Ezekiel 39:26

26 Eventually the memory will fade, the memory of their shame over their betrayals of me when they lived securely in their own land, safe and unafraid.

Ezekiel 39:26 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 39:26

After that they have borne their shame
And disgrace, among the nations where they are scattered; being captives, exiles, in distress and affliction, and under the manifest tokens of the divine wrath and vengeance: it may be rendered, "and they shall bear their shame" ^F13; that is, as Jarchi glosses it,

``when I shall do good to them, and not render to them according to their wickedness, then they shall bear their shame, and be confounded, and not able to lift up their face;''

as penitent persons, under a sense of divine wrath, blush, and are ashamed to look up to God; see ( Ezra 9:6-10 ) . Menachem interprets the word in the sense of atonement and forgiveness, as it is used in ( Psalms 32:11 ) , as if the meaning was, then they shall have their sins, which caused shame, forgiven them. Kimchi's gloss is,

``they shall carry in their mouths, and make mention of their shame they had in captivity.''

And all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against me;
that is, the punishment of all their trespasses in their captivity, or the shame of them, being now brought to repentance; and which will be aggravated to them, when they remember that these were committed by their forefathers, and since approved of by them. When they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid;
as they did in the times of Christ; they were in entire peace, and no enemy disturbed them; and were in the possession of their own land, and enjoyed the blessings of it, and had their religious as well as civil liberties; and yet rejected the Messiah, his doctrine, ordinances, and salvation by him.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F13 (Mtmlk ta wvnw) "et portabunt", Pagninus, Montanus, V. L. Grotius; "et ferent ignominiam suam", Starckius.

Ezekiel 39:26 In-Context

24 I treated them as their polluted and sin-sated lives deserved. I turned away from them, refused to look at them.

25 "But now I will return Jacob back from exile, I'll be compassionate with all the people of Israel, and I'll be zealous for my holy name.

26 Eventually the memory will fade, the memory of their shame over their betrayals of me when they lived securely in their own land, safe and unafraid.

27 Once I've brought them back from foreign parts, gathered them in from enemy territories, I'll use them to demonstrate my holiness with all the nations watching.

28 Then they'll realize for sure that I am their God, for even though I sent them off into exile, I will gather them back to their own land, leaving not one soul behind.