Ezekiel 28:26

And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

28:20-26. The Zidonians were borderers upon the land of Israel, and they might have learned to glorify the Lord; but, instead of that, they seduced Israel to the worship of their idols. War and pestilence are God's messengers; but he will be glorified in the restoring his people to their former safety and prosperity. God will cure them of their sins, and ease them of their troubles. This promise will at length fully come to pass in the heavenly Canaan: when all the saints shall be gathered together, every thing that offends shall be removed, all griefs and fears for ever banished. Happy, then, is the church of God, and every living member of it, though poor, afflicted, and despised; for the Lord will display his truth, power, and mercy, in the salvation and happiness of his redeemed people.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The contrast of the future of Israel with that of the surrounding nations. This prophecy reaches far beyond a mere temporal restoration. It points to times of more permanent security, when from all nations and kingdoms the Church of Christ, the Israel of God, shall be gathered in, when the power of the world shall be forever broken, and the kingdom of Christ shall be established forever.

This transition from the enemies to the people of God closes the portion of the prophecies against the nations in the immediate vicinity of the Israelites, before passing to the more distant Egypt.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

25, 26. Fulfilled in part at the restoration from Babylon, when Judaism, so far from being merged in heathenism, made inroads by conversions on the idolatry of surrounding nations. The full accomplishment is yet future, when Israel, under Christ, shall be the center of Christendom; of which an earnest was given in the woman from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon who sought the Saviour (Mt 15:21, 24, 26-28; compare Isa 11:12).

dwell safely—(Jer 23:6).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Safely; which is to be understood comparatively, safer than before; it must be accommodated to the circumstances of human condition; in such safety as excludes continual inward cares, and fears, and perplexities, as it is said of Laish, Judges 18:7; or as in the days of Solomon, 1 Kings 4:25; or as Job 11:18,19.

When I have executed judgments: that seems to intimate, that there might be some attempts, as by Sanballat and Tobias, but God blasted these; or it may refer more properly to the destruction of Babylon, and the nations confederate with them, who ruined and despised the Jews.

And they, the returned captives, shall own, and know by experience, that I sin not only the Lord, but their God too.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they shall dwell safely therein,.... There being none to make them afraid, all their enemies being destroyed, and they also under the protection of Christian princes:

and they shall build houses and plant vineyards; signifying their continuance in their land, and their enjoyment of the blessings of it. Cocceius understands this of churches gathered in the name of Christ; of which no doubt there will be many in Judea, as in the first times of the Gospel, and more abundantly:

yea, they shall dwell with confidence: in the utmost safety and security, having nothing to fear from any quarter:

when I have executed judgment upon all those that despise them round about them; took vengeance on them, and utterly destroyed them that despised or spoiled them, even all around them; they will all be cut off, so that there will be none to give them the least disturbance:

and they shall know that I am the Lord their God: not only God, as before, Ezekiel 28:24, but their God, their Lord and their God, their Redeemer and Saviour, whom they formerly denied, persecuted, and pierced.

Geneva Study Bible

And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26. dwell safely] Or, with confidence, feeling secure, Jeremiah 23:6; Amos 9:14; Isaiah 65:21; Ezekiel 34:27; Ezekiel 38:8; Ezekiel 39:26. An illustration of the promise is seen in ch. 38–9.

know that I am the Lord] This oft-repeated phrase is not a mere formula. The prophet’s idea is that Jehovah does all, brings all calamities, causes all catastrophes and revolutions in states, and guides the fortunes of Israel in the sight of the nations, with one great design in view—to make himself, the true and only God, known to all mankind.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 26. - Shall build houses, etc. The words sound almost like a direct quotation from Jeremiah 23:6 and Jeremiah 36:28; and, at all events, present a suggestive parallel. The restoration was to include also the blessing of confidence and hope; no longer a groundless and false confidence, like that of Jeremiah 2:37 and Jeremiah 48:13, but one resting on the fact that God was in very deed the Judge of all the earth. We may note, at the close of the chapter, how its juxtaposition of the two Phoenician cities seems to have been present to the mind of the Christ in his references to the judgment that should come upon both of them (Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13). He himself, it will be remembered, passed through the coasts of Tyre and Zidon (Matthew 15:21), and probably, according to the best text of Mark 7:24, actually trod the streets of the latter city. They supplied some of the great multitude of Mark 3:8, who listened to his teaching.



Ezekiel 28:26

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, When I shall gather the house of Israel out of the peoples among whom they have been scattered, I shall sanctify myself upon them before the eyes of the heathen nations, and they will dwell in their land which I have given to my servant Jacob. Ezekiel 28:26. They will dwell there securely, and build houses and plant vineyards, and will dwell securely when I execute judgments upon all who despise them of those round about them; and they shall learn that I Jehovah am their God. - Whilst the heathen nations succumb to the judgments of God, Israel passes on to a time of blessed peace. The Lord will gather His people from their dispersion among the heathen, bring them into the land which He gave to the patriarch Jacob, His servant, and give them in that land rest, security, and true prosperity. (For the fact itself, compare Ezekiel 11:17; Ezekiel 20:41; Ezekiel 36:22.)