Ezekiel 35:5

Eze 35:5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed [the blood of] the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time [that their] iniquity [had] an end:

Ver. 5. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred.] A hereditary deadly feud against Israel. Heb., An enemy of ages, yea, of many ages continuance; such as is, as we use to say of Runner, the older the stronger.

And hast shed the blood of the children of Israel.] Ut diffluant; hast let out their life blood: all malice is bloody.

In time of their calamity.] Watching the worst time to do them the most mischief.

In the time that their iniquity had an end.] When I had in a manner done with them, yet thou hadst not done with them; but didst stir up Nebuzaradan to burn the city and temple with fire. This was to help forward the affliction. {Zec 1:15} {See Trapp on "Zec 1:15"}

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.

35:5-10 The eternal [or ancient] hatred of Edom for Israel went all the way back to their respective ancestors, Esau and Jacob (see Gen 25:19-34; 27:1-46; Num 20:14-21; 24:18; 2 Sam 8:13-14; 1 Kgs 11:14). Because of that enmity, the Edomites took advantage of the Babylonian destruction to butcher the Israelites when they were helpless. They wanted to wipe out the descendants of Jacob and seize the lands of Israel and Judah. The bloodbath they delighted to inflict on Israel would return on their own heads, as their people would be slaughtered by the sword. Their everlasting hatred would be punished: Their land would become desolate forever. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Edomites were displaced by a coalition of Arab tribes sometime during the 400s BC.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

When by their punishment I called them from their iniquity.

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

perpetual hatred-- (Psa 137:7; Amo 1:11; Oba 1:10-16). Edom perpetuated the hereditary hatred derived from Esau against Jacob.

shed the blood of, &c.--The literal translation is better. "Thou hast poured out the children of Israel"; namely, like water. So Psa 22:14; Psa 63:10, Margin; Jer 18:21. Compare Sa2 14:14.

by the force of the sword--literally, "by" or "upon the hands of the sword"; the sword being personified as a devourer whose "hands" were the instruments of destruction.

in the time that their iniquity had an end--that is, had its consummation (Eze 21:25, Eze 21:29). Edom consummated his guilt when he exulted over Jerusalem's downfall, and helped the foe to destroy it (Psa 137:7; Oba 1:11).

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 5. A perpetual hatred] The Edomites were the descendants of Esau; the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. Both these were brothers; and between them there was contention even in the womb, and they lived generally in a state of enmity. Their descendants kept up the ancient feud: but the Edomites were implacable; they had not only a rooted but perpetual enmity to the Israelites, harassing and distressing them by all possible means; and they seized the opportunity, when the Israelites were most harassed by other enemies, to make inroads upon them, and cut them off wherever they found them.

To afflict the afflicted is cruel. This is scarcely of man, bad as he is. He must be possessed by the malignant spirit of the devil, when he wounds the wounded, insults over the miseries of the afflicted, and seeks opportunities to add affliction to those who are already under the rod of God.

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

(5) Perpetual hatred.—Enmity towards Israel is also imputed to the Ammonites, Moabites, and Philistines in Ezekiel 25; but that of Edom was deeper and coeval with its first ancestor (see Gen_25:22, &c., Gen_27:41); its peculiar malignity is noticed by Amo_1:11. (Comp. also Oba_1:10-15.)

Shed the blood.—“Blood” is not in the original, and should be omitted. The verb means literally to pour out, and the clause should be rendered hast scattered the children of Israel. The same expression occurs in Psa_63:10; Jer_18:21. The time specifically referred to is that of the overthrow of Jerusalem, as both that of their great “calamity” and that when “their iniquity had an end.” (On the last phrase, see Note on Eze_21:29.) So the world-power generally, while it may fawn upon and corrupt the Church in the day of its prosperity, shows its undisguised hostility in every time of adversity.

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

5. The causes of the judgment on Mount Seir. These causes are three: first, its perpetual hatred of Israel, Eze_25:15; Amo_1:11; second. its malicious joy over the downfall of Israel and the part it took in the destruction of the people in the day of their calamity, when the consequences of their guilt fell upon them, Obad. Eze_35:10-14; and third, Edom’s invasion of the land and seizure of it as their own, though the Lord dwelt in it (Eze_35:10).

hast shed … of the sword] and didst deliver the children of Israel over into the hands of the sword. Jer_18:21; Psa_63:10.

time iniquity had an end] Lit. time of the iniquity of the end. The “iniquity of the end” is either, the final punishment of iniquity, or, the iniquity whose punishment was seen in the end (of the state). Cf. ch. 7. The phrase again Eze_21:30. The ref. is to the destruction of Jerusalem; so the “calamity” referred to is the downfall of the city and state, as Ob. Eze_35:13; cf. Psa_137:7, “the day of Jerusalem.”

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.

Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred,.... There was an old grudge and enmity subsisting in the posterity of Esau against the posterity of Jacob, because the latter supplanted the former, and got the birthright and blessing from him; and which was discovered in all ages, and at all opportunities, and on all occasions which offered; and such has been the hatred of the church of Rome against the true professors and followers of Christ, as their bloody persecution of them in all ages have shown:

and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity: when Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans, the Edomites not only rejoiced at it, and took part of the spoil, but stood in the crossways, and slew those that made their escape; or drove them back upon the sword of the enemy; or delivered them into their hands; which was barbarous and inhuman usage of their neighbours and brethren; see Oba 1:10. The Targum is,

"and thou didst deliver the children of Israel into the hands of those that slay with the sword, in the time of their destruction:''

in the time that their iniquity had an end; when either the measure of that was full; or when they received for it full correction and chastisement; at the consummation of that.

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

Shed blood - Omit “blood:” better as in the margin, i. e., and hast given up the children of Israel to the sword; thou hast scattered the children of Israel in confusion like stones poured down a mountain-side Mic 1:6.

That their iniquity had an end - Or, “of the iniquity of the end,” i. e., the time when by the capture of the city the iniquity of Israel came to an end Eze 21:29.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Enemy. God revenges the injuries done to his Church, as if they were done to himself, Acts ix. 4. (Worthington) --- The enmity of Jacob and of Esau seemed to commence in the womb, and was increased by the purchase of the birth-right, till Jacob’s prudence disarmed his brother. Their descendants sought every opportunity to injure one another. The Idumeans shewed their ill-will particularly, when the Jews were most distressed. This was a piece of the greatest cruelty.

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).

A perpetual hatred: Edom was of the same stock, brother to Jacob, and it was sin to disgust or envy, but greater to hate, and greatest to retain a perpetual hatred, an hereditary enmity from Esau’s time, the father of the Edomites, till now: near one thousand two hundred years had the seed of Esau hated Jacob’s seed for inheriting the blessing, which yet I have some cause to think they as little valued as their father did before them.

Hast shed the blood, by sudden incursions sometimes, by a formed war at other times, and by taking side with those who warred upon him at all times; thus the sword of Edom was ever drawn or ready against Jacob’s seed.

By the force of the sword; with fierceness, cruelty, and burning hatred, as appears, Oba 1:11-14, which see.

Their calamity; deepest calamity; when all was lost, and their city taken, and none to pity or help, then did Edom cruelly execute his hatred, Psa 137:7.

In the time that their iniquity had an end; when their iniquity was charged and punished on them, which brought them to final ruin. See Eze 21:25.

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

Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred; literally, hatred of old, or eternal enmity (cf. Eze_25:15) This was the first of the two specific grounds upon which Eden should feel the stroke of Divine vengeance. Edom had been Israel"s hereditary foe from the days of Esau and Jacob (Gen_25:22, sqq.; and Gen_27:37) downwards. Inspired with unappeasable wrath, (Amo_1:11) during the period of the wandering he had refused Israel, "his brother," a passage through his territory (Num_20:14-21; Jud_1:11:17) and in the days of Jehoshaphat had combined with Ammon and Moab to invade Judah. (2Ch_20:10, 2Ch_20:11; cf. Psa_83:1-8) His relentless antipathy to Israel culminated, according to Ezekiel, (cf. Oba_1:13) in the last days of Jerusalem, in the time of her calamity, when Nebuchadnezzar"s armies encompassed her walls, in the time that her iniquity had an end; or, in the time of the iniquity of the end (Revised Version); meaning, according to Keil, "the time of Judah"s final transgression;" or, according to Dr. Currey, in the "Speaker"s Commentary," the time when the capture of the city put an end to her iniquity; but, with more probability, according to Hengstenberg, Plumptre, and others, the time of that iniquity which brought on her end. (comp. Eze_21:29) Ewald translates, "at the time of her extremest punishment," taking avon in the sense of punishment a rendering the Revisers have placed in the margin. Then, according toObadiah (vers. 11-14), the Edomites had not only stood coolly by, but malevolently exulted when they beheld Jerusalem besieged by the Babylonian warriors; and not only joined with the foreign invaders in the sacking of the city, but occupied its gates and guarded the roads leading into the country, so as to prevent the escape of any of the wretched inhabitants, and even hewed down with the sword such fugitives as they were not able to save alive and deliver up to captivity. To this Ezekiel refers when he accuses Edom of having shed the blood of the children of Israel by the fores of the sword; literally, of having poured the children of Israel upon the hands of the sword; i.e. of having delivered them up to the sword. (cf. Psa_63:11; Jer_18:21)

The end of iniquity.

I INIQUITY MUST HAVE AN END. God will not permit it to run on forever unchecked and unpunished. The sinner has a long leash, but it is not interminable. God steps in at length and puts a stop to the awful succession of wicked deeds. Wicked cities and nations have had their end. So must it be with sinful lives.

II THE NATURAL END OF INIQUITY IS DEATH. Sin is the great destroyer. It is a raging fire which will ultimately fade away into dull ashes by consuming all the fuel on which it feeds. The sinner is a suicide. His evil is a slow but sure poison, that eats out the very fiber of his soul. This awful fate does not come on with a sudden shock so that men can be roused by its approach. It is like a creeping paralysis, and its insidious advent is least readily recognized by the very persons in whose experience it is taking place.

III INIQUITY MAY HAVE AN END IN REPENTANCE. There is an alternative. We are not bound to let the sin run through all its fatal course to the final silence and desolation. We must end the sin or it will end us; but the former may be done. The warnings of the fatal consequences of sin are set before us for the express purpose of urging us to cast off the deadly thing before it has completed its awful work.

IV CHRIST HAS COME TO PUT AN END TO INIQUITY. He works in common with the fundamental moral law in regard to the ending of sin. No lawgiver could be more stern in the denunciation of sin than the gracious Savior. He gave it no quarter. From the first he declared himself its deadly enemy. He came "to destroy the works of the devil". (1Jn_3:8) There is no shadow of excuse for the notion that we can find in Christ a shelter from the rigorous requirements of morality, so that we need not be so strictly righteous if we are Christians, as we should need to be it we were not. Christ expects a higher righteousness than that of the Law. (Mat_5:20) But when we perceive that our sin is our utter undoing, we are prepared to welcome Christ as cur Savior from this chiefly.

V IT IS WELL TO CONSIDER THE END OF INIQUITY. It has not yet arrived. All is now calm and apparently prosperous. We may say that there is time enough to consider the evil day. But the end may come before we expect it. Its slow and gradual approach leads to our failing to perceive how near it may be. Then the nearer it is the more difficult is it for us to draw back. The descent becomes more steep as it approaches the precipice; the rapids grow swifter as they near the falls; the poison more effectually pervades the system as death comes on. The longer we postpone repentance, the harder it is to repent. But apart from such thoughts of warning, sin that leads to so awful an issue should be accounted hateful in itself. Its present vile character is revealed by its end. With such fruit the plant must be odious.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Vers. 5, 6. Lex talionis.

Ezekiel returns to his prophecy regarding the inhabitants of Mount Seir. These neighbors of the Israelites were animated by hostility to God"s people which was of a peculiarly bitter character. The prophet"s mind was deeply affected and sorely pained by the language and the actions of these enemies of Israel. This probably accounts for his reverting to his inspired threats of adversity and even destruction about to overtake these bitter and blasphemous foes of Israel and of Israel"s God.

I THE CHARGE BROUGHT AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF MOUNT SEIR.

1. The offense. They were guilty of violence against Israel and inexcusable bloodshed. A predatory and warlike race, they had turned their arms against their neighbors, instead of allowing them to dwell in security.

2. The motive. This was malice, malignity. A perpetual, unappeasable enmity actuated those of Mount Seir in their repeated incursions into the territory of the Israelites, and the desolation of the land and the destruction of life laid to their charge. Other more excusable motives accounted for the hostilities waged by other peoples; against Mount Seir the charge is brought of acting upon the meanest and basest of motives.

3. The opportunity. This was the time of Israel"s calamity and weakness. They took advantage of the circumstances of their neighbors, and attacked them at a conjuncture when they were powerless to defend themselves.

II THE RETRIBUTION WITH WHICH THE PEOPLE OF MOUNT SEIR WERE THREATENED.

1. The Author of this retribution was none other than the Lord God himself. He ruleth among the nations; "let not the rebellious exalt themselves." His justice is unquestionable and his power is irresistible. "He is terrible in his doings towards the children of men.

2. The nature of it. It is foretold that the cities shall be laid waste, and that the land shall be desolate, that the blood of the inhabitants of Mount Seir shall be shed. "I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee

3. The law of it. Observe that the judgment and penalty here foretold is not simply retributive; it is of the nature of retaliation. The lea talionis prescribed "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," etc. The punishment matched the offense. Such a correspondence is noticeable between Seir"s treatment of Israel and Jehovah"s treatment of Seir. They had shed blood, and in recompense their blood should be shed. This is not to be regarded as private, personal revenge, which is forbidden to man, and could never be practiced by a holy God. It is a public measure, a judicial act, a proceeding warranted by justice, and intended to produce a deep and wholesome impression upon all who should witness it. It certainly marks the heinousness of sin in the view of the righteous Ruler, and it exemplifies the inevitable and universal action of the retributive government of the God of nations. T.

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

Their iniquity - When their iniquity was punished on them, which brought them to final ruin.

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

and you hurled [Heb. וַתַּגֵר,] you cast down, as (Micah 1:6): “and I will cast (וְהִגַרְתִּי) its stones down into the valley,” for they would deliver them to their enemies as they fled through their land, and this is what Obadiah (1:14) says: “And you should not have stood by the gap [to cut off their fugitives, nor should you have delivered their survivors on the day of distress].”

on the day of their misfortune when I delivered them into the hands of the enemy.

at the time of the end of their iniquity when the end of their iniquity culminated, and their measure was full.

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.