XXV. Prophecies concerning heathen nations, from the time of Balaam down, mark every period of Scripture history. Sometimes, as in the case of Jonah, Obadiah, and Nahum, the utterance of the seer is against a single nation; sometimes, as in the case of Joel, and possibly also in that of Amos, the pr... [ Continue Reading ]
SET THY FACE AGAINST THE AMMONITES. — It has already been mentioned that the utterances against the four contiguous nations of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia are all contained in one prophecy, and that this prophecy was evidently spoken after the fall of Jerusalem, and, consequently, after the dat... [ Continue Reading ]
TO THE MEN OF THE EAST. — Literally, _sons of the east, i.e.,_ the various nomadic tribes inhabiting the Eastern deserts, who occupy the country to this day. They are described as its possessors, not its conquerors; the conquest was effected by Nebuchadnezzar. In Ezekiel 21:20 he was represented as... [ Continue Reading ]
RABBAH was the only important town belonging to the Ammonites. It has become literally a stable for the camels of the wandering Bedouins. In the parallel clause the “Ammonites” are put for the land which they inhabit.... [ Continue Reading ]
CLAPPED THINE HANDS, AND STAMPED WITH THE FEET. — See Ezekiel 6:11 and Note there.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR A SPOIL. — This is the sense of the margin of the Hebrew; its text is represented by our margin, _meat_ or _food._ The word in the text occurs only here, but a compound of it is found in Daniel 1:5; Daniel 11:26. The figure seems to be the same as that which speaks of _devouring_ the people. SHA... [ Continue Reading ]
MOAB AND SEIR. — The two nations, here mentioned together, are afterwards treated separately — Moab, Ezekiel 25:8, and Edom, Ezekiel 25:12. Moab, springing from the same source with Ammon, was closely associated with it in its history and fortune, and is denounced in nearly the same prophecies. It w... [ Continue Reading ]
OPEN THE SIDE OF MOAB — _i.e., lay it open to the enemy._ This is to be done “from the cities,” on which a special emphasis is placed. The cities named were all on the north of the Arnon, and before the time of Moses had been wrested from the Moabites by the Amorites, from whom in turn they were tak... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH THE AMMONITES. — The division between the verses here seriously obscures the sense. The meaning is that God will throw open Moab, as well as Ammon, to the sons of the east, and will give both nations in possession to them, so that Ammon shall be no more remembered, and judgment shall be execute... [ Continue Reading ]
EDOM HATH DEALT AGAINST THE HOUSE OF JUDAH. — The reason of Edom’s hostility to Israel is expressly said to be revenge. Descended from the elder son, they had never looked complacently on the spiritual superiority given to the descendants of the younger. They showed their hostility from the first in... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM TEMAN; AND THEY OF DEDAN. — Teman (a word meaning _south_) was a southern district of Edom (Jeremiah 49:20; Habakkuk 3:3), famed for its wisdom (Jeremiah 49:7; Obadiah 1:8). Dedan is frequently mentioned by the prophets, but in such a way that it has not been certainly identified. A better tran... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE HAND OF MY PEOPLE ISRAEL. — This points distinctly to the fact that the Divine vengeance on Edom should be accomplished by the hand of the Israelites, a prophecy which was fulfilled when they were conquered by John Hyrcanus, and compelled to submit to circumcision as a mark of absorption into... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PHILISTINES. — The historical books of the Old Testament are almost a continuous record of the hostility of the Philistines. At times they held the greater part of the land of Israel in subjection, and at times were subdued in their turn. Although belonging to another branch of the Hamitic famil... [ Continue Reading ]
CHERETHIMS. — The Cherethim were a portion of the Philistines living on their southern coast (1 Samuel 30:14; Zephaniah 2:5), and are sometimes put for the whole nation. The name is supposed by many to be equivalent to _Cretans,_ and to indicate the origin of the Philistines from the island of Crete... [ Continue Reading ]