Ezekiel 25:15
in Ezekiel 25This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, taking vengeance with malice of soul to destroy Judah with ancient hostility,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity;
KJV
Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
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This verse in Ezekiel 25
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Vers. 15, 16.) Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, and took revenge with wholehearted malice, and filled ancient enmities; therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will destroy the killers and annihilate the remnants of the coastal region. And I will inflict great vengeance upon them in furious rebukes, and they will know that I am the Lord when I execute my vengeance upon them.
This site's exposition
with malice of soul to destroy Judah with ancient hostility
on Ezekiel 25:15-17
The Philistines close the set of four with the same charge, revenge and a despiteful heart. The sentence names the Cherethims, a Philistine group elsewhere tied to David's own bodyguard in 2 Samuel 8:18. Clarke reads the chapter's four oracles as one unit closing on the recognition formula.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), the old grudge they bore them, or (as the margin reads it) with perpetual hatred, a hatred that began long since and which they resolved to continue. The anger was implacable: they dealt by revenge, traded in the acts of malice; it was their constant practice, and their heart, their spiteful heart, was upon it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Thus saith the Lord God,....
Ezekiel is now a captive in Babylon, and has been so many years, and knows little of the state of his own nation, much less of the nations that were about it; but God tells him both what they were doing and what he was about to do with them. And thus by the spirit of prophecy he is enabled to speak as pertinently to their case as if he had been among them.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Philistines occupying lands to the south of Judah were a Hamite race Gen 10:14, but of a different branch from the Canaanites. They were a powerful people never dispossessed by the Israelites Jos 13:3. They were a thorn in the side of the chosen people throughout, and joined in attacking Jerusalem in the day of her trouble.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The "old hatred" refers to their continual enmity to the covenant-people. They lay along Judea on the seacoast at the opposite side from Ammon and Moab.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Because the Philistines - They were as inimical to the Jews as the Ammonites, etc., were. Nebuchadnezzar punished them because they had assisted the Tyrians during the time he was besieging their city. I will cut of the Cherethims - See the note on 2Sa 8:18. The remnant of the sea coasts - The different seignories of the Philistines inhabited the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, from Judea to Egypt. For other matters relative to these prophecies, see Jer 47:4 (note).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
by the hand of My people Israel They will be My agents to wreak My vengeance.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| יַ֛עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | 99 times |
| עֲשׂ֥וֹת | asot | acted | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים | pelishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| בִּנְקָמָ֑ה | binkamah | in vengeance | H5360 → | 27 times |
| וַיִּנָּקְמ֤וּ | vaiyinakemu | and they avenged themselves | H5358 → | 35 times |
| נָקָם֙ | nakam | vengeance | H5359 → | 17 times |
| בִּשְׁאָ֣ט | bishat | with scorn | H7589 → | 3 times |
| בְּנֶ֔פֶשׁ | benefesh | in [the] self | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לְמַשְׁחִ֖ית | lemashchit | to destruction | H4889 → | 12 times |
| אֵיבַ֥ת | ʾeivat | enmity of | H342 → | |
| עוֹלָֽם׃ | olam | antiquity | H5769 → | 438 times |
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
יַ֛עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →99 times
עֲשׂ֥וֹתacted
asotH6213 →2628 times
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים[the] Philistines
pelishtimH6430 →287 times
בִּנְקָמָ֑הin vengeance
binkamahH5360 →27 times
וַיִּנָּקְמ֤וּand they avenged themselves
vaiyinakemuH5358 →35 times
נָקָם֙vengeance
nakamH5359 →17 times
בִּשְׁאָ֣טwith scorn
bishatH7589 →3 times
בְּנֶ֔פֶשׁin [the] self
benefeshH5315 →754 times
לְמַשְׁחִ֖יתto destruction
lemashchitH4889 →12 times
אֵיבַ֥תenmity of
ʾeivatH342 →
עוֹלָֽם׃antiquity
olamH5769 →438 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 25:6For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you clapped your hands and stomped your feet and rejoiced over the land of Israel with a heart full of contempt,
it leads to
- Obadiah 1:12
But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their…
- Zephaniah 2:8
“I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.
- Obadiah 1:12
Through
Jeremiah 25:20all the mixed tribes; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines: Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
it leads to
- Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.
- Lamentations 4:21
So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
- Jeremiah 50:37
A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
- Isaiah 20:1
Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,
- Job 1:1
Through
Ezekiel 25:12This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah, and in so doing incurred grievous guilt,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 49:7–22
Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
- Ezekiel 25:8
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Moab and Seir said, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,”
- Jeremiah 49:7–22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.