Chapter Twenty-Five

Prophecies against the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines

Beginning with chapter XXV, the second (comforting and gladdening) part of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel begins, a part whose first section concludes—following the example of the earlier prophets Isaiah, Amos, and Jeremiah—with words against foreign peoples (chapters XXV–XXXII). From these peoples the prophet selects for his prophecies the immediate neighbors of Israel, whose constant enmity toward Israel hindered so much the peaceful life and proper development of Israel that, for the possibility of such a life and development in the future, the complete removal of these peoples from the world stage was necessary. Hence the placement of these words before the prophecies about Israel’s future glory; hence also the unconditional condemnation of these peoples (with the exception of the Egyptians) to destruction without the hope of a better future that Jeremiah extends to some peoples (Jer 12:15). The prophetic survey of the fate of the pagan peoples, which the prophet takes in the symbolic number of seven (compare Deut 7:1; Amos 1; Jer 47:1, etc.), Ezekiel conducts in geographical order, beginning from the northeast of Judea and describing a circle around it: the Ammonites (1–7), the Moabites (8–11), the Edomites (12–14), the Philistines (15–17), Tyre (Ezek 26:1–Ezek 28:19), Sidon (Ezek 28:20-26), and the most distant neighbor of Judea—Egypt (Ezek 29–Ezek 32). The number seven, undoubtedly symbolic, may denote the whole aggregate of pagan peoples; to compose this number Sidon is placed separately from Tyre, although by the time of Ezekiel it had long been subject to Tyre and had lost its significance. The most space is given to Tyre and Egypt because of their power in the world at that time. The prophet does not touch upon Babylon (in contrast to Jeremiah: chapters L–LI), perhaps because he regarded it as the instrument of God’s wrath against Israel, and therefore as innocent in the harm done to Israel (Ezek 22:4-5), and because Babylon, owing to its distance, could not substantially affect the future destiny of Israel.

Ezekiel 25:1. And the word of the Lord came to me: There is no date here, at the beginning of a new series of words and a new part of the book, as one would expect—probably because this word was written later than the words of chapters XXVI and the following chapters (it was certainly written after the fall of Jerusalem: verses 3, 8, 12, 15, as Jerome also supposed, and therefore not before the 12th year of the captivity of Jehoiachin (Ezek 33:21)), but is placed here according to the requirements of systematization, and its date would disrupt the strictly chronological order of the dates in the book (except, however, for the date Ezek 29:17; see verse 1 and Ezek 31:1).

Ezekiel 25:2. Son of man! turn your face toward the children of Ammon and prophesy against them, The Ammonites, despite their kinship with Israel, were its constant enemies—from the beginning of its existence: in the time of the judges (Judg 11:1 etc.) and of the kings—Saul (1 Sam 11:1), David (2 Sam 8:12), until the end (1 Macc 5:6 etc.). Under Nebuchadnezzar they first unite with him in war against Judea (2 Sam 24:2), then incite Zedekiah against Babylon (Jer 27), and may have even been the instigators of Zedekiah’s rebellion from Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 21:2 etc.); after Judea’s fall they annex its territory (Jer 49:1); and their king of that time, Baalis, is the chief organizer of the murder of the Babylonian governor of Judea, Gedaliah (Jer 40:14). But Ezekiel reproaches the Ammonites only for malicious joy at the destruction of the Judean kingdom. This malice is all the less forgivable because they themselves barely escaped (Ezek 21:19), and only for the time being (verse 28 etc.), the sword of Nebuchadnezzar. If Josephus (Antiqu. 10:9, 7) recounts the subjection of Moab and Ammon by Nebuchadnezzar in the 5th year after the destruction of Jerusalem, then probably both peoples suffered little in this, since Ezekiel threatens them again with “the sons of the east” (verse 10). Against Ammon also prophesied Amos (Amos 1:13 etc.), Zephaniah (Zeph 2:8 etc.), Jeremiah (Jer 49:1), and Ezekiel on a special occasion (Ezek 21:28).

Ezekiel 25:3. and say to the children of Ammon: “Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God: Because you said ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into captivity, “Over my sanctuary.” The mockery could certainly take this direction as well: Ezek 35:13; Jer 48:7. “Aha!” is the Hebrew rear—an exclamation of malicious joy; the LXX gives here a paraphrase: “because you have rejoiced over my holy things,” but in Ezek 26:2 and Ezek 36:2 it is ευγε—“well done.”

Ezekiel 25:4. Therefore, behold, I will give you to the children of the east for a possession, and they will set up their sheepfolds in you and set up their tents in you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. “The children of the east” are not the Babylonians (as some old interpreters thought), who are nowhere so called—but rather the robber tribes of Arabs, Bedouins of the Syrian-Arab desert (Gen 25:12-18; Jer 49:28; Job 1:3), who made raids on outlying cultured lands in the same way as in Judg 6 chapter. The LXX has the transcription: “children of Kedemites” (Hebrew bene-kedem). The Ammonites themselves were once such roving plunderers, and they always remained only a semi-settled people. They will be subjected to the same fate that they themselves inflicted on the aborigines of the transjordanian region. “Sheepfolds”—a translation according to the Vulgate (caulas) from the Hebrew tira, properly “circle,” then “fence” (related to Syriac “dung”), which here more likely denotes a circle surrounded by stones, a round Bedouin camp, in the middle of which their tents are pitched, but in which there are also stalls. The Slavic has “and they will settle with their possessions in you.” “And they will eat your fruit and drink your milk.” Until now the food of these nomads consisted of wild fruits and the milk of wild goats; but they will gladly exchange this food for the tender fruits of gardens and the milk of domestic cattle.

Ezekiel 25:5. I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and the children of Ammon a fold for flocks, and you will know that I am the Lord. The culture of the land will sink back to the lower level of nomadic culture. “Rabbah”—see the explanation Ezek 21:20. “Camels,” which Arabs possess in vast quantities, and in particular the Arabs living not far from the ruins of Rabbah, now Rabbat-Ammon (Raumer Palestine, p. 268). After Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat, the Ammonite territory belonged to various rulers. Egyptian kings established a city in place of Rabbah, named after Ptolemy Philadelphia—Philadelphia—which still existed under this name in the time of Jerome; in the ruins of this city, finally destroyed by Muslims, remains of theaters, temples, forum and such are found; but all this arose when the Ammonites hardly existed anymore. Wilderness and desolation—this is now the chief character of what was once a rich land. “Children of Ammon—a fold for flocks,” literally “a pasture for flocks” (Slavic: “children of Ammon for a fold of flocks”); “children of Ammon” instead of “their land.” A powerful expression. “And you will know that I am the Lord”—an expression frequent in words against pagan peoples, but hardly meaning their conversion to the Lord (about which Ezekiel speaks nowhere), but only recognition of the power of Jehovah.

Ezekiel 25:6. For thus says the Lord God: Because you clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all malice in your heart against the land of Israel, Ezekiel 25:7. therefore, behold, I will stretch out my hand against you and will give you to the nations for plunder, and I will cut you off from the peoples and wipe you out from among the lands; I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the Lord. Meanwhile, the speech had been about the fate of Ammonite land; now the prophet turns to its population—“You clapped your hands and stamped your feet” in malicious joy; see Ezek 6:11. “In your heart”—not found elsewhere in the Old Testament. “I will stretch out my hand”—Ezek 6:14. “For plunder”—a conjectural translation of an obscure Hebrew hapax. “And you will know that I am the Lord”—see verse 5 and 11; a refrain (see Ezek 1:17).

Ezekiel 25:8. Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir say, “See, the house of Judah is like all other nations! Against the Moabites prophesied Balaam (Num 24:18-19), Amos (Amos 2:1), Isaiah (Isa 15:1), Jeremiah (Jer 48:1). The guilt of Moab against Israel, although essentially the same as that of his brother Ammon (2 Sam 24:2; Jer 27:3), appears to be of lesser degree in Ezekiel’s account; therefore a) the threat against him in verse 10 returns to Ammon; b) alongside Moab is placed Seir, that is, Edom, which perhaps as a neighbor drew Moab into sin against Israel; but the LXX do not read “Seir” here (the Slavic does): indeed, a whole word follows against it: verses 12–14. “See, the house of Judah (LXX: ‘the house of Israel and Judah’) is like all other nations.” Consequently, the mercies with which the Lord showered Israel aroused the envy of neighbors. Such talk was a necessary reaction to the claims made by Judah: it felt itself especially noble among all humanity from the time it possessed in the law and temple the tangible reality that others did not possess in this form (Jer 7:4). The mockery is quieter and milder than that of Ammon (compare verse 3).

Ezekiel 25:9. Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from all its frontier cities, the beauty of the land, from Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, “Frontier cities,” that is, fortresses guarding the entrance to the land, three of which are then enumerated. “Beauty of the land.”—The cities mentioned were also the finest in the region. But here there may be reference to the beauty of the locality where these three cities were situated, about which Arabs even now say: “you will not find land like Belka” (Tristram). “Beth-jeshimoth,” Greek oikon βεθασιμουθ, Slavic “house of the Jasimutes,” “house of the wilderness”—a city by the Jordan (Num 33:49; according to the Slavic already “Esimoth”; Josh 12:3—according to the Slavic “Bethsimov” and Josh 13:20 Slavic “Bethsimuth”); according to Eusebius (Onomast. 233, 81) it lay 10 Roman miles to the south, more precisely to the south-east of Jericho; perhaps the ruins of what is now Suweime represent it. Compare Josephus Flav. Debell. jud. 4:7, 6. “Baal-meon” (Num 32:38; 1 Chr 5:8), in fuller form “Beth-baal-meon” (Josh 13:17), in shorter form Bet-Maon (Jer 48:23) or even “Veun” (Num 32:3), mentioned also in the inscription of the Moabite king Mesha (lines 9 and 30 in the first and second of the forms cited), according to Eusebius (238, 45) 9 miles from Heshbon, the present Main at wadi Zerka Main. The LXX: “from the spring,” reading meal-mayan and treating it as a place definition for Beth-jeshimoth; but in the Book of Numbers the LXX has “Beel-meon,” in the Book of Joshua “houses of Beelmoni”; and here the Slavic in brackets “Baelman.” “Kiriathaim” (Num 32:37; Josh 13:19; Jer 48:23; compare Gen 14:5; Mesha inscription line 10) according to Eusebius, 10 miles from Medeba; now Kureat (not Kerioth). The LXX: “of a coastal city,” reading qiryat yam and treating it as a place definition for Beth-jeshimoth; but in other places the LXX has “Cariaphem,” “Cariaphaim,” as also here the Slavic in brackets. All three cities belonged to the tribe of Reuben, from which they were taken by the Moabites, probably in the last days of the Israelite kings; Mesha already possessed the last two. The region occupied by them forms a strip of land north of the Arnon. “I will open the side of Moab.” The enemy will break through the chain of frontier fortresses. There may be reference also to the fact that the conquest of the land, unlike the fate of the Ammonites, will be only partial. A beautiful expression. The Slavic: “I will weaken the muscles of Moab.”

Ezekiel 25:10. to the children of the east, and I will give it to them as a possession, together with the children of Ammon, that the children of Ammon may no longer be mentioned among the nations. Ezekiel 25:11. And I will execute judgment on Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord. The Bedouins, who customarily limited themselves to plundering raids and then withdrew to themselves, will this time take possession not only of Ammonite territory but moreover—(Slavic “over”), at least part of Moabite, that is, presumably by the indicated peoples or the region north of the Arnon. The prophet’s attention in this word against Moab is so occupied with Ammon (the more evil enemy than his brother) that he repeats the threat of verse 7b against it (but there: “from the lands,” and here: “from the peoples”). The addition: “I will execute judgment on Moab” shows a milder judgment upon it compared with Ammon. After the captivity, the Ammonites and Moabites are mentioned only in Ezra 9:1; Nehem 13:1; Dan 11:41.

Ezekiel 25:12. Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah and has become guilty by taking vengeance upon them, There are many earlier prophecies against the Edomites: Num 24:18-19; Amos 1:11; Isa 11:14 etc. Joel 3:19; Obadiah—the whole book; Jer 49:7 etc.; Lam 4:21 etc.; Ps 82:7. Whereas the Ammonites and Moabites only rejoiced at Judea’s destruction, the Edomites actively helped the Chaldeans in its ruin (Obad 1:10-14), taking vengeance for old offenses (2 Sam 14:7), for which a considerable part of Judean territory passed to them (Ezek 35:10). Therefore the prophet returns to them again in chapter XXXV. “Has become guilty.” Israel, as the possession of Jehovah, is inviolable (Jer 2:3; Ezek 35:10); as for the Chaldeans, they acted against him by the command of God.

Ezekiel 25:13. 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 a desolation; from Teman to Dedan all by the sword they will fall. For verse 13a compare Ezek 14:13. “I will make it a desolation.” The punishment is harsher than even Ammon (verses 4–5), such as Ezek 6:14. “From Teman to Dedan.” Teman is a city and region on the very north of Edom, and Dedan is on the very south, though it properly belonged not to Edom but was a tribe living to the south of it (Jer 49:8); the LXX, treating Dedan as a verb, translate “pursued.”

Ezekiel 25:14. And I will bring my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they will do to Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they will know my vengeance, says the Lord God. Such intense hostility toward Israel on the part of a brother people requires that God’s vengeance on Edom be carried out by Israel itself, not by other peoples, as for instance “the children of the east” over Ammon and Moab. The prophecy was fulfilled when Edom was conquered in 128 B.C. by John Hyrcanus (2 Macc 10:15 etc., Josephus Flav., Antiqu. 13:9, 1), who forced this people to accept circumcision. In Edom one can see a type of all that is hostile to the kingdom of God, as is more clearly shown in Amos 9:12; Obad 1:18, where vengeance on Edom refers to the time of the restoration of David’s tabernacle, which thus goes to the times of the Messiah; compare Gen 25:23; Num 24:18; Isa 39:5-6; Ezek 35:1. “My people.” A tenderness rare in the first part of the book; compare the introductory remarks to chapter XIII. “And they will know my vengeance.” Replaces and strengthens the usual refrain in words against heathens: “you will know that I am the Lord” (verses 5, 7, 11); compare verse 17, where the present refrain is weakened.

Ezekiel 25:15. Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted in revenge and took vengeance with malice in their hearts for the destruction, in perpetual enmity, There are prophecies against the Philistines at Amos 1:6; Isa 9:11; Joel 3:4; Zeph 2:4-7; Obad 1:19; Jer 47:4; Zech 9:5-7. The Philistines probably also made some acquisition at the destruction of the Judean kingdom, though this is not known from any source. The tone of the prophet’s word against them may speak for this—it is as angry as against the Edomites and angrier than against the Ammonites. But this tone may also be explained by the particularly long, constant, and bitter enmity of the Philistines toward Israel. This perpetual enmity is indicated by the expression: “for destruction, in perpetual enmity” (Vulgate.: implentes inimicitias veteres), though the Hebrew allows also the translation: “at the final destruction,” that is, of the Judean kingdom; compare Ezek 35:5; the Slavic “to be consumed even to the age” expresses the intention of the Philistines regarding Judea.

Ezekiel 25:16. Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cretans and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. “I will cut off the Cretans.” So were the Philistines called, as emigrants from Crete (1 Sam 30:14), which was identified by Amos (Amos 9:7) with Kaphtor and which old commentators identified with the present island of Crete; now this identification is not accepted, and the Old Testament considers Kaphtor or Crete to be a region in Egypt or near Egypt. “And I will destroy the remnant of the seacoast.” A wretched remnant of the Philistines had long existed only on the coastal strip: Jer 25:20; Isa 20:1; Amos 1:8. So it is easier to destroy them. No such complete destruction is predicted for the Edomites.

Ezekiel 25:17. And I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they will know that I am the Lord, when I execute my vengeance on them. “Great vengeance with furious rebukes.” Very strong indignation, seemingly stronger than against Edom; compare Ezek 5:15. The executors of the punishment are not indicated, not as for the three previous pagan peoples, by which the horror of it is increased. The fulfillment of the prophecy began with the attack of Egyptians on Gaza and the devastation of the land by the Chaldeans, described in detail and harshly by Jeremiah in Jer 47.