Ezekiel 36:2

2 This is what the Lord God says: The enemy has said about you, "Now the old places to worship gods have become ours."'

Ezekiel 36:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 36:2

Thus saith the Lord God
By the mouth of the prophet, who was bid to prophesy: because the enemy had said against you, aha:
rejoicing at the calamity of God's people, particularly the Edomites or Idumeans, as in the preceding chapter; and who are chiefly meant; and also the Ammonites and Tyrians, ( Ezekiel 25:3 ) ( 26:2 ) : even the ancient high places are ours in possession;
or, "the high places of the world shall be unto us for a possession" F6; the land of Israel, according to Kimchi and others, was the highest part of the world, Jerusalem the highest part of that land, and the temple was built on the highest part of the city; and all these the Edomites claimed as their own, the land, city, and temple, and thought themselves sure of the same, as if they had them in actual possession; even the hilly part of the country, which had been so from the creation, and where stood many of the fortified and frontier towns and cities; which as strong as they were, or had been, they fancied would easily fall into their hands, now such desolations were made in the land.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (wnl htyh hvrwml Mlwe twmb) "excelsa seculi haereditario jure futura sunt nobis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "celsa seculi haereditas evenit nobis", Cocceius, Starckius.

Ezekiel 36:2 In-Context

1 "Human, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: 'Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.
2 This is what the Lord God says: The enemy has said about you, "Now the old places to worship gods have become ours."'
3 So prophesy and say: 'This is what the Lord God says: They have made you an empty ruin and have crushed you from all around. So you became a possession of the other nations. People have talked and whispered against you.
4 So, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. The Lord God speaks to the mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys, to the empty ruins and abandoned cities that have been robbed and laughed at by the other nations.
5 This is what the Lord God says: I speak in hot anger against the other nations. I speak against the people of Edom, who took my land for themselves with joy and with hate in their hearts. They forced out the people and took their pastureland.'
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.