Bible Strands
Ezekiel 36:5
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD addresses the mountains of Israel through Ezekiel, responding to the nations and Edom who have plundered the land with contempt. This declaration functions as a judicial pronouncement within a broader oracle concerning the restoration and judgment surrounding the land of Israel.
The words — The Hebrew כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה יְהוִה (koh-'amar Yahweh Yahweh) translates literally as "thus says the Lord Yahweh," establishing divine authority for the subsequent pronouncement. The phrase בְּאֵשׁ (be-'esh) denotes "in fire," describing the manner of God's zeal.
The thread — God's burning zeal against plundering nations echoes Deuteronomy 4:24's description of the Lord as a consuming fire, while the theme of enemy gloating and divine reversal aligns with Micah 7:8. The structural repetition of "therefore this is what the Lord GOD says" links this verse directly to Ezekiel 36:3 and 36:6.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that territorial injustice will be met with divine judgment rather than human retaliation. It requires the reader to recognize that God's zeal operates independently of human approval and directly addresses the violation of His designated land.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 36:3 therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers,
- Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Psalms 83:4 saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
- Psalms 137:7 Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Jeremiah 25:15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
- Ezekiel 38:19 In My zeal and fiery rage I proclaim that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
- Zechariah 1:15 but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
- Proverbs 17:5 He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.