisting to them in it, both in directing where any such carcasses and bones may lie, and in bringing them to the common place of burial; that so the land may he thoroughly cleansed from such disagreeable objects:



after the end of seven months shall they search or begin to search, as the Targum; when seven months are ended, in which the people in general will be employed in burying the dead; these men before mentioned will be sent out into each part of the land, to search in caves, and dens and ditches; among thickets, thorns, and briers, where the slain may fall; or where soldiers, being wounded, might betake themselves and die; or their carcasses or bones be dragged and left by beasts and fowls; to find them out, and bring them to the place of interment.







Ezekiel 39:15



Ver. 15. And the passengers that pass through the land,.... Not along with the searchers, but that travel through it upon business in it, or in other lands:



when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it; as he passes along, if he happens to see a human bone in the way, or hard by, he shall stop and lay a stone, or a heap of stones, by it, or some such mark or token, signifying that a man's bone lies there:



till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog, that is, which sign shall continue till searchers come that way and take up the bone, and carry it to be buried in the valley of Hamon-gog; for carcasses and bones were not to be buried in the place where they were found, but to be brought and interred in this common place of sepulture.





Ezekiel 39:16



Ver. 16. And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah,.... The name of the city nearest to this place, where Gog and his multitude shall be buried, shall be called Hamonah from thence, which signifies a multitude; or Polyandrion, as the Septuagint version, a place where many graves are; or perhaps a new city will be built near this place, and so called, to perpetuate the memory of it; or else, as Kimchi observes, Jerusalem will be so called, from the multitude of those that will be slain near it; but, however, neither that nor any other city in the land of Israel have ever bore any such name; from whence it may be concluded that this prophecy does not refer to the times of Antiochus, or any yet past, but to time to come:



thus shall they cleanse the land; thoroughly and completely, so that not a bone shall be left unburied.





Ezekiel 39:17



Ver. 17. And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord God,.... What the prophet is ordered by the Lord to say is to creatures not then in being, nor yet; and, were they, they could not understand his words; but however, when the time comes, partly by an instinct in nature, and partly by a particular direction of Providence, they will be gathered together upon so great a slaughter of men; for what follows, though mentioned in this place, will be between the slaughter of Gog's army, and the burial of it, as Kimchi well observes; after the burial such an invitation would be impertinent; and which is made not for the sake of creatures, but of men, to denote the certainty of this great carnage that shall be made:



speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field; this must be understood of such fowls, and such beasts, as devour dead carcasses, for all will not feed on them; a like invitation is given after the battle at Armageddon, the same with this here, Re 19:17 only with this difference, there an angel is said to cry, here the prophet; there to the fowls only, here to the beasts of the field also; no doubt respect there is had to this passage:



assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifices that I do sacrifice for you; such a slaughter of men is called a sacrifice, because there is a likeness between that and the killing of beasts for sacrifice; besides, these enemies of God and his people will fall a victim to his justice, as well as be a repast for fowls and beasts, who are invited, as to a feast, to feed upon them; and there being so much of the power and providence of God in all this, it is ascribed to him, and is called "the supper of the great God",

Re 19:17:



even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel; where Gog's army will fall, Eze 39:4, and in such vast numbers, that it may well be called a great sacrifice; the sacrifice of a great army by the great God, and for such great number of creatures:



that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood; the flesh and blood of the sacrifices, even of slain men, which carnivorous creatures delight in. The Targum is,



"draw near everywhere round about to the slain, which I slay for you with a great slaughter upon the mountains of Israel, and ye shall eat the flesh, and drink the blood.''





Ezekiel 39:18



Ver. 18. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty,.... Of the soldiers, men of strength and courage, and fit for war, with which the army of Gog will abound:



and drink the blood of the princes of the earth: both the princes of his own family and court, and those of his allies and auxiliaries that will come along with him:



of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks; which the Targum Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret of kings, princes, dukes, rulers, and governors; and so does John, in the Revelation, of kings, captains, and mighty men, Re 19:18:



all of them fatlings of Baasha; which was a country in Israel, very fruitful, and full of pastures, where much fat cattle were bred; and to which these great personages in Gog's army are compared, for their bulk, strength, and wealth. So the Targum,



"all of them rich in substance.''



It may be rendered, "all of them the merie of Bashan"; for "meri" is the name of an ox or buffle; and Jarchi says that a fat ox is called in the Arabic language "almari" {h}.



{h} Vid. Bochart. de Script. Animal. par. 1. l. 2. c. 28. col. 284.







Ezekiel 39:19



Ver. 19. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full,.... The fat of men; and such as before described generally are fat, and of which they shall have enough; and, though voracious creatures, shall eat to satiety:



and drink blood till ye be drunken; as men are with wine, who become mad with it; and so birds and beasts of prey grow fiercer by drinking blood: the meaning is, they should have their fill of the flesh, fat, and blood, of slain men:



of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you; the Targum is,



"of the flesh of the slain, which I have slain for you;''



See Gill on "Eze 39:17".





Ezekiel 39:20



Ver. 20. Thus shall ye be filled at my table with horses and chariots,.... With the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, as John interprets it, Re 19:18, and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions: and with the flesh of men that ride in chariots used in war; for chariots themselves cannot be eaten; and with these the birds and beasts of prey will be filled at the Lord's table, which he will furnish for them on the mountains of Israel, on the field of battle, where Gog and his army will fall: and thus as the Lord's supper is called the table of the Lord, 1Co 10:21, so this table of the Lord is called the supper of the great God, Re 19:17, this is further explained,



with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God; that is, with the flesh of valiant men, generals, captains, officers of all sorts, and common soldiers, even of all men, great and small, bond and free, Re 19:18.





Ezekiel 39:21



Ver. 21. And I will set my glory among the Heathen,.... The glory of his divine perfections, particularly his power and his goodness, in destroying the enemies of his people, and saving them; which will be set in a clear point of view to the Heathen, that they cannot but observe it; and this is the ultimate end of this strange event, as it is of all that the Lord does, even his own glory, subordinate to which is his people's good:



and all the Heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them; his vengeance and power, as the Targum; the punishment inflicted by his mighty hand on Gog and his army: these Heathens are the Pagan kingdoms of China, &c. and of Tartary, Persia, and the whole Turkish dominions, being Mahometan, which are no better than Heathen; these will be converted to the Christian religion, in consequence of this event; for this will be the passing away of the Turkish woe, which will make way for the sounding of the seventh trumpet; and when these kingdoms will become Christ's, and way be made for the kings of the east to come over to him,

Re 11:14.





Ezekiel 39:22



Ver. 22. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God,.... That has chosen them, redeemed them, called them, manifested his covenant love and grace to them, and protected and defended them: this destruction of their enemies will be a proof of it; and they will hereby be led into a clearer knowledge of him, and of his goodness to them; and make a more firm and constant profession of him,



even from that day and forward, to the end of time; for after this the Jews will no more apostatize, but will for ever remain the people of God and Christ.





Ezekiel 39:23



Ver. 23. And the Heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity,.... Before this they thought the captivity of the Jews, and all their distresses, were owing to their own weakness, and the weakness of the God they served, and to the superior strength of their enemies, and the power of their gods; but now, by this strange and amazing destruction of Gog and his army, they will see that it was not owing to those things, but to the sins and transgressions of the people of the Jews:



because they transgressed against me; prevaricated with him, acted a perfidious and treacherous part to him, as the word {i} signifies; which they did, when they delivered Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah, into the hands of the Gentiles, to be crucified; it is their disbelief of Christ, and rejection of him, and maltreatment of him, that is here more especially pointed at; and which is the cause of their present long captivity and exile, and of all the afflictions and troubles they have since met with: so the Targum renders it,



"they dealt falsely with my Word;''



the Word made flesh, the incarnate Saviour:



therefore hid I my face from them; took no notice of them, showed them no favour, took no care of them; disregarded their prayers and cries, and removed his presence from them, and all the tokens of it. So the Targum,



"I caused my Shechaniah (or majesty) to remove from them;''



and thus it has been ever since, and now is:



and gave them into the hand of their enemies; the Romans, who took away their place and nation; which they feared would be the case, should many believe in Christ; but the true reason of it was because they did not believe in him, Joh 11:48:



so fell they all by the sword; that is, through the sword of the conquering Romans; they fell into their hands; some perished by the sword, and others were carried into captivity; and all were punished for their iniquity, trespass, and perfidy.



{i} yb wlem "praevaricati essent contra me", Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus, Cocceius, Starckius.





Ezekiel 39:24



Ver. 24. According to their uncleanness,.... Not ceremonial, but moral; they were an impure and adulterous generation, as our Lord calls them, Mt 12:39:



and according to their transgressions have I done unto them; or "rebellions", as the Targum renders it; or defections, as the word {k} signifies; their rebellions against the King Messiah; their defections from him; their contempt of him, and rejection of his yoke, and non-submission to his ordinances; according to the desert of such crimes, the Lord dealt with them;



"took vengeance on them,''



as the Targum is; in the destruction of their nation, city, and temple: "and hid my face from them"; or caused his Shechaniah to remove from them, as the same paraphrase; See Gill on "Eze 39:23".



{k} Mhyevpk "secundum defectiones eorum", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius; "pro defectionibus ipsorum", Cocceius.







Ezekiel 39:25



Ver. 25. Therefore thus saith the Lord,.... The Jews having been long punished for their sins; and being brought to repentance for them, and to faith in Christ, as they will be in the latter day: hence it follows,



now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob; or the captives of Jacob, the people of Israel, that have been carried captive into all lands; these shall be gathered from thence, and brought into their own land:



and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; all the twelve tribes; which shows that this has not respect to the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity; for then the Lord had mercy on the house of Judah only; or the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; but their return from their present captivity, and future conversion,



when all Israel shall be saved; as the fruit and effect of the rich sovereign grace and mercy of God unto them, Ro 11:25:



and will be jealous for my holy name; or, "zealous" {l} for the glory of it, that it be no more blasphemed among the Heathen; and that it be glorified among his own people.



{l} ytanq "assumam zelum", V. L. "zelabo", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius, Starckius.







Ezekiel 39:26



Ver. 26. After that they have borne their shame,.... And disgrace, among the nations where they are scattered; being captives, exiles, in distress and affliction, and under the manifest tokens of the divine wrath and vengeance: it may be rendered, "and they shall bear their shame" {m}; that is, as Jarchi glosses it,



"when I shall do good to them, and not render to them according to their wickedness, then they shall bear their shame, and be confounded, and not able to lift up their face;''



as penitent persons, under a sense of divine wrath, blush, and are ashamed to look up to God; see Ezr 9:6. Menachem interprets the word in the sense of atonement and forgiveness, as it is used in

Ps 32:11, as if the meaning was, then they shall have their sins, which caused shame, forgiven them. Kimchi's gloss is,



"they shall carry in their mouths, and make mention of their shame they had in captivity.''



And all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against me; that is, the punishment of all their trespasses in their captivity, or the shame of them, being now brought to repentance; and which will be aggravated to them, when they remember that these were committed by their forefathers, and since approved of by them.



When they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid; as they did in the times of Christ; they were in entire peace, and no enemy disturbed them; and were in the possession of their own land, and enjoyed the blessings of it, and had their religious as well as civil liberties; and yet rejected the Messiah, his doctrine, ordinances, and salvation by him.



{m} Mtmlk ta wvnw "et portabunt", Pagninus, Montanus, V. L. Grotius; "et ferent ignominiam suam", Starckius.





Ezekiel 39:27



Ver. 27. When I have brought them again from the people,.... That is, then shall they be ashamed, and repent of all their trespasses and sins:



and gathered them out of their enemies lands; from the provinces of their enemies, as the Targum; when they are collected together in a body out of each of the nations where they are now dispersed, and brought to their own land:



and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; when they shall publicly repent of their sins, and forsake them, and seek the Lord their God, and the King Messiah, and embrace and profess him, and acknowledge that God has been righteous and holy in all his dispensations towards them.







Ezekiel 39:28



Ver. 28. Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God,....

See Gill on "Eze 39:22";



which caused them to be led into captivity among the Heathen; for their sins and transgressions: and so the Targum adds,



"because they sinned before me:''



but I have gathered them into their own land; being now penitent for their sins, and believing in the Messiah: and so the Targum,



"and now, because they are converted, I have gathered them, &c.''



and have left none of them any more there; among the Heathen, or in the land of their enemies; everyone shall be returned to the land of Canaan, be they where they will, as when they came out of Egypt: and this is typical of the salvation of God's elect, or mystical Israel; not one of them shall be lost or perish, but all shall be brought to repentance: this again shows, that this prophecy did not respect the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity; since then many were left behind.







Ezekiel 39:29



Ver. 29. Neither will I hide my face any more from them,.... The Jews, upon their future conversion, will always have the worship of God among them, and his presence with them; he will always take notice of them; they will ever be under his protection and care; he will never remove his Shechinah from them any more, as the Targum: a further proof that this refers to future times; for, after their return from Babylon, God did hide his face, and remove his presence from them, and left them to ruin and destruction by the Romans:



for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God; this refers not to the effusion of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but to one that is yet to come, when the Jews will be converted in the latter day; after which God will no more depart from them, nor shall they depart from him; see Zec 12:10.

 

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