John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 25

The word of the Lord came to me

After he had done prophesying to the Jews, he is bid to prophesy against the Gentiles, the nations that lay nearest the Jews:

saying ; as follows:

Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites Who were of the posterity of Lot, implacable enemies of the Jews; who hated their religion, and envied their wealth and happiness; against these the prophet is bid to "set his face"; to look that way where they lived, and to put on a frowning countenance, and a menacing aspect: "strengthen your face", as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it; look boldly at them.

and prophesy against them ; deliver out the following prophecy concerning them.

And say to the Ammonites: Either to their ambassadors at Babylon, or merchants there; or by letters to them, the prophet being in Chaldea, at a distance from them. Hear the word of the Lord God: not Chemosh their idol, nor their lying oracles, but the word of the true and living God; which is always accomplished, and is never frustrated. Thus says the Lord God, because you said, aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; that is, expressed joy, as the Targum paraphrases it, at the destruction of the temple, when it was burnt by Nebuchadnezzar; it was foreknown by the Lord that they would do so, and are here threatened before hand; for as yet the temple was not destroyed; a proof this of God's prescience of future contingencies.

And against the land of when it was desolate; the country of the ten tribes, which had been desolate from the sixth year of Hezekiah, when the people of it were carried captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria; this also was matter of joy to the Ammonites. And against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar; part of which had already been carried captive under Jeconiah, and the rest would be, and were, under Zedekiah; which completed the destruction of Israel and Judah, and gave the utmost pleasure to their enemies the Ammonites.

who were so impious as to rejoice at the destruction of their temple, the place of their religious worship, which they abhorred; and so inhuman as to express the delight and satisfaction they had in the ruin of their fellow creatures and neighbours, and who were originally related to them; this brutish and barbarous behaviour of theirs is resented by the Lord.

Behold, therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east
for a possession

The Chaldeans and Syrians, which were on the east side, as Jarchi; or the Medes and Persians, as Kimchi, which lay more eastward; or it may be the Arabians, who are commonly called the men of the east; who were a part of Nebuchadnezzar's army, and whom he might reward with this country, when taken by him; for this prophecy, according to Josephus ^F17 , was fulfilled five years after the destruction of Jerusalem:

and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in
thee ; or, "their camps and their tents" ^F18 ; and so the Syriac version renders it, their armies and their tents; who should subdue them, and take possession of their cities and fields, and enjoy what they found there:

they shall eat your fruit, and drink your milk ; the fruit of your land, your vineyards and fields, and the milk of your flocks and herds, which was commonly drank in those countries; these are put for the whole of your substance.

So the Targum, ``they shall eat the good of your land, and spoil your substance.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: Antiqu. l. 16. c. 9. sect. 7.
• F18: (Mhytwryj) "arces suas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus, Coeccius. (Mhynkvm) "tentoria sua", V. L. "tabernacala sus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus, Cocceius, Starckius.

And I will make Rabbath a stable for camels Creatures much used by the eastern nations, especially the Arabians; who pitching their tents about Rabbath, the royal city, the metropolis of the children of Ammon, would convert the houses, and even palaces in it, into stables for their camels. This city, in Jerom's time, as he says, was called Philadelphia, from Ptolemy Philadelphus, who rebuilt it.

And the Ammonites a couching place for flocks; that is, the land of the Ammonites should be made a place for flocks of sheep to lie down in, which the Arabians would bring and feed upon it:

and you shall know that I am the Lord; omniscient, and sees and observes all your insults upon the children of Israel and Judah; and omnipotent, able to perform all that is threatened; and immutable, bringing about all that is here prophesied of.