Ezekiel 36:10

Eze 36:10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, [even] all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:

Ver. 10. All the house of Israel, even all of it.] The Israel of God in the kingdom of the Messiah, totum totum, quantum quantum, not one of them shall be missing.

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.

wastes builded-- Isa 58:12; Isa 61:4; Amo 9:11-12, Amo 9:14, where, as here (Eze 34:23-24), the names of David, Messiah's type, and Edom, Israel's foe, are introduced in connection with the coming restoration.

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

10. Cf. Eze_36:33; Isa_58:12; Isa_61:4; Zec_8:12.

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.

And I will multiply men upon you,.... Who should inhabit the cities on the mountains, and increase very much:

all the house of Israel, even all of it: not the Heathens should be multiplied on them, but the Israelites, all of them, and them only; all the tribes of Israel, the ten tribes as well as the other; and which is repeated for the confirmation of it: by this it appears that the prophecy has a further view than to the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity; for all did not return, many remained in the provinces of Babylon; and those that returned were chiefly of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; but few of the rest came with them. Kimchi thinks the words have respect to the ten tribes, which he says are hid to this day; so Ben Melech.

And the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded; in a literal sense; as well as the church of God, and inheritance of Christ, shall then be in a flourishing condition.

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

Vers. 10, 11. I will multiply men upon you. Jehovah"s promise contemplated a return of both sections of the Golah, the whole house of Israel, Ephraim as well as Judah, (comp. Eze_20:40) to the land from which they had been deported, and a restoration of the united kingdom to a condition of prosperity in which its cities should again be inhabited, its ruined homesteads repaired, its fields cultivated, and its flocks and herds multiplied. (see Eze_16:55; Isa_44:26 Isa_54:3 Isa_61:4) a condition of prosperity so great that it should surpass any measure ordegree of good fortune previously enjoyed. (comp. Deu_30:5; Job_42:12)

Multiplying men.

I THE TRUE WEALTH OF A PEOPLE IS IN ITS POPULATION. God makes this promise to the house of Israel, that he "will multiply men." The land is desolate for want of inhabitants, the fields untilled for want of laborers, and the cities lying in ruins for lack of men to build up the waste places, The restoration shall be signalized by a return of the captives and a consequent increase of population. Now, the striking fact is that this multiplication of the population is noted as a great good for the land. Other things being equal, every country is strong in proportion to the number of its able-bodied citizens. In times of war this is obvious; the strong nation is one that can command a large army. But in industrial relations the same is equally true. The more producers there are the more wealth must be produced either in the form of food or in the form of commodities that may be exchanged for food purchased elsewhere. These plain facts are obscured by bad social habits.

1. Overcrowding in cities. The waste places should be built not the reeking fever-dens crammed with an overflowing population of sickly creatures, who have no energy for work, and whose surroundings do not permit decent living. One of the greatest evils of our day is the depletion of our rural districts and the pressing of the population into the cities. What is needed is not a reduction of the population, but a scattering of it over the face of the land at home and also throughout the colonies. The mistake that led to the building of the tower of Babel is still fatally prevalent.

2. Unworthy living. Too many men are not doing men"s work idle rich men who consume without producing, and idle poor men who are always near the border-land of crime, on the further side of which they would become positive destroyers. We cannot have too many true men, but they must be men indeed workers, not drones.

II THE STRENGTH OF THE CHURCH IS IN ITS MEMBERSHIP. The word "Church" stands for a community. The great Catholic Church of all nations and creeds is the whole body of Christians. This obvious fact is too often neglected. Thus the Church is sometimes regarded as an institution apart from the souls of which it consists; it is said to have its rights, its triumphs, while no thought is given to the people in it. This is a pure delusion the glorification of an empty abstraction. Again, for the Church some would substitute its officers. The Christian ministry is regarded as the Church. This was the case in the Middle Ages, when popes and great ecclesiastical dignitaries contended with emperors and kings for the privileges of the Church. In those contests little account was taken of the interest of the people the townsfolk and village folk who constituted the body of the Church. But in these democratic days the rights of the people are being better recognized, and now we are coming to see that the Church is just the men, women, and children that constitute it, viewed in their corporate relation as the body of Christ on earth. The Church is honored when men are multiplied in her midst. She cannot be in health if the missionary spirit dies out of her. But while she gathers in the heathen her first duty is to train her own children. She should thus grow her own members. Here, however, we need a caution. Mere numbers will count for nothing apart from character. Statistical Christianity is a poor production. We want true men living souls united to Christ and working for his glory. Still, the honor of the Church is not in remaining small and select, and keeping her privileges to herself and neglecting the world, but in multiplying men. She should he a great popular institution, true to the spirit of Christ, who called himself "the Son of man.

Ver. 11 ("And I will do better unto you than at your beginnings"). The better future.

I THE BETTER FUTURE OF THE WORLD. There is a natural tendency among men to say, "The former times were better." Nations cherish legends of an ancient golden age. People talk about "the good old times." But when we search history we cannot find these happy days. On the contrary, writers in the very ages to which some of our contemporary dreamers look back with sentimental regret deplore the degeneracy of their days. Our own age is bad enough, but it is not easy to lay our finger on any previous age that was not worse. This, however, is not the principal question. Waiving the point as to whether the past history of our race has been characterized by progress or by a process of degeneration, we have still to ask whether the future may not be better than anything that has been experienced in the past. Now, it is the distinct teaching of the Bible that it will be so. "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." While men turn back wistfully to the lost Eden, God promises a better heaven. We do not need to discuss the idea of a Paradise regained, for we have the more glowing picture of the heavenly Jerusalem. Even if we grant the worst that has been said of man"s continuous decline, the New Testament points to an arrest of this dreadful movement, to a redemption and more than a restoration, to a perfection of humanity never attained in the past.

II THE BETTER FUTURE OF THE CHURCH. The Church, which has the seed of Divine life in her, should be continually growing in grace. While like the mustard tree she enlarges her size, she should also, like the rising temple, become ever more radiant with the beauty of holiness. Perhaps there is no sadder story than that of the history of the Church. No doubt there have been ages of glorious zeal and devotion; no doubt God has been continuously educating his people. But there have been awful times of relapse. We think we can see progress in our own day a wiser thought, a larger charity, a more practical activity in the service of man. But we are far indeed from realizing Christ"s great ideal. That ideal, however, is the picture of the future, and the pattern after which we are to toil with the utmost hopefulness. The New Testament promises a glorious future to the people of God. (Eph_2:21)

III THE BETTER FUTURE OF THE SOUL. In our melancholy moods we yearn after the old sweet days of childhood their innocence, their simplicity, their joyousness. We forget their limitations, their fears, their infantine distresses. But perhaps we have fallen far from those early days. Then we knew nothing of the world"s dreadful sin. Now we must confess that we have not kept ourselves unspotted. And with the soul"s fall has come the soul"s sorrow, and many disappointments and losses have made the day which dawned in golden sunshine overcast with gloomy clouds. Still, we have not reached the end. After bathing in the Jordan, Naaman"s leprous flesh became healthy as that of a little child. The leprous soul may he cleansed, the worn-out life renewed. "If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature". (2Co_5:17) Then the future is full of hope. The victorious Christian, with all his scars, and even with his memory of shameful unfaithfulness, stands higher than the unfallen because untried child. God has a blessed future in the heavenly inheritance reserved for the most weary souls. The secret of this happy prospect is in the power and grace of God. It is he who will do better for his people than at the beginning.

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 Yahweh's message to the mountains of Israel. The message is intended for the people of Israel.

So I will multiply upon you

Yahweh is speaking to the mountains. This can be stated explicitly. AT: "So, mountains of Israel, I will multiply upon you" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

even the whole house of Israel

Here "house" represents people. AT: "all of the people of Israel" (See: Metonymy)

The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Then people will live in the cities and will rebuild the ruins" (See: Active or Passive)

they will multiply and be fruitful

Here "be fruitful" is an idiom that means to have many children and descendants. AT: "they will become very many people and have very many children" (See: Idiom)

you to be inhabited as you previously were

This can be stated in active form. AT: "people to live on you mountains as they did before" (See: Active or Passive)

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)

They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance

The people living in the mountains and land of Israel permanently is spoke of as if the people would inherit them. AT: "They will possess you permanently" (See: Metaphor)

you will no longer cause their children to die

It is implied that in the past children died because there was not enough food in the land. Now the land would produce enough food. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

house

desolate

walk

possess

inherit

children

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