Ch. 39 Resumption of the prophecy against Gog

(1) Ezekiel 39:1-7. Renewal of the prophecy: Gog shall be broken on the mountains of Israel by a divine interposition.

(2) Ezekiel 39:8-15. For seven years the wood of his weapons shall suffice the people for fuel. It will take seven months to bury his dead. His burial-place shall be beyond the Jordan, east of the Dead Sea; and the land shall be carefully purified of every bone of his host.

(3) Ezekiel 39:16-24. Jehovah invites the fowls of the heaven and the beasts of the earth to a great feast, a sacrificial meal which he shall slay for them. They shall eat the flesh of princes and mighty men, be sated with fat and drunk with blood. And this interposition of Jehovah to protect his restored and now righteous people shall teach the nations that Israel’s former expulsion from the land was due to their iniquity.

(4) Ezekiel 39:25-29. The prophet, abandoning the point of view of Gog’s invasion in the future, occupied by him in these two chapters, returns to the position he occupied in predicting Israel’s restoration (ch. 33–37), which he prophesies anew.

1. Cf. Ezekiel 38:2-3.

chief prince] prince of Rosh, Meshech, &c., Ezekiel 38:2.

2. turn thee back … sixth part] Perhaps: turn thee about and lead thee. The word “lead” does not elsewhere occur. A.V. derived from numeral “six.”

3. The northern warriors were bowmen.

4. Cf. Ezekiel 39:17, Ezekiel 38:21.

6. Magog is the name of the country of Gog.

in the isles] the countries, i.e. the distant lands of the earth. The armies of Gog and his allies are annihilated on the mountains of Israel, but the judgment extends simultaneously to their distant abodes, that the ends of the earth may know and fear the Lord.

7. will not let them pollute] will not let my holy name be profaned, lit. I will not profane. Jehovah’s holy or divine name was profaned,—his majesty and power were detracted from—when Israel his people were subjected by the heathen and dispersed abroad from their own land (Ezekiel 36:20). Israel’s sins constrained Jehovah to cast them out of his land, and thus to profane his holy name. Now they are another people, a new heart has been given them, and his signal protection of them in their defenceless condition (Ezekiel 38:11) from so extreme a danger (Ezekiel 38:4-6) will reveal both to Israel and the nations what Jehovah is, and what are the principles on which he rules his people (Ezekiel 39:23). Thus shall his name be sanctified—he shall be known to be God alone, all powerful and righteous.—While Isaiah says “Holy One of Israel,” Ezek. says in Israel, a usage which shews that the element “of Israel” forms no part of the conception of “holiness.”

8. The words vividly bring into the presence of the speaker the great catastrophe. Revelation 16:17; Revelation 21:6.

9. The wood of the weapons of Gog’s warriors shall serve the people of Israel as fuel for seven years, they shall go neither to gather faggots for fire in the fields nor to cut down any wood out of the forests (Ezekiel 39:10).

set on fire and burn] make fire of the weapons and burn them—i.e. they shall use them as fuel. The “handstaves” are probably those with which the animals ridden upon or others were driven.

burn them with fire] make fire of them.

10. burn the weapons] make fire with the weapons. Such abundance of fuel shall the weapons supply, that firewood shall neither be gathered in the field nor cut down out of the forests.

11. Gog’s burial—place shall be east of the Dead Sea.

a place there of graves] a place for a grave, lit. a place where a grave may be. For “there” LXX. reads name—a place of renown (name), a grave in Israel.

valley of the passengers] In Ezekiel 39:14-15 the word is used of those appointed to go through the land in search of the scattered bones. The term cannot have that sense here. Ew. conjectured that it was a term applied to the hosts of Gog, the invaders, from their overflowing the country (Isaiah 8:8). The reading of Ezekiel 39:14, however, which would be the strongest support of this view, is doubtful. The expression is probably a proper name; the “valley of the passers through” may have been so named as the usual route of communication between the east and west of the sea. Others by altering the points read “the (or, a) valley of Abarim” (Hitz. Corn.).

shall stop the noses] it shall stop them that pass through (or, the passengers). The valley shall be filled up with the graves of the innumerable hosts of Gog, so that the way of passers through shall be barred. A.V. has no probability. Neither LXX. nor Syr. read the words “those that pass through;” the former renders: and they shall build up the mouth of the valley round about.

Hamon-gog] i.e. Gog’s multitude.

12. It shall take all Israel (Ezekiel 39:13) seven months to bury Gog’s dead. The bones scattered over the land defiled it, for it was holy to the Lord, and they must be gathered and interred, cf. Ezekiel 39:14; Ezekiel 39:16.

13. a renown) Or, a glory (lit. a name), viz. that they have seen their last enemy destroyed by their God. The triumph is theirs, being his, Psalm 149:9.

the day that … glorified] i.e. on the day (at the time) when I shall be glorified (or, glorify myself).

14. When the remains that are visible shall all have been buried, men shall be appointed whose continual task it shall be to go through the land to search for any bones that may have been overlooked. When they find a bone they shall set up a sign beside it that the buriers may come and inter it (Ezekiel 39:15).

of continual employment] lit. continual men (same phrase as “continual” burnt-offering),—men constantly occupied.

with the passengers] The words should probably be omitted with LXX. Read: to bury those that remain, &c. After seven months have been consumed in burying the masses of the dead everywhere visible, occasional bodies or bones may still be left, having escaped notice. These shall be diligently searched for by the “continual men.” Those who would retain the words “them that pass through” (passengers of A.V.) here read, to bury them that pass through (i.e. the invaders), even those that remain (cf. R.V.). The construction is unnatural, and any play of words between two classes of “passers through,” viz. invaders and searchers, has no probability. In Ezekiel 39:15 “those that pass through,” i.e. the searchers, are distinguished from the buriers, and a reader finding “buriers” in the present verse assumed that they were different from the searchers, and added “with those that pass through” (the searchers) on the margin.

15. Render with R.V., And they that pass through the land (the searchers) shall pass through; and when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up (lit. build) a sign (or pillar), &c. On Hamon-Gog cf. Ezekiel 39:11.

16. name of the city … Hamonah] Or, a city. Hamonah is fem. of Hamon, multitude, and presumably of the same meaning. The words, however, are enigmatical and alien to the connexion. The last clause, “and they shall cleanse the land,” suggests the previous mention of some action which has this result. The Versions, however, are in agreement with Heb. text. If the text be correct, the prophet’s meaning is that a city shall also be built in commemoration of Gog’s overthrow; naturally this city must be supposed situated near the valley of Hamon-Gog, because its name Hamonah (multitude), if the city were situated elsewhere, would not of itself suggest any connexion with Gog.

Ezekiel 39:17 seq. The great sacrificial feast provided by Jehovah for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the field. They shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of princes of the earth (17–20). And thus shall that which Jehovah is be made known both to Israel and the heathen; and the nations shall understand, from Jehovah’s defence of his godly people now, why it was that aforetime he inflicted such evils upon them and cast them out of his land (21–24).

17. to my sacrifice] The eating of flesh was of rarer occurrence in ancient times than it is now. All slaughtering of animals was a sacrificial act. The blood and some parts of the victim were given to Jehovah; and the rest eaten before him by the company. Hence the terminology here: Jehovah’s slaughter of his enemies is to afford a sacrificial feast. Cf. Zephaniah 1:8; Isaiah 34:6.

18. The actual victims sacrificed were princes and mighty men; here they are described as rams and goats—the usual animals sacrificed. Jeremiah 51:40.

fatlings of Bashan] Bashan was a pastoral country, producing the fattest and greatest beasts. Cf. Deuteronomy 32:14; Amos 4:1; Isaiah 34:6-7; Psalm 22:12.

20. my table] It is the Lord that holds the sacrificial feast here (Ezekiel 39:19), and it is his table to which he invites the fowls and beasts.

horses and chariots] It is scarcely necessary to point with LXX. horse and rider; “chariot” suggests that those borne in the chariot are intended. The term rendered “chariot” seems used, however, of “riding-beasts,” e.g. the ass and the camel, Isaiah 21:7; Isaiah 21:9; and there is no intimation elsewhere that Gog’s army rode in chariots: they were horsemen and bowmen.

21. The great discomfiture of Gog will reveal Jehovah’s power to the nations. None but God alone could deal so wonderfully. Cf. Ezekiel 38:16; Ezekiel 38:23.

22. And Israel from that day will feel secure in the protection of Jehovah their God; all misgivings which the past might create will disappear, and they shall know that now Jehovah is indeed their God.

23. Jehovah’s dealing with his people Israel is the great lesson which he reads to the heathen; it is the history of Israel in the hand of Jehovah their God that reveals to the nations what Jehovah is. For the nations knew Jehovah only as God of Israel, and it was thus only through Israel that he could reveal himself to them. This last great event in the history of Israel, Jehovah’s signal defence of them now that they are his people in truth, casts light on his former hiding of his face from them. Deeper elements than mere power enter into his rule of his people; a conception of God is suggested to the nations unlike any they had hitherto entertained—there is a God who is omnipotent and who rules the nations in righteousness, the God of Israel.

24. have I done unto them] did I do unto them.

Ezekiel 39:25 seq. The prophet returns to the point of view occupied in ch. 33–37, before the restoration of Israel. The transition is suggested by the words I hid my face from them (Ezekiel 39:24). This shall no more be (Ezekiel 39:29); they shall be restored, and dwell safely in their land (Ezekiel 39:26), and Jehovah shall be their God in truth.

25. bring again the captivity] Cf. Ezekiel 16:53, Ezekiel 29:14.

jealous for my holy name] little different from “my divine name.” The prophet represents Jehovah as acting from the sense of that which he is. The representation is to be explained from the profound sense which the prophet, and other prophets, had of the Godhead of Jehovah, with all that Godhead meant. Cf. Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 20:14; Ezekiel 20:22; Ezekiel 20:44.

26. after that … borne] Rather: And they shall bear their shame. The phrase “bear shame” is not used in the sense of bearing the outward disgrace (Ezekiel 32:24-25; Ezekiel 32:30, Ezekiel 34:29, Ezekiel 36:7), but in the sense of bearing the inward feeling of unworthiness, which the undeserved goodness of Jehovah creates (Ezekiel 16:52; Ezekiel 16:54). The word “bear” is written defectively and by a change of a “tittle” might mean “forget.” While “forget their shame” however might well be said, shame meaning reproach (Isaiah 54:4), “forget their trespasses,” implying complete obliteration of the unhappy past, is so powerful an idea that it causes surprise. Either idea is beautiful; whether the idea be that the redeemed people sit in abashed gladness, the memory of former evil adding depth to the gladness, or whether it be that the assurance that Jehovah is their God (Ezekiel 39:22) is so exalted that the memory of former sad days is wholly wiped out by it.

when they dwelt … afraid] when they dwell with confidence … and none maketh them afraid. Reference is to the time of restoration.

27. The verse is closely connected with the preceding: none maketh them afraid; when I have brought … and have been sanctified in (or, through) them. Cf. Ezekiel 36:23-24, Ezekiel 38:16. For people, peoples.

28. Read: And they shall know … in that I caused them … and will gather … and will leave. The words: and I will gather, &c. to the end are wanting in LXX., which also points the first clause differently.

29. poured out my spirit] This states in brief all the regenerating influences more fully dwelt upon in Ezekiel 36:25-31. Cf. Joel 2:28; Zechariah 12:10. On first clause, Isaiah 54:8-10; Jeremiah 31:3 seq.