Ezekiel 35 explained: Judgment on Edom's Gloating

God against Mount Seir (vv. 1-4)

Mount Seir is the rugged hill country south of the Dead Sea, the homeland of Edom. Edom traced its family line to Esau, twin brother of Jacob, from whom Israel came, so this is a word against a related people.

An old grudge turned deadly (vv. 5-9)

The ancient hostility echoes the rivalry between Esau and Jacob, and other passages say Edom cheered on Babylon and cut down fleeing survivors when Jerusalem fell around 586 BC. The punishment mirrors the crime in stark, violent images, and the Hebrew plays on the similar sound of Edom and dam, the word for blood.

Trying to seize the land (vv. 10-11)

The two nations are Israel in the north and Judah in the south, whose land Edom expected to take once it lay empty. The abrupt line that the LORD was there means the land was not ownerless, because God still claimed it for his people.

Taunts that God heard (vv. 12-15)

Edom's mockery of Israel's ruined mountains is treated as speaking against God himself, and its joy over Israel's ruin is turned back on it. The meaning of the whole earth rejoicing in verse 14 is debated, and many readers see the next chapter's hopeful words to the mountains of Israel as a contrast with barren Mount Seir here.

Key verse: Ezekiel 35:15

Where Christians differ

Some Christians read Edom here mainly as the historical nation of Ezekiel's day, while others also see it as a symbol for all who oppose God's people, even to the end of history.

Something to think about

Why do you think grudges between families or nations so often outlast the people who started them?