1God's judgments upon Gog: 8the loss of the enemy denoted by the multitude of weapons burned by Israel. 11Gog's burial in Hamon-gog. 17The feast upon the slain proclaimed to the fowls and beasts. 21The heathen shall see God's judgment, and know that he plagued Israel for their sins; 25but he will gather them again with everlasting favour.
1THEREFORE, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I 1am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
1 See Ezek. 38:2, 3.
2And I will 2turn thee back, and leave but the 3sixth parta of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
2 As Ezek. 38:4.
3 Hebr. properly, as if one said: I will six thee; which is diversely translated. What is written here in the text is taken in comparison with Ezek. 38:4, where God said: “… I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws or cheeks, from which He seems to imply here: I shall hold him fast as with six hooks, or with a six-hooked hook, and would carry and lead him about therewith at My will and pleasure, so as that he should not escape out of My hands, or skip out of the circle of My Providence, but would receive his punishment at the place whither I would carry him as a condemned malefactor; as they were accustomed among the heathen to malefactors, to hale and drag them along to the place of execution, with an hook smitten or driven into their bodies. Some render the words: I will punish thee six-fold, namely, with the six plagues that are related in Ezek. 38:22. Other, I will leave but a sixth part of thee, or but one part of six, or smite thee by sixes, or, I will deal so with thee as they were accustomed to deal with the sixth (with the tenth, twentieth, etc.) man that is taken prisoner in war, that is, to put him to death, etc.
a Ezek. 38:4.
3And I will smite thy 4bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 That is, I will take away from thee all warlike power and courage, foil thy weapons, and as disarm thee, and consequently cause thee to fall before thine enemy.
4Thou shalt 5fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the 6ravenous birds of 7every sort, and to the beasts of the field to beb devoured.
5 Or, lie, as elsewhere.
6 Hebr. ravenous bird.
7 Or, of every wing, that is, of all sorts, as verse 17.
b Ezek. 33:27.
5Thou shalt fall upon the 8open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
8 Hebr. face of the field.
6And I will send a 9fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the 10isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
9 Of war, plagues and miseries, proceeding from the fire of Mine anger, Ezek. 38:18, 19. See Amos 1:4, etc.
10 See Psalm 72 on verse 10.
7So will I make my 11holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them 12pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
11 Hebr. the name of my holiness, also in the sequel, that is, Myself, with My power, justice, goodness, glory, etc.
12 See Lev. 18 on verse 21; Ezek. 20:9.
8¶Behold, 13it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
13 Assuredly, without fail, all this shall be accomplished.
9And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall 14go forth, and shall set on 15fire and burn the weapons, both the 16shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the 17handstaves,c and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
14 To gather the prey of them who are slain.
15 This long burning and setting of fire, as also the following large space of the place of burial for Gog and his company, likewise the labor and the long duration of burial must be taken as a figurative representation of the greatness and dreadfulness of the overthrow.
16 Hebr. shield, buckler, etc. in the singular number.
17 Or, poles.
c staffs used as weapons
10So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.
11¶And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the 18valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the 19noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it 20The valley of Hamon-gog.
18 Of this place is nowhere else mention made in Scripture. Some conceive that the name of this place was given by the passengers that passed through the land, verses 14 and 15. Or, it may be it was a valley where the ordinary passage was along the sea coast of Chinnereth or Gennesaret towards Syria, etc., in the north-east; or, by the Dead Sea towards Egypt, Arabia, etc. in the south-east of Canaan. The reader may herewith compare Joel 2:10. Some understand the low grounds in Gilead in the east beyond the Jordan, where the merchants frequently traveled through and traded. See Gen. 37:25.
19 Nose and mouth, by reason of the stench and strong smell. Compare Joel 2:20. Other, stop, shut up the passage or the sight, by reason of the multitude of dead men; or (as some) to stop their mouth so that they would no more mock at Israel in their passing by.
20 Or, The valley of Gog’s multitude. Hebr. ge hamon Gog.
12And seven months 21shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may 22cleanse the land.
21 Hebr. they shall bury.
22 Of the dead bodies, which according to the ceremonial law defiled the earth and therefore were to be buried. See Deut. 21:23.
13Yea, all the people of the land 23shall bury them; and it shall be to them a 24renown the day that I shall be 25glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
23 Hebr. shall bury, in the plural number.
24 That is, glory and honor. Compare Ezek. 34:29 and there the annotation.
25 Or, shall have glorified myself, namely, by My judgment upon these enemies of My church.
14And they shall 26sever out 27men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the 28face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
26 For, they, who had anything to do with the dead, were unclean by the law, Num. 19:11, etc.
27 Hebr. men or people of steadfastness or continuance, that is, such as go continually round about in the land to give order for the burying of all those who here or there might be left, after the common or general burying of seven months, as follows.
28 Other, that with the passengers bury those that remain upon the earth; meaning, that they would also make use of the wayfaring men for that purpose, if occasion would serve.
15And the passengers that pass through the land, when 29any seeth a man's bone, then shall he 30set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.
29 Hebr. and he sees, that is (in such a conjunction of words) when any one, or one of them sees, etc. Other, and the passengers that pass through the land, when any one of them, etc., then shall he, etc.
30 Hebr. build: to the end that the buriers of the dead, seeing this, may bury the aforesaid bone.
16And also the name of the 31city shall be 32Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
31 That was situated in or near that valley where the buriers met together during that time. Other, the city (Jerusalem) have a name from the multitude, namely, of those slain men.
32 That is, multitude, as verse 11.
17¶And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto 33every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my 34sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
33 That is, every sort; as verse 4. This serves further as representation of this immense defeat. Compare verse 9 and further Isa. 18:6; Jer. 12:9, etc.
34 See Isa. 34:6; Jer. 46:10; Zeph. 1:7, 8, with the annotations, and of the Hebrew word Gen. 31 on verse 54. Or, slay-meal, slay-feast, from Rev. 19:17 and here in verse 20.
18Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, 35of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them 36fatlings of Bashan.
35 That is, the best selected of all ranks and qualities of men, who have fought against the people of God. Compare Isa. 34:6.
36 Or, fatted beasts, that is, like unto fat, well-fed beasts of Bashan. Compare Psalm 22:12, with the annotation.
19And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and 37chariots, with mighty men, and with 38all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
37 Likewise, mules, asses, etc. Compare the annotation with 2 Sam. 8:4.
38 That is, all manner of soldiers, or all these or many valiant men of war. Hebr. mighty-man of war.
21And I will 39set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid 40upon them.
39 That is, make it plainly appear. Hebr. properly: give; however, the Hebrew word is, according to the nature of things, variously used. See further on verse 23.
40 By slaying them, namely, the enemies. See Gen. 37 on verse 22. Or, my plagues, which God has inflicted upon them. See Job 13 on verse 21.
22So 41the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
41 Hebr. the house of Israel shall know, etc. (The verb in the plural number). Also in the sequel.
23¶And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity 42for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore 43hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they 44all by the sword.
42 Which shall tend to Mine honor and glory among the Gentiles, since I have manifested My holiness and justice by the righteous punishment of My people; as afterwards My truth and faithfulness by their gracious deliverance.
43 See Deut. 31 on verse 17.
44 A great multitude of them, in all the regions of the land, of all ranks and qualities of men.
24According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; 45Now will I bring again the 46captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my 47holy name;
45 That is, soon. See Hosea 10 on verse 3.
46 Hebr. prison.
47 Hebr. the name of my holiness.
26After that they have borne their shame, and all their 48trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt 49safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
48 That is, the punishment thereof. Compare Lev. 5 on verse 1, etc.
49 When they were in prosperity, and enjoyed all things according to their heart’s desire, when they ought to have been thankful towards Me.
27When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am 50sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
50 As Ezek. 38:16.
28Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have 51left none of them any more there.
51 I have not left or forgotten to redeem anyone of those who are Mine, of Mine own elect people, but have faithfully shown My salvation unto all in general, and to everyone in particular.
29Neither will I hide my face any more from them: 52for I have poured out my 53spiritd upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
52 Or, when or because I shall have poured out my spirit, etc.
53 See Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17, from which it appears that this and other similar promises of grace have respect to the catholic church of Jesus Christ. As the punishments of the enemies of the Old and New Testament are intermixed and mingled one among another in the prophetical writings, thus also are the promises made unto both churches. And as the enemies of the Old and New Testament make up one body, so do also believers and the churches of both testaments make up one body, and pertain unto one fold, notwithstanding the diversity of administration, etc.) whereof the Head and Shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah. See John 10:16; Rom. 4:16, 17, 23, 24; Eph. 2:12, 13, 19, etc.
d Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17.