The Prophets · Old Testament
Ezekiel 39
Ezekiel 39: Gog's fall, the burial at Hamon-gog and Israel's spirit poured out
General context
The prophet is again told to prophesy against Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. The Lord will turn him back, leave but a sixth part of him, bring him from the north parts onto the mountains of Israel, strike the bow and arrows from his hands, and give him and his bands to birds and beasts on the open field. He will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell carelessly in the isles, and will not let his holy name be polluted any more. "Behold, it is come, and it is done". The people of Israel's cities will burn the shields, bows, arrows, handstaves and spears for seven years, and will spoil those who spoiled them. Gog will be given a place of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers east of the sea, to be called the valley of Hamon-gog. Israel will spend seven months burying to cleanse the land; a passer-by who sees a bone will set up a sign for the buriers, and a city will be named Hamonah. Birds and beasts are summoned to the Lord's sacrifice on the mountains of Israel to eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of princes, described as rams, lambs, goats and fatlings of Bashan, and to be filled at his table with horses and men of war. The Lord will set his glory among the heathen; Israel will know him from that day, and the heathen will know that Israel went into captivity for its iniquity, because he hid his face and gave them to their enemies. Now he will bring again the captivity of Jacob, have mercy on the whole house of Israel, gather them leaving none behind, and hide his face no more, having poured out his spirit on them.
Cited passages: Ezekiel 39:1, Ezekiel 39:2, Ezekiel 39:3, Ezekiel 39:4, Ezekiel 39:6, Ezekiel 39:7, Ezekiel 39:8, Ezekiel 39:9, Ezekiel 39:10, Ezekiel 39:11, Ezekiel 39:12, Ezekiel 39:14, Ezekiel 39:15, Ezekiel 39:16, Ezekiel 39:17, Ezekiel 39:18, Ezekiel 39:20, Ezekiel 39:21, Ezekiel 39:23, Ezekiel 39:25, Ezekiel 39:28, Ezekiel 39:29
Ezekiel 39 (KJV)
1Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
2And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4Thou 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.
5Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
6And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
7So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
8Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
9And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
10So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God.
11And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon-gog.
12And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
13Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.
14And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.
16And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.
21And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.
23And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
24According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;
26After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
27When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.
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Historical context
The chapter continues the Gog oracle without a new introduction or date, opening "Therefore, thou son of man". Gog keeps the same description, "the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal", and is again said to come "from the north parts". The phrase "leave but the sixth part of thee" is stated without explanation. The numbers are the text's own: weapons burned for seven years, burial for seven months, a search after the seven months. The burial place is described as "the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea", and the names Hamon-gog and Hamonah are given by the text as names that will be assigned; the sea is not identified. The feast for birds and beasts is spoken of as the Lord's sacrifice and its victims are described in the vocabulary of sacrificial animals, but the text says plainly that the flesh is that of "the mighty" and "the princes of the earth". The closing verses look back on the captivity and give its cause as Israel's iniquity and the Lord hiding his face. The statement that none are left among the heathen is the text's; it gives no time for the gathering.
Cited passages: Ezekiel 39:1, Ezekiel 39:2, Ezekiel 39:9, Ezekiel 39:14, Ezekiel 39:11, Ezekiel 39:16, Ezekiel 39:18, Ezekiel 39:24, Ezekiel 39:28
Literary context
The fall of Gog is told from the weapons outward. First the bow and arrows are struck from his hands; then the bodies lie on the open field; then Israel burns the abandoned weapons for seven years and buries the dead for seven months. The two sevens frame the aftermath and give it a slow, orderly rhythm after the violence. The theme of spoil is reversed from chapter 38: Gog came to take a spoil, and Israel "shall spoil those that spoiled them". The burial section is unusually procedural, with appointed buriers, a passer-by's sign beside a bone and a named valley and city, all under the heading of cleansing the land. The feast for birds and beasts inverts sacrifice: the Lord sets a table, but the animals eat and the mighty are the meal. The last section widens the lens from Gog to the whole story of captivity and return, repeating "hid my face" three times and ending with the face no longer hidden and the spirit poured out. That ending, with Israel settled and the name no longer polluted, prepares the way for the dated temple vision that begins in the next chapter.
Cited passages: Ezekiel 39:3, Ezekiel 39:5, Ezekiel 39:9, Ezekiel 39:12, Ezekiel 38:12, Ezekiel 39:10, Ezekiel 39:15, Ezekiel 39:20, Ezekiel 39:23, Ezekiel 39:29, Ezekiel 40:1
Key moments
- Bow struck from Gog's hand (Ezekiel 39:3). The Lord knocks the bow from Gog's left hand and the arrows from his right.
- It is come, and it is done (Ezekiel 39:8). The Lord declares that the day he spoke of has arrived.
- Weapons burned seven years (Ezekiel 39:9). Israel's cities burn Gog's shields, bows, arrows and spears for seven years.
- The valley of Hamon-gog (Ezekiel 39:11). Gog and his multitude are buried in the valley of the passengers, which is renamed.
- Seven months of burying (Ezekiel 39:12). The house of Israel spends seven months burying the dead to cleanse the land.
- A feast for birds and beasts (Ezekiel 39:17). Birds and beasts are summoned to eat flesh and drink blood at the Lord's sacrifice.
- My face hidden no more (Ezekiel 39:29). The Lord says he will not hide his face again, having poured out his spirit on Israel.
For reflection
After the battle, the text dwells on seven years of burning weapons and seven months of burying bodies, with signs set beside stray bones. Why might the account give this much attention to the clean-up rather than the victory?
