Prophecy against Mount Seir

1Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir (Edom), and prophesy against it 3and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,

“Behold, Mount Seir, I am against you,

And I will stretch out My hand against you

And make you completely desolate.

4“I will destroy your cities

And you will become a wasteland.

Then you shall know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD. 5Because you [descendants of Esau] have had an everlasting hatred [for Jacob (Israel)] and you handed over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their tragedy, at the time of their final punishment [the Babylonian conquest], 6therefore, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will hand you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you since you have not hated bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7I will make Mount Seir (Edom) a ruin and a desolate wasteland and I will cut off from it the one who passes through it and the one who returns. 8I will fill its mountains with its slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, and in your valleys, and in all your ravines. 9I will make you an everlasting desolation and your [a]cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD.

10“Because you [descendants of Esau] have said, ‘These two nations [Israel and Judah] and these two lands shall be mine, and we will take possession of them,’ although the LORD was there, 11therefore, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will deal with you in accordance with the anger and envy you showed because of your hatred for them; and I will make Myself known among them [as Judge] when I judge and punish you. 12Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all your scornful speeches which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They have been made a wasteland; they have been given to us as food.’ 13So you have boasted and spoken arrogantly against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it.” 14Thus says the Lord GOD, “While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a wasteland. 15As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you; you will be a desolate waste, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD.”’

[a] 9 The Edomites gave whatever help they could to Nebuchadnezzar when he captured Judah (Ps 137:7; Obad 11-14). Later these cousins of the Israelites were pushed out of their own country into southern Judea; Hebron became their chief city. When in A.D. 70 the Romans under Titus besieged Jerusalem, Josephus says that the Edomites joined the Jews in rebellion against the attackers, and 20,000 were admitted into the city as defenders of the Holy City. But once in, they pillaged the city, raping and killing, not even sparing the priests--though these traitors themselves had been previously forced to become circumcised and recognized as Jews. The Roman conqueror destroyed them, and Edom ceased to be. The forecasts of the prophets regarding Edom are in striking contrast to those of their neighbors, Moab and Ammon. The latter two countries were to suffer great and severe judgments, as was Edom. But restoration and renewed prosperity were promised to them “in the latter days” (Jer 48:47; 49:6), while Edom was never to be rebuilt.