Yehezkiel 39:1-16

39:1 “As for you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal! 39:2 I will turn you around and drag you along; ¹  I will lead you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 39:3 I will knock your bow out of your left hand and make your arrows fall from your right hand. 39:4 You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I give you as food to every kind of bird and every wild beast. 39:5 You will fall dead in the open field; for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord. 39:6 I will send fire on Magog and those who live securely in the coastlands; then they will know that I am the Lord.

39:7 “‘I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ²  39:8 Realize that it is coming and it will be done, declares the sovereign Lord. It is the day I have spoken about.

39:9 “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and use the weapons for kindling ³  – the shields, ⁴  bows and arrows, war clubs and spears – they will burn them for seven years. 39:10 They will not need to take ⁵  wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, ⁶  declares the sovereign Lord.

39:11 “‘On that day I will assign Gog a grave in Israel. It will be the valley of those who travel east of the sea; it will block the way of the travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde; they will call it the valley of Hamon-Gog. ⁷  39:12 For seven months Israel ⁸  will bury them, in order to cleanse the land. 39:13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will be a memorial ⁹  for them on the day I magnify myself, declares the sovereign Lord. 39:14 They will designate men to scout continually ¹⁰  through the land, burying those who remain on the surface of the ground, ¹¹  in order to cleanse it. They will search for seven full months. 39:15 When the scouts survey ¹²  the land and see a human bone, they will place a sign by it, until those assigned to burial duty have buried it ¹³  in the valley of Hamon-Gog. 39:16 (A city by the name of Hamonah ¹⁴  will also be there.) They will cleanse the land.’

[39:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew root occurs only here in the OT. An apparent cognate in the Ethiopic language means “walk along.” For a discussion of the research on this verb, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:460.

[39:7]  ² sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

[39:9]  ³ tn Heb “burn and kindle the weapons.”

[39:9]  ⁴ tn Two different types of shields are specified in the Hebrew text.

[39:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “they will not carry.”

[39:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “loot their looters and plunder their plunderers.”

[39:11]  ⁷ tn The name means “horde of Gog.”

[39:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the house of Israel.”

[39:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “name.”

[39:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “men of perpetuity.”

[39:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and bury the travelers and those who remain on the surface of the ground.” The reference to “travelers” seems odd and is omitted in the LXX. It is probably an accidental duplication (see v. 11).

[39:15]  ¹² tn Heb “as the scouts scout.”

[39:15]  ¹³ tn That is, the aforementioned bone.

[39:16]  ¹⁴ tn This name appears to be a feminine form of the word “horde,” used in the name Hamon-Gog.