Ezekiel 38:4

4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords.

Ezekiel 38:4 in Other Translations

4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

4 And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.

4 I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with your whole army—your horses and charioteers in full armor and a great horde armed with shields and swords.

4 I'm going to turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and drag you off with your whole army, your horses and riders in full armor - all those shields and bucklers and swords - fighting men armed to the teeth!

4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, including horses and riders, who are all splendidly dressed, a huge company armed with shields and bucklers, all of them brandishing swords.

Ezekiel 38:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 38:4

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws
Or, I will put hooks in thy jaws, and with them turn thee back; or rather, "turn thee about" ^F6; and lead thee where and as I please; for this is not to be understood of God's putting hooks into his jaws, and leading him back from his enterprise of invading the land of Judea; as he put a hook in the nose and a bridle in the lips of the king of Assyria, and brought him back from Jerusalem, ( Isaiah 37:29 ) , but of his using him thus in his providence to draw him to the land of Israel, out of his own land, as fishes are drawn with the hook out of the water. The sense is, that he would so work upon and influence the heart of Gog, that he should be inclined to come out of his own land and invade Judea; just as the Lord is said to draw Sisera and his army, ( Judges 4:7 ) , as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe. So the Targum,

``I will persuade thee, and put hooks in thy jaws;''

that is, incline his heart to take such a step, which should be to his destruction: and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army;
all his janizaries, and large army out of Turkey, and other parts of his dominions: horses and horsemen;
the Turkish armies, chiefly consisting of cavalry; (See Gill on Revelation 9:16): all of them clothed with all sorts of [armour];
or completely clothed, as the Targum; for the word "armour" is not in the text; and besides, their armour is particularly mentioned afterwards; and so Kimchi has it, with all kind of ornaments, richly clothed and decorated, especially the principal officers, and, so made a fine show: even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords;
or large armies, as the Targum; the Turks have always been used to bring prodigious large armies into the field; (See Gill on Revelation 9:16).

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (Kytbbwv) "circumducam te", Piscator; "circumagam te", Grotius.

Ezekiel 38:4 In-Context

2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against him

3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshek and Tubal.

4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords.

5 Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets,

6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.

Cross References

• 1. S 2 Kings 19:28
• 2. S Isaiah 43:17; Ezekiel 29:4; Ezekiel 39:2; Daniel 11:40