Ezekiel 37:19

Eze 37:19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

Ver. 19. And make them one stick.] Taking away the deadly feud that hath so long time been between them, breaking down the partition wall, &c. I will once more bring them all under one king, and make them of one mind. Religion is the only best bond of affection. The very heathens honoured the primitive Christians for their unanimity. See Son 6:9. {See Trapp on "Son 6:9"}

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.

37:19 The sovereign Lord would accomplish the reunification of Israel by his own hand.

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

That is, the house of Israel.

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

The union effected at the restoration from Babylon embraced but comparatively few of Israel; a future complete fulfilment must therefore be looked for.

stick of Joseph . . . in the hand of Ephraim--Ephraim, of the descendants of Joseph, had exercised the rule among the ten tribes: that rule, symbolized by the "stick," was now to be withdrawn from him, and to be made one with the other, Judah's rule, in God's hand.

them--the "stick of Joseph," would strictly require "it"; but Ezekiel expresses the sense, namely, the ten tribes who were subject to it.

with him--that is, Judah; or "it," that is, the stick of Judah.

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 19. The stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim] Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, was an Ephraimite. Joseph represents the ten tribes in general; they were in the hand of Ephraim, that is, under the government of Jeroboam.

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

(19) Which is in the hand of Ephraim.—Again Joseph is put for the whole ten tribes, and again it is indicated that the control of these was chiefly with Ephraim. The human power, which led to and perpetuated the division, is in contrast with the “mine hand,” where all shall be re-united under Divine rule.

Will put them.—Grammatically the plural pronoun “them” refers to the piece of wood, which is in the singular; but the construction is according to the sense, the wood representing the ten tribes.

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

19. Explanation of the symbolical action.

put them with him] lit. join them unto it, even unto the stick of Judah. The construction is rather unnatural (for eth, cf. Eze_14:22, Eze_43:17, others would read el).

in mine hand] Vulg. reads in his hand (so Ew.), i.e. Judah’s, and LXX. actually in the hand of Judah. LXX. either read his hand and interpreted it of Judah, or took the final y of my hand as an abbreviation for Yehudah. On the one hand the united staff or sceptre might be given into the hand of Judah as the ruler of the one kingdom was to be David (Amo_9:11; Hos_3:5). On the other hand there is no trace in the passage of any preeminence of Judah over Israel of the north.

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.

Say unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... Here follows the explanation of the sign or emblem:

behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows: that is, the kingdom of Israel, consisting of the ten tribes, of which Ephraim was the chief:

and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah; with the kingdom of Judah:

and make them one stick; these two kingdoms one kingdom:

and they shall be one in my hand: in Christ, the hand and arm of the Lord; one under his care, government, and protection, as after explained: this had in part, and as a shadow of what was to come, its fulfilment upon the Jews' return from Babylon; when many of the ten tribes, as well as the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, came from thence, and became one nation and kingdom under one prince, until the coming of Christ; and it had a further accomplishment in the union of converted Jews and Gentiles in one body: but this is chiefly designed as an emblem of the union of the Jews one to another, when they shall be converted in the latter day; when they shall join together in seeking the Lord, and David, their King, the Messiah; who shall be the one King over them, as is afterwards said; and when all animosities shall cease, both among them, and among all the spiritual Israel of God in general; see

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

The stick of Joseph; on which Joseph’s name is written, and which represents Joseph.

Which is in the hand of Ephraim; which was under the government of Ephraim; or thus, which is the tribe of Ephraim, the latter explaining the former.

His fellows: Eze 37:16.

Put them with him; Judah and his companions. One stick; one kingdom, one people, whereas these have been divided and enemies a great while.

They shall be one; real, cordial in their union.

In mine hand; under my government, care, and blessing. This is the meaning, God will make the two divided kingdoms one in his hand, as I make these two sticks one in my hand.

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

In mine hand - Under my government, care, and blessing. God will make the two kingdoms one in his hand, as I make these two sticks one in my hand.

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

Behold I will take the stick, etc. that they shall no longer be two kingdoms.

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.