King James Version
Ezekiel 35
15 verses with commentary
Prophecy Against Mount Seir
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The prophetic formula introduces extended prophecy against Edom (Seir), expanding the brief oracle in 25:12-14. Edom's judgment receives special attention due to their treacherous betrayal of brother Judah during Jerusalem's fall. The repetition emphasizes that God doesn't overlook betrayal, especially by those with covenantal or familial obligations.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. receive in ... heart ... ears--**The transposition from the natural order, namely, first receiving with the ears, then in the heart, is designed. The preparation of the heart for God's message should precede the reception of it with the ears (compare Pr 16:1; Psa 10:17).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
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KJV Study Commentary
God commands Ezekiel to 'set thy face against mount Seir' and 'prophesy against it'—active prophetic confrontation. Mountains in Scripture represent kingdoms and nations. Setting one's face signifies unwavering focus and determined opposition. This reveals that God's judgment isn't reluctant or uncertain but resolute and purposeful.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Mount Seir.**—This poetical designation of the Edomites from the land which they inhabited is common in Scripture (Genesis 36:8-9; Deuteronomy 2:1; Deuteronomy 2:5; 1Chronicles 4:42, &c.). The land included the whole mountainous region between the Dead Sea and the Elanitic Gulf, or eastern branch of the Red Sea. The earlier denunciation of the Edomites had in view their historical relations ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. thy people--**who ought to be better disposed to hearken to thee, their fellow countryman, than hadst thou been a foreigner (Eze 3:5, 6).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. most: Heb. desolation and desolation
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KJV Study Commentary
The declaration 'I am against thee' appears frequently in judgment oracles. It's the most terrifying statement anyone can hear—to have God as active opponent. 'I will stretch out mine hand against thee' indicates active, not passive, judgment. Complete desolation would result. When God opposes, no defense succeeds.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. (Ac 8:39). Ezekiel's abode heretofore had not been the most suitable for his work. He, therefore, is guided by the Spirit to Tel-Abib, the chief town of the Jewish colony of captives: there he sat on the ground, "the throne of the miserable" (Ezr 9:3; La 1:1-3), seven days, the usual period for manifesting deep grief (Job 2:13; see Psa 137:1), thus winning their confidence by sympathy in their...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
God would 'lay thy cities waste' and 'thou shalt be desolate'—transformation from populated nation to uninhabited ruin. The covenant formula 'thou shalt know that I am the LORD' reveals judgment's revelatory purpose. Even Edom would ultimately acknowledge Yahweh's sovereignty through fulfilled prophecy. Historical events teach theological truths.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. touched--**literally, "kissed," that is, closely embraced.
**noise of a great rushing--**typical of great disasters impending over the Jews.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: perpetual: or, hatred of old shed: Heb. poured out the children force: Heb. hands
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KJV Study Commentary
Edom's sin: 'perpetual hatred' toward Israel, shedding blood 'in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end.' Rather than showing mercy when Judah suffered deserved judgment, Edom exploited vulnerability. Kicking someone when they're down compounds sin. God judges not just actions but also timing and motivation.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Perpetual hatred.—**Enmity towards Israel is also imputed to the Ammonites, Moabites, and Philistines in Ezekiel 25; but that of Edom was deeper and coeval with its first ancestor (see Genesis 25:22, &c., Genesis 27:41); its peculiar malignity is noticed by Amos 1:11. (Comp. also Obadiah 1:10-15.)
**Shed the blood**.—“Blood” is not in the original, and should be omitted. The verb means liter...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. bitterness--**sadness on account of the impending calamities of which I was required to be the unwelcome messenger. But the "hand," or powerful impulse of Jehovah, urged me forward.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The judgment fits the crime: 'I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: since thou hast not hated blood, blood shall pursue thee.' This lex talionis (law of retaliation) demonstrates proportionate justice. Those who delight in bloodshed will experience bloodshed. God's judgments are always righteous and fitting.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **I will prepare thee unto blood.—**Rather, *I will make thee blood.* There is here a play upon the name of Edom in the original: I will make thee *dom* (*=*blood); Edom itself means *red.* The latter part of the verse brings out, as frequently, the congruity of the punishment: violence shall come upon him who has loved (“not hated “) violence.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. Tel-Abib--**Tel means an "elevation." It is identified by Michaelis with Thallaba on the Chabor. Perhaps the name expressed the Jews' hopes of restoration, or else the fertility of the region. Abib means the green ears of corn which appeared in the month Nisan, the pledge of the harvest.
**I sat, &c.--**This is the Hebrew Margin reading. The text is rather, "I beheld them sitting there...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. most: Heb. desolation and desolation
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KJV Study Commentary
Mount Seir would become 'most desolate'—superlative destruction. God would 'cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth'—no traffic, commerce, or normal life. Total desolation serves as monument to God's judgment. Places of pride become wastelands, teaching that opposing God's purposes leads to futility.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Him that passeth out**.—The cutting off of the traveller is a striking feature in the doom of Edom, for her nomadic tribes had been the great carriers between India and the East and Egypt, and she had grown rich by this commerce. The fierceness of the few tribes now wandering over the land make even the occasional visit of the curious traveller a matter of difficulty and danger.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.
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KJV Study Commentary
Mountains and valleys would be filled with the slain—comprehensive death covering the landscape. This extensive bloodshed reflects the magnitude of Edom's violence toward Judah. Divine justice is proportionate: extensive violence brings extensive judgment. God doesn't overlook or minimize sin but addresses it fully.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Rivers.**—As elsewhere = river-courses, in which water was found only at times.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. watchman--**Ezekiel alone, among the prophets, is called a "watchman," not merely to sympathize, but to give timely warning of danger to his people where none was suspected. Habakkuk (Ha 2:1) speaks of standing upon his "watch," but it was only in order to be on the lookout for the manifestation of God's power (so Is 52:8; 62:6); not as Ezekiel, to act as a watchman to others.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return : and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
God would make Edom 'perpetual desolations'—permanent, not temporary, destruction. Their cities would remain uninhabited. The covenant formula 'ye shall know that I am the LORD' reveals that even annihilation serves revelatory purposes. Some judgments are terminal, not corrective, demonstrating both God's patience and His limits.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. warning ... speakest to warn--**The repetition implies that it is not enough to warn once in passing, but that the warning is to be inculcated continually (2Ti 4:2, "in season, out of season"; Ac 20:31, "night and day with tears").
**save--**Eze 2:5 had seemingly taken away all hope of salvation; but the reference there was to the mass of the people whose case was hopeless; a few individua...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: whereas: or, though the LORD was there
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KJV Study Commentary
Edom's additional sin: claiming 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine' when 'the LORD was there.' They sought to possess Israel and Judah's territory despite God's presence and ownership. Attempting to seize what belongs to God compounds arrogance with blasphemy. Divine ownership trumps human ambitions.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **These two countries shall be mine.—**In Ezekiel 35:3-9 the sin charged upon Edom is its hatred of Israel; in Ezekiel 35:10-15, its desire to possess itself of Israel’s inheritance. The *two* nations and countries are, of course, the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
**Whereas the Lord was there.—**This fact brings out the real sin. Edom desired Israel’s possessions, not as it might have des...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. wickedness ... wicked way--**internal wickedness of heart, and external of the life, respectively.
**delivered thy soul--**(Is 49:4, 5; Ac 20:26).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse articulates God's righteous judgment against persistent sin and rebellion. From a Reformed perspective, this demonstrates God's holiness and justice—He cannot overlook sin but must judge it. The passage shows both the necessity of judgment (God's character demands it) and its purpose (to vindicate His holiness, demonstrate sin's seriousness, and turn people from destruction). Understand...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. righteous ... turn from ... righteousness--**not one "righteous" as to the root and spirit of regeneration (Psa 89:33; 138:8; Is 26:12; 27:3; Joh 10:28; Php 1:6), but as to its outward appearance and performances. So the "righteous" (Pr 18:17; Mt 9:13). As in Eze 3:19 the minister is required to lead the wicked to good, so in Eze 3:20 he is to confirm the well-disposed in their duty.
**com...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 35
The obedience of the Rechabites. (Jr 35:1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (Jr 35:12-19)
**Verses 1-11** Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, II Kin. 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this worl...
Read full commentary →And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate , they are given us to consume. to consume: Heb. to devour
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse articulates God's righteous judgment against persistent sin and rebellion. From a Reformed perspective, this demonstrates God's holiness and justice—He cannot overlook sin but must judge it. The passage shows both the necessity of judgment (God's character demands it) and its purpose (to vindicate His holiness, demonstrate sin's seriousness, and turn people from destruction). Understand...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Blasphemies.—**Rather, *reproaches.* These indeed became, under the circumstances, constructively blasphemies against God; but it is better not to push the meaning further than was intended.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-19** The trial of the Rechabites' constancy was for a sign; it made the disobedience of the Jews to God the more marked. The Rechabites were obedient to one who was but a man like themselves, and Jonadab never did for his seed what God has done for his people. Mercy is promised to the Rechabites. We are not told respecting the performance of this promise; but doubtless it was performed...
Read full commentary →Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them. boasted: Heb. magnified
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse articulates God's righteous judgment against persistent sin and rebellion. From a Reformed perspective, this demonstrates God's holiness and justice—He cannot overlook sin but must judge it. The passage shows both the necessity of judgment (God's character demands it) and its purpose (to vindicate His holiness, demonstrate sin's seriousness, and turn people from destruction). Understand...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. hand of the Lord--**(Eze 1:3).
**go ... into the plain--**in order that he might there, in a place secluded from unbelieving men, receive a fresh manifestation of the divine glory, to inspirit him for his trying work.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-19** The trial of the Rechabites' constancy was for a sign; it made the disobedience of the Jews to God the more marked. The Rechabites were obedient to one who was but a man like themselves, and Jonadab never did for his seed what God has done for his people. Mercy is promised to the Rechabites. We are not told respecting the performance of this promise; but doubtless it was performed...
Read full commentary →Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse articulates God's righteous judgment against persistent sin and rebellion. From a Reformed perspective, this demonstrates God's holiness and justice—He cannot overlook sin but must judge it. The passage shows both the necessity of judgment (God's character demands it) and its purpose (to vindicate His holiness, demonstrate sin's seriousness, and turn people from destruction). Understand...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **The whole earth.—**This is taken by some writers—as, indeed, Hebrew usage very well allows—of the whole land, viz., of Israel. It seems better, however, to keep the sense of our version, for the thought is not confined to Edom. When all the earth shall rejoice in the salvation of God, and “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,” then Edom, the hostile power of the world, shal...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. glory of the Lord--**(Eze 1:28).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-19** The trial of the Rechabites' constancy was for a sign; it made the disobedience of the Jews to God the more marked. The Rechabites were obedient to one who was but a man like themselves, and Jonadab never did for his seed what God has done for his people. Mercy is promised to the Rechabites. We are not told respecting the performance of this promise; but doubtless it was performed...
Read full commentary →As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This verse articulates God's righteous judgment against persistent sin and rebellion. From a Reformed perspective, this demonstrates God's holiness and justice—He cannot overlook sin but must judge it. The passage shows both the necessity of judgment (God's character demands it) and its purpose (to vindicate His holiness, demonstrate sin's seriousness, and turn people from destruction). Understand...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Because it was desolate.—**This is spoken of Israel; yet Israel was to preserve a remnant who should return to their land, and ultimately become the centre of the new covenant. So the desolation of Edom, though ultimately perpetual as far as its nationality is concerned, is not inconsistent with the fact foretold by Amos (Amos 9:12), that a remnant even of Edom should at last be received in...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. set me upon my feet--**having been previously prostrate and unable to rise until raised by the divine power.
**shut thyself within ... house--**implying that in the work he had to do, he must look for no sympathy from man but must be often alone with God and draw his strength from Him [Fairbairn]. "Do not go out of thy house till I reveal the future to thee by signs and words," which God d...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-19** The trial of the Rechabites' constancy was for a sign; it made the disobedience of the Jews to God the more marked. The Rechabites were obedient to one who was but a man like themselves, and Jonadab never did for his seed what God has done for his people. Mercy is promised to the Rechabites. We are not told respecting the performance of this promise; but doubtless it was performed...
Read full commentary →