Behold, therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east
for a possession
The Chaldeans and Syrians, which were on the east side, as Jarchi; or the Medes and Persians, as Kimchi, which lay more eastward; or it may be the Arabians, who are commonly called the men of the east; who were a part of Nebuchadnezzar's army, and whom he might reward with this country, when taken by him; for this prophecy, according to Josephus F17, was fulfilled five years after the destruction of Jerusalem: and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in
thee;
or, "their camps and their tents" F18; and so the Syriac version renders it, their armies and their tents; who should subdue them, and take possession of their cities and fields, and enjoy what they found there: they shall eat thy fruit, and drink thy milk;
the fruit of their land, their vineyards and fields, and the milk of their flocks and herds, which was commonly drank in those countries; these are put for the whole of their substance. So the Targum,
``they shall eat the good of thy land, and spoil thy substance.''