Ezekiel 25:4

Eze 25:4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.

Ver. 4. I will deliver thee to the men of the east.] To the Arabians, Keturah’s posterity, who were shepherds and camel masters.

They shall eat thy fruit and drink thy milk.] Sept., πιοτητα, Thy fatness. Est enim adeps lac coagulatum. The Ammonites, as now the Flemmings, were γαλακτοφαγοι, butter boxes, as we say, and lived much upon dairy products; so do we. Let us use our plenty to God’s glory, lest we lose all.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 25:4-7. Behold, I will deliver thee to the men of the east — That is, to the Chaldeans, whose country lay east of the Ammonites. This people was accordingly conquered and subdued by the Chaldeans, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem. And they shall drink thy milk — Milk was the principal sustenance of those people, whose riches consisted chiefly in their stocks of cattle. The Hebrew word חלב, however, here rendered milk, signifies also the fattest or choicest parts of any flesh or fruits. So it is used Gen 45:18, Ye shall eat the fat of the land; and Psa 81:16, where our translation reads, The finest of the wheat, in the Hebrew it is, The fat of the wheat. And this clause is rendered by the LXX., Και αυτοι πιονται τον πιοτητα σου, And they shall drink, or swallow down, thy fatness. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels — Rabbah was the chief city of the Ammonites. What is said of it here, that it should be made a stable for camels, implies, that instead of being a city inhabited by men, it should be a place for cattle, and particularly for camels, to feed and lie down in, of which that and the neighbouring countries had great store. It is a proverbial expression for utter destruction, to say that grass grows where a town stood. Because thou hast clapped thy hands, &c. — Showed expressions of joy and satisfaction in the most insolent manner, with all thy despite against the land of Israel — With the utmost hatred and contempt of my people; I will stretch out my hand upon thee — Namely, my hand of wrath. And will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen — Or, for meat, as the word in the Hebrew text, לבג, properly means, though the marginal reading of the Masorites is, לבז, for a prey. The greedy, covetous soldiers shall make thy wealth their prey; the hungry enemies shall eat thee up. And I will cut thee off from the people — Thou shalt no more be reckoned among the nations, but shalt cease from being a people. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord — In these words the threatenings, both in Eze 25:5 and in this verse, conclude. For thus, 1st, God would maintain his own honour, and make it appear that he was the God of Israel, though he suffered them for a time to be captives in Babylon. And, 2d, He would bring those that were strangers to him into an acquaintance with him, and it would be a blessed effect of their calamities. How much better is it to be poor and know God, than to be rich and ignorant of him!

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They shall chase thee away, and take thy gorgeous houses to dwell in.

That is, to the Babylonians.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

men of . . . east--literally, "children of the East," the nomad tribes of Arabia-Deserta, east of the Jordan and the Dead Sea.

palaces--their nomadic encampments or folds, surrounded with mud walls, are so called in irony. Where thy "palaces" once stood, there shall their very different "palaces" stand. Fulfilled after the ravaging of their region by Nebuchadnezzar, shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem (compare Eze 21:22; Jer. 49:1-28).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Will deliver thee to the men of the east] Probably the Scenite Arabs, Ishmaelites, and people of Kedar, who seized upon the provinces of the vanquished Ammonites, &c. The following description suits this people only, living on fruits, the milk of their flocks, using camels, &c. Some think the people of the east mean the Chaldeans.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) To the men of the east.—Literally, sons of the east, i.e., the various nomadic tribes inhabiting the Eastern deserts, who occupy the country to this day. They are described as its possessors, not its conquerors; the conquest was effected by Nebuchadnezzar. In Eze_21:20-23 he was represented as hesitating whether to attack first Judah or Ammon, and determined to the former by the Divine direction; in this attack some of the Ammonites joined his army, but he nevertheless afterwards carried out his purpose and desolated their country. (See Eze_21:28.)

Palaces.—The word properly means an enclosure for folding cattle. The same word is used in connection with tribes of the desert in Gen_25:16; Num_31:10, and in both is translated castles, a singularly inappropriate sense. It afterwards came to mean a dwelling-place of any kind. The Ammonites and Moabites appear to have practically constituted one nation, the latter being, for the most part, the settled, and the former the nomadic portion. After the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar the Ammonites gradually dwindled away, until lost from history. The Ptolemies founded the city Philadelphia on the site of Rabbah, and there are still extensive ruins there belonging to the period of the Roman occupation; but the Ammonites had no part in either of these successive cities. The place is now utterly without inhabitants, and the most recent traveller says, “Lonely desolation in a rich country was the striking characteristic.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. men of the east] lit. children of the east, the nomad tribes of the Arabian desert, Jdg_6:3.

set their palaces] their encampments, Jdg_6:1-6.

drink thy milk] Ammon, lying toward the desert, was a pastoral country.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 (q), 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" (r); 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 thy fruit, and drink thy milk; the fruit of their land, their vineyards and fields, and the milk of their flocks and herds, which was commonly drank in those countries; these are put for the whole of their substance. So the Targum,

"they shall eat the good of thy land, and spoil thy substance.''

(q) Antiqu. l. 16. c. 9. sect. 7. (r) "arces suas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus, Coeccius. "tentoria sua", V. L. "tabernacala sus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus, Cocceius, Starckius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

East; the Chaldeans, (Sanctius) who conquered them, (Haydock) though the Scenite Arabs, who occupied the country after the inhabitants were removed, or the Armenians and Agarens, are rather meant than the Chaldeans. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

I, the God whom thou hast despised, whose people thou hast reproached, whose worship thou hast vilified, I will avenge myself, and deliver time up.

To the men of the East; the Medes and Persians, say some; the Babylonians, say others, but this suits not well with geography; Arabians, say others, associates of Nehuchadnezzar, who, it is likely, recompensed their labour and service with giving them this country when it was conquered, as it was five years after the desolation of Jerusalem.

For a possession; they shall settle on it, as a very convenient country for their sheep and camels, and possess it, as their inheritance.

Set their palaces in thee: the word palaces seems little to agree with Arabians, who dwelt in tents, but this manner of dwelling many of them would be ready to change, where they might to so great advantage, as in that country, which was fruitful, as this was; besides, the word signifieth, what is fenced, as Isa 2:15, and is paraphrased by camp, and Arabians had their munitions and fortified camps, and these they shall set here while they stay. And I add this also, that the next words explain these.

Make their dwellings in thee; they shall set up their tents, as the word properly; their tents and habitations they would fortify in some manner or other, that in their camp they might be safe, if they did not build cities in the country.

Eat thy fruit; the fruit of that land was once thine, of the trees thou plantedst.

Drink thy milk; which in so fruitful land and rich pastures they had in abundance from the multitude of their kine, and it was a drink that well suited with those hot regions.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Men of the east — Hebrews, children of the east. The wandering tribes which were always near neighbors of Ammon and Israel (Jdg_6:3; Jdg_6:33; Jdg_7:12; Jdg_8:11; Job_1:3).

Palaces — R.V., “encampments.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 4, 5The men of the east; Hebrew, children of the east. The name is applied in Gen_29:1; 1Ki_4:30; Job_1:3; Jud_1:6:3, 33 7:12 8:10, to the nomadic tribes, Midianites and others, which roamed to and fro in the wilderness east of Ammon and Moab, after the manner of the modem Bedouins, with their sheep and camels, and were looked upon as descendants of Ishmael. Palaces; better, with the Revised Version, encampments, or tent-villages. The word is found, in this sense, in Gen_25:16; Psa_69:25; Num_31:10. This was, probably, the immediate result of Nebuchadnezzar"s march. Rabbah was left undefended, and became a stable for the camels of the Midianites and other tribes. (Jud_1:6:5) The prediction has been slowly fulfilled. Under the Greece-Egyptian rule the city revived, was named after Ptolemy Philadel-phus, and was flourishing under the Roman Empire. Remains of temples, theatres, houses, are still found on its site, but its present desolate condition agrees with the picture drawn here by Ezekiel Jer_49:2. The language of Jer_49:6 impliescaptivity and a partial return from it.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The men of the east - The Arabians, associates of Nebuchadnezzar, who recompensed their service, with giving them this country when it was conquered, as it was five years after the desolation of Jerusalem.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

to the children of the East The Chaldeans and Aram are to the east.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.