Ezekiel 38:7

Eze 38:7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

Ver. 7. Be thou prepared.] Comparator et compara te; muster up all thy forces, and see to their safety. But canst thou ward off my blows? moat thyself up against my fire?

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 38:7. Be thou prepared — The prophet, speaking ironically, encourages Gog and his allies to make all warlike preparations, and muster all their forces together, that God might gain the greater honour by their signal defeat: see Eze 38:16. And be thou a guard unto them — Let them rely upon thy prowess and conduct as their leader.

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

7-12. Let the enemy of Israel thoroughly prepare himself (Eze_38:7) for “at the end of the years” (Isa_2:2; Dan_10:14) his sins shall be remembered (compare Eze_23:21), and he shall be “visited” (Eze_38:8), or “commissioned.” (Compare Eze_38:16.) He shall have thoughts of an easy victory over an unprotected and peaceful country (Eze_38:10-11), and shall come like a storm-cloud against Israel (Eze_38:9; compare Isa_21:1; Isa_28:2, and Iliad, 6:275), a land which, in the new conditions of the new Israel, shall be “brought back” (Eze_38:8, A.V.) or “restored” (R.V., margin) from the sword (compare Eze_5:17; Eze_6:3; Eze_6:13; Eze_36:13; with Eze_34:28; Eze_37:26; Eze_39:26), and whose mountains, which in the past had been “a continual waste” (Eze_38:8, R.V., Eze_35:9) shall now be covered with cattle (Eze_38:12). But his plans shall fail.

7. A guard — Kautzsch, sign, or ensign. Rather, R.V., margin, “a commander.”

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

Signifying, that all the people of the world should assemble themselves against the Church and Christ their head.

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

Irony. Prepare thee and all thine with all needful accoutrements for war--that ye may perish together.

be . . . a guard unto them--that is, if thou canst.

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

(7) Be thou a guard unto them.—Every preparation is to be made on the part of Gog and the nations, and then Gog himself is to be their guard, or to control and guide the assault.

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

7–9. Injunction to Gog to be in readiness for the latter days when Jehovah shall lead him forth

7. a guard unto them] The term means something to be kept or observed, a rallying point; Gog shall be the leader of the people—though the word hardly means strictly “standard” (Ew.). For “unto them” LXX. reads “unto me,” giving the meaning that Gog shall be kept “in reserve” by Jehovah for his future operations (Eze_38:8).

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.

After many days thou shalt be visited,.... After the Ottoman empire has stood a long time, as it has already; when the many days will be ended that Israel should be without a king and a prince, &c. Hos 3:4, then shall Gog or the Turk be visited of God, not in a way of grace, but vengeance; he shall be punished for all his iniquities, and his punishment or destruction will be brought about in the following manner:

in the latter years thou shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword; that is, into the land of Judea, the right owners of which shall now be returned unto it; who have been for many years drove and kept out of it by the sword of their enemies; see Jer 31:2 and these "latter years" are the same with the "latter days", in which these people shall seek the Lord and the Messiah, and fear him and his goodness, and return to their own land, Hos 3:5, when the Turks, enraged at it, will raise a numerous army, and enter it, in order to repossess it. The description of the Jews, who are most manifestly pointed at, is continued: and

is gathered out of many people against the mountains of Israel; or rather, "to the mountains of Israel" (o); for it seems to design the land of Judea, that is, the people of it; who shall be gathered out of the several nations where they are now dispersed, and brought into their own land; described by the mountains of Israel, because a mountainous country, and a very fruitful one; Eze 34:13, and not the army of Gog gathered out of many nations, as before observed, to march against the people of the Jews; though this seems to be the sense of the Targum,

"in the end of years thou shalt come into the land, against which are turned those that slay with the sword, who are gathered out of many people against the mountains of the land of Israel:''

which have been always waste: of a longer time than the seventy years' captivity, even ever since the destruction of it by the Romans; and if the time of the carrying captive of the ten tribes by Salmanezer is respected, it is longer still:

but it brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them; that is, the people of the Jews, the proprietors of the land of Israel, shall now be brought forth out of each the nations where they are scattered, and shall inhabit their own land, and dwell in the utmost security, having nothing to fear from their most potent enemies, even Gog himself; and though he shall come against them in the following manner.

(o) "ad montes Israel", Pagninus, Cocceius, Starckius.

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

Spoken ironically. Make all thy preparations, they will be in vain.

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

Be thou prepared: it is an irony; God, the prophet, and the church deride this mighty preparation, as once the daughter of Zion laughed Sennacherib, that proud Assyrian, to scorn, and the scoff is doubled.

Prepare for thyself; such a mighty army will need great magazines and granaries, and good watches and guards for their marching in safety, therefore awaken thy diligence, let nothing be wanting, for, O Gog, thou wilt find I am against thee, saith the Lord.

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

Be thou prepared - God and the church deride this mighty preparation.

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

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues speaking to Gog.

your troops assembled with you

"all of your troops that you have gathered to yourself" or "all of your army that you have brought together for yourself"

You will be called

This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will call you to come for war" (See: Active or Passive)

recovered from the sword

Here the "sword" represents war. AT: "recovered from war" (See: Metonymy)

that has been gathered

This can be stated in active form. AT: "that I have gathered together" (See: Active or Passive)

from many peoples

"from many nations"

a continuous ruin

"destroyed for a long time"

the land's people will be brought out

This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will bring the Israelites out" (See: Active or Passive)

you will go up as a storm goes

This simile means Gog will bring destruction like a large storm does. (See: Simile)

a cloud covering the land

This simile means the army will be so large that it will cover the entire land. (See: Simile)

translationWords

commander

call

sword

people group

Israel

ruin

life

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

Be prepared and make ready for yourself Prepare yourself, and make ready for yourself an army of others.

be prepared [as translated,] be prepared.

and you will be to them for a guardian It is the custom of kings to pay attention, concerning their armies, to how they will march forth, and to appoint guards so that a destroyer should not come upon his army at night.

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.