Ezekiel 35:4

Eze 35:4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD.

Ver. 4. I will lay thy cities waste.] Even Teman, Dedan, Bozrah, mentioned in Scripture; besides many others mentioned by geographers, Maresa, Rhinocorura, Raphia, Gaza, Anthedon, &c.

And thou shalt know.] To thy small comfort.

That I am the Lord.] A Lord of lords, a God of gods, "a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward." {Deu 10:17}

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.

I will lay thy cities waste,.... Such as Dedan, Teman, Bozrah, and other cities of Idumea mentioned in Scripture; and figuratively may design all within the jurisdiction of Rome, the several cities of the antichristian states, called "the cities of the nations"; which will fall at the pouring out of the vials, Rev 16:19,

and thou shalt be desolate; thoroughly and entirely, and remain so:

and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; that has done all this; that the hand of God was in it; and that this is a punishment inflicted by him, for their sins after mentioned; but not that they should know the Lord spiritually and savingly, and so as to yield obedience to him, and own and acknowledge him to be their God; though this may be the case of a remnant among them; see Rev 11:13.

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

God doth what he stirs up his servants to do; it was Nebuchchadnezzar who was appointed to do this, and who did it, as Jer 27:6; 28:14.

Thy cities, in the plural; there were many and strong cities in Edom, yet all should be wasted, as Eze 25:12-14, where lie in like manner is threatened.

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

They shall know that I am Jehovah. By this expressive formula Ezekiel intimates the moral effect which should be produced upon the nations of the earth, whether by beholding or by experiencing the Divine judgments. (Eze_6:7, 13 7:4, 9 11:10, 12 13:9, 14, 21, 23 14:8 15:7, et passim; cf. Exo_6:7 Exo_7:5 Exo_29:46 Exo_31:13; all of which passages belong to Wellhausen"s grundschrift, which it is supposed had no existence in the time of Ezekiel)

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

General Information:

This continues the message that Ezekiel is to speak to Mount Seir. The message is for all the people of Edom.

know that I am Yahweh

When Yahweh says that people will know that he is Yahweh, he is implying that they will know that he is the one true God who has supreme authority and power. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 6:7. AT: "understand that I am Yahweh, the one true God" or "realize that I, Yahweh, have supreme power and authority" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

you poured them out into the hands of the sword

Possible meanings of this metaphor are 1) "you gave them over to their enemies who killed them with swords" or 2) "you killed them with swords." (See: Metaphor)

at the time of their distress

"at a time of disaster"

as I live

"as surely as I am alive." Yahweh uses this expression to show that what he says next is certainly true. This is a way of making a solemn promise. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 5:11. AT: "I solemnly swear" (See: Idiom)

this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 5:11. AT: "this is what the Lord Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

I will prepare you for bloodshed

Here "bloodshed" is a metonym for killing. AT: "I will make it easy for your enemies to kill many of you" (See: Metonymy)

bloodshed will pursue you

Here "bloodshed" is a metonym for killing. Yahweh speaks of bloodshed as if it were a person who could chase them. AT: "your enemies will chase you down and kill you you" (See: Personification)

Since you did not hate bloodshed

Here "bloodshed" is a metonym for killing. AT: "Since you did not hate it when enemies brutally killed the people of Israel" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

ruin

desolate

people of God

Israel

hand

sword

punish

declare

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.