Ezekiel 39:4

4 Thou shalt fall down on the hills of Israel, thou, and all thy companies, and peoples that be with thee; I gave thee for to be devoured to wild beasts, to birds, and to each volatile, and to the beasts of the earth. (Thou shalt fall down on the hills of Israel, thou, and all thy companies, and the peoples who be with thee; I gave thee up to be devoured by the wild beasts, and by the birds, yea, by every bird, and by the beasts of the field.)

Ezekiel 39:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 39:4

Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel
Be slain, and his carcass lie there; so the Targum,

``upon the mountains of the land of Israel thy carcass shall be cast:''

thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee; Gog and his army, auxiliaries and allies: I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts
of the field to be devoured:
a great part of his army being slain, should not be buried, but be devoured by birds of prey, and savage beasts; such as eagles and vultures of the former sort, and lions, bears, wolves of the latter. This was always reckoned a very sore judgment and dreadful calamity, not to have a burial, but to be exposed to birds and beasts of prey; this was threatened to the Israelites, in case of disobedience to the law of God, ( Deuteronomy 28:26 ) and to the wicked Jews in the times of Jeremiah; and to that evil king of Judah, Jehoiakim, ( Jeremiah 16:4 ) ( Jeremiah 22:18 Jeremiah 22:19 ) and is lamented as one of the greatest evils that could befall good men, ( Psalms 79:2 ) , and nothing was more dreadful among the Heathens themselves; hence Homer ^F26, among the many calamities Achilles was the cause of to the Grecians, mentions this as one, that he was the means of giving the bodies of a great number of their heroes to the dogs, and to the fowls of the air; so Virgil ^F1 represents the want of a burial, and being left to be fed upon by birds of prey, as severe a punishment of a wicked man as can be wished for.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Iliad. 1. l. 4, 5.
F1 "----non te optima mater Condet humi, patriove onerrabit membra sepulchro Alitibus linquere feris". Aeneid. l. 10.

Ezekiel 39:4 In-Context

2 And I shall lead thee about, and I shall deceive thee, and I shall make thee to go up from the sides of the north, and I shall bring thee on(to) the hills of Israel.

3 And I shall smite thy bow in thy left hand, and I shall cast down thine arrows from thy right hand. (And I shall strike thy bow in thy left hand, and I shall throw down thy arrows from thy right hand.)

4 Thou shalt fall down on the hills of Israel, thou, and all thy companies, and peoples that be with thee; I gave thee for to be devoured to wild beasts, to birds, and to each volatile, and to the beasts of the earth. (Thou shalt fall down on the hills of Israel, thou, and all thy companies, and the peoples who be with thee; I gave thee up to be devoured by the wild beasts, and by the birds, yea, by every bird, and by the beasts of the field.)

5 Thou shalt fall down on the face of the field; for I the Lord have spoken, saith the Lord God.

6 And I shall send fire in Magog, and in them that dwell trustily in isles (And I shall send fire upon Magog, and upon those who live in trust on the islands); and they shall know, that I am the Lord God of Israel.