Ezekiel 36:5 - Exposition

Surely . אִם־לא , the particle of adjuration, as in Ezekiel 5:11 ; Ezekiel 33:27 ; Ezekiel 34:8 ; Ezekiel 38:19 . The fire of my jealousy . Zephaniah ( Zephaniah 1:18 ; Zephaniah 3:8 ) uses the same phrase. Similar expressions occur in Ezekiel 21:31 , "the fire of my wrath;" and Ezekiel 38:19 , "in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath" (comp. Deuteronomy 4:24 ). Against all Idumea . Edom. As in Ezekiel 35:15 , so here, it is the wickedness, more especially of the Edomites, that excites the prophet's indignation. They had not only concluded that Israel's territory should be to them for a possession, but they had done so with the joy of all their heart, and with despiteful minds ; or, with contempt of soul (comp. Ezekiel 25:6 , Ezekiel 25:15 ); i.e. with deadly (Ewald) or hearty (Smend) contempt. "The temper of the Edomites ," writes Plumptre, "might almost serve as the regulative instance of the form of evil for which Aristotle ('Eth. Nit.,' 2, 7, 15) seems to have coined the word ἐπιχαιρεκακία , the temper which rejoices in the ills that fall on others." The concluding clause, to cast it out for a prey , has been differently rendered.