1The indignation wherewith God avengeth his church of her enemies to their utter desolation. 16The certainty of the prophecy.
1COME near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all 1that is therein; the world, and 2all things that come forth of it.
1 Or, her fullness, that is, all that is therein. See Psalm 24 on verse 1.
2 Or, all that sprouteth forth from it. Hebr. all the sproutings forth thereof.
2For the indignation of the LORD is 3upon 4all nations, and his fury 5upon all their armies: 6he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Or, against, over.
4 Namely, who persecute the people of God; as for example: the Edomites, Moabites, Philistines, Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Babylonians, by whom are also understood all enemies of the church of God.
5 Or, against, over.
6 That is, He has decreed to expel them, and again later on. See Deut. 2 on verse 34.
37Their slain also 8shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be 9melted 10with their blood.
7 The prophet describes in this and in the next verses in allegorical or figurative terms the overthrow of the enemies of the people of God, which indeed first happened to the Assyrians, Babylonians, and other nations, who had miserably persecuted and hurt the Israelites; but it shall be first perfectly accomplished when Jesus Christ, as Supreme Judge, shall judge the entire world.
8 For a prey unto wild beasts; they shall not be buried.
9 Or, float away, or, drip.
10 That is, because of their blood.
4And all the host of heaven shall be 11dissolved,a and the heavens shall be 12rolled together as a scroll: and all 13their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
11 That is, melt, wither away. The meaning is: The people shall be so astonished and amazed at the execution of these judgments of God, as if the host of heaven, namely, the sun, moon and stars would perish or be turned upside down.
a Rev. 6:13, 14.
12 This must be understood according to the custom which was formerly in use among the Jews and other nations, who wrote upon long leaves of parchment and then rolled them up together in a scroll. See Isa. 8:1.
13 Namely, the host of the heavens.
514For my sword 15shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon 16Idumea, and upon 17the people of my curse, to 18judgment.
14 These are the words of the Lord. And the prophet describes here, and in the verses 6 and 7, etc., the ruin of the enemies of the church of God.
15 Namely, with the blood of the slain. The sense is: I will slay many in My righteous wrath, according to the decree that was made in heaven.
16 The Edomites were the nearest kindred of the Israelites. They had also, and still kept and used among them, the sacrament of circumcision, but notwithstanding they were their greatest enemies and persecutors, and they are a type and figure of all the enemies of the church of God, who indeed boast that they are descended of the church, and use the same sacraments as does the church, but in reality hate the true believers.
17 Hebr. the people of my ban.
18 Unto punishment, unto vengeance.
6The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and 19with the blood 20of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORDb hath 21a sacrifice in 22Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
19 A comparison taken from the sacrifices of the Old Testament.
20 That is, of men who are small and low in condition, or, lambs signify young men, goats the aged.
b Isa. 63:1, 2.
21 Or, a slaughter. The Hebrew word, which often signifies a sacrifice, is also frequently taken for an offering, as Gen. 31:54; 1 Sam. 28:24; 1 Kings 19:21.
22 This was the capital in the land of the Edomites; and it was a type of the city of Rome. Compare herewith Rev. 18:2. Of Bozrah in Moab see Jer. 48:24.
7And 23the unicorns shall 24come down 25with them, and the bullocks with 26the bulls; and 27their land shall be soaked 28with blood, and their 29dust made fat 30with fatness.
23 That is, the mighty and high exalted ones, which exceed all others in cruelty, in persecuting those who are godly.
24 Namely, to slaughter.
25 Namely, with the lambs and goats, verse 6.
26 See Psalm 22 on verse 12.
27 Namely, the land of the Edomites, whereof mention is made in verse 6.
28 Namely, with the blood of the slain unicorns, bullocks and bulls. Compare herewith Rev. 19:21.
29 That is, their ground or earth.
30 Namely, that shall flow forth from them that are slain.
8For it is 31the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompences 32for the controversy of Zion.
31 Wherein the Lord will avenge the innocent blood of His people.
32 That is, concerning the cause of Zion, that is, of the church of God, which was grievously persecuted by her enemies.
9And the streams 33thereof 34shall be turned into pitch, and the dust 35thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
33 Namely, of the city of Bozrah, or of the Edomites and enemies of the church of God.
34 In these and the following words is shown that the land shall be utterly wasted and destroyed, so that it shall be made like unto the land of Sodom and Gomorrah.
35 See the annotation at Job 18 on verse 15.
1036It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke 37thereofc shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
36 Namely, the burning pitch, or the burning land, which shall become as pitch. Compare herewith Rev. 18:9; 19:3.
37 Namely, of the city of Bozrah.
c Rev. 14:11; 19:3.
11¶But 38thed cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and 39he 40shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and 41the stones of emptiness.
38 The meaning is: Their land shall be utterly wasted and destroyed that nothing but wild and terrible creatures shall dwell in it. See Isa. 14:23, where also mention is made of these and similar frightful creatures, as also Lev. 11:17.
d Isa. 13:21, 22; Zeph. 2:14; Rev. 18:2.
39 Namely, the Lord.
40 That is, He shall measure it for destruction. See 2 Kings 21:13, and the annotation there.
41 Hebr. stones of emptiness, that is, a measuring line, to which hangs a stone. Zech. 4:10 states a plummet, (Hebr. a stone of tin), that is, a measuring line to which hangs a tin weight. And a plummet of desolation, or of emptiness, that is, unto a sign that it shall be made empty and desolate.
1242They shall call the 43nobles 44thereof 45to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes 46shall be nothing.
42 Namely, the remaining Edomites, or the inhabitants of the city of Bozrah.
43 Hebr. white ones, that is, those who wear white, pure garments, as princes, and the great ones of the land were wont to do. See the annotation at 1 Kings 21 on verse 8; Neh. 2 on verse 16.
44 Namely, of the land of Edom.
45 That is, to the government of the land.
46 That is, they shall all be consumed and put to shame; therefore none shall be able to afford them either help or counsel.
13And thorns shall 47come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and 48it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court 49for owls.
47 That is, grow.
48 Namely, Bozrah.
49 See Job 30 on verse 29.
1450The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with 51the wild beasts of the island, and 52the satyr shall cry to his fellow; 53the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
50 See of these and similar frightful monsters Isa. 13 on verse 21.
51 See of these and similar frightful monsters Isa. 13 on verse 21.
52 Hebr. sagnir. See Isa. 13 on verse 21.
53 Hebr. lilith.
15There shall 54the great owl make her nest, 55and lay, and 56hatch, and gather 57under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, 58every one with her mate.
54 Hebr. kippoz. It cannot be known of a surety what kind of fowl this is.
55 Namely, her eggs. Other, bring forth, namely, the eggs which she has in her body.
56 Hebr. split or cleave, namely, the eggshells, in order that the chicks or young ones may come forth.
57 That is, under her wings.
58 Hebr. the woman with her she-mate or female friend.
16¶Seek ye 59out of the book of the LORD, and read: 60no one of these shall fail, 61none shall want her mate: for 62my mouth it hath commanded, and 63his spirit 64it hath gathered them.
59 Or, in. Hebr. out of the book, that is, in or out of the book of these prophecies, which I do write by the command of the Lord.
60 Namely, things, or, aforementioned wild creatures.
61 Hebr. the woman with her female friend, as verse 15.
62 This the Lord speaks.
63 Namely, of the Lord. This speaks the prophet. Other, the mouth of the LORD.
64 Namely, the above mentioned animals and fowls.
17And he hath cast the lot 65for them, and his hand hath divided 66it unto them by line: they shall possess it 67for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
65 Namely, for those animals and fowls.
66 Namely, the land of the Edomites. Other, the city of Bozrah.
67 The sense is: After the Lord Himself shall have given and divided the land of the Edomites and of His other enemies unto the wild and dreadful beasts for their habitation or dwelling place, they shall for ever abide and continue in it; so that it shall always be and remain a cursed and desolate land; in like manner shall the curse of God forever be and abide upon the enemies of His church.