Ezekiel 36:10-20

10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, the whole of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded.

11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring forth fruit; and I will cause you to be inhabited as [in] your former times, yea, I will make it better than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

12 And I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of children.

13 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because they say unto you, Thou devourest men, and hast bereaved thy nation,

14 therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nation any more, saith the Lord Jehovah;

15 neither will I cause thee to hear the ignominy of the nations any more, and thou shalt not bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nation to fall any more, saith the Lord Jehovah.

16 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a woman in her separation.

18 And I poured out my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.

19 And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

20 And when they came to the nations whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when it was said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and they are gone forth out of his land.

Ezekiel 36:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 36

This chapter is a prophecy concerning the desolations of the land of Israel, and the causes of them; of the return of the people to it, and the fruitfulness of it; and of spiritual blessings bestowed upon them in the latter day. And first, for the comfort of the people of Israel, it is observed that their enemies that insulted them will suffer the vengeance of God's wrath, particularly the Edomites, Eze 36:1-7, that the land of Israel should again become fruitful, its cities rebuilt, men and beasts be multiplied upon it, and be no more liable to destruction, nor bear any more the reproach of the Heathen, Eze 36:8-15, the causes of its desolation and destruction, the sins of its inhabitants, especially bloodshed, idolatry, and profanation of the name of God, Eze 36:16-20, nevertheless the Lord promises to have mercy on them, and return them to their own land, not for their sakes, but for his own name's sake, Eze 36:21-24, then follow promises of spiritual blessings to them: as purification from all sin by the blood of Christ; regeneration by his Spirit and grace; and evangelical obedience as the fruit of that, Eze 36:25-27, and others of a mixed kind, respecting partly temporal and partly spiritual blessings, Eze 36:28-36, for all which it is expected of the Lord that he should be prayed unto for them; particularly their inhabitation in their own land, and the multiplication of them in it, with which the chapter concludes, Eze 36:37,38.

Footnotes

• [a]. Some read 'cause them to fall.'
• [b]. Some read 'nations,' and so in vers. 14,15.
• [c]. Or 'cause to falter' or 'fall' (see ver. 15).