Yehezkiel 25:12-14

A Prophecy Against Edom

25:12 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom ¹  has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable ²  by taking vengeance ³  on them. ⁴  25:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, ⁵  and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die ⁶  by the sword. 25:14 I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience ⁷  my vengeance, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Yehezkiel 35:1-15

Prophecy Against Mount Seir

35:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 35:2 “Son of man, turn toward ⁸  Mount Seir, ⁹  and prophesy against it. 35:3 Say to it, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Look, I am against you, Mount Seir;

I will stretch out my hand against you

and turn you into a desolate ruin.

35:4 I will lay waste your cities;

and you will become desolate.

Then you will know that I am the Lord!

35:5 “‘You have shown unrelenting hostility and poured the people of Israel onto the blades of a sword ¹⁰  at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment. 35:6 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will subject you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 35:7 I will turn Mount Seir into a desolate ruin; ¹¹  I will cut off ¹²  from it the one who passes through or returns. 35:8 I will fill its mountains with its dead; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines, those killed by the sword will fall. 35:9 I will turn you into a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

35:10 “‘You said, “These two nations, these two lands ¹³  will be mine, and we will possess them,” ¹⁴  – although the Lord was there – 35:11 therefore, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will deal with you according to your anger, and according to your envy, by which you acted spitefully against them. I will reveal myself to them when I judge you. 35:12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are desolate, they have been given to us for food.” 35:13 You exalted yourselves against me with your speech ¹⁵  and hurled many insults against me ¹⁶  – I have heard them all! 35:14 This is what the sovereign Lord says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will turn you into a desolation. 35:15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you – you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all of Edom – all of it! Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

[25:12]  ¹ sn Edom was located south of Moab.

[25:12]  ² tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.

[25:12]  ³ tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”

[25:12]  ⁴ sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. (Ps 137:7; Lam 5:21, 23; Joel 3:19; Obadiah).

[25:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”

[25:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “fall.”

[25:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “know.”

[35:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “set your face against.”

[35:2]  ⁹ sn Mount Seir is to be identified with Edom (Ezek 35:15), home of Esau’s descendants (Gen 25:21-30).

[35:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “gave over…to the power of the sword.” This phrase also occurs in Jer 18:21 and Ps 63:10.

[35:7]  ¹¹ tc The translation reads with some manuscripts לְשִׁמְמָה וּמְשַׁמָּה (lÿshimmah umÿshammah, “desolate ruin”) as in verse 3 and often in Ezekiel. The majority reading reverses the first mem (מ) with the shin (שׁ) resulting in the repetition of the word desolate: לְשִׁמְמָה וּשְׁמָמָה (lÿshimmah ushÿmamah).

[35:7]  ¹² tn Or “kill.”

[35:10]  ¹³ sn The reference is to Israel and Judah.

[35:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “it.”

[35:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your mouth.”

[35:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and you multiplied against me your words.” The Hebrew verb occurs only here and in Prov 27:6, where it refers to the “excessive” kisses of an enemy. The basic idea of the verb appears to be “to be abundant.” Here it occurs in the causative (Hiphil) stem.