Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 38:4
And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armor, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
4. I will turn thee back ] Either: I will turn thee about, or, I will lead thee. The sense entice or “decoy” (Ew.) has scarcely evidence (Isa 47:10). The clause “and I will turn jaws” is wanting in LXX. Putting hooks into the jaws suggests unwillingness and compulsion (ch. Eze 29:4; 2Ki 19:28), whereas Gog comes up of his own accord. This, however, is not quite conclusive, as Jehovah is leading him on to his destruction.
with all sorts of armour] Rather: clothed gorgeously (cf. Eze 23:12), or, in full armour (R.V.). The host of Gog is probably not exclusively cavalry, though these are specially mentioned; and besides their vast numbers their splendid uniforms and heavy armour are vividly pictured.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
With all sorts – Or, gorgeously; see the marginal reference. Omit of armor.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. I will turn thee back] Thy enterprise shall fail.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will turn thee back: the words seem to imply a diverting him from some other enterprise, or else intimate to us, when that mighty power come out, that they are still under Gods control, and he will turn them back from what they intended, that they shall not effect it.
Hooks: see this expression Eze 29:4.
I will bring thee forth; so dispose affairs, thou shalt leave thine own country to invade, and spoil, and destroy.
All thy army; the whole power thou canst make.
Horses; those nations, Sarmatee, or Scythians, Cappadocians, &c., or which comprise all the Turks and Tartars, are to this day strong in horse, and their armies consist much of horsemen.
All of them clothed; their leaders both rich and gaudy, yet well armed, and their soldiers well provided too, and we know how they and other antichristian soldiers march with all warlike provisions.
A great company; in vast armies, far greater than any of their neighbours can bring out against them.
Bucklers for their foot, and
shields for their horsemen, as Servius observes the difference between the two Latin words scutum and clypeus, if not misreported. I doubt whether the Hebrew words do so differ; however, these were for defence of those that bear them, and to this day the Tartars use oblong shields for defence on horseback, as the figures represent them to our eye.
Handling swords; that is, very ready, expert, and strong in using the sword; this to slay the enemies, as the other to save themselves.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. turn thee backas arefractory wild beast, which thinks to take its own way, but is bentby a superior power to turn on a course which must end in itsdestruction. Satan shall be, by overruling Providence, permitted todeceive them to their ruin (Rev 20:7;Rev 20:8).
hooks into thy jaws(Eze 29:4; 2Ki 19:28).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,…. Or, I will put hooks in thy jaws, and with them turn thee back; or rather, “turn thee about” f; and lead thee where and as I please; for this is not to be understood of God’s putting hooks into his jaws, and leading him back from his enterprise of invading the land of Judea; as he put a hook in the nose and a bridle in the lips of the king of Assyria, and brought him back from Jerusalem, Isa 37:29, but of his using him thus in his providence to draw him to the land of Israel, out of his own land, as fishes are drawn with the hook out of the water. The sense is, that he would so work upon and influence the heart of Gog, that he should be inclined to come out of his own land and invade Judea; just as the Lord is said to draw Sisera and his army, Jud 4:7, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe. So the Targum,
“I will persuade thee, and put hooks in thy jaws;”
that is, incline his heart to take such a step, which should be to his destruction:
and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army; all his janizaries, and large army out of Turkey, and other parts of his dominions:
horses and horsemen; the Turkish armies, chiefly consisting of cavalry;
[See comments on Re 9:16]:
all of them clothed with all sorts of [armour]; or completely clothed, as the Targum; for the word “armour” is not in the text; and besides, their armour is particularly mentioned afterwards; and so Kimchi has it, with all kind of ornaments, richly clothed and decorated, especially the principal officers, and, so made a fine show: even a
great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords; or large armies, as the Targum; the Turks have always been used to bring prodigious large armies into the field; [See comments on Re 9:16].
f “circumducam te”, Piscator; “circumagam te”, Grotius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) I will turn thee back.This is the more common meaning of the word; but if this meaning be retained here, it is not to be taken in the sense of turning back from the holy land, but rather, in connection with the figure of the next clause, of turning away the wild beast from his natural inclination to the fulfilment of Gods purpose. It is better, however, to take it in the sense in which it is used in Isa. 47:10 (perverted) and Jer. 8:5 (slidden back; comp. Eze. 1:6), I will lead thee astray. In Rev. 20:8, this leading astray of the nations is ascribed to Satan, just as in 2Sa. 24:1, God, and in 1Ch. 21:1, Satan, are said to move David to number the people; in either case God is said to do that which He allows to be done by Satan. For the same Divine gathering of the nations against Gods people see Joe. 3:2; Zec. 14:2-3.
Hooks into thy jaws.See the same figure in Eze. 29:4.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Put hooks into thy jaws So the Pharaonic “dragon” was pulled out of the Nile (Eze 29:4). On the Assyrian monuments the king of Tyre (Baal) and the king of Egypt (Tirhakah) are represented as led by the great king Esar-haddon by cords attached to rings or hooks through their lips or jaws. (Compare Isa 37:29.) The figure represents control by a superior power.
With all sorts of armor Rather, “in full armor” (R.V.), or, “gorgeously” (Eze 23:12).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And I will turn you about, and put hooks in your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all you army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armour, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords. Persia, Cush and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet, Gomer and all his hordes, the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes, even many peoples with you.”
This vivid description reveals that Yahweh is at all times totally in control. At present all was under control under the hand of Babylon (who were also under Yahweh’s control as we have seen), but Ezekiel foresees the time when Babylon will be no more, and when Yahweh will then allow these terrible, mysterious distant forces to be released against His people, and against His eternal inheritance. But it will still be under Yahweh’s hand, for it is He Who will turn them about and put hooks in their jaws (compare Eze 29:4 where it is treatment for one who made arrogant claims). The picture is drawn from hunting. They will act as captured wild beasts under His control, roaring lions waiting to devour. Notice how the might and remoteness of the forces are emphasised.
However, the fact that this is Yahweh’s doing does not take away from the responsibility of the agents. They are free agents. They do what they will. It is just that Yahweh allows them to do so and uses it in His purposes. They do His will whether they want to or not. Man boasts in his freedom, but he is really subject to the will of the Almighty.
The fact of the universality of the forces and the fact that they come against an eternal kingdom (Eze 37:26-28) may warn us not to take the whole picture too literally. This is no local invasion. It is a combination of ‘worldwide’ forces from the far reaches of the world against the whole people of God (compare Rev 20:9), pictured in the only way available to Ezekiel with his limited conceptions. (Such a force would hardly really be necessary for the invasion of a small country like Palestine with unwalled villages, without bars or gates. On the other hand with troubles in Egypt the Persians may well have amassed an army and called in on Israel and the surrounding nations so as to ensure their neutrality, on the way).
Note the stress on the fact that they are fully and powerfully armed, and the places where they come from. Persia, at the time of Ezekiel the rising power beyond Babylon; Cush and Put (Gen 10:6), probably to be seen as representing Northern Sudan and Libya in North Africa in the extremes of the south; Gomer (possibly the Cimmerians from the Black Sea area) and Togarmah (possibly Tegarama, the capital of Kammanu) (Gen 10:2-3), representing the other peoples of the north. They are the peoples who live at the extremes of Ezekiel’s knowledge. Unless Magog is Babylon, Babylon and Egypt are deliberately ignored, which would stress the futuristic nature of the description. They were regular enemies. There was no mystery about them. But if Magog is Babylon, and the action takes place due to Egypt’s rebellion, then their absence is explained.
The contrast is with the people of God, dwelling securely in unwalled villages, without walls, bars or gates (Eze 38:10), in other words with no outward means of defence. This is a picture that is equally as extravagant as that of the huge armies. It is the seemingly totally defenceless against the greatest power that Ezekiel could conceive of once Babylon’s empire had gone (and at this time Babylon was seen by Jeremiah and Ezekiel as a friendly power in God’s purposes). It is hell let loose. And this is against the people of God described in Eze 37:26-28 which as we have seen depicts the growth of the Kingly Rule of God and of the church of Christ, the new Israel who are the temple of God in the world, leading on to the eternal state.
Thus behind this picture, deliberately rooted to earth to prevent confusion with the gods, is the fact of the forces of darkness pitted against the people of God. But the latter needed to do nothing. They were under the protection of Yahweh. (It is possibly not without significance that the areas named have been the places where the people of God have suffered the greatest of persecutions since the Muslim expansion and conquests).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 38:4. And I will turn And I will turn thee about, and put hooks into thy jaws, after I have brought thee forth, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 38:4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
Ver. 4. And I will turn thee back. ] As he did Antiochus Epiphanes by the Jews; the Turks oft by Hunniades; the Pope’s forces by the Hussites in Germany, and lately by the Swedes. It hath been long ago foretold, and for many ages believed, and by the Turks themselves not a little feared, that the Mohammedan superstition, by the sword begun, and by the sword maintained, shall at length, by the Christian sword, also be destroyed, so that the name of Gog and Magog, saith the historian, a shall be no more heard of under heaven. A cold sweat also stands at this time upon the limbs of the western antichrist, by reason of the growing greatness of the Protestant princes.
And put hooks into thy jaws.
And I will bring thee.
a Turkish History, 1153.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
turn thee back: or, lead thee away enticingly. Compare Isa 47:10 (perverted). Jer 50:6. See the Oxford Gesenius.
put hooks, &c. Compare Isa 37:29. Hebrew “curbs”.
army, Hebrew “power”; put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for army, as translated.
company = gathered host. Compare Eze 16:40.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will turn: Eze 29:4, Eze 39:2, 2Ki 19:28, Isa 37:29
horses: Eze 38:15, Dan 11:40
all of them: Eze 23:12
handling: 1Ch 12:8, 2Ch 25:5, Jer 46:9
Reciprocal: 1Ki 13:2 – O altar Eze 13:8 – behold Eze 39:20 – General Zec 12:4 – I will smite Rev 9:16 – horsemen
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 38:4. This verse predicts the counterattack that God will make against this army from the northern territory. After having rescued His people from captivity and settled them in their own land, certainly a rude force like this rough and uncivil horde will not be permitted to interfere with the peace of the country.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 38:4-6. I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws I will disappoint all thy designs, and turn thee about as easily as a fisherman masters a great fish, when he hath once fastened the hook into its jaws: see Eze 29:4. And I will bring thee forth Or, after I have brought thee forth; that is, after I have so disposed matters that thou hast been induced to come forth out of thine own country, to invade, spoil, and destroy other countries. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them As their allies. Ethiopia and Libya are called Cush and Phut in the Hebrew, and are joined together as allies, Eze 30:5, where see the note. The Persians are in like manner joined with Africans, Eze 27:10. All of them with shield and helmet So the Libyans, or people of Phut, are described, Jer 46:9, as handling the shield, that is, being remarkable for their great and large shields, as Xenophon relates of them, Cyropd., lib. 6. Gomer and all his bands Gomer is joined with Magog, Gen 10:2, and probably here signifies Galatia, Phrygia, and Bithynia, which, with Cappadocia, denoted by Togarmah, comprehend all the northern parts of Asia Minor, which border upon the Euxine sea. Concerning Togarmah, see note on Eze 27:14. And many people with thee Those of Cilicia, Pamphylia, and other nations inhabiting Asia Minor.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
38:4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thy army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of them {b} handling swords:
(b) He shows that the enemy would bend themselves against the Church but it would be to their own destruction.