King James Version
Ezekiel 38
23 verses with commentary
Prophecy Against Gog
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. let not ... buyer rejoice--**because he has bought an estate at a bargain price.
**nor ... seller mourn--**because he has had to sell his land at a sacrifice through poverty. The Chaldeans will be masters of the land, so that neither shall the buyer have any good of his purchase, nor the seller any loss; nor shall the latter (Eze 7:13) return to his inheritance at the jubilee year (see Le ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, the chief: or, prince of the chief
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Gog, the land of Magog.**—“Magog” is mentioned in Genesis 10:2 (1Chronicles 1:5) in connection with Gomer (the Cimmerians) and Madai (the Medes), as the name of a people descended from Japhet. Early Jewish tradition, adopted by Josephus and St. Jerome, identifies them with the Scythians; and this view has seemed probable to nearly all modern expositors. But the name of Scythians must be unde...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. although they were yet alive--**although they should live to the year of jubilee.
**multitude thereof--**namely, of the Jews.
**which shall not return--**answering to "the seller shall not return"; not only he, but the whole multitude, shall not return. Calvin omits "is" and "which": "the vision touching the whole multitude shall not return" void (Is 55:11).
**neither shall any strengt...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Divine Declaration of Judgment:</strong> The phrase "Thus saith the Lord GOD" (<em>koh amar Adonai YHWH</em>) introduces a solemn prophetic oracle with the highest divine authority, using both the covenant name YHWH and the sovereign title Adonai. The declaration "I am against thee" (<em>hineni elekha</em>) is a covenant lawsuit formula, indicating God's active opposition and judicial stan...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **The chief prince.—**As in Ezekiel 38:2, the prince of Rosh.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. They have blown the trumpet--**rather, "Blow the trumpet," or, "Let them blow the trumpet" to collect soldiers as they will, "to make all ready" for encountering the foe, it will be of no avail; none will have the courage to go to the battle (compare Jr 6:1), [Calvin].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →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:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **I will turn thee back.—**This is the more common meaning of the word; but if this meaning be retained here, it is not to be taken in the sense of turning back from the holy land, but rather, in connection with the figure of the next clause, of turning away the wild beast from his natural inclination to the fulfilment of God’s purpose. It is better, however, to take it in the sense in which i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
15. No security should anywhere be found (De 32:25). Fulfilled (La 1:20); also at the Roman invasion (Mt 24:16-18).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Libya: or, Phut
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya.—**Having summoned the nations from the extreme north, the prophet now turns first to the east, and then to the south and west. No neighbouring nations are mentioned at all, but only those living on the confines of the known world are summoned to this symbolic contest. The supposition of a literal alliance of nations so situated is out of the question.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16. (Eze 6:6).
**like doves--**which, though usually frequenting the valleys, mount up to the mountains when fearing the bird-catcher (Psa 11:1). So Israel, once dwelling in its peaceful valleys, shall flee from the foe to the mountains, which, as being the scene of its idolatries, were justly to be made the scene of its flight and shame. The plaintive note of the dove (Is 59:11) represents the ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Gomer . . . Togarmah.—**Again the address turns to the extreme north. Gomer, like Magog, a people descended from Japheth (Genesis 10:2; 1Chronicles 1:5), is identified with the Cimmerians; and for the house of Togarmah, the Armenians, see Note on 27:14. In the last clause of the verse, *people* should be in the plural. This was to be a general gathering of the strength of the world against t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. shall be weak as water--**literally, "shall go (as) waters"; incapable of resistance (Jos 7:5; Psa 22:14; Is 13:7).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Be thou a guard unto them.—**Every preparation is to be made on the part of Gog and the nations, and then Gog himself is to be their guard, or to control and guide the assault.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. cover them--**as a garment.
**baldness--**a sign of mourning (Is 3:24; Jr 48:37; Mi 1:16).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →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 the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **After many days thou shalt be visited.—**This clause has been variously interpreted. The expression “after many days” is the common one to indicate that what is predicted is yet far in the future, and corresponds to the “latter years” of the next clause. The words “thou shalt be visited” are the usual form of expressing a coming judgment. Various ingenious attempts have been made, with no gr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. cast ... silver in ... streets--**just retribution; they had abused their silver and gold by converting them into idols, "the stumbling-block of their iniquity" (Eze 14:3, 4, that is, an occasion of sinning); so these silver and gold idols, so far from "being able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath" (see Pr 11:4), shall, in despair, be cast by them into the streets as a prey to t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →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.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. beauty of his ornament--**the temple of Jehovah, the especial glory of the Jews, as a bride glories in her ornaments (the very imagery used by God as to the temple, Eze 16:10, 11). Compare Eze 24:21: "My sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes."
**images ... therein--**namely, in the temple (Eze 8:3-17).
**set it far from them--**God had "set" the temple (thei...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →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: think: or, conceive a mischievous purpose
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Think an evil thought.—**In Ezekiel 38:10-14 the motives of Gog in his attack upon Israel are fully exposed. It is to be remembered that in Ezekiel 38:4, and again in Ezekiel 38:16, the leading of this foe against the Church is represented as God’s own act; here it is explained that God did this by allowing him to follow out the devices of his own heart.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. strangers--**barbarous and savage nations.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →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, safely: or, confidently
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **The land of unwalled villages.—**Again, omit the definite article before *land,* as in Ezekiel 38:8. The description of a people living in prosperity and security looks quite beyond anything hitherto realised in the history of the Jews, and points to such a state of things as is described in Zechariah 2:4-5. The description of the attack of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:9 corresponds to th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. pollute my secret place--**just retribution for the Jews' pollution of the temple. "Robbers shall enter and defile" the holy of holies, the place of God's manifested presence, entrance into which was denied even to the Levites and priests and was permitted to the high priest only once a year on the great day of atonement.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →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. To take: Heb. To spoil the spoil, and to prey the prey midst: Heb. navel
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **In the midst of the land.—**Literally, *in the navel of the earth.* (See Note on Ezekiel 5:5.) The important position of Israel in reference to the other nations of the earth combined with its unsuspecting security and its riches to tempt the cupidity of Gog and his allies,
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. chain--**symbol of the captivity (compare Jr 27:2). As they enchained the land with violence, so shall they be chained themselves. It was customary to lead away captives in a row with a chain passed from the neck of one to the other. Therefore translate as the Hebrew requires, "the chain," namely, that usually employed on such occasions. Calvin explains it, that the Jews should be dragged, w...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →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?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Sheba, and Dedan . . . . Tarshish.—**The first two are districts of Arabia, and the last is probably the Tartessus in Spain. These names seem to be added to those of Ezekiel 38:5-6, to show that all the nations of the world sympathise in this attack upon the Church.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. worst of the heathen--**literally, "wicked of the nations"; the giving up of Israel to their power will convince the Jews that this is a final overthrow.
**pomp of ... strong--**the pride wherewith men "stiff of forehead" despise the prophet.
**holy places--**the sacred compartments of the temple (Psa 68:35; Jr 51:51) [Calvin]. God calls it "their holy places," because they had so defile...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 38
Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (Jr 38:1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (Jr 38:14-28)
**Verses 1-13** Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to the...
Read full commentary →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?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Shalt thou not know it**?—The second part of this prophecy (Ezekiel 38:14-23), describing the doom of Gog, is introduced (Ezekiel 38:14-16) with a repetition of the peaceful security of Israel, and of God’s leading against her this great foe in whose destruction He shall be magnified before all people. The whole passage becomes clearer by omitting the question and reading simply, “When Isra...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. peace, and ... none--**(1Th 5:3).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
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:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. Mischief ... upon ... mischief--**(De 32:23; Jr 4:20). This is said because the Jews were apt to fancy, at every abatement of suffering, that their calamities were about to cease; but God will accumulate woe on woe.
**rumour--**of the advance of the foe, and of his cruelty (Mt 24:6).
**seek a vision--**to find some way of escape from their difficulties (Is 26:9). So Zedekiah consulted Je...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
"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." Even hostile invasion serves God's purpose—demonstrating His sovereignty and holiness. The phrase "I will bring thee" emphasizes divine control; enemies ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Latter days.—**The expression is indefinite but concurs with those in Ezekiel 38:8 in indicating a distant future.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. people of the land--**the general multitude, as distinguished from the "king" and the "prince." The consternation shall pervade all ranks. The king, whose duty it was to animate others and find a remedy for existing evils, shall himself be in the utmost anxiety; a mark of the desperate state of affairs.
**clothed with desolation--**Clothing is designed to keep off shame; but in this case s...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
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? by: Heb. by the hand of
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Of whom I have spoken in old time.—**This is put in that interrogative form which is often used for emphatic assurance. The word *many* before “years” is not in the original, but is correctly inserted to mark the accusative of duration. The statement is then an emphatic one, that God had of old and for a long time foretold by His prophets this attack of Gog. But the name of Gog is not menti...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
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.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 8
Eze 8:1-18.
This eighth chapter begins a new stage of Ezekiel's prophecies and continues to the end of the eleventh chapter. The connected visions at Eze 3:12-7:27 comprehended Judah and Israel; but the visions (Eze 8:1-11:25) refer immediately to Jerusalem and the remnant of Judah under Zedekiah, as distinguished from the Babylonian exiles.
**1. sixth year--**namely, of the capti...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
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;
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. likeness--**understand, "of a man," that is, of Messiah, the Angel of the covenant, in the person of whom alone God manifests Himself (Eze 1:26; Joh 1:18). The "fire," from "His loins downward," betokens the vengeance of God kindled against the wicked Jews, while searching and purifying the remnant to be spared. The "brightness ... upward" betokens His unapproachable majesty (1Ti 6:16). For H...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the 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. steep: or, towers, or, stairs
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **The mountains shall be thrown down.—**In Ezekiel 38:19-22 the whole earth, animate and inanimate, is represented as affected by the terrible judgment of the Almighty upon His enemies. Such, as has been already noted, is the common language of prophecy in describing great moral events, and it is especially used in connection with the judgments of the last day.
Ellicott's Commentary for...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3. Instead of prompting him to address directly the elders before him, the Spirit carried him away in vision (not in person bodily) to the temple at Jerusalem; he proceeds to report to them what he witnessed: his message thus falls into two parts: (1) The abominations reported in Eze 8:1-18. (2) The dealings of judgment and mercy to be adopted towards the impenitent and penitent Israelites respect...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
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.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4. The Shekinah cloud of Jehovah's glory, notwithstanding the provocation of the idol, still remains in the temple, like that which Ezekiel saw "in the plain" (Eze 3:22, 23); not till Eze 10:4, 18 did it leave the temple at Jerusalem, showing the long-suffering of God, which ought to move the Jews to repentance.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
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.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This prophetic word demonstrates God's sovereign control over history and nations. Even pagan empires and hostile coalitions serve God's purposes while remaining morally accountable for their actions. This Reformed understanding of providence affirms that nothing occurs outside God's decree, yet human agents bear full responsibility for their choices. The prophecy serves pastoral purposes: assurin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. gate of ... altar--**the principal avenue to the altar of burnt offering; as to the northern position, see 2Ki 16:14. Ahaz had removed the brazen altar from the front of the Lord's house to the north of the altar which he had himself erected. The locality of the idol before God's own altar enhances the heinousness of the sin.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
God declares His purpose in defeating Gog: '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.' The verbs 'magnify' (hitgadilti, הִתְגַּדִּלְתִּי) and 'sanctify' (hitqaddishti, הִתְקַדִּשְׁתִּי) are reflexive, showing God vindicates His own greatness and holiness. The purpose: universal recognition—'many nations...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. that I should go far off from my sanctuary--**"that I should (be compelled by their sin to) go far off from my sanctuary"--(Eze 10:18); the sure precursor of its destruction.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-28** Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.