Ezekiel 25:12

12. Edom The Edomites (Assyrian, Udumu) were a Semitic race closely related to the Hebrews, whose law required them to be loved as a “brother” and given special temple privileges (Deuteronomy 23:7-8). The name, according to Sayce, means “red skins,” which would separate them from the fairer Hebrews and Amorites. They had conquered a strip of country about Mount Seir (Deuteronomy 2:22), and were a very powerful nation until conquered by Ramman-Nirari (806-797 B.C.). They, like their brothers, the Israelites, had adopted the “language of Canaan,” and though their libraries have not yet been discovered, some scholars think traces of their literature may be seen in the lists of Edomite princes (Genesis 36:0), and perhaps also in Job and the Proverbs of Lemuel. Notwithstanding their close relationship, Edom and Israel were frequently at war ( 2Ki 8:20 ; 2 Kings 14:7; 2 Kings 14:22; 2 Kings 16:6; 2 Chronicles 28:17). These sons of Esau had “hatred of old” (Ezekiel 35:5) for the sons of Jacob, and exulted with great joy when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans, perhaps assisting in the city’s overthrow (Joel 3:19; <19D707>Psalms 137:7; Amos 1:11; Obadiah 1:11). During the Maccabean war they continued hostile to the Jews. “Ultimately, like Moab and Ammon, the name of Edom disappears from history, all the three peoples being known by the general name of Arabs children of the East as Ezekiel had prophesied.” Davidson.