Ezekiel 38:5

5 Paras, Ethiopia and Put are with them, all with breastplates and helmets;

Ezekiel 38:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 38:5

Persia, Ethiopia, and Lybia with them
These are the confederates or auxiliaries of the Turks, which shall join with them in this expedition. Persia is a neighbouring kingdom to the Turks, and may fall into their hands before this comes to pass; and is in a fair way for it at this time, through the internal divisions in it; however, it will be confederate with them. Ethiopia or Cush does not design the country of the Abyssines in the dominions of the Great Mogul, but Arabia Chusea, which lay between Judea and Egypt, and is now in the hands of the Turks; and Lybia or Phut is the name of one of the sons of Ham, ( Genesis 10:6 ) who, according to Josephus F7, founded Lybia; and from him the inhabitants of it were called Phuteans (as they are here by the Targum); and he observes that there is a river of his name in Mauritania. Lybia is a country in Africa, to the west of Egypt and subject to the Turks: all of them with shield and helmet;
the Lybians are described by Jeremiah, ( Jeremiah 46:9 ) , as those that handle the shield;
and the Egyptians, to whom the Lybians were near neighbours, and whom they might imitate in their warlike arms, as in other things, wore shields down to the feet, as Xenophon


FOOTNOTES:

F8 relates.
F7 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 2.
F8 Cyropaedia, l. 6. c. 14. & l. 7. c. 11.

Ezekiel 38:5 In-Context

3 Say that Adonai ELOHIM says, 'I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshekh and Tuval.
4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all completely equipped, a great horde with breastplates and shields, all wielding swords.
5 Paras, Ethiopia and Put are with them, all with breastplates and helmets;
6 Gomer with all its troops; the house of Togarmah in the far reaches of the north, with all its troops - many peoples are with you.
7 Prepare yourself, get ready, you and all your crowd gathered around you; and take charge of them.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.