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Ezekiel 35

God confronts Edom’s hatred and territorial greed, declaring that its delight in Israel’s desolation will return upon its own land.

God commands Ezekiel to prophesy against Mount Seir, identified at the close with Edom. The charge is longstanding hostility toward Israel: Edom handed Israelites over to the sword during their calamity, claimed their lands, and rejoiced over their ruin. God declares that Edom’s own cities and mountains will become desolate. Its insults against Israel have reached God himself, and the judgment will make his identity and authority known.

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1Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying,
2“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
3and tell it, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you. I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.
4I will lay your cities waste, and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
5“‘“Because you have had a perpetual hostility, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end,
6therefore, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood will pursue you. Since you have not hated blood, therefore blood will pursue you.
7Thus I will make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation. I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.
8I will fill its mountains with its slain. The slain with the sword will fall in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses.
9I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
10“‘“Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries will be mine, and we will possess it,’ although the LORD was there,
11therefore, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them when I judge you.
12You will know that I, the LORD, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They have been laid desolate. They have been given to us to devour.’
13You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me. I have heard it.”
14The Lord GOD says: “When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.
15As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
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Key verses
Ezekiel 35:5This verse names the central charge: Edom’s enduring hostility became violence against Israel at the moment of its calamity.
Ezekiel 35:15The closing sentence makes the judgment correspond to Edom’s conduct: its celebration of Israel’s desolation will end in its own.
Ezekiel 35:9The promise of lasting desolation joins Edom’s punishment to the repeated declaration that it will know YHWH.
Where this chapter reaches

Obadiah shares Ezekiel’s charge that Edom rejoiced over Judah’s disaster and took part in violence against its people, while Jeremiah also announces judgment against Edom. Malachi shares the picture of Edom’s land laid waste under God’s judgment, linking ruined territory with his authority over the nation.

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Notice

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Questions people ask about Ezekiel 35

What is Mount Seir in Ezekiel 35?

Mount Seir is the mountainous territory associated with Edom. The chapter’s final verse names Mount Seir alongside all Edom, showing that the prophecy addresses a people and their land. References to cities, hills, valleys, and watercourses describe the reach of the announced destruction across that territory.

Why does God judge Edom in Ezekiel 35?

God names Edom’s enduring hostility, its handing Israelites over to the sword during their calamity, and its desire to possess their lands. Edom also rejoiced over Israel’s desolation. The judgment mirrors these actions: blood will pursue those who welcomed bloodshed, and desolation will overtake those who celebrated it.

What are the two nations in Ezekiel 35:10?

The two nations are understood as Israel and Judah, the divided kingdoms whose territories Edom hoped to possess. The verse does not name them, but the surrounding charges concern Israel’s people and land. The words “although the LORD was there” expose Edom’s disregard for God’s presence and claim upon that land.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).