Ezekiel 25:4
in Ezekiel 25therefore I will indeed give you as a possession to the people of the East. They will set up their camps and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
therefore, behold, I will deliver thee to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in thee, and make their dwellings in thee; they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.
KJV
Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.
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This verse in Ezekiel 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWill deliver thee to the men of the east - Probably the Scenite Arabs, Ishmaelites, and people of Kedar, who seized upon the provinces of the vanquished Ammonites, etc. The following description suits this people only, living on fruits, the milk of their flocks, using camels, etc. Some think the people of the east mean the Chaldeans.
This site's exposition
give you as a possession to the people of the East
on Ezekiel 25:4-5
The sentence answers the taunt with a reversal: Ammon's land is delivered to the men of the east, likely the Bedouin tribes of the desert. Rabbah, Ammon's capital, becomes a stable for camels. Gill notes the recognition formula closing the sentence, ye shall know that I am the Lord.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Chapter 25: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them. And you shall say to the sons of Ammon: Hear the word of the Lord God!
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Behold, therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession,....
They enjoyed the products of the country: They shall eat thy fruit and drink thy milk; and the milk from the cattle is the fruit of the ground at second-hand.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Where thy "palaces" once stood, there shall their very different "palaces" stand. Fulfilled after the ravaging of their region by Nebuchadnezzar, shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem (compare Eze 21:22;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֡ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| הִנְנִי֩ | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| נֹתְנָ֨ךְ | notenakh | [am] about to give you | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לִבְנֵי־ | livnei- | to [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| קֶ֜דֶם | kedem | [the] east | H6924 → | 87 times |
| לְמֽוֹרָשָׁ֗ה | lemorashah | to a possession | H4181 → | 9 times |
| וְיִשְּׁב֤וּ | veyishevu | and they will set up | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| טִירֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙ | tiroteihem | encampments their | H2918 → | |
| בָּ֔ךְ | bakh | among you | ||
| וְנָ֥תְנוּ | venatenu | and they will make | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| בָ֖ךְ | vakh | among you | ||
| מִשְׁכְּנֵיהֶ֑ם | mishkeneihem | dwellings their | H4908 → | |
| הֵ֚מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יֹאכְל֣וּ | yokhelu | they will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| פִרְיֵ֔ךְ | firyekh | fruit your | H6529 → | 119 times |
| וְהֵ֖מָּה | vehemah | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יִשְׁתּ֥וּ | yishtu | they will drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| חֲלָבֵֽךְ׃ | chalavekh | milk your | H2461 → | 44 times |
לָכֵ֡ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
הִנְנִי֩here I
hiniH2005 →316 times
נֹתְנָ֨ךְ[am] about to give you
notenakhH5414 →2011 times
לִבְנֵי־to [the] people of
livnei-H1121 →4930 times
קֶ֜דֶם[the] east
kedemH6924 →87 times
לְמֽוֹרָשָׁ֗הto a possession
lemorashahH4181 →9 times
וְיִשְּׁב֤וּand they will set up
veyishevuH3427 →1079 times
טִירֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙encampments their
tiroteihemH2918 →
בָּ֔ךְamong you
bakh
וְנָ֥תְנוּand they will make
venatenuH5414 →2011 times
בָ֖ךְamong you
vakh
מִשְׁכְּנֵיהֶ֑םdwellings their
mishkeneihemH4908 →
הֵ֚מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
יֹאכְל֣וּthey will eat
yokheluH398 →810 times
פִרְיֵ֔ךְfruit your
firyekhH6529 →119 times
וְהֵ֖מָּהand they
vehemahH1992 →553 times
יִשְׁתּ֥וּthey will drink
yishtuH8354 →217 times
חֲלָבֵֽךְ׃milk your
chalavekhH2461 →44 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
Isaiah 1:7Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:33
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Lamentations 5:2
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
- Deuteronomy 28:43
The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
- Deuteronomy 28:33
Through
1 Kings 4:30Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
it leads to
- Daniel 5:11–12
There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like that…
- Genesis 25:6
But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
- Job 1:3
and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
- Daniel 1:20
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
- Daniel 5:11–12
Through
Judges 6:33Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
it leads to
- Joshua 17:16
“The hill country is not enough for us,” they replied, “and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both in Beth-shean with its towns and in the Valley of Jezreel.”
- Joshua 17:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; 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.
