John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 36

Also, you son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel ,
&c.] The land of Judah, which was very mountainous, at least one part of it, called the hill country, (Luke 1:39Luke 1:65) and now the country being cleared of men through the captivity, and other desolating judgments, there were none but bare mountains to speak unto: or, "prophesy concerning the mountains of Israel" ^F4 ; the inhabitants of them, or those that should be restored to them, concerning their future happiness and comfort: some render it, "against the mountains of Israel" ^F5 ; but the later prophecies of them are in their favour, and not against them: and say, you mountains of Israel ,
hear the word of the Lord; concerning the destruction of their enemies, and concerning the temporal blessings that should be bestowed on them.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: (larvy yrh la) "de montibus Israelis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus.
• F5: "Contra montes Israelis", Vatablus.

Thus says the Lord God
By the mouth of the prophet, who was bid to prophesy: because the enemy had said against you, aha :
rejoicing at the calamity of God's people, particularly the Edomites or Idumeans, as in the preceding chapter; and who are chiefly meant; and also the Ammonites and Tyrians, (Ezekiel 25:3) (26:2) : even the ancient high places are ours in possession ;
or, "the high places of the world shall be unto us for a possession" ^F6 ; the land of Israel, according to Kimchi and others, was the highest part of the world, Jerusalem the highest part of that land, and the temple was built on the highest part of the city; and all these the Edomites claimed as their own, the land, city, and temple, and thought themselves sure of the same, as if they had them in actual possession; even the hilly part of the country, which had been so from the creation, and where stood many of the fortified and frontier towns and cities; which as strong as they were, or had been, they fancied would easily fall into their hands, now such desolations were made in the land.

FOOTNOTES:

• F6: (wnl htyh hvrwml Mlwe twmb) "excelsa seculi haereditario jure futura sunt nobis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "celsa seculi haereditas evenit nobis", Cocceius, Starckius.

Therefore prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord God Who heard all the enemy said, and knew all their designs and purposes, their schemes and devices:

because they have made you desolate ; ravaged their country, destroyed their cities, burnt their temple, and carried them captive, and left the land without men or cattle:

and swallowed you up on every side ; all their neighbours, being their enemies, were like ravenous beasts of prey, gaping upon them with their mouths; and, observing the low condition into which they were brought by the king of Babylon, helped forward the destruction; and everyone shared in the spoil and plunder nearest to them they could conveniently come at:

that you might be a possession to the residue of the Heathen ; either to those that were left in the land by the king of Babylon, or to the rest of the Heathen nations round about them:

you are taken up in the lips of talkers , and are an infamy of the people; reproached, defamed, and made a proverb and byword, by every foul mouthed prating fellow.

Therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord ,
&c.] As in (Ezekiel 36:1) , here repeated to raise and quicken their attention to what was about to be said to them: thus says the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the
rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the
cities that are forsaken ;
before only the mountains are spoken to, though the whole land was included; here the several particulars are given, which describe the whole, and which suffered in the calamity, and the inhabitants that dwelt in them or near them; who only can be supposed to hear the word of the Lord, though places are only mentioned, because of the great depopulation of them: which became a prey and derision to the residue of the Heathen
that are round about ;
to the Tyrians, Philistines, Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites; who mocked the Jews, rejoicing at their destruction by the king of Babylon, and seized upon as a prey to themselves what he left: or these are the residue of the Heathens round about Judea; who remained after the judgments threatened were executed on the above nations, foretold in chapters twenty five and twenty six, see (Ezekiel 36:36) .

Therefore thus says the Lord God
Because these Heathens have acted such an unkind and cruel part to Israel: surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken ;

in his fierce wrath and hot displeasure, resenting the ill usage of his people; hot with indignation against their enemies, having a fervent zeal for his own glory, and an affectionate concern for the good of his people.

It is in the original text in the form of an oath, "if I have not spoken" ^F7; let me be reckoned a liar, or not God; believe me that I have spoken, and in this warm manner; and have not only foretold in prophecy, and threatened the destruction of these nations, but have resolved and determined upon it in my own mind.

So the Targum, ``if I have not in the fire of my vengeance decreed in my word:'' against the residue of the Heathen, and against all Idumea ;
or Edom; the Edomites, even all of them, who of all the Heathen were the most inveterate and implacable enemies of the Jews, though related to them, and are therefore particularly mentioned as the objects of the divine vengeance:

the reason follows, which have appointed my land into their possession ;
this land where his chosen people dwelt, and which he chose for them, and gave unto them; the land where he himself dwelt, and granted his presence; where his temple was, and he was worshipped.

So the Targum, ``the land of the house of my majesty.'' Now this the Lord took ill at their hands, and resented, that they should lay out this land for themselves, and determine upon it as a possession and inheritance of theirs.

With the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out
for a prey ;

with the utmost joy they joined Nebuchadnezzar's army when he invaded the land of Judea and besieged Jerusalem, out of pure malice and spite to the people of the Jews, in order to eject them from the possession of their land, that it might become a prey to them; see (Psalms 137:7) (Obadiah 1:12–14) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: (al Ma) "si non", Cocceius, Starckius; "[sub.] mentiar", Junius & Tremellius; "non ero Deus", Piscator.