Ezekiel 35:3
in Ezekiel 35and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Mount Seir. I will stretch out My hand against you and make you a desolate waste.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and I will make thee a desolation and an astonishment.
KJV
And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
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This verse in Ezekiel 35
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd say unto it, thus saith the Lord God,.... The prophet was not upon the spot, and could not direct his speech immediately to the Edomites; but he might send this prophecy to their ambassadors at Babylon; or in a letter to them in their own land, in the name of the Lord: behold, O Mount Seir, I am against thee: not the face of the prophet only, but the face of God himself was against them; and a terrible thing it is for any to have God to be against them, whether a nation, or a particular person.
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
stretch out My hand against you
The outstretched hand is the gesture of the exodus plagues, the LORD acting in power against Egypt. Mount Seir is the rugged range south and east of the Dead Sea, where Edom's towns stood among the cliffs. Obadiah 3 mocks Edom for trusting that height.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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 Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
most desolate--literally, "desolation and desolateness" (Jer 49:17, &c.). It is only in their national character of foes to God's people, that the Edomites are to be utterly destroyed. A remnant of Edom, as of the other heathen, is to be "called by the name of God" (Am 9:12).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Most desolate - Literally, “A desolation and a wilderness.”
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָמַ֣רְתָּ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לּ֗וֹ | lo | to it | ||
| 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 |
| הִנְנִ֥י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| אֵלֶ֖יךָ | ʾeleikha | [am] against you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַר־ | har- | O mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| שֵׂעִ֑יר | seir | Seir | H8165 → | 39 times |
| וְנָטִ֤יתִי | venatiti | and I will stretch out | H5186 → | 214 times |
| יָדִי֙ | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עָלֶ֔יךָ | ʾaleikha | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָ | unetatikha | and I will make you | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| שְׁמָמָ֥ה | shemamah | a desolation | H8077 → | 57 times |
| וּמְשַׁמָּֽה׃ | umeshamah | and a waste | H4923 → | 7 times |
וְאָמַ֣רְתָּand you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
לּ֗וֹto it
lo
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
הִנְנִ֥יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
אֵלֶ֖יךָ[am] against you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
הַר־O mountain of
har-H2022 →546 times
שֵׂעִ֑ירSeir
seirH8165 →39 times
וְנָטִ֤יתִיand I will stretch out
venatitiH5186 →214 times
יָדִי֙hand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
עָלֶ֔יךָon you
ʾaleikhaH5921 →5755 times
וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָand I will make you
unetatikhaH5414 →2011 times
שְׁמָמָ֥הa desolation
shemamahH8077 →57 times
וּמְשַׁמָּֽה׃and a waste
umeshamahH4923 →7 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 6:14I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:25
Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 5:25
Through
Jeremiah 15:6You have forsaken Me, declares the LORD. You have turned your back. So I will stretch out My hand against you and I will destroy you; I am weary of showing compassion.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
- Zephaniah 1:4
“I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all who dwell in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests—
- Zechariah 7:11
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Jeremiah 7:24
Through
Jeremiah 21:13Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
it leads to
- Lamentations 4:12
The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 13:8
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.
- Obadiah 1:3–4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
- Lamentations 4:12
Through
Jeremiah 6:12Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:10
Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all…
- Jeremiah 8:10
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 (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.
