Ezekiel 25:12 Komentář

Judgment began at the house of God, and therefore with them the prophets began, who were the judges; but it must not end there, and therefore they must not. Ezekiel had finished his testimony which related to the destruction of Jerusalem. As to that he was ordered to say no more, but stand upon his watch-tower and wait the issue; and yet he must not be silent; there are divers nations bordering upon the land of Israel, which he must prophesy against, as Isaiah and Jeremiah had done before; and must proclaim God's controversy with them, chiefly for the injuries and indignities which they had done to the people of God in the day of their calamity. In this chapter we have his prophecy, I. Against the Ammonites (Eze 25:1-7). II. Against the Moabites (Eze 25:8-11). III. Against the Edomites (Eze 25:11-14). IV. Against the Philistines (Eze 25:15-17). That which is laid to the charge of each of them is their barbarous and insolent conduct towards God's Israel, for which God threatens to put the same cup of trembling into their hand. God's resenting it thus would be an encouragement to Israel to believe that though he had dealt thus severely with them yet he had not cast them off, but would still own them and plead their cause.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 25 In this chapter the prophet foretells the judgments of God upon the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines, for their ill usage of the Jews; on the Ammonites, Eze 25:1, on the Moabites, Eze 25:8, on the Edomites, Eze 25:12, on the Philistines, Eze 25:15.

Thus saith the Lord God,.... Concerning Seir or the Edomites, the prophecy concerning the Moabites being finished: because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance: or, "revenging a revenge" (w); the Edomites bore an old grudge against the Jews, not only because their father Jacob had got the birthright and blessing from their father Esau; but because they were made tributaries to them in David's time, and afterwards severely chastised by Amaziah; these things they laid up in their minds, and vowed revenge whenever they had an opportunity; and now one offered at the destruction of Jerusalem, which they took: and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them: not only by rejoicing at the destruction of the Jews, but by encouraging the Babylonians in it; assisting them therein, joining with them in plundering the city, and in cutting off those with the sword who endeavoured to make their escape; see Psa 137:7. (w) "in ulciscendo ultionem", Montanus, Starckius.

(Vers. 12, 13, et seqq.) Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom has acted vengefully against the children of Judah and has incurred guilt by taking vengeance upon them, therefore thus says the Lord God: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. I will make it a desolation from Teman, and Dedan shall fall by the sword. I will execute my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God. LXX: Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and took vengeance upon them with utmost hatred, therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and cut off from it man and beast, and I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. And I will execute vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord God. Above, the two proposed, for what they said about Moab and Seir, and later in silence about Seir, spoke only against Moab: now it refutes the problem that Seir, that is, Edom, has done. That Esau and Seir, and Edom, and Idumea, and Duma, are called one nation, no one should doubt who has knowledge of the Scriptures. And not to mention the other prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, who prophesied against Idumea, Duma, and Edom: Obadiah directed his entire prophecy against this nation, which we have discussed before as best we could. Therefore Seir is accused, who because he was hairy, received the name 'hairy', and Edom the bloodthirsty, who lost the birthright due to the cooking of a red lentil, and obtained the name from the dish. Also, Esau's actions are interpreted. And it should be known that in Hebrew, Idumaea is never written, but always Edom, which the Greek translation expressed as Idumaea. Therefore, it is not Idumaea (Edom), as Moab spoke, but he took revenge on the sons of Judah: he sinned, or retained the memory of the previous pain, in order to take revenge on them, from whom he was supplanted in the womb. Therefore not through angels, nor through any other: but the Lord himself, stretching out his hand over Idumea, took away from it man and beast, and reduced the cities thereof into a desert, that is, Themam, which we turn towards the south: and of the same city Dedan, there shall be no remains. And they shall know my vengeance and retribution, saith the Lord God: I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to my fury, and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God. Those who act in Edom, or Idumea, according to my anger and fury, to fulfill my indignation, and through the hands of my people Israel, let my wrath rage against the enemy nation, and let them understand that my just vengeance was against the unjust retribution of Idumea, says the Lord Adonai. According to the allegory, this is the meaning that I perceive. Earthly and fleshly Idumea is called, which rises against the spirit, so that we do not do those things which are of the spirit, and it hastens to draw back the soul placed in its midst; and it wants to exact revenge, to which it was previously subjected, on the sons of Judah, and it remembers the ancient pain, which was not of its own power, and therefore sought revenge on those who turned away from the flesh and followed the spirit. Therefore, the Lord Himself, being the avenger of the children of Judah, has stretched out His hand over Edom and has taken away from it both man and beast, whatever it seems to possess of reason or simple faith, in order to reduce it to a wilderness. And He has slain with the sword all of Theman, which means failing, and Dedan, which also signifies kinship, which He has placed in the hand of His people Israel, so that Edom may be overthrown and may feel the anger and fury of the Lord, and may understand that His vengeance has accomplished this, in order to serve the house of Judah. This is that which the Apostle disputes about, writing: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (Rom. IX, 13). But Jacob is loved, because he supplants and surpasses the carnal and earthly, and deserves to receive his blessings. For first we live according to the flesh, and afterwards according to the spirit. First vices, then virtues, by which vices are overturned, because the heart of man is inclined towards evil from childhood, and the age of maturity condemns the errors of youth (Genesis VIII). And David also says: Remember not the sins of my youth, and my ignorances. (Ps. 24:7). And yet it should be known that Jacob received the first blessing, Esau the second. And what is said of him at the end, 'You shall be your brother's servant' (Gen. 27:40), signifies that after the flesh is subject to the spirit and united to it, it ceases to be flesh and passes from Edom to Judah.

This chapter contains threatenings of the heavy judgments of God against the Ammonites, Eze 25:1-7; Moabites, Eze 25:8-11; Edomites, Eze 25:12-14; and Philistines, Eze 25:15-17; on account of their hatred to his people, and their insulting them in the time of their distress. These prophecies were fulfilled by the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem. The same events were predicted by several of the other prophets, as may be seen from the citation of parallel texts in the margin.

Because that Edom hath dealt - The Edomites were the most inveterate enemies of the Jews from the very earliest times, and ever did all that they could to annoy them.

APPROPRIATELY IN THE INTERVAL OF SILENCE AS TO THE JEWS IN THE EIGHT CHAPTERS, (TWENTY-FIFTH THROUGH THIRTY-SECOND) EZEKIEL DENOUNCES JUDGMENTS ON THE HEATHEN WORLD KINGDOMS. (Eze. 25:1-17) (Jer 49:1). when . . . profaned; . . . when . . . desolate; . . . when . . . captivity--rather, "for . . . for . . . for": the cause of the insolent exultation of Ammon over Jerusalem. They triumphed especially over the fall of the "sanctuary," as the triumph of heathenism over the rival claims of Jehovah. In Jehoshaphat's time, when the eighty-third Psalm was written (Psa 83:4, Psa 83:7-8, Psa 83:12, "Ammon . . . holpen the children of Lot," who were, therefore, the leaders of the unholy conspiracy, "Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession"), we see the same profane spirit. Now at last their wicked wish seems accomplished in the fall of Jerusalem. Ammon, descended from Lot, held the region east of Jordan, separated from the Amorites on the north by the river Jabbok, and from Moab on the south by the Arnon. They were auxiliaries to Babylon in the destruction of Jerusalem (Kg2 24:2).

taking vengeance--literally, "revenging with revengement," that is, the most unrelenting vengeance. It was not simple hatred, but deep-brooding, implacable revenge. The grudge of Edom or Esau was originally for Jacob's robbing him of Isaac's blessing (Gen 25:23; Gen 27:27-41). This purpose of revenge yielded to the extraordinary kindness of Jacob, through the blessing of Him with whom Jacob wrestled in prayer; but it was revived as an hereditary grudge in the posterity of Esau when they saw the younger branch rising to the pre-eminence which they thought of right belonged to themselves. More recently, for David's subjugation of Edom to Israel (Sa2 8:14). They therefore gave vent to their spite by joining the Chaldeans in destroying Jerusalem (Psa 137:7; Lam 4:22; Oba 1:10-14), and then intercepting and killing the fugitive Jews (Amo 1:11) and occupying part of the Jewish land as far as Hebron.

Against the Edomites Eze 25:12. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because Edom acteth revengefully towards the house of Judah, and hath been very guilty in avenging itself upon them, Eze 25:13. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will stretch out my hand over Edom, and cut off man and beast from it, and make it a desert from Teman, and unto Dedan they shall fall by the sword. Eze 25:14. And I will inflict my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, that they may do to Edom according to my anger and my wrath; and they shall experience my vengeance, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - Whilst the Ammonites and the Moabites are charged with nothing more than malicious pleasure at the fall of Israel, and disregard of its divine calling, the Edomites are reproached with revengeful acts of hostility towards the house of Judah, and threatened with extermination in consequence. The עשׂות, doing or acting of Edom, is more precisely defined as 'בּנקום וגו, i.e., as consisting in the taking of vengeance, and designated as very guilty, ישׁמוּ אשׁום. עשׂה, followed by בּ with an infinitive, as in Eze 17:17. Edom had sought every opportunity of acting thus revengefully towards Israel (vid., Oba 1:11; Amo 1:11), so that in Eze 35:5 Ezekiel speaks of the "eternal enmity" of Edom against Israel. For this reason we must not restrict the reproach in Eze 25:12 to particular outbreaks of this revenge at the time of the devastation and destruction of Judah by the Chaldeans, of which the Psalmist complains in Psa 137:1-9, and for which he invokes the vengeance of God upon Edom. Man and beast are to be cut off from Edom in consequence, and the land to become a desert from Teman to Dedan. These names denote not cities, but districts. Teman is the southern portion of Idumaea (see the comm. on Amo 1:12); and Dedan is therefore the northern district. Dedan is probably not the Cushite tribe mentioned in Gen 10:7, but the tribe of the same name which sprang from the sons of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25:3), and which is also mentioned in Jer 49:8 in connection with Edom. דּדנה has ה local with Seghol instead of Kametz, probably on account of the preceding a (vid., Ewald, 216c). There is no necessity to connect מתּימן with the following clause, as Hitzig and Kliefoth have done, in opposition to the accents. The two geographical names, which are used as a periphrasis for Idumaea as a whole, are distributed equally through the parallelismus membrorum between the two clauses of the sentence, so that they belong to both clauses, so far as the sense is concerned. Edom is to become a desert from Teman to Dedan, and its inhabitants from Teman to Dedan are to fall by the sword. This judgment of vengeance will be executed by God through His people Israel. The fulfilment of this threat, no doubt, commenced with the subjugation of the Edomites by the Maccabees; but it is not to be limited to that event, as Rosenmller, Kliefoth, and others suppose, although the foundation was thereby laid for the disappearance of the national existence of Edom. For it is impossible with this limitation to do justice to the emphatic expression, "my people Israel." On the ground, therefore, of the prophecies in Amo 9:12 and Oba 1:17, that the people of God are to take possession of Edom, when the fallen tabernacle of David is raised up again, i.e., in the Messianic times, which prophecies point back to that of Balaam in Num 24:18, and have their roots, as this also has, in the promise of God concerning the twin sons of Isaac, "the elder shall serve the younger" (Gen 25:23), we must seek for the complete fulfilment in the victories of the people of God over all their foes, among whom Edom from time immemorial had taken the leading place, at the time when the kingdom of God is perfected. For even here Edom is not introduced merely as a single nation that was peculiarly hostile to Judah, but also as a type of the implacable enmity of the heathen world towards the people and kingdom of God, as in Eze 35:1-15, Isa. 34:63, etc. The vengeance, answering to the anger and wrath of Jehovah, which Israel, as the people of God, is to execute upon Edom, consists not merely in the annihilation of the national existence of Edom, which John Hyrcanus carried into effect by compelling the subjugated Edomites to adopt circumcision (see the comm. on Num 24:18), but chiefly in the wrathful judgment which Israel will execute in the person of Christ upon the arch-enemy of the kingdom of God by its complete extinction.