Ezekiel 35

Translator Notes

1. The standard prophetic reception formula. The Hebrew le'mor ('saying') is rendered as a colon introducing the direct speech that follows.

Translator Notes

1. The idiom sim panekha ('set your face against') indicates hostile prophetic confrontation — a deliberate orientation of the prophet toward the target of judgment. Mount Seir is the mountainous region southeast of the Dead Sea that constitutes the heartland of Edom.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The compound divine name Adonai YHWH is rendered as 'Lord GOD' throughout Ezekiel. The Hebrew shemamah u-meshamah ('desolation and waste') is a paronomasia — both words derive from the root sh-m-m, intensifying the desolation through sound. The declaration hineni elekha ('I am against you') is a formal divine war oracle.

Translator Notes

1. The recognition formula veyada'ta ki ani YHWH ('then you will know that I am the LORD') appears throughout Ezekiel as the theological purpose of divine action — both judgment and restoration serve to make God known. The verb charvah ('ruin') describes cities reduced to uninhabitable rubble.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The verb higer (from nagor) means 'to pour out, hand over' — the image is of delivering people into the hands of slaughter. The phrase al yedei cherev ('by the hands/power of the sword') treats the sword as an agent. The expression et avon qets is debated: it could mean 'the time of the iniquity of the end' or 'the time of final punishment.' We render as 'final punishment' because the context treats Jerusalem's fall as the climax of divine judgment on Israel's accumulated sin.

Translator Notes

1. The oath formula chai ani ('as I live') is the most solemn form of divine declaration — God swears by his own existence. The word dam ('blood') appears five times in this single verse, creating a hammering repetition that enacts the inescapable nature of blood-guilt. The phrase im lo dam sane'ta is difficult: literally 'if not blood you hated,' meaning 'since you did not hate blood(shed)' — Edom's sin is that it loved violence rather than recoiling from it.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase over vashav ('one who passes through and returns') is a merism — it describes all movement, all human traffic, all life. To cut off the over vashav is to reduce the land to a place where no one travels, no one lives, no one passes through.

Translator Notes

1. The Hebrew shifts abruptly between third person ('its mountains, its slain') and second person ('your hills, your valleys') — a common feature of prophetic oracles where the prophet alternates between speaking about and speaking to the addressee. The word afiqim ('ravines, channels') refers to seasonal watercourses — even the dry riverbeds will be filled with the dead.

Translator Notes

1. Shimmemot olam ('perpetual desolations') echoes the eivat olam ('perpetual hostility') of verse 5 — the punishment mirrors the sin in both quality and duration. Edom's hostility was olam; its desolation will be olam. The verb teshuvnah ('will return/be inhabited') indicates that the cities will never be repopulated.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The phrase shenei ha-goyim ('the two nations') refers to Israel and Judah — the divided kingdoms. Edom saw the fall of both as an opportunity to expand its territory. The clause va-YHWH sham hayah ('and/though the LORD was there') is the theological crux of the chapter. The conjunction can be adversative ('though') or circumstantial ('while') — either way, Edom's claim ignores God's presence in and ownership of the land. This phrase anticipates the name of the eschatological city in 48:35: YHWH shamah ('the LORD is there').

Translator Notes

1. God's judgment will mirror Edom's own conduct — the principle of measure-for-measure. The word qin'ah ('jealousy, envy') suggests that Edom resented Israel's covenant status and special relationship with God. The phrase venoda'ti vam ('I will make myself known among them') means God will reveal himself to Israel through the judgment he executes on Edom.

Translator Notes

1. The word ne'atsot ('contemptuous words, blasphemies, insults') carries the sense of scornful speech that treats the sacred with contempt. Edom's words are directed against the mountains of Israel — the same mountains that will be addressed in the restoration oracle of chapter 36. The verb le'okhlah ('to devour, consume') treats the land as prey to be eaten.

Translator Notes

1. The verb higdilu ('you magnified yourselves, boasted') indicates arrogant speech directed at God himself — not just at Israel. Edom's contempt for Israel's land is ultimately contempt for Israel's God. The emphasis ani shamati ('I myself have heard') makes God a direct witness to Edom's arrogance.

Translator Notes

1. The contrast is sharp: when God restores the earth and all creation celebrates, Edom alone will be desolate. The timing of Edom's desolation coincides with universal joy — its ruin is the counterpoint to the world's restoration.

Translator Notes

1. The principle of measure-for-measure reaches its climax: Edom rejoiced over Israel's desolation, so Edom will become a desolation. The phrase kol Edom kullah ('all Edom, all of it') is emphatic — no portion of Edom escapes. The recognition formula closes the oracle, but here it is third-person plural ('they will know') rather than second person, suggesting that the nations generally — not just Edom — will recognize the LORD through this judgment.