Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 36:2
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
2. Cf. Eze 25:3, Eze 26:2.
ancient high places ] “High places” is not used here in the usual religious sense of rural sanctuaries, but said of the mountain land of Israel, cf. Deu 32:13; Mic 3:12. On ancient or “eternal” as an epithet of mountains cf. Gen 49:26; Deu 33:15; Psa 24:7. For “high places” LXX. reads “wastes,” cf. perpetual desolations, Eze 35:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 2. Because the enemy hath said] The Idumeans thought they would shortly be put in possession of all the strong places of Israel; the ancient high places shall be ours.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Many were the enemies of Gods people, but they so conspired in one design, with one consent, and were so one in their humours, and enmity, and carriage, that the prophet speaks of them as one, and particularly of Edom.
Aha; rejoicingly and with insulting pride, as Ammon did, Eze 25:3, and Tyre did, Eze 26:2, which see.
The ancient high places; the everlasting hills; but this is common with other hills, whose foundations, as these of Israel, are from the beginning, and shall be to the end. What they aim at is a deriding of Israel, who by promise from God claimed these mountains as a perpetual inheritance, but were now cast out of it, and they hereby tax the God of Israel as not keeping his promise. So they blaspheme God and insult over his people.
Ours; our right, as of the elder house, now conquerors and feudatories to him that hath subdued them; thus they pretend right to justify their injustice.
In possession; we are now where we should have been these one thousand one hundred and sixty years or more, where we thought we would be one time or other, in spite of them and all their boasts of their God; we are where we will keep, and none shall put us out. Such impious brags were their ruin, and are implied in the words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Thus saith the Lord God,…. By the mouth of the prophet, who was bid to prophesy:
because the enemy had said against you, aha: rejoicing at the calamity of God’s people, particularly the Edomites or Idumeans, as in the preceding chapter; and who are chiefly meant; and also the Ammonites and Tyrians, Eze 25:3:
even the ancient high places are ours in possession; or, “the high places of the world shall be unto us for a possession” f; the land of Israel, according to Kimchi and others, was the highest part of the world, Jerusalem the highest part of that land, and the temple was built on the highest part of the city; and all these the Edomites claimed as their own, the land, city, and temple, and thought themselves sure of the same, as if they had them in actual possession; even the hilly part of the country, which had been so from the creation, and where stood many of the fortified and frontier towns and cities; which as strong as they were, or had been, they fancied would easily fall into their hands, now such desolations were made in the land.
f “excelsa seculi haereditario jure futura sunt nobis”, Junius Tremellius, Polanus “celsa seculi haereditas evenit nobis”, Cocceius, Starckius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(2) The ancient high places.This is very nearly the same expression as in Gen. 49:26; Deu. 33:15, where it is translated everlasting (or lasting) hills, and is probably an allusion to those passages. The enemy is a general term, which may refer to Edom; but from the following verses it is more likely that it is used for the heathen at large. When Israels land had been left desolate, the surrounding nations claimed that Gods promise to His people had failed, and that they themselves might now enter upon its secure possession.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Aha, even the ancient high places “Aha! and, The” (R.V.). Compare Eze 25:3; Eze 26:2; Eze 35:10. The “high places” and “lasting hills” (Deu 32:13; Deu 33:15) stood for the most sacred and best protected parts of the land.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 36:2. Because the enemy hath said This prophesy is a continuance of that preceding. The Idumeans had made their boast, that they should become masters of the mountainous parts of Judaea, where the ancient fortresses were placed, which commanded all the rest of the country. See Lowth and Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 36:2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
Ver. 2. Because the enemy hath said. ] The Church fareth the better for her enemies petulancies and insolencies against her.
Even the ancient high places.
Are ours in possession.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Lord GOD. Hebrew. Adonai Jehovah. See note on Eze 2:4.
the enemy. Note the Structure above.
hath said. The 1611 edition of the Authorized Version reads “had said”
the ancient high places = the everlasting hills, promised to Israel (Gen 49:26. Deu 13:13; Deu 33:15).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Because: Eze 36:5, Eze 25:3, Eze 26:2
even: Deu 32:13, Psa 78:69, Isa 58:14, Hab 3:19
ours: Eze 35:10, Jer 49:1
Reciprocal: Job 39:25 – ha Psa 70:3 – aha Psa 87:3 – Glorious Jer 24:9 – to be a Jer 30:17 – they Jer 33:24 – thus Jer 48:27 – was not Eze 35:12 – they are given Eze 35:15 – didst Zep 2:8 – the revilings
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Verse 2. The land of Palestine had been made desolate by the heathen nations, the Assyrians and Babylonians, and they were boasting about it as if It had been solely through their own superior strength that it was accomplished. Aha is an expression that implies a feeling of derision and triumph.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 36:2-7. Because the enemy hath said, &c. This prophecy appears to be a continuation of the preceding. The Idumeans have made their boasts (see Eze 36:5, and Eze 35:10) that they should become masters of the mountainous parts of Judea, where the ancient fortresses were placed which commanded all the rest of the country. Lowth. And ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, &c. Your calamities have made you become a proverb, a by-word, and a reproach among the heathen round about you, according to the threatenings of the prophets denounced against you: see the margin. Thus saith the Lord to the mountains, &c., which became a prey to the residue of the heathen To those heathen that were left after the general desolations threatened to the neighbouring countries, Moab, Edom, Ammon, &c. Surely in the fire of my jealousy In that fervent zeal and concern that I have for my own honour, which is blasphemed among the heathen; have I spoken against the residue of the heathen Against all the nations that are and have been enemies to Israel; against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession Who have fully expected to get the dominion of my land, and be the sole possessors of it. Because ye have borne the shame of the heathen Because the heathen nations have made a scoff of you; therefore I have lifted up my hand I have sworn, or absolutely determined: see Gen 14:22. Surely the heathen that are about you shall bear their shame The heathen nations around, that have made a mock of you, shall be mocked themselves, and be as much held in contempt as they have held you.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
36:2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the {a} enemy had said against you, Aha, even the ancient {b} high places are ours in possession:
(a) That is, the Idumean.
(b) That is Jerusalem, which for God’s promises was the chief of all the world.