Ezekiel 25:4-7 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Behold, I will deliver thee to the men of the east That is, to the Chaldeans, whose country lay east of the Ammonites. This people was accordingly conquered and subdued by the Chaldeans, about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem. And they shall drink thy milk Milk was the principal sustenance of those people, whose riches consisted chiefly in their stocks of cattle. The Hebrew word חלב, however, here rendered milk, signifies also the fattest or choicest parts of any flesh or fruits. So it is used Genesis 45:18, Ye shall eat the fat of the land; and Psalms 81:16, where our translation reads, The finest of the wheat, in the Hebrew it is, The fat of the wheat. And this clause is rendered by the LXX., Και αυτοι πιονται τον πιοτητα σου, And they shall drink, or swallow down, thy fatness. And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels Rabbah was the chief city of the Ammonites. What is said of it here, that it should be made a stable for camels, implies, that instead of being a city inhabited by men, it should be a place for cattle, and particularly for camels, to feed and lie down in, of which that and the neighbouring countries had great store. It is a proverbial expression for utter destruction, to say that grass grows where a town stood. Because thou hast clapped thy hands, &c. Showed expressions of joy and satisfaction in the most insolent manner, with all thy despite against the land of Israel With the utmost hatred and contempt of my people; I will stretch out my hand upon thee Namely, my hand of wrath. And will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen Or, for meat, as the word in the Hebrew text, לבג, properly means, though the marginal reading of the Masorites is, לבז, for a prey. The greedy, covetous soldiers shall make thy wealth their prey; the hungry enemies shall eat thee up. And I will cut thee off from the people Thou shalt no more be reckoned among the nations, but shalt cease from being a people. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord In these words the threatenings, both in Eze 25:5 and in this verse, conclude. For thus, 1st, God would maintain his own honour, and make it appear that he was the God of Israel, though he suffered them for a time to be captives in Babylon. And, 2d, He would bring those that were strangers to him into an acquaintance with him, and it would be a blessed effect of their calamities. How much better is it to be poor and know God, than to be rich and ignorant of him!