Ezekiel 39:17-20

17-20. “Among the Semites the law of the sacrificial feast was open-handed hospitality; no sacrifice was complete without guests, and portions were freely distributed to rich and poor within the circle of a man’s acquaintance.” W.R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 236. The heathen hosts who had come against Israel had been accustomed to such feasts, at which, surrounded by their invited guests, they mocked at Jehovah and praised their idols; but now they themselves are the victims sacrificed (Ezekiel 39:18), and the invited guests (their only friends now) are the unclean and ravenous birds and beasts of prey (Ezekiel 39:17; compare also Zephaniah 1:7-8; Isaiah 34:6; Revelation 19:17-21; and Milligan, Expositor, 6:17, 129). Perhaps the “chariots” upon which the vultures feed (Ezekiel 39:20) is a term used for “riding beasts,” as in Isaiah 31:7; Isaiah 31:9 (Davidson).