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2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and hel

met:

6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thec, and be thou a guard unto them.

8 After many days thou shalt be visited in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of

[Gog and Magog.

the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with

thee.

10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in. the midst of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day, when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

NOTES.

CHAP. XXXVIII. Ver. 2. Gog, the land of Magog.-By Gen. x. 2, we learn that Magog was the second son of Japheth, who doubtless gave his name to the land here referred to. "It is generally admitted that this relates to Scythia, or Tartary, and that Gog was the common name of their kings, as Pharaoh was of the kings of Egypt. They ruled over Media for some time, and the Russians, Turks, &c. sprang from them." Boothroyd in loc." Michaelis compares the word Gog with Kak, or Chak, the general name of Vings among the ancient Turks, Mogn's, Tartars, Cataians, and Chinese; .... and thinks that Magog denotes those vast tracts of country to the north of India and China, which the Greeks call Scythin, and we Tartary. Scythopolis and Hieropolis, which the Scythians took when they overcame Syria, were ever after, by the Scythians, called Magog. The Arabs call the Chinese wall Sud Yagog et Magog." Newcome.

Newcome,

Ibid. Chief prince of Meshech. "Prince of Rhos, Meshech, and Tabal." Many learned men understand the word Rhos of a people,

from whom are supposed to be derived, the Rhossi Russi, or Russians. Dr. Wells.-And Tutal:-This from being so constantly joined with Mesech, mast mean some adjacent country, but what, is not certain. Ver.4. I will put hooks into thy jaws.-See chap.

xxix. 4.

Ver. 6. Gomer, &c.- the Celts, or Cimmerians. Under these names may probably be included the descendants of all the barbarian bands in the north of Asia. See ver. 15.

Ver. 8. After many days thou shalt be visited.--Boothroyd, following the Chalder, "Thou shalt number (or enrol) them" i. e. all the barbarian forces from the north. See Hebrew of Nam. i. 44; iii. 39, &c.-Against-rather, "upon" (gnal) the mountains.Which have been always-Newcome, "long" waste.

Ver. 11. Dwell safely-Marg. "Confidently," without fear or suspicion.

Ver. 12. To take a spoil - Heb. "To spoil the spoil, and to prey the prey." So ver. 13. the midst -Heb. "Navel," or highest part.

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15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.

19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the

CHAP. XXXVIII.

[Gog and Magog.

XXXIX. beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD. (R)

CHAP. XXXIX.

THEREFORE, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GoD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal :

EXPOSITION.

(R) Prophecies against Gog and Magog. -The sublime prophecy contained in this and the following chapter, concerning Israel's victory over Gog and Magog, relates to a period still very distant, and is therefore very obscure.-It begins with representing a prodigious armament of many nations combined together, under the conduct of Gog [supposed to mean the descendants of the ancient Scythians, who had their origin from Gog the son of Japhet,] all together attacking the Jews, after having been for some time resettled in their land, after their return from the general dispersion. [These enemies are represented as making their attack with all the impetuosity of a sudden storm.] In this critical juncture, when the cloud is just ready to burst over Israel, God appears to execute by terrible judgments the vengeance threatened against these enemies of his people. The Prophet, in terms

borrowed from human passions, describes with awful emphasis the fury [of the Almighty] as coming up to his face, and the effects of it so dreadful, as to inake all the animate and inanimate creation tremble, and even the whole frame of nature convulsed with terror.” (Dr. J. Smith.)

It is a contested point among the ablest commentators, whether this invasion of the holy land by Gog and Magog, be an event to take place in the commencement or the close of the Millennium. (Comp. Rev. xix. 17, 18. with Rev. xx. 7-10.) The learned Jos. Mede and Bp. Newton incline to the former; Mr. Faber, Abp. Newcome, and Mr. Lowman to the latter. On subjects of this delicate nature, the Editor is fully sensible that the utmost diffidence becomes him, and cannot better express his feelings than in the following modest and pious quotation from Mr. Preb. Townsend. He says, (vol. ii. 617.) —

NOTES.

Ver. 17. By my servants-" By the hand of," &c. This, it seems, had been predicted from the most ancient times; perhaps even by Enoch. See Jude 14.

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2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee; I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles and they shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord Gon; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

EXPOSITION—Chap. "I cannot venture to express an opinion on this subject. The prophecy certainly refers to those great events which are repeatedly alluded to in other predictions of Holy Writ, as about to take place at the end of the world. In this and similar passages, it may be said, "coming events cast their shadows before:" yet we cannot penetrate into the clouds of thick darkness that encircle the future. We are both exhorted and encouraged to study the word of prophecy, not with a view of indulging curiosity, but of enforcing humility; to

[Gog and Magog.

9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:

10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the pas sengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.

12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.

13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord Gon.

XXXVIII. Continued. strengthen our faith, by enabling as se plainly to see the hand of Providence in the past and present, that we may believe the promises which telate to the future. As the present dispensation of the kingdom of the Messiah was predicted in general and indefinite terms to the ancient Jews, so is the millennial period of the world predicted to us. As the Jew was called on to believe in those ages of the church, so is the Christian required to believe at present. As the former prophecies have been ful filled, so will the latter be accomplished."

NOTES.

CHAP. XXXIX. Ver. 1. Magog. See chap. Xxxviii. 2.

Ver. 2. Leave but the sixth part of thee.-This is variously rendered, as may be seen in the common margins. Newcome follows our version in the text, but remarks that the Chaldec reads "to deceive." So Rosenmuller, Dathe, Dimock, &c. Boothroyd translates, "I will turn thee and lead thee about. -From the north parts-Heb. "From the sides of the north."

Ver. 4. Every sort-Heb. "Every wing."
Ver. 5. The open field-Heb. "The face of the

field."

Ver. 6. Carelessly in the isles-Newcome, "Securely in the sea-coasts."

Ver. 8. It is done (So Rev. xvi. 17.) When

God determines to do any thing, it may be considered as done; for "who hath resisted his will Dan. iv. 35; Rom. ix. 19.

Ver. 9. The hand-staves-Lowth, "Clubs."They shall burn them-Marg, Make a five of thea for seven years." See Note on Isa. ix. 5. Ver. 10. Spoil those that spoiled them. Isa. xiv. 2.

See

Ver. 11. On the east of the sea-that is, the lake of Gennesareth. Newcome.-And it shall step, &c. -that is, the heat and offensive smell of potrid car cases shall prevent the passengers from coming sear, till they are all buried.-Hamon-gog-that is, the multitude of Gog.

Ver. 13. A renown—that is, a credit, an honour, that they have interred them,

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14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.

15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.

16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

17 And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood.

18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

CHAP. XXXIX.

[Gog and Magog.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;

26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.

27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;

28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen; but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.

29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. (S)

EXPOSITION.

(S) The defeat and utter destruction of Gog's immense army.-The Prophet goes

on to denounce the judgments of God against those formidable enemies of his church and people. He describes the

NOTES.

Heb.

Ver. 14. Men of continual employment · "Men of continuance (or perseverance) in the employment.

Ver. 16. Hamanah--that is, the multitude.

Ver. 17. Ecery feathered fowl-Heb. "Fowl (or birds) of every wing."- To my sacrifice.-See Isa, xxxiv. 6.

Ver. 20. Filled at my table. —“The table of God is the field covered with dead bodies, the place of the slaughter of Magog. It is impossible to conceive how unbelievers could quote this verse to prove that

the Jews of old times (did) eat the flesh of horses and even of men. Voltaire, though cautioned that not Jews, nor men, but wild beasts and birds, were invited to this feast of slaughter, (i. e. to the consumption of the slain) yet insisted, to the last, on his strange accusation" Michaelis.

Ver. 21. Horses and chariots-Newcome, "Horses and their riders." So LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and all modern translators.

Ver. 28. Which caused them-Heb. "By my causing them," &c.

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EZEKIEL.

N the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the self-same day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.

2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.

[the new temple.

3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.

4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. (T)

EXPOSITION.

awful slaughter and burial of the combined forces, in such lofty and comprehensive language, as must certainly imply one of the greatest and happiest revolutions that the world has ever witnessed. And to make the subject more impressive, the Prophet delays summoning the birds and beasts of prey to feast on the slain (in allusion to the custom of feasting on the remains of sacrifices) till after the greater multitudes are buried; to intimate that even these remains would be more thau enough to satisfy the appetites of these rapacious creatures. He then concludes as usual with a reference to the return of his people from their then captivity, and promises a final restoration to all Israel.

From a short view of this remarkable section of prophecy, it will appear, that it must refer to some event of extraordinary interest. The writer, full of his subject, sets it in all the variety of lights it will bear, and leaves no room for any one that shall come after him either to add or to improve; except, indeed, the inspired author of the Apocalypse, who in one sublime passage must be admitted to have excelled his model. (Sce Rev. xix. 17, 18.)

CHAP. XL.

(T) Ver. 1—4. The Vision of a New Temple on a grand scale.-There is no doubt that this whole scene was visionary. There neither then was, nor had been, any temple in existence, which could fully answer to the description. Ezekiel repre

sents himself as stationed upon a high mountain, on the south of which he saw "the frame (or building) of a city"-probably, the buildings in their unfinished state. Here appeared to him a celestial agent in the character of a surveyor, with a measuring rod in his hand; and as he measured, he gave the dimensions to the Prophet, that he might report them to his people. Notwithstanding the apparent inagnitude of the dimensions, Villalpandus and Vitringa, both deeply versed in such studies, contend that the ground-plan of the temple here laid down did not exceed that of Solomon, and therefore might well be proposed as a pattern of the new temple to be erected on their return from the captivity, and which might probably have been more nearly followed, had all the tribes been equally anxious to return. Abp. Secker (who has written a dissertation on this vision) thinks the whole should be literally understood except only the vision of waters &c. in chap. xlvii, which will be there considered. There is, however, so little calculated to interest families, and especially young persons, in graphical descriptions of this nature, that we have thrown the greater part of the following chapters into our smaller type; selecting for practical remarks those passages only which will bear it without the aid of a whimsical imagination. To the whole, however, we shall, as usual, append Notes, critical and elucidatory.

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