For, behold, I am for you, and I will come to you, and you will be tilled and sown. I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built. I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
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Ezekiel 36:9-11 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“ ‘ “But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will come to you, and you will be tilled and sown. I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built. I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will never again bereave them of their children.”
Parallel Translations
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For, behold, I am for you, and I will come to you, and you will be tilled and sown.
I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built.
I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
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For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Show all 3 translations
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For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown;
and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded;
and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Cross-references (48)
- Jeremiah 33:12 (vv10–11) Yahweh of Armies says: “Yet again there will be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a…
- Jeremiah 23:5-8 (v11) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will…
- Micah 7:14 (v11) Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell by themselves in a forest, in the middle of fertile pasture…
- Jeremiah 31:27 (v11) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of…
- Ezekiel 37:13 (v11) You will know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people.
Show all 47 cross-references
- Job 42:12 (v11) So Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of…
- Jeremiah 30:18 (v11) Yahweh says: “Behold, I will reverse the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places. The city will be built on…
- Ezekiel 16:55 (v11) Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, will return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters will return to their former…
- Hosea 2:20 (v11) I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know Yahweh.
- Amos 9:15 (v11) I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.
- Isaiah 30:26 (v11) Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of…
- Isaiah 52:4-6 (v11) For the Lord Yahweh says: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there: and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause.…
- Isaiah 54:7-10 (v11) “For a small moment I have forsaken you, but I will gather you with great mercies. In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a…
- Ezekiel 36:35 (v11) They will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and…
- Joel 3:18-21 (v11) It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow…
- Obadiah 1:19-21 (v11) Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim,…
- Zechariah 8:11-15 (v11) But now I will not be to the remnant of this people as in the former days,” says Yahweh of Armies. “For the seed of peace and the vine will…
- Hebrews 8:8-13 (v11) For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and…
- Hebrews 11:40 (v11) God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
- Jeremiah 31:38-40 (v11) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the city will be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner. The…
- Ezekiel 36:33 (v10) “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste…
- Haggai 2:6-9 (v11) For this is what Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry…
- 1 John 5:20 (v11) We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in…
- Psalms 46:11 (v9) Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
- Ezekiel 35:9 (v11) I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 37:6 (v11) I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will…
- Jeremiah 30:19 (v10) Thanksgiving will proceed out of them with the voice of those who make merry. I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also…
- Ezekiel 36:34 (v9) The land that was desolate will be tilled instead of being a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.
- Hosea 2:21-23 (v9) It will happen in that day, I will respond,” says Yahweh, “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth…
- Isaiah 27:6 (v10) In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with fruit.
- Jeremiah 31:27-28 (v10) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of…
- Ezekiel 36:37 (v10) “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “For this, moreover, I will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with…
- Zechariah 8:12 (v9) “For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew; and I…
- Romans 8:31 (v9) What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Psalms 99:8 (v9) You answered them, Yahweh our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings.
- Isaiah 41:17-23 (v10) The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will…
- Isaiah 49:17-23 (v10) Your children hurry. Your destroyers and those who devastated you will leave you. Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather…
- Isaiah 51:3 (v10) For Yahweh has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden…
- Isaiah 52:9 (v10) Break out into joy! Sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 58:12 (v10) Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called…
- Isaiah 61:4 (v10) They will rebuild the old ruins. They will raise up the former devastated places. They will repair the ruined cities that have been…
- Jeremiah 31:10-14 (v10) “Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a…
- Joel 3:18 (v9) It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow…
- Amos 9:14 (v10) I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant…
- Haggai 2:19 (v9) Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t produced. From today I will bless…
- Zechariah 8:3-6 (v10) Yahweh says: “I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the…
- Malachi 3:10-11 (v9) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will…
47 distinct cross-references across this passage (48 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v11 Which was accomplished under Christ, to whom all these…
Which was accomplished under Christ, to whom all these temporal deliverances did direct them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Eze 36:9 For, behold, I [am] for you, and…
Eze 36:9 For, behold, I [am] for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
Ver. 9. For, behold, I am for you.] Or, I come to you, and I come with a cornucopia in mine hand.
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 On vv9, 11 I am for you; favour you, and am pacified…
I am for you; favour you, and am pacified towards you, or I come towards you with redemption, that your old inhabitants may return to you with singing.
Turn unto you; look towards you, with regard to what hath been and is your estate, your sufferings, which were less than you deserved, yet were the greater because ye are mine. Your inhabitants gave me the back and sinned against me, and I turned the back on you and regarded you not; then all darkness covered you. now my face shall be towards you, and you shall prosper and be fruitful, to the comfort of those that shall dwell in you and plough and sow you.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–11 For, behold, I am for you,.... For the mountains,…
For, behold, I am for you,.... For the mountains, that they might be cultivated and become fruitful, and be of advantage to their proprietors, and appear beautiful and lovely to behold, as well as to be useful:
and I will turn unto you; the Lord had turned from them, and left them a prey to the enemy, whereby they were become desolate; but now he would turn unto them, and bless them, and make them fruitful, and return the right owners of them to them, who should greatly improve them:
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and ye shall be tilled and sown; manured and cultivated, and sown with wheat and barley, as in former times.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 11 Verse 9. Ye shall be tilled and sown] The…
Verse 9. Ye shall be tilled and sown] The land shall be cultivated as it formerly was, when best peopled and at peace.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v11 Greater. Septuagint, "similar." (Haydock) --- It would be difficult…
Greater. Septuagint, "similar." (Haydock) --- It would be difficult to shew that the Jews arrived at greater eminence after the captivity than before, (Calmet) though they were less addicted to idolatry. Their kingdom was not independent: they had no prophets, &c. But the superior numbers and excellence of the Christian Church is manifest.
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 On vv10–11 wastes builded-- Isa 58:12; Isa 61:4; Amo 9:11-12, Amo…
wastes builded-- Isa 58:12; Isa 61:4; Amo 9:11-12, Amo 9:14, where, as here (Eze 34:23-24), the names of David, Messiah's type, and Edom, Israel's foe, are introduced in connection with the coming restoration.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv10–11 10. Cf. Eze_36:33; Isa_58:12; Isa_61:4; Zec_8:12.
10. Cf. Eze_36:33; Isa_58:12; Isa_61:4; Zec_8:12.
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 On v11 (11) Will multiply upon you.—The promises of abundant blessing…
(11) Will multiply upon you.—The promises of abundant blessing of this, with the previous and following verses, certainly received a partial fulfilment at the time following the return from the exile, and in the subsequent Maccabean period; yet one cannot but feel that the language of promise, if taken only in a literal sense, goes far beyond the historic fulfilment, and hence that these earthly blessings are the shadow and type by which is set forth the higher spiritual blessing given to the Church without stint.
Settle you after your old estates.—This does not mean that particular families are to have again each their own former inheritance—though, doubtless, this was true, as far as circumstances allowed, of the comparatively small number of families who returned—but that they shall in general be settled and prosperous, as of old. And even this promise is eclipsed by the next clause: “I will do better unto you than at your beginnings,” which can only be considered as fulfilled in the spiritual blessings, far higher and better than anything of earth, of the Messianic kingdom.
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 On vv9–10 I am for you. He had previously been against,…
I am for you. He had previously been against, (Eze_5:8 Eze_13:8) but was now for Israel and against Seir. (Eze_35:3) This change of dispensation implied no mutation in God, but merely that, as God had previously visited Israel with judgment on account of sin, so henceforth would he visit her with grace on condition of repentance. I will turn unto you. Always it is presupposed that Israel turns unto Jehovah.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 11 And ye shall be tilled and sown.
Eze_36:9
And ye shall be tilled and sown.
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A vision of the field
I. Mans heart by nature is like a waste field.
1. He brings forth no fruit unto God. Leave him alone and he will live unto himself. He will live and he will die a strange monstrosity in the world--a creature that has lived without his Creator. Methinks I see the great God coming to look at the man, even as a farmer might come to look upon his fallow field. He looks the whole field through. There is no thought for God, no consecration of time to God, no desire to honour God, no longing to produce in the world fresh glory to God, no effort to raise up to Him fresh voices that shall praise His name. He lives unto himself or to his fellow men, and having so lived, he so dies.
2. Worse than this; the field that has never been ploughed or sown does produce something. There is an activity about human nature that will not let us live without doing. No man liveth to himself. Is there no wheat growing on that soil? no barley? no rye? Very well, then, there will be darnel, and cockle, and twitch, and all sorts of weed. So it is with the unrenewed heart. It is prolific of evil imaginations, wrong desires, and bitter envyings. As these ripen they bring forth ill words--idle, or, it may be, lascivious words, and perhaps atheistic, blasphemous words; and as these ripen they come to actions, had the man becomes an offender in his deeds, perhaps against man, certainly against God. The apples of Gomorrah hang plentifully upon him.
II. There is no hope for this field, unless God turn to it in mercy. I am for you, and I will turn unto you. Man never does of himself turn unto God, and that for obvious reasons. We are sure he never can, for he is dead in trespasses and sins. We are certain he never will, for by nature he hates anything like a new birth; and if he could make himself a new creature he would not, for Christ has expressly said, Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life. If you have turned, you know that the Lord has done it. Give unto Him the glory. If you have not been converted, God help you to cry unto Him instantly and earnestly, Turn us, and we shall be turned. Look unto Him who is exalted on high to give repentance and remission of sins. Seek ye unto Him, and ye shall live.
III. When the field is to be put under cultivation it must be tilled. So when God turns to any man in His mercy there has to be an operation, a tillage, performed upon his heart. Common calling is addressed to every man, but effectual calling comes only to prepared men, to those whom God makes willing in the day of His power. Now, what is the plough wanted for? Why, it is wanted, first of all, to break up the soil and make it crumble. The more thoroughly pulverised the heart becomes, the better. The seed will never get into an unbroken heart. The plough is also wanted to destroy the weeds, for they must be killed. If the Lord save you, He must kill your drunkenness, He must kill your swearing, He must kill your whoredom, He must kill your lying, He must kill your dishonesty. These must all go; every single weed must be torn up; there is no hope for you while there is a weed living. The Lord make a clean sweep of the weeds, and burn them all! Well, now, mark you, in this tilling there are different soils. There is the light soil and the heavy soil; and so there are different sorts of constitutions. There are some men who are naturally tender and sensitive. Many, too, of our sisters are like Lydia: they soon receive the Word. There are others that are like the heavy clay soil; and you know the farmer does not plough both soils alike, or else he would make a sad mess of it. And so God does not deal with all men alike. Some have, as it were, first a little ploughing, and then the seed is put in, and all is done; but some have to be ploughed and cross ploughed; and then there is the scarifier and the clod crusher, and I know not what, which have to be rolled over them before they are good for anything; and perhaps, after all, they produce very little fruit. And, you know, the farmer has his time for ploughing. Some soils break up best after a shower of rain, and some do best when they are driest. So there are some hearts--ay, and I think almost all hearts--that are best ploughed after a shower of heavenly love has fallen upon them. They are in a grateful frame of mind for mercies received, and then the story of a dying Saviour comes to them as just that which will touch the springs of their hearts.
IV. Unless God has tilled the heart, it cannot be sown with any hope of success. After ploughing there comes the sowing. When the heart is ready God sows it--sows it with the best of wheat. The wise farmer does not sow tail corn, but, as Isaiah says, he casts in the principal wheat. The seed which God sows is living seed. It shall grow, for God has prepared the soil for it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v10 General Information:
General Information:
This continues Yahweh's message to the mountains of Israel. The message is intended for the people of Israel.
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So I will multiply upon you
Yahweh is speaking to the mountains. This can be stated explicitly. AT: "So, mountains of Israel, I will multiply upon you" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
even the whole house of Israel
Here "house" represents people. AT: "all of the people of Israel" (See: Metonymy)
The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Then people will live in the cities and will rebuild the ruins" (See: Active or Passive)
they will multiply and be fruitful
Here "be fruitful" is an idiom that means to have many children and descendants. AT: "they will become very many people and have very many children" (See: Idiom)
you to be inhabited as you previously were
This can be stated in active form. AT: "people to live on you mountains as they did before" (See: Active or Passive)
know that I am Yahweh
When Yahweh says that people will know that he is Yahweh, he is implying that they will know that he is the one true God who has supreme authority and power. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 6:7. AT: "understand that I am Yahweh, the one true God" or "realize that I, Yahweh, have supreme power and authority" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance
The people living in the mountains and land of Israel permanently is spoke of as if the people would inherit them. AT: "They will possess you permanently" (See: Metaphor)
you will no longer cause their children to die
It is implied that in the past children died because there was not enough food in the land. Now the land would produce enough food. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
house
desolate
walk
possess
inherit
children
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.