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Ezekiel 38:3

in Ezekiel 38

and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:

KJV

And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

This verse in Ezekiel 38

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Chuck Missler

1934–2018

The Magog Identity (article) (2002)

So begins this classic passage in which Gog and Magog, with their allies, are drawn into an invasion of Israel only to have the God of Israel use the occasion to show Himself strong by intervening on behalf of His people and destroying the invading forces.

This site's exposition

the word of the LORD came to me

on Ezekiel 38:1-3

The word of the LORD sends the prophet against “Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal”. The older commentators place Magog among the Scythian peoples of the north and read Meshech and Tubal as the Moschi and Tibareni of Asia Minor.

This site's exposition

Behold, I am against you, O Gog

The formula I am against you was spoken earlier against Tyre in 26:3, Sidon in 28:22 and Pharaoh in 29:3. Chuck Missler notes that God uses the invasion to show Himself strong on behalf of His people. The enemy is judged before he moves.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter XXXVIII.) \"And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of the head (or head of) Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. And you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of the head (or head of) Meshech and Tubal.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The confusion which God designed to put this enemy to. It is remarkable that this is put first in the prophecy; before it is foretold that God will bring him forth against Israel it is foretold that God will put hooks into his jaws and turn him back (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And say, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Which is repeated for the confirmation of it, that so it would certainly be; that the Lord, the mighty God, and King of kings, would in his providence frown upon him, and appear against him; and his titles are repeated also, to show that all his greatness, grandeur, and power, would not protect him from the vengeance of God.

The words behind it

12 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.

  • וְאָ֣מַרְתָּ֔and you will say

    veamartaH559 →5305 times

  • כֹּ֥הthus

    kohH3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֖רhe says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord

    ʾadonaiH136 →440 times

  • יְהוִ֑הYahweh

    yahwehH3069 →306 times

  • הִנְנִ֤יhere I

    hiniH2005 →316 times

  • אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙[am] against you

    ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times

  • גּ֔וֹגO Gog

    gogH1463 →10 times

  • נְשִׂ֕יא[the] prince of

    nesi'H5387 →134 times

  • רֹ֖אשׁ[the] head of

    roshH7218 →599 times

  • מֶ֥שֶׁךְMeshech

    meshekhH4902 →9 times

  • וְתֻבָֽל׃and Tubal

    vetuvalH8422 →8 times

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

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 29:3

    Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 27:1

      In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

    • Ezekiel 32:2

      “Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash…

    • Jeremiah 44:30

      This is what the LORD says: Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who seek his life, just as I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah into…

    • Deuteronomy 8:17

      You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”

    • Ezekiel 29:9–10

      The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it,’

  • Through

    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.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 21:3

      and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.

    • Ezekiel 5:8

      Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 35:3

    and 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.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 6:12

      Their 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.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

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.

This page draws on Chuck Missler, The Magog Identity (article); Jamieson, Fausset and 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.