John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 20:47

"and say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby." — Ezekiel 20:47 (ASV)

And say to the forest of the south
To the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea: hear the word of the Lord ;
attend to it, and receive it, believe it, and take warning from it: thus says the Lord God, behold, I will kindle a fire in you ;
in Jerusalem; meaning that he would send great calamities among them, the sword of the Chaldean army, famine, and pestilence; and that at last it should be burnt with fire, and the remainder of the inhabitants be carried captive:

and it shall devour every green tree, and every dry tree ;
all sorts of persons should be consumed by one or other of the above calamities, high and low, rich and poor, good and bad; and if good men should suffer, comparable to green trees, which fire will not so easily burn, not being fit fuel for it; then much more bad men, who were by far the most numerous, comparable to dry trees, and so fit fuel for the flames, and easily consumed thereby:

the flaming flame shall not be quenched
or, the "flame, flame"; or, "the flame of flame" ^F15 ; signifying either the succession of these calamities one after another; or the force and strength of them, which should not be abated until the ruin of the city was completed: and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt therein ;
which some understand of an utter destruction of the Jews, either by sword, famine, and pestilence, or by captivity from Jerusalem or Judea unto Babylon; but rather the meaning is, that all the inhabitants thereof should suffer, from one end of it to the other, from Beersheba to Dan, the country lying in such a position.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F15: (tbhlv tbhl) "flamma flamma, pro flamma continua et perpetua", Vatablus; "flamma inflamatissima", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus "flamma flammae", Montanus, Piscator.