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Ezekiel 35

KJV · Chapter 35/48

1Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

3And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.

4I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

5Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:

6Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.

7Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth.

8And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.

9I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

10Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there:

11Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.

12And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.

13Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.

14Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.

15As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God announces judgment specifically against Mount Seir (Edom) because of its perpetual enmity and violence against Israel, especially for rejoicing and trying to seize its land during Judah's disgrace.

Explanation

Edom, a descendant of Esau, had a centuries-old historical rivalry with Israel, going back to the dispute between the twin brothers Jacob and Esau in Genesis. Edom's specific sin here is not merely old hatred but cruel opportunism: taking advantage of Judah's moment of extreme weakness to try to seize its land. This connects with accounts from other prophets (Obadiah, Psalm 137) who also strongly condemn Edom's attitude during the fall of Jerusalem. The timeless lesson concerns the seriousness of taking advantage of another's misfortune, especially when a bond of kinship or closeness should have produced solidarity instead.

Fun facts

  • 'Mount Seir' was the mountainous territory southeast of the Dead Sea, an arid and rocky region that corresponds roughly to the south of modern Jordan.
  • The short book of Obadiah is devoted entirely to this same judgment against Edom for the same historical reason, showing how deeply this episode marked Israel's prophetic memory.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezekiel 35:1The formula that opens a new section, returning to the format of an oracle against a nation — this time against Mount Seir, the territory of Edom.
  2. Ezekiel 35:2The order to prophesy against Seir, following the same structure used in the earlier oracles against Ammon, Moab, and the other neighboring nations.
  3. Ezekiel 35:3The announcement of judgment: God sets Himself against Mount Seir, which would become a desolation and a horror, the same fate as Edom in chapter 25.
  4. Ezekiel 35:4The Edomite cities would be left deserted — the same pattern of total devastation already seen in the oracles against the other nations in this block.
  5. Ezekiel 35:5‘A perpetual hatred’ and ‘thou hast not hated blood’ describe Edom as a people who kept up an old grudge against Israel despite being close kin, descended from Esau — the blood-for-blood accusation uses the very logic of vengeance Edom itself applied.
  6. Ezekiel 35:6God promises that ‘blood shall pursue thee’ against Edom, since that people did not care about the blood it shed — a play between the violence it practiced and the fate it would receive.
  7. Ezekiel 35:7Complete devastation is foretold: no one would pass through the region anymore, coming or going, as though the land had been wiped off the map.
  8. Ezekiel 35:8The Edomite dead would fill their own mountains, hills, and valleys — an inverted image: the one who caused so much death is now covered by it.
  9. Ezekiel 35:9The devastation is declared permanent, with no rebuilding of the cities — the same final fate already given to Tyre in the earlier chapters.
  10. Ezekiel 35:10Edom’s own statement, ‘these two nations and these two countries shall be mine,’ shows the real motivation behind the hostility: taking advantage of Judah’s weakness to seize territory, not just nursing an old grudge.
  11. Ezekiel 35:11God promises to treat Edom with the same intensity of hatred and envy that Edom used against Israel — an explicit principle of reciprocity.
  12. Ezekiel 35:12God says He heard Edom’s taunts, celebrating Israel’s desolate mountains as though they were free land for the taking.
  13. Ezekiel 35:13It reinforces that God heard everything Edom said against Him, proudly and provocatively, with nothing going unnoticed.
  14. Ezekiel 35:14The announcement of judgment: while the rest of the earth would rejoice at the justice done, Mount Seir itself would be left desolate.
  15. Ezekiel 35:15The chapter’s conclusion: just as Edom rejoiced at Israel’s misfortune, it would suffer the same misfortune — the same logic of retributive justice used throughout this whole block.

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