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النشر الإلكتروني

Prophecies against]

CHAP. XXV.

[the Ammonites. them; and they shall know that I am rejoiced in heart with all thy despite

the LORD. (A)

THE

CHAP. XXV.

HE word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;

3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GoD; Because thou saidst, Aha! against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;

4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces 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 Ammonites a couching-place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

6 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and

CHAP. XXIV.

against the land of Israel;

7 Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

8 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;

9 Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim,

10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.

11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

12 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;

13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine

EXPOSITION.

(A) The destruction of Jerusalem signified by other typical representations.-On the very day on which Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem, the Prophet describes the fate of that city and its inhabitants, by the emblem of a seething (or boiling pot. The pot signifies Jerusalem; the flesh and pieces for sacrifice, the inhabitants; the coals and boiling water, the calamities they were to endure. Their crimes were very aggravated; so, it is declared, should be their punishment.

As another sign of the greatness of those

calamities, Ezekiel is forbidden to mourn for his wife, of whom God tells him he was to be immediately deprived; intimating thereby, that the sufferings of the Jews should be so overwhelming as to surpass all expression of grief; and that private sorrow, however affectionate and tender the object, must be absorbed in the public calamities. The Prophet, having further expressed his message in plain terms, intimates that he was to speak to them no more, till the prediction should be fulfilled; in the mean time, they would be left to moan secretly one to another. (See chap. xxxiii. 21, 22.)

NOTES.

CHAP. XXV. Ver. 4. Men-Heb." Children." So ver. 10.

Ver. 5 A stable for camels-Camels are seldom kept in stables, but often browze upon the weeds that grow among ruins. Harmer's Obs. vol. i. p. 137. The Ammonites-that is, the land of the children of Ammon.

Ver. 6. In heart-Heb. "Soul."

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hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall 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 fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God.

15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it, for the old hatred;

16 Therefore, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coasts.

17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. (B)

[against Edom.

CHAP. XXVI.

AND it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Alia, she is broken that was the gates of the people she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:

3 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.

4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.

5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD and it shall become a spoil to the nations.

CHAP. XXV.

EXPOSITION.

(B) God's judgments on the heathen nations.The chronological order of this chapter, is after chap. xxxiii. 21, &c. It contains predictions of God's heavy judgments against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines, on account of their conduct toward his people in their time of distress.

When we see the judgments of God upon others, we should always bear in mind that we also are sinners, and deserve like punishment: but what made the conduct of these nations the more criminal was, that they had themselves led the Jews into those idolatries which brought on them all their sufferings. Nor could they be ignorant of this, since Ezekiel, and others

who dwelt among them, made no secret of their predictions. But it was not only against the house of Judah that they had sinned, but against the God of Israel, whose temple they had profaned; and said, " Aha!" and rejoiced in heart, with all their spite, against the land of Israel. (See verses 3 and 6.) Edom is censured with peculiar severity, because, as it should appear, they were in the habit of taking advantage of Israel when in distre-s; and, it is believed, had cut off many of the fugitives that escaped the sword of the Babylonians. (See 2 Chron. xxviii. 17; Ezek. Xxxv. 2, &c.)

These judgments, which were also predicted by several other prophets, began to be fulfilled about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.

NOTES.

CHAP. XXVI. Ver. 1. In the eleventh year.Newcome, Boothroyd, and others read, the twelfth year, on the authority of one ancient MS and two versions. If, indeed, Jerusalem was taken in the fourth month of the 11th year of Zedekiah, as we find Jer. l. 6, 7, this orncle, which speaks of Jerusalem as already taken, could not be delivered in the first month of the same year. The difference between 11th and 12th being only one letter in the original, it is easy to account for such a mistake in a transcriber; but it is not easy to account for so glaring an error spreading through all the MSS.

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6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

7 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Ne:buchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.

8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.

9 And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.

10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.

11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.

12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.

13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.

14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place spread nets upon; thou shalt be

to

CHAP. XXVI.

[against Tyre.

built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

15 Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?

16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.

17.And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!

18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.

19 For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;

20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;

21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD. (C)

EXPOSITION.

(C) Prophecies against Tyre.-The prophecy beginning here, and ending at the

20th verse of chap. xxviii. foretels the destruction of Tyre, (or Tyrus,) which, within twenty years from this period, was taken

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Prophecies]

CHAP. XXVII.

EZEKIEL

THE word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus ;

3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.

4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

5 They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.

[against Tyre.

6 Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.

7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.

9 The ancients of Gebal, and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.

EXPOSITION—-Chap. XXVI. Continued.

by Nebuchadnezzar, after a siege of thirteen years. The city called Old Tyre, stood on a peninsula, from which a great part of the inhabitants fled, with their effects, before it was taken, to an island half a mile from the shore, and built New Tyre, afterwards taken by Alexander the Great. The prophecy relates chiefly to Old Tyre, though it is thought to comprehend both, which were often considered as one city. The same event was foretold by Isaiah, ch. xxiii. The Prophet begius with introducing Tyre as insulting Jerusalem, and congratulating herself on the prospect of accessions to her commerce, now that city was no more. Upon this, God, by his Prophet, denounces utter destruction to Tyre, and all the lesser cities depending on her, which are called her daughters. We have then a particular account of the monarch charged with this work; "We, as it were, see his mighty hosts raising the mounds, setting the engines, and shaking the walls; we hear the noise of the horsemen, and the sound of their cars; we view the clouds of smoke and dust; we see the sword bathed in blood, and hear the groans of the dying. Tyre immediately disappears; her strong towers shrink down into the earth, and her very dust is buried in the sea. Nothing remains but the bare rock (ou which the city stood). The scene is then varied. The isles and adjacent regions shake, as

by a mighty earthquake, with the concus sion occasioned by the fall of Tyre. The groans of the dying reach the ears of the people inhabiting those regions. Their princes, alarmed for themselves, and grieved for Tyre, descend from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and clothe themselves with sack-cloth? no, but with trembling! Arrayed in this astonishing attire, the Prophet introduces them as a chorus of mourners, lamenting Tyre, în a funeral song, or dirgė, as customary on the death of renowned personages.

"Such is the prophecy concerning Tyre, comprehending both the city on the continent, and that on the island, and punetually fuifilled in regard to both. That o the continent was razed to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar, and that on the island by Alexander. The latter used all the stones, rubbish, and earth of the old city, in making a causeway to join the continent to the island, by which meaus he became master of the (latter) city, and fulfilled that part of the prediction which says,

her dust shall be scraped together, and her stones, her timber, and her earth laid in the midst of the waters.' At present, aud for ages back, this great city, once the emporium of the world, is literaly what the Prophet repeatedly foretold — ` a bare rock, a place to spread nets on.' J. Smith.

NOTES.

CHAP. XXVII. Ver. 3. Entry of the sea-that is," A sea port.”—Of perfect beauty-Heb." Perfect of beauty."

Ver. 4. In the midst (Heb. "heart") of the sea.-Newcome thinks this refers to Old Tyre, which stood on a peninsula; others refer it to New Tyre, built on an adjacent island.

... Dr.

Ver. 6. Benches of ivory that is, inlaid with ivory. Ver. 9. Thy calkers-Heb. "The strengtheners of thy breaches." Marg. "Stoppers of thy chinks,"

or rather leaks.

Ver. 11. The Gammadims-Probably a people of Phoenicia, inhabitants of Ancon.

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11 The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.

12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.

14 They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and hörsemen and mules.

15 The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.

16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broi dered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.

17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm. 18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.

19 Dan also and Javan, going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.

[against Tyré.

20 Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.

21 Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.

22 The merchants of Sheba, and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

23 Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.

24 These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.

25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.

27 Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men' of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

28 The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.

the

29 And all that handle the oar, mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;

30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashies:

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31 And they shall make themselves

Ver. 16. Agate-Newcome, "Carbuncles." Ver. 18. Wine of Helbon-that is, Chalebon in Syria; the only wine drank by the kings of Persia. Ver. 24. All sorts of things-Marg. "All excellent things."

Ver. 26. Thy rowers-Newcome and others understand this of their statesmen, or politica! pilots, which bad brought them into great difficulty and danger. Compare this chapter with Rev. xvii, throughout.

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