John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 39

Therefore, you son of man, prophesy against Gog As he had been ordered to do before, and must still continue to do it:

behold, I am against you, O Gog; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and to inject terror into him; for terrible it is to have God against any:

the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; (See Gill on Ezekiel 38:2), the Septuagint version adds "Ros" here as there.

And I will turn thee back
Not from the land of Israel; for thither it is said in the latter part of the text he would bring him; but the meaning is, that he would "turn him about", as the word F23 signifies, in his own land, and lead him about at his pleasure, and bring him out of it, unto the land of Israel; signifying hereby that the providence of God would be greatly concerned in this affair; and in which much glory would be brought unto him by the destruction of such a potent enemy of his people; which is the design of bringing him out; (See Gill on Ezekiel 38:4):

``I will judge thee with six judgments <sup>F25</sup> , (Ezekiel 38:12) , pestilence, blood, an overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone,'' it must be rejected; seeing as yet the account of his punishment is not come to; only an account is given how and by what means he shall be drawn out of his own land; wherefore much better is the Targum, ``I will persuade thee, and I will seduce thee;'' so Jarchi seems to understand it: and the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "I will lead thee", agreeably to what follows: and will cause thee to come up from the north parts ;
(See Gill on Ezekiel 38:15) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel ;
not to inherit them, but to fall upon them, as in (Ezekiel 39:4) .

and leave but a sixth part of thee ;
meaning, not that a sixth part only should escape the vengeance of God, and all but a sixth part be destroyed in the land of Israel; for it looks as if the whole army would be utterly destroyed, and none left; but that, when he should come out of his own country upon this expedition, a sixth part of his subjects only should be left behind; five out of six should accompany him; so numerous should his army be, and so drained his country by this enterprise of his. Some render the words, "will draw thee out with an hook of six teeth" ^F24 ; that is, out of his own land; and this clause stands in the same place and order as the phrase and "put hooks into thy jaws" does in (Ezekiel 38:4) and so may be thought to explain one another, and agrees with what follows: for, as for the sense of it given by Joseph Kimchi and others,

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: F23 signifies, in his own land, and lead him about at his pleasure, and bring him out of it, unto the land of Israel; signifying hereby that the providence of God would be greatly concerned in this affair; and in which much glory would be brought unto him by the destruction of such a potent enemy of his people; which is the design of bringing him out; (See Gill on Ezekiel 38:4):
• F24: (Kytavv) "harpagone sextuplici extraham te", Vinarienses apud Starckius. So Buxtorf.
• F25: "Sex poenis, [sive] plagis afficiam te", Munster, Tigurine version.

And I will smite your bow out of your left hand
In which it is usually held, to have the arrow fitted to it: and I will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand ;
where they are commonly held when put into the bow, and then the bow is drawn with it; signifying hereby, that though he should come into the land of Israel, he should not succeed; he would be stripped of his armour, and it would be useless to him: bows and arrows are put for all kind of warlike instruments; and are particularly mentioned because they were chiefly used in war when this prophecy was delivered.

You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel
Be slain, and his carcass lie there; so the Targum, "upon the mountains of the land of Israel your carcass shall be cast:" you and all your bands, and the people that are with you; Gog and his army, auxiliaries and allies:

I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts
of the field to be devoured :
A great part of his army being slain, should not be buried, but be devoured by birds of prey, and savage beasts; such as eagles and vultures of the former sort, and lions, bears, wolves of the latter.

This was always reckoned a very sore judgment and dreadful calamity, not to have a burial, but to be exposed to birds and beasts of prey; this was threatened to the Israelites, in case of disobedience to the law of God, (Deuteronomy 28:26) and to the wicked Jews in the times of Jeremiah; and to that evil king of Judah, Jehoiakim, (Jeremiah 16:4) (Jeremiah 22:18Jeremiah 22:19) and is lamented as one of the greatest evils that could befall good men, (Psalms 79:2) ,

And nothing was more dreadful among the Heathens themselves; hence Homer ^F26 , among the many calamities Achilles was the cause of to the Grecians, mentions this as one, that he was the means of giving the bodies of a great number of their heroes to the dogs, and to the fowls of the air; so Virgil ^F1 represents the want of a burial, and being left to be fed upon by birds of prey, as severe a punishment of a wicked man as can be wished for.

FOOTNOTES:

• F26: Iliad. 1. l. 4, 5.
• F1: ----non te optima mater Condet humi, patriove onerrabit membra sepulchro Alitibus linquere feris". Aeneid. l. 10.

You shall fall upon the open field
Some part of his army should fall upon the mountains, and others upon the plain; wherever they will be found, they will be destroyed, either by the sword of the Jews and Christian princes, or by God's judgments from heaven:

for I have spoken it, says the Lord God ;
and therefore it should surely come to pass, since no word of his ever fails;

this is added to assure of the truth of it, since it might be thought incredible that so large an army should be destroyed.