Ezekiel 35:3

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

and tell it, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וּמְשַׁמָּֽה

mᵉshammâh

H4923

“and · devastation”

Conjunction + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 7× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Isaiah 15:6

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H8074

TWOT: 2409f

devastation, horror - devastation, waste - horror

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

16: words
14: distinct lemmas
Prophets: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is וּמְשַׁמָּֽה devastation H4923 — appearing just 7 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וּמְשַׁמָּֽה devastation H4923 occurs in 7 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

4 verbs
7 nouns
3 prepositions
1 adverb
1 particle

Verb forms

וְאָמַ֣רְתָּ Qal · Sequential Perfect
אָמַר֙ Qal · Perfect
וְנָטִ֤יתִי Qal · Sequential Perfect
וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָ Qal · Sequential Perfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וְאָמַ֣רְתָּ to say H559 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 34 words from the Hebrew and 38 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 16 Hebrew tokens and 25 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Ezekiel 35:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Jeremiah 6:12 Their houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the land, says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 15:6 You have rejected me, says Yahweh, you are gone backward: therefore have I stretched out my hand against you, and destroyed you; I am weary with repenting.
Ezekiel 6:14 I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 35:7 Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.
Jeremiah 21:13 Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, [and] of the rock of the plain, says Yahweh; you that say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
Jeremiah 51:25 Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroy all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain.
Ezekiel 5:8 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations.
Ezekiel 5:15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are round about you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;)

Ezekiel 21:3 and tell the land of Israel, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
Ezekiel 25:13 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword.
Ezekiel 29:3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.
Ezekiel 29:10 therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia.
Nahum 2:13 "Behold, I am against you," says Yahweh of Hosts, "and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."
Nahum 3:5 "Behold, I am against you," says Yahweh of Hosts, "and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Ezekiel 35:3 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאָמַ֣רְתָּ לּ֗וֹ כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה הִנְנִ֥י אֵלֶ֖יךָ הַר שֵׂעִ֑יר וְנָטִ֤יתִי יָדִי֙ עָלֶ֔יךָ וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָ שְׁמָמָ֥ה וּמְשַׁמָּֽה

and tell it, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Ezekiel 35:3 Septuagint · lemma form

καί εἶπον ὅδε λέγω κύριος κύριος ἰδού ἐγώ ἐπί σύ ὄρος σηιρ καί ἐκτείνω ὁ χείρ ἐγώ ἐπί σύ καί δίδωμι σύ ἔρημος καί ἐρημόω

and say to it, Thus says the Lord God; Behold, I am against you, O mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and will make you a waste, and you shall be made desolate.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

וְתֵימַר לֵיהּ כִּדְנַן אֲמַר יְיָ אֱלֹהִים הָא אֲנָא שְׁלַח רוּגְזִי עֲלָךְ טוּרָא דְשֵׂעִיר וַאֲרִים מְחַת גְבוּרְתִּי עֲלָךְ וְאֶתְּנִינָךְ לְצָדוּ וְאִשְׁתְּמָמוּ:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Ezekiel 35:3 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Eze 35:3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I [am] against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.

Ver. 3. Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against thee.] Ecce ego ad te; have at thee.

And I will stretch out my hand against thee.] I will have my full blow at thee.

I will make thee most desolate.] Heb., Desolation and desolation. I will make an utter end; desolation shall not rise up the second time; {Nah 1:9} I will make short work. {Rom 9:28}

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

most desolate--literally, "desolation and desolateness" (Jer 49:17, &c.). It is only in their national character of foes to God's people, that the Edomites are to be utterly destroyed. A remnant of Edom, as of the other heathen, is to be "called by the name of God" (Amo 9:12).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 3. Most desolate.] Literally, "A desolation and a wilderness."

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

3. stretch out mine hand] Ch. Eze_6:14. Edom shall be made a complete desolation, and it shall realize whose hand it is that falls so heavily upon it (Eze_35:4).

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And say unto it, thus saith the Lord God,.... The prophet was not upon the spot, and could not direct his speech immediately to the Edomites; but he might send this prophecy to their ambassadors at Babylon; or in a letter to them in their own land, in the name of the Lord:

behold, O Mount Seir, I am against thee: not the face of the prophet only, but the face of God himself was against them; and a terrible thing it is for any to have God to be against them, whether a nation, or a particular person. The Targum is,

"behold, I send my fury upon thee:''

and I will stretch out mine hand against thee; which was able to reach them wherever they were: and which, being stretched out, cannot be turned back; and, where it lights, falls heavy indeed; namely, his mighty hand of power and wrath. The Targum is,

"and I will lift up the stroke of my power upon thee;''

that is, lift up his hand and strike powerfully; the consequence of which must be as follows:

and I will make thee most desolate; their land, cities, towns, and villages, all should be utterly laid waste; see Rev 17:16, so it follows:

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

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Say unto it; by a prosopopoeia, or personating a discourse with them; speak of them as if thou wert speaking to them. Against thee: see Eze 28:22; 34:10.

Stretch out mine hand: see Eze 6:14; 25:7.

Against, or over, denoting how inevitable the stroke will be which God gives from above.

Most desolate; wasted, forsaken, and nothing but solitariness left in time.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against thee (cf. Eze_5:8 Eze_13:8; and contrast, Eze_36:9) and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, (cf. Eze_6:14 Eze_14:9, 13 25:7; and Exo_7:5) and I will make thee most desolate; literally, a desolation and an astonishment (cf. ver. 7). Against the mountains of Israel had been denounced a similar fate, which the idolatrous remnant that lingered in the laud after the Captivity had commenced began to experience. (Eze_33:28, Eze_33:29) The doom, however, connected with the day of Israel"s return was to fall upon Edom, whose cities should be emptied of their inhabitants and whose fields should be cursed with barrenness. (Eze_25:13; Oba_1:8, Oba_1:10)

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

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Ezekiel, in the Prophets, opens this verse with 16 words (14 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mᵉshammâh (“devastation”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word mᵉshammâh carries the sense “devastation.” How does it shape the verse?
Isaiah 15:6 shares the word «devastation» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to say” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «וְאָמַ֣רְתָּ» is Qal Sequential Perfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 16 Hebrew ↔ 25 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 17 words in this verse.
“to say” occurs 2× in this single verse.
14 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 16 words in this verse.