Ezekiel 38:1-13

Prophecy Against Gog

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 1"Son of man, 2set your face toward 3Gog, of the land of 4Magog, the 5chief prince of 6Meshech[a] and 7Tubal, and 8prophesy against him
3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, 9I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech[b] and Tubal.
4 10And I will turn you about and 11put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and 12all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.
5 13Persia, 14Cush, and 15Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6 16Gomer and all his 17hordes; 18Beth-togarmah from 19the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes--20many peoples are with you.
7 21"Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
8 22After many days you will be mustered. 23In the latter years you will go against 24the land that is restored from war, the land whose people 25were gathered from many peoples upon 26the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and 27now dwell securely, all of them.
9 You will advance, coming on 28like a storm. You will be 29like a cloud covering the land, you and all your 30hordes, and many peoples with you.
10 "Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, 31thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme
11 and say, 'I will go up against 32the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon 33the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,'
12 to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against 34the waste places that are now inhabited, and 35the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, 36who dwell at the center of the earth.
13 37Sheba and 38Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all 39its leaders[c] will say to you, 'Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?'

Ezekiel 38:1-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 38

This chapter gives an account of an enemy of the Jews, under the name of Gog, that shall invade their land, and disturb their peace, after they are settled in it; who is described by the countries over which he rules; and against whom the prophet is bid to set his face, and prophesy of him, the Lord being against him; and who would cause him to return from Judea unsuccessful, Eze 38:1-4, the number of his confederates, their warlike accoutrements and preparations for the invasion of the land of Israel, are foretold, Eze 38:4-9, his wicked designs and intentions to spoil and plunder the inhabitants of it, Eze 38:10-12, the notice taken of his projects by the merchants of Tarshish and others, Eze 38:13,14, his coming up to invade the land is again observed for the certainty of it; and the place from whence, and the time when he should come, are mentioned, as well as God's design in it, and which had been before predicted by his prophets, Eze 38:14-17, and the chapter is concluded with a denunciation of divine wrath, which shall be terrible to all the inhabitants of the earth, and to all creatures in heaven, earth, and sea; when he and his forces shall be destroyed by the sword, by pestilence, and by dreadful storms and tempests, Eze 38:18-23, of which destruction a fuller account is given in the next chapter.

the preceding prophecy did, as the copulative and shows; which predicts the restoration and conversion of the Jews; the union of their tribes under the King Messiah; and their settlement in their own land: and this respects some disturbance they should meet with upon it, for a short time, by a powerful enemy hereafter described:

\\saying\\; as follows:

29385-Eze38.2

Cross References 39

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech
  • [b]. Or Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech
  • [c]. Hebrew young lions
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.