Ezekiel 36:2

2 The Lord God saith these things, For that that the enemy said of you, Well! everlasting highnesses be given to us into heritage; (The Lord God saith these things, Because the enemy hath said to you, Well! the everlasting highlands shall be given to us for an inheritance;)

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 Forsooth thou, son of man, prophesy on the hills of Israel (And thou, son of man, prophesy to the hills of Israel); and thou shalt say, Hills of Israel, hear ye the word of the Lord.

2 The Lord God saith these things, For that that the enemy said of you, Well! everlasting highnesses be given to us into heritage; (The Lord God saith these things, Because the enemy hath said to you, Well! the everlasting highlands shall be given to us for an inheritance;)

3 therefore prophesy thou, and say, The Lord God saith these things, For that that ye be made desolate, and defouled by compass, and be made into heritage to other folks, and ye ascended on the lip of tongue, and on the shame of people; (and so prophesy thou, and say, The Lord God saith these things, Because ye be made desolate, and defiled all around, and be made into an inheritance to other nations, and ye ascended on the lip of the tongue, and be made a shame to the people;)

4 therefore, hills of Israel, hear ye the word of the Lord God. The Lord God saith these things to the mountains, and little hills, to strands, and to valleys, and to pieces of walls left, and to cities forsaken, that be made bare of peoples, and be scorned of other folks by compass. (and so, hills of Israel, hear ye the word of the Lord God. The Lord God saith these things to the mountains, and to the little hills, to the streams, and to the valleys, and to the pieces of walls that be left standing, and to the deserted cities, that be made empty of people, and be mocked by the other nations all around them;)

5 therefore the Lord God saith these things, For in the fire of my fervor I spake of other folks, and of all Idumea, that gave my land into heritage to themselves with joy and all [the] heart, and of intent, and casted out it, to destroy it; (and so the Lord God saith these things, For in the fire of my jealousy I spoke against the other nations, and against all of Edom, who made my land into an inheritance for themselves, with all the joy of their hearts, and with the intent to cast it out, and to destroy it;)