Old Testament · Prophecy

Ezekiel 35

Against Mount Seir

Edom rejoiced at Israel's ruin. Because you harbored ancient hostility, God will make you a desolation. Joy over another's destruction returns to its source.

Berean Standard Bible BSB KJV
Read the commentary What this chapter means, the background behind it, and why it still matters

1Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,

3and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Mount Seir. I will stretch out My hand against you and make you a desolate waste.

4I will turn your cities into ruins, and you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

5Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment,

6therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, it will pursue you.

7I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and will cut off from it those who come and go.

8I will fill its mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines.

9I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

10Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there,

11therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will treat you according to the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred against them, and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

12Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you uttered against the mountains of Israel when you said, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to devour!’

13You boasted against Me with your mouth and multiplied your words against Me. I heard it Myself!

14This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.

15As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Commentary

Ezekiel 35, explained

What Ezekiel 35 is saying

Ezekiel prophesies against Mount Seir (Edom) for its perpetual hatred of Israel, its violence during Jerusalem's fall, and its presumptuous claim over Israel's and Judah's territory. God will make Edom a permanent desolation as recompense for its bloodshed.

The background behind it

Edom (descended from Esau) had a long, bitter rivalry with Israel (descended from Jacob). Edom's opportunistic attacks during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem are condemned across multiple prophetic books (cf. Obadiah, Psalm 137:7, Lamentations 4:21-22).

Themes running underneath

Persistent, generational hatred incurs divine judgment. Edom's claim over the two nations' territory while 'the LORD was there' represents a direct affront to God's sovereignty and His continued claim over the land even during Israel's exile.

Why it still matters

Nursing ancient grudges and exploiting others' vulnerability destroys the one who harbors hatred. This chapter warns that the cycle of vengeance ultimately consumes those who perpetuate it.

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