Ezekiel 25
DOYLY— she is turned unto me.] Her traffick and her wealth are come into my stores. Compare Isa. lx. 5. Bp. Hall.
— I shall be replenished.] Trading interest will turn to me; they, that carried merchandise to Jerusalem, will now bring it to me. Poole. Besides which, as Tyre was a noted market for all sorts of trade; so when Jerusalem was taken and sacked, the spoil of the city was carried thither for sale; and probably several of the inhabitants, being made captives, were sold there for slaves; a traffick the Tyrians dealt in very much, chap. xxvii. 13. This interpretation may be confirmed by comparing it with Joel iii. 4—6, where the Prophet upbraids the Tyrians for making merchandise, both of the persons and substance of the Jews, when they came into their hands. To the same purpose we read 1 Mac. iii. 41, that when Lysias came with great forces to subdue the Jews, the merchants of the country took silver and gold, and came into the camp, to buy the children of Israel for slaves. W. Lowth.
— on the sea &c.] They shall be as loud, as numerous, as irresistible as the waves of the sea. This is one of the most beautiful and expressive images which occur in the magnificent prophecy here recorded. Abp. Newcome.
Ezekiel 25:3
- — I am against thee, O Tyrus.] This prophecy respects the same siege of Tyre which is foretold in the 47th chapter of Jeremiah. The profane authors extant in the time of St. Jerome said nothing of this
people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
Ezekiel 25:4
- — I will also scrape her dust from her.] Her very soil and earth shall be taken off and removed. Bp. Hall.
Ezekiel 25:5
-
And I will make Rabbah] See chap. xxi. 20. The capital city of the Ammonites.
-
It shall be a place for the spreading of nets] “Passing by Tyre from curiosity only, I came to be a mournful witness of the truth of that prophecy, ’that Tyre the queen of nations should be a rock for fishers to dry their nets:’ two wretched fishermen with miserable nets had just given over their occupation.” Bruce.
On the north side of Tyre there is an old Turkish ungarrisoned castle; besides which you see nothing here but a mere Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, &c. there being not so much as one entire house left. Its present inhabitants are only a few wretches harbouring themselves in the vaults, and subsisting themselves
Ezekiel 25:6
- — clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet.] Gestures sometimes used to express joy and satisfaction, Job xxvii. 23; Lam. ii. 15; Jer. xviii. 27. W. Lowth. See the note on Job xxvii. 23.
Ezekiel 25:8
- — Moab and Seir] Seir is the same with Edom: see chap. xxxv. 2.
— is like unto all the heathen;] We see no difference betwixt Judah and other nations. God hath no more power to preserve them, than the God of their neighbours. Bp. Hall.
Ezekiel 25:9
- I will open the side of Moab] I will make a passage for his enemies to invade his frontier. W. Lowth.
— Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriath-aim.] They were the chief frontier towns of Moab. Calmet.
Ezekiel 25:10
- Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites.] That is, together with the Moabites, I will deliver up the Ammonites unto the men of the East; see ver. 4. Moab and Ammon are joined together, Zeph. ii. 8, 9. Nebuchadnezzar subdued both. Abp. Newcome.
Ezekiel 25:12
- — Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah] The Idumeans, being the posterity of Esau, bore an ancient grudge against the Jews, on account of their ancestor’s losing his right of primogeniture, and the subduing of Edom by David afterwards, 2 Sam. viii. 14. Upon both these accounts they took all opportunities of venting their spite towards the Jewish nation particularly; see 2 Chron. xxviii. 17.
Ezekiel 25:13
-
— Teman;—Dedan] Noted cities of Idumea. See Jer. xlix 7, 8.
-
— by the hand of my people Israel: After the restoration of the Jews, Idumea was subdued by them under the conduct of Judas Maccabeus, 1 Macc. v. 3; 2 Macc. x. 16, 17. And afterwards the high priest Hyrcanus made an entire conquest of the country. Dean Prideaux.
Providence would not permit that they should be punished by other hands than those of the Jews, whom they had treated with so much cruelty. Calmet.
Ezekiel 25:15
- — Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge.] The Philistines being borderers upon the Jews, were their ancient enemies, from the time of the Judges downward, more particularly in the time of Ahaz: see 2 Chron. xxviii 18. W. Lowth. Amos accuses them of having sold to the Idumeans the captives which they had taken in Judea; Amos i 5—8 Calmet.
Ezekiel 25:16
- — and I will cut off the Cherethims.] The Cherethims or Cherethites are the same with the Philistines, or a tribe of that people, 1 Sam. xxx. 14; Zeph. ii. 5. W. Lowth.
— the remnant] The Philistines had been much weakened in preceding wars by the kings of Egypt and of Chaldea; and therefore they are called “the remnant.” Calmet. See Jer. xxv. and xviii.