Ezekiel 39:2

Eze 39:2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

Ver. 2. And I will turn thee back.] Convertam vel conteram te. {a} See Eze 38:3.

And leave but the sixth part of thee.] Or, Strike thee with six plagues, or draw thee back with a hook of six teeth. {as Eze 38:4} Sextabo re.

And will cause thee to come.] This is much and often inculcated, that it is God who brings in and drives out the Church’s enemies. This is a quieting consideration.

{a} In frusta vel scintillas redigam te. - Pintus.

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.

39:2 I will turn you around and drive you: The Lord would be bringing Gog against Israel in order to break him.

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

Or, destroy thee with six plagues, as Ezek. 38:22.

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

leave but the sixth part of thee--Margin, "strike thee with six plagues" (namely, pestilence, blood, overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, brimstone, Eze 38:22); or, "draw thee back with an hook of six teeth" (Eze 38:4), the six teeth being those six plagues. Rather, "lead thee about" [LUDOVICUS DE DIEU and Septuagint]. As Antiochus was led (to his ruin) to leave Egypt for an expedition against Palestine, so shall the last great enemy of God be.

north parts--from the extreme north [FAIRBAIRN].

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 2. And leave but the sixth part of thee] The margin has, strike thee with six plagues; or, draw thee back with a hook of six teeth.

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

(2) Leave but the sixth part of thee.—This word occurs only here, and the translation is based on the supposition that it is derived from the word meaning six; but even on this supposition the renderings in the margin are as likely to be right as that of the text. This derivation, however, is probably wrong; all the ancient versions give a sense corresponding to Eze_38:4; Eze_38:16, and also to the clauses immediately before and after, “I will lead thee along.” The greater part of the modern commentators concur in this view.

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

2. turn thee back … sixth part] Perhaps: turn thee about and lead thee. The word “lead” does not elsewhere occur. A.V. derived from numeral “six.”

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 turn thee back,.... Not from the land of Israel; for thither it is said in the latter part of the text he would bring him; but the meaning is, that he would "turn him about", as the word (w) signifies, in his own land, and lead him about at his pleasure, and bring him out of it, unto the land of Israel; signifying hereby that the providence of God would be greatly concerned in this affair; and in which much glory would be brought unto him by the destruction of such a potent enemy of his people; which is the design of bringing him out; See Gill on Eze 38:4,

and leave but a sixth part of thee; meaning, not that a sixth part only should escape the vengeance of God, and all but a sixth part be destroyed in the land of Israel; for it looks as if the whole army would be utterly destroyed, and none left; but that, when he should come out of his own country upon this expedition, a sixth part of his subjects only should be left behind; five out of six should accompany him; so numerous should his army be, and so drained his country by this enterprise of his. Some render the words, "will draw thee out with an hook of six teeth" (x); that is, out of his own land; and this clause stands in the same place and order as the phrase and "put hooks into thy jaws" does in Eze 38:4 and so may be thought to explain one another, and agrees with what follows: for, as for the sense of it given by Joseph Kimchi and others,

"I will judge thee with six judgments (y), Eze 38:12, pestilence, blood, an overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone,''

it must be rejected; seeing as yet the account of his punishment is not come to; only an account is given how and by what means he shall be drawn out of his own land; wherefore much better is the Targum,

"I will persuade thee, and I will seduce thee;''

so Jarchi seems to understand it: and the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "I will lead thee", agreeably to what follows:

and will cause thee to come up from the north parts; See Gill on Eze 38:15.

and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel; not to inherit them, but to fall upon them, as in Eze 39:4.

(w) "circumducam te", Piscator; "circumagam", Grotius. (x) "harpagone sextuplici extraham te", Vinarienses apud Starckius. So Buxtorf. (y) "Sex poenis, sive plagis afficiam te", Munster, Tigurine version.

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

The chief prince - Or, “prince of Rosh.”

And leave but the sixth part of thee - Or, and lead thee along (Septuagint and Vulgate).

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

Turn thee back: see Eze 38:4; or else, when Gog or his assistants shall go into their countries to compose disorders risen since this enterprise was set on foot, they shall return to the rest of the confederates.

Leave but the sixth part of thee: some read, as our margin notes, I will draw thee back with a hook of six teeth, alluding to the drawing fish out of the water; others, I will strike thee with six plagues; others, I will kill five of six, and leave but the sixth part of thee: let me conjecture too, I will leave in thy country but one in six, and I will bring forth thy people with thee in so great numbers, that five of six shall march on this expedition. This runs more compliant with what follows.

Will cause thee to come up; by his all wise providence God will dispose things so, that Gog shall deliberately choose this expedition; so God will bring him, as Eze 38:4. See Eze 38:4,8,15,21.

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

I will...leave but the sixth part of thee. The word is derived either from the numeral six, vve, or from the root avv the import of which is uncertain, although a cognate root in Ethiopic suggests the idea of "going on" or "proceeding a meaning Havernick also finds in the Hebrew. The former derivation has been followed by the Authorized Version, which renders in the margin, "I will strike thee with six plagues," or "draw thee back with a hook of six teeth," and by Hengstenberg, With whom Plumptre agrees, "I will six thee," i.e. "afflict thee with six plagues," viz. those mentioned in Eze_38:22. The latter derivation, presumably the more correct, is adopted by the LXX (kaqodogh) the Vulgate (educam), the Revised Version ("I will lead thee on"), and by modern expositors generally. Hitzig and Smend approve of Ewald"s translation, "I entice thee astray, and lead thee with leading, strings."

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

The sixth part - I will leave in thy country but one in six.

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

and I will entice you [Heb. וְשִּׁשֵּׁאתִיךָ,] like וְהִשֵּׁאתִיךָ, I will entice you upon My people, as in (Ps. 89: 23): “No enemy will entice (יַשִׂיא) him.”

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.