Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 35: The Oracle Against Mount Seir
Between the promise of the Good Shepherd (chapter 34) and the promise of the restored land (chapter 36) stands this short, sharp oracle against Edom, the nation of Esau's descendants who lived in the mountains of Seir. Edom's sin was an ancient, nursed hatred, 'a perpetual hatred,' that finally vented itself when Jerusalem fell: they cheered her ruin, shed her people's blood 'in the time of their calamity,' and reached out to grab the emptied land, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine.' But they had reckoned without the Owner: 'whereas the LORD was there.' Even in her desolation the land belonged to God, and He had heard every boast spoken against His people. The chapter is a solemn warning that God takes what is done to His own personally, and settles the account Himself.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel chapter 35, the oracle against Edom (mount Seir). For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This oracle is the dark background against which the bright promise of chapter 36, the restoration of the mountains of Israel, is set. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
A Perpetual Hatred
Edom nursed an ancient enmity against Israel, from Esau's day to the exile.
Rejoicing at Ruin
Edom cheered when Jerusalem fell and shed her blood in the day of calamity.
Words Against the LORD
They reached for God's land, forgetting that "the LORD was there."
Desolate as She Wished
Measure for measure: Seir made as desolate as she longed to see Israel.
I Am Against Thee, O Mount Seir (Ezekiel 35:1-9)
God sets His face against Edom for her perpetual hatred and for shedding Israel's blood in the day of her calamity; because she loved blood, blood shall pursue her, and Seir is made a perpetual desolation.
Because Thou Hast Had a Perpetual Hatred
"Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 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. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword. I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD."
Hebrew Study
"a perpetual hatred," eyvat olam (אֵיבַת עוֹלָם). An everlasting enmity, a hatred with no end in it. The word reaches all the way back to the twin brothers: Esau vowed in his heart to kill Jacob (Genesis 27:41), and his descendants kept the grudge burning for a thousand years. Edom did not merely oppose Israel in a quarrel; she hated Israel as a settled way of life, and vented it "in the time of their calamity," kicking her brother when he was down. Long-nursed bitterness is not a small sin; God names it here as the root of Edom's ruin.
"blood shall pursue thee," and "sith thou hast not hated blood." The word sith is old English for "since." Edom loved bloodshed, she "hated" it not; therefore blood itself is made her hunter. It is the exact-measure justice of God: what a person pursues will one day pursue him. Those who sow slaughter reap it (Galatians 6:7).
Explanation
God tells Ezekiel to "set thy face against mount Seir", the rugged homeland of Edom, the nation descended from Esau. The charge is blunt: "I am against thee." Two sins are named. First, a "perpetual hatred", a centuries-old grudge that traced back to Esau and Jacob. Second, that Edom "shed the blood of the children of Israel... in the time of their calamity", that is, when Babylon crushed Jerusalem, Edom did not pity her brother nation; she piled on, killing fugitives and profiting from the disaster. Other Scriptures fill in the picture: Edom cried "Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof" over Jerusalem (Psalm 137:7), and the little book of Obadiah is entirely devoted to this crime.
The sentence fits the sin. Because Edom "hated blood" not, "blood shall pursue thee." Seir will be made "most desolate", her cities laid waste, her mountains filled with the slain, made "perpetual desolations" so that her "cities shall not return." The nation that longed to see Israel wiped from the map will herself be wiped away, "and ye shall know that I am the LORD."
Gospel Focus
Edom and Israel, Esau and Jacob, are Scripture's oldest picture of the flesh at war with the promise. Esau despised his birthright; Edom hated the people of the birthright. Paul draws the line straight into the believer's experience: "he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit" (Galatians 4:29). The child of promise is always hated by the child of the flesh, and often the hatred flares hottest "in the time of their calamity", when the believer is weakest. Yet the promise cannot finally be destroyed, for God Himself defends it. The lesson for us is twofold. First, do not nurse a "perpetual hatred", for bitterness carried across the years is what damns Edom; "let all bitterness... be put away from you" (Ephesians 4:31). Second, when you are wronged, do not take vengeance into your own hand: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19). God kept a perfect record of Edom's cruelty and settled it in full. He will do no less for His own.
Whereas the LORD Was There (Ezekiel 35:10-15)
Edom plotted to seize the emptied land of Israel and Judah, but she had forgotten the Owner; God heard her boasts against the mountains of Israel and answers measure for measure: as she rejoiced at Israel's desolation, so she herself is made desolate.
I Have Heard All Thy Blasphemies
"Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them. Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD."
Hebrew Study
"whereas the LORD was there." The hinge of the chapter. Edom looked at the empty, ruined land and reasoned that it was there for the taking, two nations, Israel and Judah, both fallen, both hers for the grabbing. But she had left one thing out of the account: the land was the LORD's, and the LORD had not left it. To seize God's inheritance is to war against God. This phrase quietly anticipates the very last words of the whole book, when the restored city is named Jehovah-shammah, "The LORD is there" (Ezekiel 48:35). Edom said the land was hers; God says the land is where He is.
"I have heard all thy blasphemies," and "I have heard them." Twice God says He heard. Edom's mockery of "the mountains of Israel" was not merely against a defeated people; it was, God says, "boasted against me." Words spoken against God's people are heard in heaven as words spoken against God Himself. Nothing said against the Lord's own goes unheard.
Explanation
Now the deepest sin surfaces. Edom said, "These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it." With Israel and Judah both broken and carried off, Edom saw a real-estate opportunity and moved to annex the land. But the text adds five words that overturn the whole scheme: "whereas the LORD was there." The land looked abandoned, but it was not; it was God's, held in covenant, waiting for the day of return. Edom's land-grab was therefore not a border dispute with a weak neighbor; it was a grab at God's own inheritance, and God took it as a direct affront: "ye have boasted against me."
So the sentence is measured out to match the crime exactly. "As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee." The joy Edom felt at Israel's ruin will be the very shape of Edom's own ruin. While the whole earth one day rejoices in restoration, Edom, "all Idumea, even all of it", is made desolate. God heard every word, remembered every act, and answered in perfect justice, "and they shall know that I am the LORD."
Gospel Focus
"Whereas the LORD was there" is one of the most comforting phrases in the book for anyone who has felt abandoned. When God's people are at their lowest, when the land is desolate and the enemy is already dividing the spoil, the truth that changes everything is that the LORD has not left. He was there in the ruins. To lay a hand on His people is to lay a hand on Him; the risen Christ said to their persecutor, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (Acts 9:4), and long before, the prophet said of God's people, "he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye" (Zechariah 2:8). Edom thought God had gone; but He heard every blasphemy and defended His own. And there is more: the phrase points forward to the last verse of Ezekiel, where the redeemed city bears the name "The LORD is there" (Ezekiel 48:35). The land the enemy tried to steal in its desolation becomes, in the end, the place where God dwells with His people forever. What looks abandoned to the world is exactly where the LORD has chosen to be, and He will not surrender it. Take heart: your ruined places are not empty. The LORD is there.
Chapter 35 in Review
Ezekiel 35 is a short, pointed oracle against Edom, the nation of Esau in the mountains of Seir. Her guilt is threefold: a "perpetual hatred" nursed for centuries, the shedding of Israel's blood "in the time of their calamity" when Jerusalem fell, and the arrogant plot to seize the emptied land, "These two nations and these two countries shall be mine." Against that plot stands the quiet, decisive fact of the whole chapter: "whereas the LORD was there." The land was never abandoned; it was God's, and He had heard every boast Edom "spoken against the mountains of Israel." So the sentence is measure for measure: the nation that rejoiced at Israel's desolation is herself made desolate.
For the Apostolic reader, this dark oracle carries two lasting truths. First, God takes what is done to His people personally. To hate them, to gloat over their fall, to reach for what belongs to them, is to boast "against me," and heaven hears it. Second, and more tender, the LORD does not leave His own in their ruin. "Whereas the LORD was there" is the promise that when everything looks abandoned, God is still in the wreckage, guarding His inheritance, and the same book that speaks this judgment ends by naming the city "The LORD is there." Edom's ancient enmity, the flesh forever warring against the promise, could not win, because the promise belongs to God, and God was there.
- A nursed, long-carried hatred is a root sin; Edom's "perpetual hatred" is named first in her condemnation (35:5; Ephesians 4:31).
- Kicking others when they are down, "in the time of their calamity," draws God's special anger (35:5; Obadiah 1:10-14).
- God's exact-measure justice: because Edom loved blood, "blood shall pursue thee" (35:6; Galatians 6:7).
- To seize what belongs to God's people is to war against God, "whereas the LORD was there" (35:10; Acts 9:4).
- God hears every word spoken against His own: "I have heard all thy blasphemies" (35:12-13; Zechariah 2:8).
- The LORD does not abandon His people in their desolation; He is there, and the book ends "The LORD is there" (35:10; Ezekiel 48:35).
Questions for Reflection
- Is there a "perpetual hatred" or old grudge you have carried for years? What does Edom's fate say about nursing it?
- How does "Vengeance is mine; I will repay" free you from having to settle your own scores?
- Edom spoke against God's people, not realizing she spoke "against me." How careful are you with words about others?
- Where in your life looks abandoned and desolate? How does "whereas the LORD was there" change the way you see it?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon: eyvat olam ("perpetual hatred," verse 5); sith is old English for "since" (verse 6). Mount Seir / Edom is the nation of Esau's descendants (Genesis 36:8-9); the ancient enmity traces to Genesis 27:41. Edom's gloating over Jerusalem's fall is also condemned in Psalm 137:7, Lamentations 4:21-22, and the whole book of Obadiah (especially 1:10-14). "Whereas the LORD was there" (verse 10) anticipates Jehovah-shammah, "The LORD is there" (Ezekiel 48:35). God taking offenses against His people personally: Acts 9:4; Zechariah 2:8. Vengeance belongs to God: Romans 12:19; Deuteronomy 32:35. The flesh persecuting the promise: Galatians 4:29. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The charge and sentence against Edom: perpetual hatred and bloodshed in the day of calamity: Ezekiel 35:1-9; Psalm 137:7; Obadiah 1:10-14; Galatians 4:29.
- Edom's plot to seize the land, God's hearing of her blasphemies, and measure-for-measure judgment: Ezekiel 35:10-15; Acts 9:4; Zechariah 2:8; Ezekiel 48:35.