Yehezkiel 38:3-9

38:3 and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, ¹  I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 38:4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them fully armed, a great company with shields of different types, ²  all of them armed with swords. 38:5 Persia, ³  Ethiopia, and Put ⁴  are with them, all of them with shields and helmets. 38:6 They are joined by ⁵  Gomer with all its troops, and by Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops – many peoples are with you. ⁶ 

38:7 “‘Be ready and stay ready, you and all your companies assembled around you, and be a guard for them. ⁷  38:8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, ⁸  with many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people ⁹  were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely. 38:9 You will advance; ¹⁰  you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you.

[38:3]  ¹ tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.

[38:4]  ² sn The Hebrew text mentions two different types of shields here.

[38:5]  ³ tn D. I. Block prefers to see the Hebrew word as referring here to a western ally of Egypt or as an alternative spelling for Pathros, that is, Upper Egypt. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:439-40.

[38:5]  ⁴ sn That is, Lydia.

[38:6]  ⁵ tn The words “they are joined by” are added in the translation for purposes of English style.

[38:6]  ⁶ sn The seven-nation coalition represents the north (Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, Beth-Togarmah), the south/west (Ethiopia, Put) and the east (Persia). The use of the sevenfold list suggests completeness. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:441.

[38:7]  ⁷ tn The second person singular verbal and pronominal forms in the Hebrew text indicate that Gog is addressed here.

[38:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the sword.”

[38:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “it.”

[38:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “go up.”