Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the invading commander immediately after the charge to prepare for war, positioning the prophecy between the call to mobilize and the description of the army's advance. The text marks a delayed campaign directed toward a restored Israel.
The words — The Hebrew תִּפָּקֵד (ti.pa.Ked) literally means "you will be mustered," and בְּאַחֲרִית הַשָּׁנִים (be./'a.cha.Rit ha./sha.Nim) translates to "at the end of the years." These terms anchor the timeline of the military movement.
The thread — The delayed summons and "latter years" motif reappears in Isaiah 24:22 and Ezekiel 38:16, while the description of the target population matches the "quiet people who dwell securely" noted in Ezekiel 38:11. These passages collectively frame a future invasion against a repatriated Israel.
Why it lands — The text states that the invading force will be summoned after a long delay to attack a land that has recovered from war and now houses a secure, gathered population. It asks the reader to recognize a specific chronological marker for a geopolitical confrontation before any allegorical application.
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
After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 24:22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days.
- Ezekiel 38:16 You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.
- 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—
- Jeremiah 23:6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
- Ezekiel 34:13 I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land.
- Ezekiel 36:1 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD.
- Amos 9:14 I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Genesis 49:1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:
- Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Numbers 24:14 Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.”