“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations;’
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Moab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations;’
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Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
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Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because that Moab and Seir do say: Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations,
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 25:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 15:1-9 The burden of Moab. For in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. For in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off. In their streets, they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops, everyone wails, weeping abundantly. Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud. Their souls tremble within them. My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing. Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows. For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab, its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing to Beer Elim. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on those of Moab who escape, and on the remnant of the land.
- Jeremiah 25:21 Edom, Moab, and the children of Ammon;
- Jeremiah 48:1-47 Of Moab. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It is taken. Misgab is put to shame and broken down. The praise of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come! Let’s cut her off from being a nation.’ You also, Madmen, will be brought to silence. The sword will pursue you. The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction! Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For they will go up by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping. For at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. Flee! Save your lives! Be like the juniper bush in the wilderness. For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also will be taken. Chemosh will go out into captivity, his priests and his princes together. The destroyer will come on every city, and no city will escape; the valley also will perish, and the plain will be destroyed; as Yahweh has spoken. Give wings to Moab, that she may fly and get herself away: and her cities will become a desolation, without anyone to dwell in them. “Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood. “Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will send to him those who pour off, and they will pour him off; and they will empty his vessels, and break their containers in pieces. Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. “How do you say, ‘We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war?’ Moab is laid waste, and they have gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies. “The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast. All you who are around him, bemoan him, and all you who know his name; say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!’ “You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you. He has destroyed your strongholds. Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, ‘What has been done?’ Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. Judgment has come on the plain country, on Holon, on Jahzah, on Mephaath, on Dibon, on Nebo, on Beth Diblathaim, on Kiriathaim, on Beth Gamul, on Beth Meon, on Kerioth, on Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,” says Yahweh. “Make him drunken; for he magnified himself against Yahweh. Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will be in derision. For wasn’t Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head. You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock. Be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss. “We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the arrogance of his heart. I know his wrath,” says Yahweh, “that it is nothing; his boastings have done nothing. Therefore I will wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres. With more than the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, vine of Sibmah. Your branches passed over the sea. They reached even to the sea of Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruits and on your vintage. Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab. I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses. No one will tread with shouting. The shouting will be no shouting. From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for the waters of Nimrim will also become desolate. Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab,” says Yahweh, “him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods. Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir Heres. Therefore the abundance that he has gotten has perished. For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. There are cuttings on all the hands, and sackcloth on the waist. On all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets, there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which no one delights,” says Yahweh. “How it is broken down! How they wail! How Moab has turned the back with shame! So will Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him.” For Yahweh says: “Behold, he will fly as an eagle, and will spread out his wings against Moab. Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized. The heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh. Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you, inhabitant of Moab,” says Yahweh. “He who flees from the terror will fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh. “Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the middle of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity. “Yet I will reverse the captivity of Moab in the latter days,” says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
- Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and crush all the sons of Sheth.
- Deuteronomy 2:5 Don’t contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.
- Psalms 83:4-8 “Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot.
- Isaiah 10:9-11 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?” As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria; shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?
- Isaiah 25:10 For Yahweh’s hand will rest in this mountain. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.
- Isaiah 34:1-17 Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it. For Yahweh is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter. Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up. The mountains will melt in their blood. All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree. For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment. Yahweh’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat. For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch. It won’t be quenched night nor day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest. The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate. Search in the book of Yahweh, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
- Isaiah 36:18-20 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “Yahweh will deliver us.” Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who are they among all the gods of these countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’ ”
- Isaiah 63:1-6 Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? Who is this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is your clothing red, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat? “I have trodden the wine press alone. Of the peoples, no one was with me. Yes, I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me. My own wrath upheld me. I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath. I poured their lifeblood out on the earth.”
- Jeremiah 27:3 Then send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the children of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
- Jeremiah 49:7-22 Of Edom, Yahweh of Armies says: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? Flee! Turn back! Dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him when I visit him. If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had enough? But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he will not be able to hide himself. His offspring is destroyed, with his brothers and his neighbors; and he is no more. Leave your fatherless children. I will preserve them alive. Let your widows trust in me.” For Yahweh says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup will certainly drink; and are you he who will altogether go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished, but you will surely drink. For I have sworn by myself,” says Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. All its cities will be perpetual wastes.” I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, “Gather yourselves together! Come against her! Rise up to the battle!” “For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men. As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill, though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh. “Edom will become an astonishment. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its plagues. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. “Behold, he will come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, I will appoint him over it. For who is like me? Who will appoint me a time? Who is the shepherd who will stand before me?” Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they will drag them away, the little ones of the flock. Surely he will make their habitation desolate over them. The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea. Behold, he will come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah. The heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
- Ezekiel 25:12-14 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and taken revenge on them;” therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman. They will fall by the sword even to Dedan. I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath. Then they will know my vengeance,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 35:1-15 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and tell it, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you. I will make you a desolation and an astonishment. I will lay your cities waste, and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. “ ‘ “Because you have had a perpetual hostility, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end; therefore, as I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood will pursue you. Since you have not hated blood, therefore blood will pursue you. Thus I will make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation. I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns. I will fill its mountains with its slain. The slain with the sword will fall in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses. I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. “ ‘ “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries will be mine, and we will possess it;’ whereas Yahweh was there: therefore, as I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. You will know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They have been laid desolate. They have been given us to devour.’ You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me. I have heard it.” The Lord Yahweh says: “When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”
- Amos 2:1-3 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime; but I will send a fire on Moab, and it will devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet; and I will cut off the judge from among them, and will kill all its princes with him,” says Yahweh.
- Amos 2:11-12 I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, you children of Israel?” says Yahweh. “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
- Obadiah 1:1-9 The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, “Arise, and let’s rise up against her in battle. Behold, I have made you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh. “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, what disaster awaits you—wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes? How Esau will be ransacked! How his hidden treasures are sought out! All the men of your alliance have brought you on your way, even to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you. Friends who eat your bread lay a snare under you. There is no understanding in him.” “Won’t I in that day”, says Yahweh, “destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mountain of Esau? Your mighty men, Teman, will be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.
- Zephaniah 2:8-11 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them. This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies. Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 25:8 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that…
Eze 25:8 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah [is] like unto all the heathen;
Ver. 8. Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen.] As ill-protected and provided for as they; as much scourged by the Babylonian. See to the contrary in Deu 33:29, "Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thine excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places!" Some read it, ‘Behold the house of Jehovah,’ and note an emphasis in that word, as savouring of contempt and blasphemy, as in 2Ki 18:33-34.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Moab; the children of Lot by the elder daughter,…
Moab; the children of Lot by the elder daughter, the whole nation going under the name of the first father of them, near but evil neighbours to Israel and Judah.
Seir; the seed of Esau, who are, Edom, Idumeans, or Seir, from the mountain where they first planted themselves; near of kin in blood, but bitter enemies to the Jews: though both here joined, yet Moab is first doomed, Eze 25:9-11, and Seir next, Eze 25:12-14.
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The house of Judah; the peculiar people of God, who had his law, temple, worship of his own appointment, among them.
Is like unto all the heathen; are no more a select people than others; their religion no better, nor their god but as the gods of their neighbours, and they no more benefited by their, worshipping of him. Thus, atheist-like, they dethrone God, and debase him to an equality with their own idols. More particularly Moab’s sin is set out, Jer 48.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Three more of Israel's ill-natured neighbours are here arraigned,…
Three more of Israel's ill-natured neighbours are here arraigned, convicted, and condemned to destruction, for contributing to and triumphing in Jerusalem's fall.
I. The Moabites. Seir, which was the seat of the Edomites, is joined with them (Eze 25:8), because they said the same as the Moabites; but they were afterwards reckoned with by themselves, Eze 25:12. Now observe,
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1. What was the sin of the Moabites; they said, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen. They triumphed, (1.) In the apostasies of Israel, were please to see them forsake their God and worship idols, and hoped that in a while their religion would be quite lost and forgotten and the house of Judah would be like all the heathen, perfect idolaters. When those that profess religion walk unworthy of their profession they encourage the enemies of religion to hope that it will in time sink, and be run down, and quite abandoned; but let the Moabites know that, though there are those of the house of Judah who have made themselves like the heathen, yet there is a remnant that retain their integrity, the religion of the house of Judah shall recover itself, its peculiarities shall be preserved, it shall not lose itself among the heathen, but distinguish itself from them, till it deliver itself honourably into a better institution. (2.) In the calamities of Israel. They said, "The house of Judah is like all the heathen, in as bad a state as they; their God is no more able to deliver them from this overflowing scourge of these parts of the world than the gods of the heathen are to deliver them. Where are the promises they gloried in and all the wonders which they and their fathers told us of? What the better are they for the covenant of peculiarity, upon which they so much valued themselves? Those that looked with so much scorn upon all the heathen are now set upon a level with them, or rather sunk below them." Note, Those who judge only by outward appearance are ready to conclude that the people of God have lost all their privileges when they have lost their worldly prosperity, which does not follow, for good men, even in affliction, in captivity among the heathen, have graces and comforts within sufficient to distinguish them from all the heathen. Though the event seem one to the righteous and wicked, yet indeed it is vastly different.
2. What should be the punishment of Moab for this sin; because they triumphed in the overthrow of Judah, their country shall be in like manner overthrown with that of the Ammonites, who were guilty of the same sin (Eze 25:9, Eze 25:10): "I will open the side of Moab, will uncover its shoulder, will take away all its defences, that it may become an easy prey to any that will make a prey of it." (1.) See here how it shall be exposed; the frontier-towns, that were its strength and guard, shall be demolished by the Chaldean forces, and laid open. Some of the cities are here named, which are said to be the glory of the country, which they trusted in, and boasted of as impregnable; these shall decay, be deserted, or betrayed, or fall into the enemies' hands, so that Moab shall lie exposed, and whoever will may penetrate into the heart of the country. Note, Those who glory in any other defence and protection than that of the divine power, providence, and promise, will sooner or later see cause to be ashamed of their glorying. (2.) See here to whom it shall be exposed: The men of the east, when they come to take possession of the country of the Ammonites, shall seize that of the Moabites too. God, the Lord of all lands, will give them that land; for the kingdoms of men he gives to whomsoever he will. The Arabians, who are shepherds, and live quietly, plain men dwelling in tents, shall by an overruling Providence be put in possession of the land of the Moabites, who are soldiers, men of war, and cunning hunters, that live turbulently. The Chaldeans shall get it by war, and the Arabians shall enjoy it in peace. Concerning the Ammonites it is said, They shall no more be remembered among the nations (Eze 25:10), for they had been accessory to the murder of Gedaliah, Jer 40:14. But of the Moabites it is said, I will execute judgments upon Moab; they shall feel the weight of God's displeasure, but perhaps not to that degree that the Ammonites shall; however, so far as that they shall know that I am the Lord, that the God of Israel is a God of power, and that his covenant with his people is not broken.
II. The Edomites, the posterity of Esau, between whom and Jacob there had been an old enmity. And here is,
1. The sin of the Edomites, Eze 25:12. They not only triumphed in the ruin of Judah and Jerusalem, as the Moabites and Ammonites had done, but they took advantage from the present distressed state to which the Jews were reduced to do them some real mischiefs, probably made inroads upon their frontiers and plundered their country: Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance. The Edomites had of old been tributaries to the Jews, according to the sentence that the elder should serve the younger. In Jehoram's time they revolted. Amaziah severely chastised them (Kg2 14:7), and for this they took vengeance. Now they would pay off all the old scores, and not only incensed the Babylonians against Jerusalem, crying, Rase it, rase it (Psa 137:7), but cut off those that escaped, as we find in the prophecy of Obadiah, which is wholly directed against Edom, Eze 25:11, Eze 25:12, etc. It is called here revenging a revenge, which intimates that they were not only eager upon it, but very cruel in it, and recompensed to the Jews more than double. "Herein he has greatly offended." Note, It is a great offence to God for us to revenge ourselves upon our brother; for God has said, Vengeance is mine. We are forbidden to revenge or to bear a grudge. Suppose Judah had been hard upon Edom formerly, it was a base thing for the Edomites now, in revenge for it, to smite them secretly. But the Jews had a divine warrant to reign over the Edomites, for that therefore they ought not to have made reprisals; and it was the more disingenuous for them to retain the old enmity when God had particularly commanded his people to forget it. Deu 23:7, Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite.
2. The judgments threatened against them for this sin. God will take them to task for it (Eze 25:13): I will stretch out my hand upon Edom Their country shall be desolate from Teman, which lay in the south part of it; and they shall fall by the sword unto Dedan, which lay north; the desolations of war should go through the nation. (1.) They had taken vengeance, and therefore God will lay his vengeance upon them (Eze 25:14): They shall know my vengeance. Those that will not leave it to God to take vengeance for them may expect that he will take vengeance on them; and those that will not believe and fear his vengeance shall be made to know and feel his vengeance; they shall be dealt with according to God's anger and according to his fury, not according to the weakness of the instruments that are employed in it, but according to the strength of the arm that employs them. (2.) They had taken vengeance on Israel, and God will lay his vengeance on them by the hand of his people Israel. They suffered much by the Chaldeans, which seems to be referred to, Jer 49:8. But besides that there were saviours to come upon Mount Zion, who should judge the mount of Esau (Oba 1:21), and Israel's Redeemer comes with dyed garments from Bozrah (Isa 63:1), this implies a promise that Israel should recover itself again to such a degree as to be in a capacity of curbing the insolence of its neighbours. And we find (1 Macc. 5:3) that Judas Maccabeus fought against the children of Esau in Idumea, gave them a great overthrow, abated their courage, and took their spoil; and Josephus says (Antiq. 13.257), that Hircanus made the Edomites tributaries to Israel. Note, The equity of God'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.
III. The Philistines. And, 1. Their sin is much the same with that of the Edomites: They have dealt by revenge with the people of Israel, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, not to disturb them only, but to destroy them, for the old hatred (Eze 25:15), the old grudge they bore them, or (as the margin reads it) with perpetual hatred, a hatred that began long since and which they resolved to continue. The anger was implacable: they dealt by revenge, traded in the acts of malice; it was their constant practice, and their heart, their spiteful heart, was upon it. 2. Their punishment likewise is much the same, Eze 25:16. Those that were for destroying God's people shall themselves be cut off and destroyed; and (Eze 25:17) those that were for avenging themselves shall find that God will execute great vengeance upon them. This was fulfilled when that country was wasted by the Chaldean army, not long after the destruction of Jerusalem, which is foretold, Jer 47:1-7. It was strange that these nations, which bordered upon the land of Israel, were not alarmed by the success of the Chaldean army, and made to tremble in the apprehension of their own danger; when their neighbour's house was on fire it was time to look to their own; but their impiety and malice made them forget their politics, till God by his judgments convinced them that the cup was going round, and they were the less safe for being secure.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thus saith the Lord God,.... By his servant the…
Thus saith the Lord God,.... By his servant the prophet, to whom the word of the Lord came; as concerning the Ammonites, so likewise concerning the Moabites, as follows:
because that Moab and Seir do say; that is, the Moabites, and the Edomites, which latter are meant by Seir, that being the seat of them; these lived near one another, and bore a like enmity to the Israelites and Jews, and had the same sentiments concerning them, and said the same things of them: only Moab is mentioned in the Septuagint and Arabic versions: the Moabites are first prophesied of, and then the Edomites, who both joined in saying, behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the Heathen; it fares no better with them than with the rest of the nations, who do not profess and serve the same God they do; they are fallen into the hands of the king of Babylon, as well as others; and have no more security against him, nor protection from him, than other people; they pretend to serve and worship the one only living and true God, and to be his covenant people, and to be favoured with privileges above all other nations; and yet are brought into the same miserable circumstances, and left in them, as others are; where is the God they boast of, and their superior excellence to the rest of the world? thus blasphemously, as well as wickedly, did they insult them, which was provoking to the Lord. The Targum renders it interrogatively,
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in what do the house of Judah differ from all people?''
and so the Septuagint,
"behold, are not the house of Israel and Judah in like manner as all nations?''
Jerom, on the place, relates a fable of the Jews, that when the city and temple were opened, the Ammonites, Moobites, and Edomites, went into the temple, and saw the cherubim over the mercy seat, and said, as all nations worship images, so Judah hath the idols of their religion. Jarchi makes mention of such a Midrash, but with some difference.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Seir - The seed of Esau, the Edomites. Seir…
Seir - The seed of Esau, the Edomites. Seir was the mountain where they first planted themselves. Is like - Are no more a select people than others.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. Moab and Seir do say] Seir means…
Verse 8. Moab and Seir do say] Seir means the Idumeans. It appears that both these, with the Ammonites, had made a league with Zedekiah, Jer 27:3, which they did not keep; and it is supposed that they even joined with the Chaldeans.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 25:8-10. Because that Moab and Seir, &c. —…
Eze 25:8-10. Because that Moab and Seir, &c. — By Seir the Idumeans are intended. The prophet joins them together as guilty of the same crime, and then denounces particular judgments against each of them. Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen — Hebrew ככל הגוים, like all the nations; subdued by Nebuchadnezzar indiscriminately with them; they are not distinguished from their neighbours by the protection of the God whom they worship, and they find no advantage in worshipping of him, over those who worship other gods. It appears from hence, that the Jews had boasted, and the Gentiles till then acknowledged, that the Jews were under an extraordinary providence. The LXX. here read, the house of Israel and Judah. Therefore will I open the side of Moab from the cities — I will expose Moab to be invaded, and open a passage for his enemies to enter his frontier cities, and from thence to possess themselves of the best part of his country. Unto the men of the east — See Eze 25:4. That the Ammonites may not be remembered, &c. — May make no figure among their neighbours, their strength being entirely broken.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Prophecies against Moab which lay south of Ammon, and…
Prophecies against Moab which lay south of Ammon, and shared Ammon’s implacable hostility to the children of Israel.
Seir was close to Moab. Edom is identified with Mount “Seir” in Eze 35:1-15; and “Seir” is therefore probably coupled with “Moab” here because, being near neighbors closely leagued together, they expressed a common exultation at Jerusalem’s fall.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Seir; Idumea. --- Nations, whose gods could not defend…
Seir; Idumea. --- Nations, whose gods could not defend them. (Calmet) --- Thus they blasphemed the Lord. (Theodoret)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Moab, Seir, and Ammon were contiguous countries, stretching in…
Moab, Seir, and Ammon were contiguous countries, stretching in one line from Gilead on the north to the Red Sea. They therefore naturally acted in concert, and in joint hostility to Judea.
Judah is like . . . all . . . heathen--The Jews fare no better than others: it is of no use to them to serve Jehovah, who, they say, is the only true God.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Moab — Beyond the brief biblical references (as…
8. Moab — Beyond the brief biblical references (as Gen_19:30; 2Ki_1:1; 2Ki_3:4-5; 2Ki_13:20) and the well-known Mesha inscription (ninth century B.C.) which the Moabite king set up as a monument of salvation in praise of his god Ashtor-Chemosh for his help in defeating the “son” (successor) of Omri, little is known of this great nation. Their literature and royal monuments may any day be discovered, as it was by the merest chance that the above-mentioned monument came to light. We already know that they greatly resembled the Hebrews, not only in language, but in their method of literary composition and in their national and religious spirit. Some one has justly said that if the name for Jehovah were substituted for Chemosh the Mesha inscription would read like an extract from the Book of Kings. Their orthography, however, and chief deity ally them to the Minaeans (South Arabians), while they are always closely associated with the Ammonites (Eze_25:2). They, too, were always bitter enemies of Israel, of haughty spirit (Isaiah 15, 16; Zep_2:8-10), and very inhuman (Amo_2:1).
And Seir — Omitted by LXX. “Mount Seir” is elsewhere joined to Edom (Eze_35:15). At this time it may have been connected politically with Moab, as at other times both Moab and Ammon seem to have turned against the hardy inhabitants of the hill country (2Ch_20:23).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. Moab and Seir] LXX. omits and Seir. Ezek.…
8. Moab and Seir] LXX. omits and Seir. Ezek. elsewhere always says “mount Seir” (Eze_35:2-3; Eze_35:7; Eze_35:15), and Edom, with which mount Seir is joined (Eze_35:15) has a special prophecy directed against it (Eze_25:12-14). The phrase “like unto all the nations” implies knowledge of some claim to preeminence on the part of Judah. Moab rejoices that these pretensions have received a signal refutation.
8–11. Prophecy against Moab
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The Moabites, like the Ammonites, were recognised by Israel as a kindred people (Gen_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 (2Ki_3:4), though making frequent struggles for independence (2Ki_1:1; 2Ki_3:5; 2Ki_13:20). Unlike the Ammonites, who continued a half-nomad people, the Moabites became more a settled nation, and appear to have attained to a considerable degree of civilization. Their language was closely allied to Hebrew, and the art of writing appears familiar as early as the beginning of the 9th century (Mesha’s Inscrip.). After the intervention of the Assyrians in western Asia Moab with the neighbouring peoples became tributary to that power. Hostilities between Israel and Moab were too frequent, and along with Ammon they helped towards the downfall of Judah at the hands of the Chaldeans (2Ki_24:2; Zep_2:8). Their warfare was characterized by inhuman excesses (Amo_2:1), and the people are stigmatised as proud and boastful (Isaiah 15, 16; Zep_2:8-10). Moab is referred to after the return (Ezr_9:1; Neh_13:1; the ref. Isa_25:10 is of uncertain date and meaning), and as late as Dan_11:41.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) Moab and Seir.—The two nations, here mentioned together,…
(8) Moab and Seir.—The two nations, here mentioned together, are afterwards treated separately—Moab, Eze_25:8-11, and Edom, Eze_25:12-14. 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 was a more settled and stronger people, and also contributed its quota to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. Additional prophecies in regard to it may be found in Num_24:17 and Isaiah 15, 16, besides those immediately connected with the prophecies expressly against Ammon already cited. The Moabites, so far as they were separated from the Ammonites, lay immediately to the south of them.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Moab and Seir. "Seir" stands elsewhere for Edom, but…
Moab and Seir. "Seir" stands elsewhere for Edom, but here appears as distinguished from it, the latter nation having a distinct message in Ver. 12. A possible explanation is found in 2Ch_20:23, where we find Moab and Ammon joined together against the inhabitants of Mount Seir. The Moabites may have retained possession of it, and so Ezekiel may have coupled the two names together. Their sin also, like that of Ammon, is that they exulted in the fall of Jerusalem. It was come down to the level of other cities, no longer exalted above them by the blessing of Jehovah. The Moabite Stone, found in the ruins of Dibon ("Records of the Past," 9:165), on which Mesha, King of Moab, narrates his conquests over neighboring nations, including Israel, testifies to the strength of the kingdom, and in Isa 15 and Isa 16. it is represented as conspicuous for its pride. They too, like the Ammonites, served in Nebuchadnezzar"s army. (2Ki_24:2)
Vers. 8-11. The skeptical nation.
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The sister nation of Moab, lying just to the south of Ammon, comes second in the order of the peoples whose doom is pronounced by the prophet of Jehovah. It has its characteristic sin, and it will have its characteristic punishment.
I THE RECKLESS SCEPTICISM. "Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen." This utterance expressed unbelief in regard to the peculiar privileges of Judah. The Jews had given themselves out as the chosen people of God, and their claim was disputed by Moab.
1. The skepticism was prompted by jealousy. Moab was vexed at the pretensions of the Jews. What right had one little nation to arrogate to itself the favor of Heaven? The same jealousy leads those who are outside the Christian profession to depreciate the privileges of the Church. But in the latter case there is far less excuse, because the doors of the Church are open for all to enter it. There is no exclusiveness in Christianity. Judaism was narrow, and while men of most heathen nations could only enter the covenant by becoming Jews, i.e. by renouncing their own nation, an express provision was made to rigorously exclude Moabites and Ammonites. (Deu_23:3)
2. The skepticism was encouraged by the sins of the Jews. Unhappily there was a sting of truth in the taunt which the Moabites had flung at the degenerate Jews. As a fact, Judah had become only too like the heathen. Her separateness was based on a distinction of faith and morals; but alas! this distinction was fast melting away, and both in the practice of idolatry and in a departure from the high ethical standard of the Law, the Jews were assimilating themselves to their pagan neighbors. In the same way, the sins of Christians sow seeds of skepticism in the world. The Church is too much like the world, and the consequence is that the world doubts the high pretensions of the Church.
3. This skepticism was grounded in error. The view of the Moabites was superficial. They saw the glaring faults of the Jews, they observed the external likeness of Judah to heathen people, but they did not look beneath the surface to certain great spiritual truths. They did not see "the remnant" of the faithful, in which the prophets detected the germ of the future and recognized already the true Israel of God. They failed to note that a people may fall grievously from its mission, and yet may not utterly lose its vocation. It is the same with the world"s judgment of the Church. In the darkest ages there has ever been a remnant of true Christians with whom could be found the sacred deposit of truth and grace. Even when the Church had sinned greatly, "the root of the matter" may still be in her, so that after heavy chastisement she may learn to repent and be restored. Moreover, the real Christian privileges which distinguish the true and faithful people of God from the world, the privileges of membership in the kingdom of heaven, fellowship with God, etc., are not perceived by the worldly, for they are spiritually discerned", (1Co_2:14) and eye hath not seen the things which God hath prepared," etc.. (1Co_2:9)
II THE JUST PUNISHMENT. This is assimilated to the guilt. There is to be nothing distinctive in the punishment of Moab, only a repetition of that of Ammon. Denying the distinction of the Jews, the Moabites are not to be distinguished in their doom. Refusing to admit the unique national destiny of Israel, they themselves are to cease to be remembered among the nations. Now look at the just irony of history. In course of time, the skeptical nation melts out of memory, while the people of God grow into a greater distinction and fulfill a higher destiny than they ever anticipated.
Vers. 8-11. The blasphemy and the punishment of Moab.
Although Ezekiel, speaking as the prophet of the Lord, has words of upbraiding and of threatening for the several nations from whose hostility Israel suffered, it is not the case that these words are words of indiscriminate application. On the contrary, they have special reference to the circumstances of the several peoples and to their peculiar relations with Israel. In the case of Moab, the prophet urges a peculiar charge, which is not, indeed, supported by detailed facts, but which he was nevertheless assured was a just charge and a heinous offence.
I THE PECULIAR OFFENSE. Moab was convicted of saying, "The house of Judah is like unto all the nations." The prophet knew, and we know, that the descendants of Jacob were a separated, chosen, and peculiar people. And to assert the contrary, as Moab had done, was to cast a slur upon the revelation of God, upon the vocation with which his people were called, upon the purpose which Divine wisdom had in view in conferring upon them special privileges.
II THE MORAL ENORMITY OF THE OFFENSE. It is only when the character of this sin of Moab is carefully considered, with all that it involves, that the guilt of Moab appears in its proper blackness.
1. It involves the classing of the holy and ever-blessed Jehovah with the idols which were the expression of human injustice, cruelty, caprice, and lust.
2. It involves the confusion of the righteous laws of Moses with the regulations and observances which obtained in heathen communities, some just and some unjust, and many of them superstitious and impure.
3. It involves the confusion of the Divine ordinances of sacrifice, of priesthood, of religious service, of sacred festivals, with the debasing rites practiced among the unenlightened idolaters.
4. It involves the classing together of the people consecrated to Jehovah with those who had abandoned themselves to systems of selfishness, worldliness, or superstition. All this was just calling darkness light, and light darkness. It, indeed, reminds us of what our Lord has said regarding blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. We cannot, therefore, look upon this offence of the Moabites as something which has no application to ourselves. The offence of calling evil good and good evil is an offence which, in various forms, is committed in our own day, and against which, therefore, men need still to be warned. There are blemishes in the Church of Christ as it actually exists upon earth; but still it is the Church of Christ, and it must not, therefore, be confounded with institutions of human origin, and to speak of it as we might speak of other organizations and institutions is to sin somewhat after the manner of the sin of Moab in the days of the Captivity.
III THE PUNISHMENT OF THE OFFENSE. In the case of Moab this was terrible indeed. The territory was to be laid open to the incursions of the Eastern foe, the cities were to be taken by a foreign force, judgments were to be executed upon the people, and, like the Ammonites, they were to be overtaken by speedy and irremediable ruin. The very thought of such infliction is enough to make the sinner tremble, to induce him to repent of his evil words and actions, and to seek, in God"s own way, reconciliation with the authority which he has despised, Silence, contrition, and true submission of heart are the true way of peace. T.
Vers. 8-11. The sin and punishment of the Moabites.
"Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen," etc. The Moabites were the descendants of Moab, the son of Lot by his elder daughter. They occupied the fertile district east of the Dead Sea, and south of the territory of the Ammonites. The condition of the Moabites may be gathered from Isa 15 Isa 16, and Jeremiah 48. The latter prophecy was pronounced about "ten or twelve years before the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar by which Jerusalem was destroyed;" so that it may be taken as setting forth their condition in the time of our prophet. That condition is well stated by Sir George Grove, in Dr. Smith"s "Dictionary of the Bible: nation appears in them as high-spirited, wealthy, populous, and even to a certain extent civilized, enjoying a wide reputation and popularity. With a metaphor which well expresses at once the pastoral wealth of the country and its commanding, almost regal, position, but which cannot be conveyed in a translation, Moab is depicted as the strong scepter, the beautiful staff, whose fracture will be bewailed by all about him, and by all who know him. In his cities we discern a " great multitude" of people living in "glory," and in the enjoyment of great "treasure," crowding the public squares, the house-tops, and the ascents and descents of the numerous high places and sanctuaries where the " priests and princes" of Chemosh or Baal-peor minister to the anxious devotees. Outside the towns lie the "plentiful fields," luxuriant as the renowned Carmel the vineyards and gardens of "summer fruits;" the harvest is being reaped, and the " hay stored in its abundance," the vineyards and the presses are crowded with peasants, gathering and treading the grapes, the land resounds with the clamor of the vintagers. These characteristics contrast very favorably with any traits recorded of Ammon, Edom, Midian, Amalek, the Philistines, or the Canaanite tribes. And since the descriptions we are considering are adopted by certainly two, and probably three, prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, and the older seer extending over a period of nearly two hundred years, we may safely conclude that they are not merely temporary circumstances, but were the enduring characteristics of the people. In this case there can be no doubt that, amongst the pastoral people of Syria, Moab stood next to Israel in all matters of material wealth and civilization." Our text presents to our notice
I A SIN SEEMINGLY SLIGHT, BUT ESSENTIALLY HEINOUS. "Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen." In these words we have:
1. A decrial of the superiority of the Jews over their heathen neighbors. In many respects they were their superiors. God had granted to them the clearest revelation of his character and will, his temple also, and the ordinances of his worship. His mighty hand had frequently been stretched out in glorious deeds on their behalf. He had assured them of many blessings and of a bright future. Jerusalem "was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces." But now that Nebuchadnezzar has quite vanquished them, taken their famous city, and destroyed their holy and beautiful temple, the Moabites say, "The house of Judah is like unto all the nations." By this they probably meant:
(1) They are no better in their character. "By their idolatries and idolatrous customs, and by their political treacheries, the Jews had given their enemies too much occasion to say this. Yet the religion which was prescribed to them was incomparably superior to those of their heathen neighbors; and there was at least a small remnant that was faithful to that religion.
(2) They are no better in their condition. When the Chaldeans came against them, they were no more able to resist them than any heathen people would have been. And these things were said by the Moabites, not sorrowfully, but scornfully. Like the Ammonites, they rejoiced over the miseries of the people of Israel and Judah. (Zep_2:8) Hence the Prophet Jeremiah cries, shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? ... for as often as thou speakest of him thou waggest the head". (Jer_48:26, Jer_48:27)
2. A denial of the superiority of the Lord Jehovah over heathen gods. This aspect of the sin of the Moabites is clearly and forcibly presented by Hengstenberg: "The guilt consists in the denial of the true Deity of the God of Israel; for only on this ground could Israel be placed on the same level with all other nations. The pretence for this denial they take from the misery of Israel, which they derive, not from their guilt, but from the feebleness of their God, and discern therein a palpable proof against his true and full Deity. Their God Jehovah, the absolutely pure Being, the primeval Ground of all things, the absolutely certain Helper of his people, is a mere fancy: otherwise must they soar above, and not sink beneath. This full Deity, against whose historically extant evidence they rashly close their eyes, they must now discover by their own destruction. The transgression is seemingly small; but it is that by which the nations perish even to the present day. As each takes its stand towards God, who is historically revealed in his Church, so is its destiny measured out." Thus "Moab magnified himself against the Lord". (Jer_48:26)
II A PUNISHMENT CORRESPONDING TO THEIR SIN.
1. The Moabites had rejoiced in the overthrow and exile of the Jews, and they also should be overthrown and their land possessed by others. "Therefore, behold, I wilt open the side of Mesh from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers." He would expose Moab to the assaults of its enemy. Certain cities are mentioned, and are appropriately described as "on his frontiers." They lay to the north of the river Amen, which was the proper boundary of Moab. (Num_21:13) Again, these cities are called "the glory of the country." The tract in which they were situated, "belonging to the district called by the Arabians Al Belka, has been at all times highly valued on account of the excellence of its pastures for cattle. Among others, Bochart writes, " As the pasturage in Belka is far better than in the rest of Southern Syria, there has been a continual struggle among the various Arab tribes as to who should secure it. The Bedouins are accustomed to say, "Thou canst find no land like Belka" (Havernieh) ("Speaker"s Commentary"). Moreover, their country was ultimately to pass away from them into the possession of "the children of the east," the wandering Arab tribes. Like Ammon, the land was ravaged by hostile armies, and at last was left unoccupied except by the Bedouins.
2. The Moabites had denied the superiority of Jehovah over heathen gods, and they should be brought by painful experience to know his supremacy. "And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord." Says Hengstenberg, "Through the judgments under which Moab falls, it is forced to acknowledge the true Deity of Jehovah, which it did not willingly accept." (See our notes on Eze_6:7, 10 7:4)
CONCLUSION.
1. Let those who are avowedly followers of Christ take heed that they do not give occasion to sinners to blaspheme the Name or the cause of God. Let them show "all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things;" "Walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called.
2. Let those who are not Christians take heed that they do not bring upon themselves the anger of the Lord by speaking against his cause or his people. W.J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain The prophecies upon Gentile powers, extending to Eze 32:32…
Thus
The prophecies upon Gentile powers, extending to Eze 32:32 have doubtless had partial fulfilments of which history and the present condition of those cities and countries bear witness, but the mention of the day of Jehovah Eze 30:3 makes it evident that a fulfilment in the final sense is still future. See "Day of Jehovah" Isa 2:10-22. (See Scofield "Rev 19:19"). Also "Armageddon" Rev 16:14. See Scofield "Rev 19:17". Those countries are once more to be the battle ground of the nations.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Moab and Seir
Moab and Seir
These places refer to the people who live in them. AT: "the people of Moab and Seir" (See: Metonymy)
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Behold! The house of Judah is like
"Look at the house of Judah. It is like"
The house of Judah is
The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house, in this case the descendants of Judah over many years. See how you translated these words in Ezekiel 3:1. AT: "The Judah people group are" or "The people of Judah are" (See: Metonymy)
behold! I will open
"look! I will open" or "listen! I will open" or "pay attention to what I am about to tell you! I will open"
I will open the slopes of Moab, starting at his cities on the border
This means that he will destroy the cities on the border of Moab first to clear the way for the army to attack Moab itself. AT: "I will open the path to Moab by destroying the cities on its border" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
starting at his cities
Here the city of Moab is spoken of with the masculine pronoun "his." AT: "starting at its cities" (See: Personification)
the splendor of Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim
"I will start at the great cities of Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim." These three places are cities. (See: How to Translate Names)
to the people of the east who have been against the people of Ammon
"I will send the same army from the people in the east who attacked Ammon"
I will give them up as a possession
Here Yahweh speaks of allowing the armies from the east to conquer Ammon as if Ammon were a possession that he was giving them. AT: "I will allow the armies to conquer them" (See: Metaphor)
so that the people of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations
This can be stated in active form. AT: "so that the nations will not remember the people of Ammon" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
Moab
splendor
judge
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 25:8-11 The people of Moab thought that they could…
25:8-11 The people of Moab thought that they could attack Judah with impunity, as though it were just like all the other nations. This was not true—even though Judah had been acting as though it were (see 20:32)—because Judah had a covenant with God, and God would not ultimately reject Judah. Instead, like Ammon, Moab would be removed from the register of the nations and left perpetually desolate.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.