Ezekiel 36:2

Eze 36:2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:

Ver. 2. Because the enemy hath said.] The Church fareth the better for her enemies petulancies and insolencies against her.

Even the ancient high places.] Or, The everlasting altitudes. Judea lay high; the Church is much higher.

Are ours in possession.] Thus the Edomites triumphed before the victory. So did the Spaniards in 1588, and God heard them, {as Eze 35:13} for he is all-ear, all-eye, &c. He is jealous for his people, {Zec 1:14} and jealousy is quick sighted, quick conceited.

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 36:2-7. Because the enemy hath said, &c. — This prophecy appears to be a continuation of the preceding. “The Idumeans have made their boasts (see Eze 36:5, and Eze 35:10) that they should become masters of the mountainous parts of Judea, where the ancient fortresses were placed which commanded all the rest of the country.” — Lowth. And ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, &c. — Your calamities have made you become a proverb, a by-word, and a reproach among the heathen round about you, according to the threatenings of the prophets denounced against you: see the margin. Thus saith the Lord to the mountains, &c., which became a prey to the residue of the heathen — To those heathen that were left after the general desolations threatened to the neighbouring countries, Moab, Edom, Ammon, &c. Surely in the fire of my jealousy — In that fervent zeal and concern that I have for my own honour, which is blasphemed among the heathen; have I spoken against the residue of the heathen — Against all the nations that are and have been enemies to Israel; against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession — Who have fully expected to get the dominion of my land, and be the sole possessors of it. Because ye have borne the shame of the heathen — Because the heathen nations have made a scoff of you; therefore I have lifted up my hand — I have sworn, or absolutely determined: see Gen 14:22. Surely the heathen that are about you shall bear their shame — The heathen nations around, that have made a mock of you, shall be mocked themselves, and be as much held in contempt as they have held you.

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

36:2 The ancient heights of Israel could not be stolen by their enemies because the Lord had given them to his people.

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

That is, the Edomite.

That is, Jerusalem, which for God’s promises was the chiefest of all the world.

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

Verse 2. Because the enemy hath said] The Idumeans thought they would shortly be put in possession of all the strong places of Israel; the ancient high places shall be ours.

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

(2) The ancient high places.—This is very nearly the same expression as in Gen_49:26; Deu_33:15, where it is translated “everlasting (or lasting) hills,” and is probably an allusion to those passages. “The enemy” is a general term, which may refer to Edom; but from the following verses it is more likely that it is used for the heathen at large. When Israel’s land had been left desolate, the surrounding nations claimed that God’s promise to His people had failed, and that they themselves might now enter upon its secure possession.

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

2. Cf. Eze_25:3, Eze_26:2.

ancient high places] “High places” is not used here in the usual religious sense of rural sanctuaries, but said of the mountain—land of Israel, cf. Deu_32:13; Mic_3:12. On ancient or “eternal” as an epithet of mountains cf. Gen_49:26; Deu_33:15; Psa_24:7. For “high places” LXX. reads “wastes,” cf. perpetual desolations, Eze_35:9.

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.

Thus saith the Lord God,.... By the mouth of the prophet, who was bid to prophesy:

because the enemy had said against you, aha: rejoicing at the calamity of God's people, particularly the Edomites or Idumeans, as in the preceding chapter; and who are chiefly meant; and also the Ammonites and Tyrians, Eze 25:3,

even the ancient high places are ours in possession; or, "the high places of the world shall be unto us for a possession" (f); the land of Israel, according to Kimchi and others, was the highest part of the world, Jerusalem the highest part of that land, and the temple was built on the highest part of the city; and all these the Edomites claimed as their own, the land, city, and temple, and thought themselves sure of the same, as if they had them in actual possession; even the hilly part of the country, which had been so from the creation, and where stood many of the fortified and frontier towns and cities; which as strong as they were, or had been, they fancied would easily fall into their hands, now such desolations were made in the land.

(f) "excelsa seculi haereditario jure futura sunt nobis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "celsa seculi haereditas evenit nobis", Cocceius, Starckius.

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

Heights. Septuagint, "deserts." The mountains are often styled eternal, as being the best symbols of durability, Deuteronomy xxxiii. 15.

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).

Many were the enemies of God’s people, but they so conspired in one design, with one consent, and were so one in their humours, and enmity, and carriage, that the prophet speaks of them as one, and particularly of Edom.

Aha; rejoicingly and with insulting pride, as Ammon did, Eze 25:3, and Tyre did, Eze 26:2, which see.

The ancient high places; the everlasting hills; but this is common with other hills, whose foundations, as these of Israel, are from the beginning, and shall be to the end. What they aim at is a deriding of Israel, who by promise from God claimed these mountains as a perpetual inheritance, but were now cast out of it, and they hereby tax the God of Israel as not keeping his promise. So they blaspheme God and insult over his people.

Ours; our right, as of the elder house, now conquerors and feudatories to him that hath subdued them; thus they pretend right to justify their injustice.

In possession; we are now where we should have been these one thousand one hundred and sixty years or more, where we thought we would be one time or other, in spite of them and all their boasts of their God; we are where we will keep, and none shall put us out. Such impious brags were their ruin, and are implied in the words.

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

2. Aha, even the ancient high places — “Aha! and, The” (R.V.). Compare Eze_25:3; Eze_26:2; Eze_35:10. The “high places” and “lasting hills” (Deu_32:13; Deu_33:15) stood for the most sacred and best protected parts of the land.

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

Because the enemy hath said against you. The ground of Jehovah"s purposed proceeding against Edom and the surrounding heathen peoples (vers. 3, 5) is expressly declared to be the jubilation over the downfall of Israel, and the eagerness with which they sought to appropriate to themselves her forsaken land. Aha! Exulting over Israel"s misfortune. (Eze_25:3; Psa_40:16) The ancient high places, which Israel"s enemies fancied had become theirs in possession, were probably "the everlasting hills" of Gen_49:26 and Deu_33:15, the principal mountains of Palestine, which, as Havernick finely observes, were "the honorable witnesses and indestructible monuments of that ancient blessing spoken by Israel"s ancestor, and still resting on the people;" and to assail which was, in consequence, not only to sin against Jehovah, but to attempt an enterprise foredoomed to failure and shame. At the same time, Plumptre"s suggestion ("Ezekiel: an Ideal Biography," Expositor, vol. 8:284; and Unpublished Notes) is not without plausibility, that, considering the special significance of the term bamoth in Ezekiel, the phrase should be held as referring to the sanctuaries which stood upon those heights including, of course, the chief sanctuary, or temple (Schroder); in support of which the dean cites the frequency with which the enemies of Israel, as, for instance, the Assyrians and the Moabites, in their inscriptions, boasted that they had captured these sanctuaries (see "Records of the Past," 2nd series, tel. 1. p. 107; 2:203).

HOMILETICS.

Premature triumph.

The enemies of Israel were triumphing over the fallen nation, but prematurely; for they did not reckon on a possibility of a restoration. This is like the triumph of evil over the ruined world.

I THERE IS A TRIUMPH OF EVIL.

1. In the fall of man. When Adam fell it seemed as though the greatest work of God had been hopelessly ruined almost as soon as it appeared. No sooner was man made in the image of God than he groveled in the dust, and marred the heavenly likeness with ugly stains of sins.

2. In the history of primitive man. So evil is man that the whole race, with the exception of a single family, is swept off the face of the earth. Once more the world is reduced to a desolate condition, once more evil seems to have conquered.

3. In the troubles of the Hebrews. The people of God become oppressed slaves in Egypt. "Where is the promise delivered to the fathers?

4. In the failure to enter Palestine. The Israelites reach the borders of the land, and are then driven back defeated, and compelled to wander in the wilderness for forty years.

5. In the miserable days of the judges. When the land was at length possessed, it was not found to be all milk and honey. War and wickedness, sorrow and shame, make the first ages of the possession of Canaan almost the darkest period in Jewish history.

6. The wickedness of later days. The story of Israel is a story of repeated rebellions against God, and repeated Divine chastisements.

7. In the Captivity. When the two nations were driven into captivity, and their territory devastated by the heathen, the triumph of the enemies of the people of God seemed to be complete.

8. In the cruelty of later days. Eastern empires, the Seleucidae, and the Romans successively triumphed over and oppressed the once favored people.

9. In the cross of Christ. Here, indeed, the enemies of righteousness reach their crowning triumph. Satan now exults over the sorrow and death of the Son of man.

10. In the history of Christendom. This has not been a history of continuous growth and victory over evil. First there were the great persecutions. Then followed the great apostasy. The dark ages marked the triumph of ignorance and cruelty. Today the powers of evil are mighty and exultant.

II THIS TRIUMPH WILL BE REVERSED. It is premature. We have not yet reached the end of the story. The battle is still raging; it is too early for the foe to sing his paeans of victory. All along the dark recital of victories of evil there has been the alternative picture of Divine deliverance. We make a mistake when we dwell only on the gloomy side of history. God has been revealing himself in history. Not only did he save the eight in the ark. He delivered all Israel from Egypt. He gave Canaan, and he gave restoration from the Captivity. He sent his Son to save the world. In the darkest hour when Christ hung dying on the cross while evil seemed to be most triumphant, victory was really being won by that very death of the world"s Savior. We have not seen the end yet. Perhaps we are on the fringe of a great contest between the servants of Christ and his foes. But never was the work of Christ more manifest than it is today in Christian activity at home and in the harvest of the mission-field abroad. While the unbeliever exults in what he thinks is the demonstration of the falsehood of Christianity and the sure prospect of its speedy downfall, there are more earnest active Christians at work than ever there were. By the grace of God we may trust that, though the battle is still fierce, we are moving on to victory under the Captain of our salvation.

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

Because the enemy - Many were the enemies of God's people; but they so conspired in one design, that the prophet speaks of them as one, and particularly of Edom.

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

“Aha!” [An expression of] joy.

and “the high places of the world” the land of Israel, which is the height and the beauty of the world.

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.