CHAPTER XXXV _The prophet having formerly predicted the ruin of Edom, the_ _same with Seir,_ (Ezekiel 25:12,) _now resumes and pursues the subject at greater length,_ _intimating, as did also Isaiah,_ (Isaiah 21:11,) _that though other nations should recover their liberty after_ _the fall of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:2. _SET THY FACE AGAINST MOUNT SEIR_] That is, against the _Edomites_. This prophecy was probably delivered about the time of the preceding, and before the destruction of Idumea by Nebuchadnezzar, which took place about _five years after_. _Calmet_ supposes that _two destructions o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:3. _MOST DESOLATE._] Literally, "A desolation and a wilderness.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:5. _A PERPETUAL HATRED_] The Edomites were the descendants of _Esau_; the Israelites, the descendants of _Jacob_. Both these were brothers; and between them there was contention even in the womb, and they lived generally in a state of enmity. Their descendants kept up the ancient fe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:6. _BLOOD SHALL PURSUE THEE_] Thou lovest blood, and thou shalt have blood. It is said that Cyrus and _two hundred thousand_ men were slain in an ambush by Thomyris, queen of the Scythians, and that she cut off his head, and threw it into a vessel filled with blood, with this severe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:9. _PERPETUAL DESOLATIONS_] Thou shalt have perpetual desolation for thy perpetual hatred.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:10. _THESE TWO NATIONS_] Israel and Judah. The Idumeans thought of conquering and possessing both; and they would have succeeded, but only _the Lord was there_; and this spoiled their projects, and blasted their hopes.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:12. _THEY ARE LAID DESOLATE, THEY ARE GIVEN US TO CONSUME._] They exulted in seeing Judea overrun; and they rejoiced in the prospect of completing the ruin, when the Chaldeans had withdrawn from the land.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:13. _THUS WITH YOUR MOUTH YE HAVE BOASTED AYAINST ME_] Ye have said you would enter into those lands, and take them for your inheritance; though ye knew that God had promised them to the Israelites, and that you should never have them for your portion.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:14. _WHEN THE WHOLE EARTH REJOICETH_] When the whole _land_ shall rejoice in the restoration of the Jews, I will make thee desolate. Probably this refers to the time of the _Maccabees_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 35:15. _SO WILL I DO UNTO THEE_] Others shall rejoice in thy downfall as thou hast rejoiced at their downfall. This whole chapter strongly inculcates this maxim: Do as thou wouldst be done by; and what thou wouldst not have done to thee, do not to others. And from it we learn that eve... [ Continue Reading ]