聖經註釋書

審判既從神的家起首，因此宣判審判的先知也就從他們開始；但審判不可止於此處，所以他們也不可止息。以西結已經完成了關乎耶路撒冷傾覆的見證；論到這事，他受命不可再多說，只要站在守望樓上等候結局；然而他不可緘默，因為以色列地四圍有許多鄰國，他必須向它們發預言，正如以賽亞和耶利米從前所行的一樣；並且要宣告神與它們的爭辯，主要是在神百姓遭難的日子，它們對神百姓所施加的欺凌與羞辱。在本章我們看到他的預言：一、論亞捫人，結 25:1-7。二、論摩押人，結 25:8-11。三、論以東人，結 25:11-14。四、論非利士人，結 25:15-17。控告他們各國的，就是他們對神的以色列所行的殘暴狂妄之舉，為此神威脅要把同樣那令人戰兢的杯交在他們手中。神如此為其百姓伸冤，正是要鼓勵以色列相信：雖然神如此嚴厲地對待他們，卻並沒有棄絕他們，仍要承認他們，並為他們辨屈。

This chapter contains threatenings of the heavy judgments of God against the Ammonites, Ezekiel 25:1-7; Moabites, Ezekiel 25:8-11; Edomites, Ezekiel 25:12-14; and Philistines, Ezekiel 25:15-17; on account of their hatred to his people, and their insulting them in the time of their distress. These prophecies were fulfilled by the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem. The same events were predicted by several of the other prophets, as may be seen from the citation of parallel texts in the margin.

INTRODUCTION TO Ezekiel 25

In this chapter the prophet foretells the judgments of God upon the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines, for their ill usage of the Jews; on the Ammonites, Ezekiel 25:1, on the Moabites, Ezekiel 25:8, on the Edomites, Ezekiel 25:12, on the Philistines, Ezekiel 25:15.

XXV.

Prophecies concerning heathen nations, from the time of Balaam down, mark every period of Scripture history. Sometimes, as in the case of Jonah, Obadiah, and Nahum, the utterance of the seer is against a single nation; sometimes, as in the case of Joel, and possibly also in that of Amos, the prophecies against the heathen are merely incidental and subsidiary to those concerning Israel; and sometimes, as in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, they are collected in a special portion of the book. Balaam, Jonah, and to some extent Daniel, addressed their warnings directly to the nations concerned; but in most of the other instances it seems unlikely that the prophecies were ever communicated to the people to whom they directly related. In all cases they appear to have been given by God for the sake of His Church as well as for that of its enemies; even that of Jonah was given to Nineveh probably but a little time before the conquest of Israel, and must have impressed upon its haughty monarchs some respect for the God whose people they were soon to make captive; while those of Daniel were given to kings who already held the chosen people in captivity, and who were thereby compelled to make some acknowledgment of the reverence due to the God of Israel.

The reasons for the more general prophecies against the heathen must be sought in the special circumstances of each case in which they were uttered. In the present instance these reasons are not far to seek, for both the nations mentioned and the one omitted suggest a common purpose in the prophecy. Those mentioned are seven in number—Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt. All these were so far allies of Judah that they were in common hostility to Babylon; and it appears from Jeremiah 27:1-3 that an attempt had been made in the reign of Jehoiakim to unite five of them in a league against Babylon, while Egypt was continually looked to by the disobedient Jews for aid against their common enemy. It was, therefore, necessary for Israel to know that there was no help to be found against Babylon in any earthly power; all the enemies of Chaldæa were to fall alike. Moreover, it was important to show by these prophecies that the judgment about to come upon the surrounding heathen was from God, since it is thus made clear that all events are of His ordering, and hence that the punishment of His people also must be from His own hand. This was especially the place for the prophet to speak of these judgments when he had just finished his denunciations of wrath upon Israel, and when these denunciations were about to be fulfilled. Besides these general reasons, there were other special ones in the case of each nation. Egypt had been a broken reed piercing the hand of Judah as often as she leaned upon it; while of Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, and Tyre it is mentioned that they had exulted in the profanation of the Temple and the captivity of the people, and this especially from their hostility to the religion of Israel. It would help Israel to know that, while they were themselves punished for their unfaithfulness to their religion, those who altogether hated and rejected it were to suffer still more severely. It is remarkable that there is no prophecy in Ezekiel against Babylon, as there is in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others; for Babylon appears throughout this book as the executor of God’s judgments upon His people, and the effect of this would have been marred by the mention of her own ultimate punishment. For the present, all her enemies are to be overthrown, and she remains in strength; although she also would be punished for her sins when she should have accomplished the Divine purposes, yet it would have been worse than useless for the thoughts of Israel to be occupied with this now.

The number of seven nations against whom prophecies are uttered has been thought by many to be significant. It is made up by separating Zidon from Tyre, for which there were probably special reasons at the time. Zidon had long since lost its importance, and the prophecy against it is very short, (Ezekiel 28:21-24); yet its ancient enmity to God was not to be forgotten, as it might appear to be if left without distinct mention.

The prophecy against Edom is greatly expanded in Ezekiel 35, and there are other prophecies against foreign nations in Ezekiel 38, 39; but these have so much the nature of promises to Israel that they are more appropriately placed where they are than they would have been in this connection. Even here the prophecy against Zidon (Ezekiel 28:25-26) and that of the latest date against Egypt (Ezekiel 29:21) end with promises to Israel.

The utterances against the various nations are very unequal in fulness. Those concerning Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia are all included together in a single prophecy, occupying only one chapter (Ezekiel 25); Tyre is the subject of four separate prophecies, filling nearly three chapters (Eze 26:1 to Eze 28:19); Zidon is disposed of in the few following verses; while Egypt has seven distinct prophecies, filling chapters 29-32. The relative importance of these various nations is represented in this proportion.

The prophecies of Ezekiel concerning these nations had been anticipated by the older prophets, especially Isaiah and Amos, and similar predictions also abound in the contemporary Jeremiah, but with this marked difference: Ezekiel foretells their utter overthrow, while other prophets look forward to a period of restoration and blessing after their punishment. Thus Isaiah (Isaiah 23:15-18) says that after a period of seventy years Tyre shall again rejoice, and shall ultimately be converted to the Lord; Jeremiah says of the Moabites, “I will bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter day, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 48:47), and the same thing of the Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:6); and of Egypt, that after its temporary subjection to Nebuchadnezzar, “afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old” (Jeremiah 46:26); Isaiah also describes the time when “Israel shall be the third with Egypt and Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land” (Isaiah 19:24-25). Yet it has generally been recognised that there is no inconsistency in these prophecies. Isaiah foretells a temporary resuscitation of Tyre, at the same time with Judah, in connection with the Medo-Persian conquest of Babylon; but Ezekiel’s prophecies look beyond this, to the final destruction of the Tyrian power. On the other hand, these various prophecies speak of an ultimate gathering of a remnant of the descendants of these nations into the Church of God; while Ezekiel speaks of them only as political powers, and foretells that utter desolation of them which has been so strikingly fulfilled in the course of history.

SECOND DIVISION. CH. 25–48. PROPHECIES OF THE RESTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM

First Section. Ch. 25–32. Prophecies against the Nations

The prophecies of Ezekiel against the nations form a single collection in the Book precisely as the similar oracles of Jeremiah (ch. 46–51) and of Isaiah (ch. 13–27). In the Book of Ezekiel they occupy the proper ideal place, being an introduction to the positive prophecies of Israel’s restoration (ch. 23–39). Israel occupies a place of universal significance in the history of the world, for it is the people of Jehovah, who is God alone. He who is God alone has become God of Israel, and it is through Israel that he is known to the nations, and through Israel and her history that he will fully reveal himself to the peoples of the world. This perfect manifestation of himself will be seen in Israel’s restoration, when his glory shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together (Isaiah 40:5). But this restoration of Israel cannot be without great judgments on the nations who have hitherto harassed her or seduced her. These judgments will awaken the nations to the knowledge who the God of Israel is—they shall know that he is Jehovah; and they will ensure that in the future his people shall not be troubled or led astray. All the prophets have the presentiment of a general judgment upon the world immediately preceding the incoming of the perfect kingdom of the Lord. The idea is shared by Ezekiel, though, as usual, he develops it into much further details than his predecessors had occasion to do.

The place of these prophecies in the Book of Ezekiel is important, because it suggests the place which the judgments on the nations had in his scheme of thought, and his construction of the history of redemption. So far as the prophecies themselves are concerned they belong either to the last years of Israel’s existence as a nation, or to the period immediately following the downfall of the state. The prophecies are seven in number, being against (1) Ammon, (2) Moab, (3) Edom, (4) the Philistines (ch. 25), (5) Tyre (ch. 26–28), (6) Sidon (Ezekiel 28:20-26), (7) Egypt (29–32). Those against the first six countries seem immediately posterior to the destruction of Jerusalem; those against Egypt belong to the time from the 10th to the 12th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, that is, the year before the capture of the city, the year in which it was taken, and the year after, with the exception of the passage ch. Ezekiel 29:17-21 belonging to the 27th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, which is probably a later insertion.

Chastisement overtakes the nations for two sins. First, because of their demeanour towards Israel, the people of Jehovah. Either they bad taken part in Jerusalem’s destruction (Edom, Ezekiel 25:12, the Philistines, Ezekiel 25:15), or had rejoiced over it, whether out of malice (Ammon, Ezekiel 25:3), jealousy (Moab, Ezekiel 25:8), or for selfish reasons (Tyre, Ezekiel 26:2); or else they had been a snare to Israel, inspiring false trust and seducing her from the true God (Egypt, Ezekiel 29:6). And secondly, because of their ungodly pride and self-deification (Tyre, ch. 28, Egypt, Ezekiel 29:3). This conduct of the nations and these feelings bring them into relation with Jehovah, either mediately through Israel the people of the true God, whom they injured or despised or seduced; or immediately and in a wider way in their not recognising him as God,—him who was God alone. Hence in all cases his judgments upon them have this purpose and result—they shall know that I am Jehovah.

The prophet has a very lofty consciousness of God, which he expresses by the word “Jehovah.” To be Jehovah is to be God alone, and all which he who is God alone is. It is from this conception of the God of Israel that the prophet speaks. But he estimates the conduct and feelings of the nations as if they also had or should have the same consciousness of Jehovah, as if they knew him as the prophet himself does. Other prophets speak in the same way, e.g. Isaiah 10:6-7. His way of thinking arises from the fact that the one true God was God of Israel. He whom the nations knew as Jehovah, the God of Israel, was the one living God. And when they did despite to his people, it was not a nationality among other nationalities that they injured, nor a mere tribal god whom they scorned, they were moving in a far higher plane than this, they were doing despite to the people of him who was God alone, and were injurious to the one living God. Again, Jehovah being God over all, pride of heart in the nations or their rulers, and self-deification, as when the prince of Tyre said, I am God (Ezekiel 28:2), or when the Pharaoh said, My river is mine, I have made it (Ezekiel 29:3), was blasphemy against him. This self-exaltation detracted from him who is alone exalted (Isaiah 2:11). This is the prophet’s conception. In a certain way his manner of thinking may do an injustice to the nations, who might not know that Jehovah, God of Israel, was God alone. The question is not quite simple. For this pride and self-deification of rulers and nations was a sin against God, it was on the part of man a lifting-up of himself against what the human mind feels to be above it. And it is not just quite clear that Israel’s neighbours were altogether guiltless in not knowing Jehovah to be God alone. He was in the world, though the world knew him not. The Light had appeared. How far men everywhere are responsible for not coming to the Light when it has anywhere appeared is a question not to be settled just off hand (John 18:37-38). The prophet appears to intimate that the neighbouring nations were not unaware of Israel’s pretensions to be different from themselves (Ezekiel 25:8). The superiority claimed by Israel was a religious one (Deuteronomy 32:31), and when the prophet represents the nations as aware of it, he is not to be thought as speaking merely from his own point of view (Numbers 23:21-23; Lamentations 4:12).

Ch. 25 contains prophecies directed against four peoples: Ezekiel 25:1-7, Ammon; Ezekiel 25:8-11, Moab; Ezekiel 25:12-14, Edom; and Ezekiel 25:15-17, the Philistines.

Eze 25:1-17.

恰在這八章（第二十五至三十二章）論及猶太人的沉默間期中，以西結向異邦世界列國宣告審判。

以色列尚且不得倖免，何況那完全敗壞、沒有絲毫真理攙雜的異邦——而以色列即使在其最壞的狀態中仍擁有真理

(1Pe 4:17, 18)。

他們的毀滅將是徹底的；以色列的毀滅不過是暫時的

(Jer 46:28)。

被宣告審判的列國共有七個，是完全的數目；暗示神的審判不僅要臨到這些國家，更要臨到所有敵擋神之異邦的全數。巴比倫不在其中，因為此時她被視為神報應公義的杖——當時那些對她稱霸天下憤憤不平的人，太忽視了這一點。

向異教列國發言，是聖經預言中一個明顯的部分。在以賽亞書（Isa. 13-19）、耶利米書（Jer. 46-51），以及此處的以西結書（Ezekiel 25-32），都特別撥出一個段落收錄這類預言。每一個這樣的預言，其總旨都在於顯明神眾僕人與世界權勢之間那從不息止的衝突——基督的教會在這爭戰中仍要與她的仇敵角力（Ephesians 6:12），但她必終得勝。

向異教列國發言，是聖經預言中一個明顯的部分。在以賽亞書（Isa. 13-19）、耶利米書（Jer. 46-51），以及此處的以西結書（Ezekiel 25-32），都特別撥出一個段落收錄這類預言。每一個這樣的預言，其總旨都在於顯明神眾僕人與世界權勢之間那從不息止的衝突——基督的教會在這爭戰中仍要與她的仇敵角力（Ephesians 6:12），但她必終得勝。

這一系列預言，除一篇例外，都是在耶路撒冷傾覆之時傳講的：有的在城被攻取之前不久，有的在其後不久。它們被彙集一處，為要顯明其原本的目的：警告列國不可因鄰舍傾覆而幸災樂禍。共有七個民族受責，他們都是與以色列兒女接觸最多的——東界有摩押和亞捫，南方有以東，西南有非利士，北方有推羅（那商業之城）與更古老的西頓，最後是埃及——它輪番成為選民的鞭子與虛假的倚靠。「七」這數字象徵完全。針對「七」國之首埃及的「七」篇預言，表明與神國為敵的異教權勢必被完全傾覆。其他先知尚向這些異教民族指出將來蒙憐憫的盼望（如 Isaiah 16:14；Jeremiah 49:6, Jeremiah 49:11），以西結卻論到他們徹底的毀滅。他所注視的是「民族性」的毀滅。就耶路撒冷而論，將有民族性的復興；就異教而論，卻無此恢復。「民族性」的毀滅無可挽回；其他先知向他們指出憐憫之盼望的餘民，要作為個人蒙召聚入神的教會而尋得憐憫，而不是作為民族再度興起。以西結不像其他先知那樣針對巴比倫發預言；他的使命是要表明：巴比倫在當時乃是神震怒的公義器皿，懲罰神的仇敵、成就神的工。在針對外邦列國發預言時，以西結常採用前人的語言。

在以西結書二十五章，地理位置與往來接觸彼此最緊密相連的四個民族，各以寥寥數語受到責備，每段都以同一重複的結語收束——「你們就知道我是耶和華」（例如 Ezekiel 25:5）。這預言是在尼布甲尼撒攻取那城之後不久傳講的，因此在時間上，晚於其後篇章中的某些預言。

亞捫人是亞伯拉罕後裔的宿敵。

The word of the Lord - The chronological order of this chapter is after Ezekiel 33:21, etc. See Abp. Newcome.