Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 39

Leave but the sixth part of thee. This word occurs only here, and the translation is based on the supposition that it is derived from the word meaning six; but even on this supposition the renderings in the margin are as likely to be right as that of the text. This derivation, however, is probably wrong; all the ancient versions give a sense corresponding to Ezekiel 38:4 and Ezekiel 38:16, and also to the clauses immediately before and after, I will lead thee along. The greater part of the modern commentators concur in this view.

Unto the ravenous birds.— Compare the account of the destruction of Pharaoh in Ezekiel 29:4-5.

A fire on Magog.— Magog is the country of Gog (Ezekiel 38:1), and the Divine judgment is therefore to fall not only upon the army in the land of Israel, but also upon the far-distant country of Gog. In Revelation 20:9, this fire is represented as coming down from God out of heaven.

In the isles. —This common Scriptural expression for the remoter parts of the earth is added here to show the universality of the judgment upon all that is hostile to the kingdom of God.

Shall burn them with fire seven years.—The representation of this and the following verse—that the weapons of the army of Gog shall furnish the whole nation of Israel with fuel for seven years—cannot, of course, be understood literally. It seems to have been inserted by the prophet to show that we are to look for the meaning of his prophecy beyond any literal event of earthly warfare.

Ezekiel 39:11–16 again presents the magnitude of the attack upon the Church by describing the burial of the host after it is slain. The language, if it were intended to be understood literally, would be even more extravagant than that of Ezekiel 39:9-10. The whole nation of Israel is represented as engaged for seven months in burying the bodies (Ezekiel 39:12–13). After this, an indefinite time is to be occupied by one corps of men appointed to search the land for still remaining bones, and by another who are to bury them.

The valley of the passengers.— The name cannot be derived from the Scythians, as if they were spoken of “as a cloud passing over and gone,” because the same word is used again in this verse, and also in Ezekiel 39:14-15, evidently in a different sense. It simply denotes some (probably imaginary) thoroughfare, which is to be blocked up by the buried bodies of the slain.

No definite locality is assigned to it, except that it is “on the east of the sea,” meaning the Dead Sea. It was to be, therefore, on the extreme south-eastern outskirts of the land. This is another of the features of the description which indicate some other than a literal interpretation; for how should such a host, invading the land from the north for purposes of plunder, be found in that locality, and how could such vast numbers of dead bodies be transported there?

Stop the noses.— The word “noses” is not in the original, and should be omitted. The meaning is simply that the bodies of the host shall so fill up the valley as to stop the way of travellers.

The valley of Hamon-gog.— It is better to translate the word Hamon, as in the margin: The valley of the multitude of Gog. So also in Ezekiel 39:15.