Ezekiel 25:9

Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim, THEREFORE, BEHOLD, I WILL OPEN THE SIDE OF MOAB FROM THE CITIES ... UNTO THE MEN OF THE EAST. I will open up the side or border of Moab (metaphor from a man whose side is open to blows) from the direction of the cities on his northwest border beyond the Arnon, once assigned to Reuben (Joshua 13:15-6), but now in the hands of their original owners: and the "men of the east," the wandering Bedouin hordes, shall enter through these cities into Moab, and waste it. Moab accordingly was so wasted by them, that long before the time of Christ it had melted away among the hordes of the desert. For "cities," Grotius translates the Hebrew as proper names, the Ar and Aroer,...

8-17 Though one event seem to the righteous and wicked, it is vastly different. Those who glory in any other defence and protection than the Divine power, providence, and promise, will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their glorying. Those who will not leave it to God to take vengeance for them, may expect that he will take vengeance on them. The equity of the Lord's judgments is to be observed, when he not only avenges injuries upon those that did them, but by those against whom they were done. Those who treasure up old hatred, and watch for the opportunity of manifesting it, are treasuring up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath....

Verse Ezekiel 25:9. _I WILL OPEN THE SIDE_] קתף _ketheph_, the shoulder, the strongest frontier place. _Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon_, and _Kiriathaim_ were strong frontier towns of Moab....

I WILL OPEN THE SIDE ... - i. e., lay it open to the attack of the enemy from the cities, from his cities, from his frontier (or, in every quarter). There is an ironical stress on “his” cities, because these cities belonged not to Moab but to Israel, having been assigned to the Reubenites Numbers 32:38; Joshua 13:20. They lay to the north of the river Arnon, which was the proper boundary of Moab Numbers 21:13. The Moabites had in the last days of the kingdom of Israel recovered this territory Isaiah 16:1. They still occupied this land in the time of Ezekiel (see...

EXPOSITION The section on which we now enter—the great "parenthesis," as I have called it, of Ezekiel's prophetic work—contains messages to the seven nations that were most closely connected with the fortunes of Israel and Judah. These were (1) Ammon (Ezekiel 25:1); (2) Moab (Ezekiel 25:8); (3) Edom (Ezekiel 25:12); (4) Philistia (Ezekiel 25:15); (5) Tyre (Ezekiel 26:1); (6) Zidon ...

THEREFORE, BEHOLD, I WILL OPEN THE SIDE OF MOAB FROM THE CITIES,.... Or, "the shoulder of Moab" t; that part of their country where their greatest strength lay, So the Targum renders it, "the strength of Moab;'' where their principal cities were, their frontier towns, and fortified places, as appears by what follows: FROM HIS CITIES WHICH ARE ON HIS FRONTIERS; or, "from his Ars" u, FROM HIS CITIES WHICH ARE AT HIS END; at the extreme part of the land, upon the borders of his countries; the two cities of Ar and Aroer, Numbers 21:28: THE GLORY OF THE COUNTRY; as the above cities were, and what follow: BETHJESHIMOTH; this was formerly in the tribe of Reuben, now in the possession of the Moabites, and one of their principal cities,...

CHAPTER S 25-32 Predictions of Judgments Against the Nations _ 1. Prophecies concerning Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines (Ezekiel 25:1) _ 2. Concerning Tyrus (Ezekiel 26:1) 3. The glory of Tyrus and Her Fall (Ezekiel 27:1) 4. The prince of Tyrus (Ezekiel 28:1) 5. Concerning Egypt (Ezekiel 29:1; Ezekiel 30:1) 6. Pharaoh's greatness and his overthrow ...

BETH. JESHIMOTH. Now _'Ain Surveirneh,_ near the north-east corner of the Dead Sea (Numbers 33:49; Joshua 12:3; Joshua 13:20). BAAL. MEON. Now _Tell M'ain_ (Numbers 32:38; 1 Chronicles 5:8. of, two miles south of Heshbon. Kiriathaim. Now el Hdreiyat, between Dibon and Medeba (Jeremiah 48:1; Jeremiah 48:23)....

Prophecy against Moab The Moabites, like the Ammonites, were recognised by Israel as a kindred people (Genesis 19:30). Technically the border of Moab on the N. was the Arnon, but they had pretensions to the district lying beyond this stream at least as far as the head of the Dead Sea, and these pretensions they often asserted. Practically the tribes of Reuben and Gad seem to have been unable to make good their claim to this territory by dispossessing the Moabites. The peoples appear to have mixed together, and frequently Moab is found in possession of the fertile district and the numerous cities which covered it (Mesha's Inscrip.). The country was subdued by David, and on the division of the kingdom fell as a dependency to northern Israel, to which it paid a yearly tribute of 200,000 fleeces of wool (2 Kings 3:4

I WILL OPEN THE SIDE, &C.— _I will open the side of Moab, laying bare the cities in his borders, the beautiful country of Beth-jeshimoth,_ &c. Houbigant....