Ezekiel 38:12

On "take a spoil" cf. Ezekiel 29:19; Isaiah 10:6. The phrase "turn the hand upon" is always used in a hostile sense (Isaiah 1:25). Ezekiel 38:11-12 give the prophet's idea of the condition of the restored community and of the state of the world in those days which permits it. He does not furnish details, but previous prophecies (ch. 25 32) describe how all the nations formerly hostile to Israel are humbled or taken out of the way. The period of Israel's restoration is a time of universal peace. Only distant nations on the outskirts of the world, that have never entered upon the stage of history, remain unaware of the fame and glory of the God of Israel (Isaiah 66:19). The same circle of ideas appears in the passage relating to the period of a thousand years in the Apocalypse: outside the historical world there remain distant nations unaffected by the kingdom of Christ.

midst of the land of the earth, lit. the navelof the earth, i.e. the mountain land of Israel, the centre of the earth, cf. Ezekiel 38:5. The prophet speaks of the world as known in his day.