Ezekiel 38:11

You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a quiet people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates—

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord declares through Ezekiel that Gog will formulate an evil plan on a future day, specifically voicing a strategic assessment of his target.

The words — אֶֽעֱלֶה ('e.'e.Leh) translates literally to “I will go up,” and הַ/שֹּׁקְטִ֔ים (ha./Sho.ke.Tim) denotes “those at peace.”

The thread — The motif of attacking a defenseless, secure population appears in Zechariah 2:4, Exodus 15:9, and Judges 18:7.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize that human confidence in physical security without divine protection precedes judgment.

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

וְאָמַרְתָּ֗ve./'a.mar.Taand/ you will say אֶֽעֱלֶה֙'e.'e.LehI will go up עַל־'al-on אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retza land of פְּרָז֔וֹתpe.ra.Zotvillages אָבוֹא֙'a.Vo'I will go הַשֹּׁ֣קְטִ֔יםha./Sho.ke.Timthose/ at peace יֹשְׁבֵ֖יyo.she.Vei[who] dwell לָבֶ֑טַחla./Ve.tachto/ security כֻּלָּ֗םku.La/mall of/ them יֹֽשְׁבִים֙yo.she.Vim[are] dwelling בְּאֵ֣יןbe./'Einwith/ not חוֹמָ֔הcho.Maha wall וּבְרִ֥יחַu./ve.Ri.achand/ bar[s]וּדְלָתַ֖יִםu./de.la.Ta.yimand/ gates אֵ֥ין'einnotלָהֶֽם׃la./Hem[belong] to/ them

King James Version

And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

Cross-references

Zechariah 2:4 and said to him, “Run and tell that young man: ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the multitude of men and livestock within it.
Exodus 15:9 The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
Judges 18:7 So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.
Judges 18:27 After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.
Psalms 10:9 He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.
Proverbs 1:11 If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,
Proverbs 3:29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you.
Isaiah 37:24 Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
Jeremiah 49:31 Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, one that dwells securely,” declares the LORD. “They have no gates or bars; they live alone.
Ezekiel 38:8 After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely.