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Ezekiel 25

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Judgment Against Ammon 1–7

1
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ​
2
Son of man, set thy face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them: ​
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and say unto the children of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity: ​
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therefore, behold, I will deliver thee to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in thee, and make their dwellings in thee; they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. ​
5
And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of Ammon a couching-place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. ​
6
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast clapped thy hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of thy soul against the land of Israel; ​
7
therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut thee off from the peoples, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah. ​

Judgment Against Moab 8–11

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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations; ​
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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, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, ​
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unto the children of the east, to go against the children of Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the children of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations: ​
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and I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

Judgment Against Edom 12–14

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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; ​
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therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will stretch out my hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword. ​
14
And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​

Judgment Against the Philistines 15–17

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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity; ​
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therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will stretch out my hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. ​
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And I will execute great vengeance upon them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 25

Verse 1

The word of the LORD came again unto me — A new series begins: the nations around Judah are addressed in turn, Ammon, Moab, Edom and the Philistines here, then Tyre, Zidon (28:21) and Egypt (29:2). Most of the charges concern how a nation treated Israel in the day of her fall.

Verse 2

set thy face against the Ammonites — 'Set thy face' is the prophet's posture of judgment, as against the mountains of Israel (6:2), Zidon (28:21) and Egypt (29:2). The Ammonites descend from Lot's younger daughter's son, Benammi (Gen 19:38); Jeremiah (49:1) and Amos (1:13) also speak against them.

Verse 3

Aha, against my sanctuary — He'ach is a cry of glee over another's fall; it appears in Ezekiel only here, against Tyre (26:2) and from Israel's enemies (36:2). Ammon laughed at three losses: the sanctuary 'profaned' (as in 24:21), the land 'desolate', and Judah 'into captivity'.

Verse 4

the men of the east — Bene qedem, 'sons of the east', the name of the 'children of the east' who joined Midian and Amalek in the valley of Jezreel (Judg 6:33). They settle in Ammon's land and eat its 'fruit' and drink its 'milk', the same eating-up of the land's fruit that Moses set as a curse on Israel (Deut 28:33).

Verse 5

Rabbah a stable for camels — Rabbah is Rabbath of the Ammonites, the royal city Joab took (2 Sam 12:26), and named beside Jerusalem as a target of the sword in 21:20. 'Couchingplace' (marbets) is a place for animals to lie down, found only here and in Zeph 2:15; Zephaniah also says Ammon shall be 'as Gomorrah' (Zeph 2:9).

Verse 6

clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet — Gestures of contempt: passers-by 'clap their hands' at Jerusalem in her ruin (Lam 2:15). 'Despite' is she'at, scorn of the soul, found in Ezekiel only here, in v.15 and in 36:5. Ammon's joy is 'against the land of Israel'.

Verse 7

I will stretch out mine hand upon thee — The same words are said against Edom (v.13), the Philistines (v.16) and Judah herself (Zeph 1:4). Three verbs close the sentence: 'cut thee off' (karath), 'cause thee to perish' (abad) and 'destroy' (shamad); the end is that 'thou shalt know that I am the LORD.'

Verse 8

Moab and Seir — Moab was Lot's elder daughter's son (Gen 19:37), and Seir is Edom's mountain: 'Esau is Edom' (Gen 36:8). Their saying, that 'the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen', denies what Balaam had to utter: 'the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations' (Num 23:9).

Verse 9

I will open the side of Moab — 'Side' is katheph, a shoulder, the word for the 'shoulder' of meat in 24:4; the frontier cities, 'the glory of the country', are the part laid open. Baalmeon and Kiriathaim were built by Reuben (Num 32:37–38) and are named among Moab's cities in Jer 48:23 (Baalmeon as Bethmeon). 'Glory' (tsebi) is the word used of Canaan in 20:6.

Verse 10

that the Ammonites may not be remembered — Moab is given with Ammon to the men of the east, and Ammon's name is to vanish ('remembered', zakar). Zephaniah says the same of both: 'Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah… a perpetual desolation', and 'the residue of my people shall spoil them' (Zeph 2:9).

Verse 12

Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance — The root naqam, to avenge, is used three times of Edom in this verse, with a doubled 'greatly offended' (asham, to incur guilt). Obadiah gives the cause: 'thy violence against thy brother Jacob' (Obad 1:10); Esau and Jacob were brothers, and 'Esau is Edom' (Gen 36:8).

Verse 13

from Teman — Teman is a leading place of Edom (Jer 49:7; Amos 1:12), and Dedan a people named with it. 'Cut off man and beast' is also the sentence on Egypt in 29:8. Malachi speaks of it as done: the LORD 'laid his mountains and his heritage waste' (Mal 1:3), and Edom's plan to 'build the desolate places' is met by 'I will throw down' (Mal 1:4).

Verse 14

by the hand of my people Israel — The agent of Edom's judgment is Israel itself; Obadiah has 'the house of Jacob shall be a fire… and the house of Esau for stubble' (Obad 1:18). 'My vengeance' (neqamah) shares a root with Edom's own 'vengeance' (v.12), and 'they shall know my vengeance' stands in place of the usual 'know that I am the LORD'.

Verse 15

the old hatred — Eybah olam, 'enmity of long standing'; the 'perpetual hatred' of Edom in 35:5 is the same two words. The Philistines are charged in the words already used of the others: 'vengeance' (v.12) and a 'despiteful heart', she'at nephesh, the 'despite' of Ammon in v.6.

Verse 16

the Cherethims — The KJV spelling of the Cherethites, whom Zephaniah calls 'the nation of the Cherethites', dwellers on 'the sea coast' in 'the land of the Philistines' (Zeph 2:5; cf. 1 Sam 30:14). 'The remnant of the sea coast' (chof hayyam) is the shore, which in Zephaniah becomes the portion of 'the remnant of the house of Judah' (Zeph 2:7).

Verse 17

great vengeance… with furious rebukes — 'Rebukes' (tokechah) is the word for reproof; here the reproof is carried out as judgment. 'Lay my vengeance' (nathan) was said of Edom in v.14. The closing 'they shall know that I am the LORD' ends the oracles on Ammon (vv.5, 7), Moab (v.11) and the Philistines; Edom's ends 'they shall know my vengeance' (v.14).