Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Ezekiel 35:2

in Ezekiel 35

“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

KJV

Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

⋯

This verse in Ezekiel 35

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Set thy face against Mount Seir - That is, against the Edomites. This prophecy was probably delivered about the time of the preceding, and before the destruction of Idumea by Nebuchadnezzar, which took place about five years after. Calmet supposes that two destructions of Idumea are here foretold; one by Nebuchadnezzar, and the other by the Jews after their return from their captivity.

This site's exposition

the word of the LORD came to me

on Ezekiel 35:1-4

The oracle turns south to Edom, named here by its ancestral territory, Mount Seir, the hill country given to Esau. Total desolation is announced against the nation that had stood as Israel's oldest rival brother. The recognition formula names the purpose that runs through every judgment in this book.

This site's exposition

set your face against Mount Seir

Set your face is Ezekiel's formula for an oracle of judgment, used toward the mountains of Israel at 6:2 and toward Ammon at 25:2. Edom already received a short oracle at 25:12 to 14. This second one stands beside chapter 36, where Israel's mountains hear the opposite word.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter 35) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, and say to it, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Son of man set thy face against Mount Seir,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Singled out as badly pre-eminent in its bitterness against God's people, to represent all their enemies everywhere and in all ages. 63:1-4, Edom, the region of the greatest enmity towards God's people, is the ideal scene of the final judgments of all God's foes. "Seir" means "shaggy," alluding to its rugged hills and forests.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And the word of nevuah from before Hashem was with me, saying:
Targum · Targum Jonathan on Ezekiel 35:1, via Sefaria, Sefaria Community Translation

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. 4 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

9 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • בֶּן־O son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • אָדָ֕םhumankind

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • שִׂ֥יםset

    simH7760 →584 times

  • פָּנֶ֖יךָface your

    paneikhaH6440 →2123 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַ֣ר[the] mountain of

    harH2022 →546 times

  • שֵׂעִ֑ירSeir

    seirH8165 →39 times

  • וְהִנָּבֵ֖אand prophesy

    vehinave'H5012 →115 times

  • עָלָֽיו׃on it

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 137:7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”6 worksEzekiel 6:2“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.3 worksEzekiel 25:8This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Moab and Seir said, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,”3 worksGenesis 32:3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.3 worksEzekiel 21:2“Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel2 works2 Chronicles 20:22–23The moment they began their shouts and praises, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were defeated.2 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 20:46“Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev.2 worksIsaiah 34:1–17Come near, O nations, to listen; pay attention, O peoples. Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all that springs from it.2 worksEzekiel 25:2“Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them.2 works2 Chronicles 20:10And now, here are the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt; but Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them.2 works2 Chronicles 25:11–14Amaziah, however, summoned his strength and led his troops to the Valley of Salt, where he struck down 10,000 men of Seir,2 worksEzekiel 32:29Edom is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.2 worksPsalms 83:3–18With cunning they scheme against Your people and conspire against those You cherish,2 worksGenesis 36:8–9So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.2 worksAmos 1:11–12This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged continually, and his fury flamed incessantly.2 worksLamentations 4:21–22So 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.2 worksIsaiah 63:1–6Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”2 worksIsaiah 50:7Because the Lord GOD helps Me, I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 21:2

    “Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 20:46

      “Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev.

    • Ezekiel 4:7

      You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.

  • Through

    Genesis 32:3

    Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 24:4

      and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

    • Genesis 25:30

      He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

    • Genesis 14:6

      and the Horites in the area of Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is near the desert.

    • Genesis 33:14

      Please let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a comfortable pace for the livestock and children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

    • Deuteronomy 2:5

      Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 6:2

    “Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 19:9

      With hooks they caged him and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into captivity so that his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 35 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: 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 Patrick Fairbairn, Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy.

Read on in Ezekiel 35 →