Bible Strands
Ezekiel 39:4
On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to announce judgment on a defeated military force. This declaration follows the immediate strike against the enemy's bow and arrows, marking a moment of total divine intervention.
The words — The Hebrew תִּפּוֹל (ti.Pol) literally means "you will fall," while אֲגַפֶּיךָ ('a.ga.Pei.kha) translates to "your wings" or "your troops." The phrase עַל־הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ('al-ha.rei Yis.ra.'El) fixes the location as "on the mountains of Israel."
The thread — The motif of defeat on Israel's high ground and exposure to scavengers runs directly into Ezekiel 32:4, where God hurls the target to the open field for birds. The pattern of ruin by the sword also mirrors Ezekiel 33:27.
Why it lands — The text states that the speaker and his entire force will fall on Israel's mountains and become food for scavengers. It requires the reader to acknowledge that military strength collapses under divine strike and that opposing God's declared will guarantees total consumption.
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
Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 33:27 Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague.
- Ezekiel 39:17 And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.
- Ezekiel 32:4 I will abandon you on the land and hurl you into the open field. I will cause all the birds of the air to settle upon you, and all the beasts of the earth to eat their fill of you.
- Ezekiel 38:21 And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother.
- Revelation 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
- Isaiah 34:2 The LORD is angry with all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will devote them to destruction; He will give them over to slaughter.
- Jeremiah 15:3 I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
- Ezekiel 29:5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.