Ezekiel 36:38

As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(38) The flock of Jerusalem.—The comparison is with the vast flocks of sacrificial animals accustomed to be carried to Jerusalem at the great annual feasts. The object is to give a vivid idea of the numbers of the people, but there is an especial appropriateness in the simile from the fact that these flocks were devoted to the Lord.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

36:25-38 Water is an emblem of the cleansing our polluted souls from sin. But no water can do more than take away the filth of the flesh. Water seems in general the sacramental sign of the sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost; yet this is always connected with the atoning blood of Christ. When the latter is applied by faith to the conscience, to cleanse it from evil works, the former is always applied to the powers of the soul, to purify it from the pollution of sin. All that have an interest in the new covenant, have a new heart and a new spirit, in order to their walking in newness of life. God would give a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart, complying with his holy will. Renewing grace works as great a change in the soul, as the turning a dead stone into living flesh. God will put his Spirit within, as a Teacher, Guide, and Sanctifier. The promise of God's grace to fit us for our duty, should quicken our constant care and endeavour to do our duty. These are promises to be pleaded by, and will be fulfilled to, all true believers in every age.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As the holy flock - A reference to the flocks and herds brought up to Jerusalem to be consecrated and offered unto the Lord 2 Chronicles 35:7. Thus, the idea is brought out:

(1) of the multiplication of the people,

(2) of their dedication to the service of God.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

38. As the holy flock—the great flock of choice animals for sacrifice, brought up to Jerusalem at the three great yearly festivals, the passover, pentecost, and feast of the tabernacles.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The holy flock; flocks designed to holy uses, as sacrifices, and therefore further described by the place where they are, Jerusalem.

Her solemn feasts; the occasion and time, solemn feasts, either the three annual great feasts, or you may hake in the daily sacrifices. These flocks were for quality the best of all, and for numbers very great, on the solemn feasts; thirty thousand at once of lambs and kids in Josiah’s time, and many more at the passover in aftertimes. Thus should men multiply, and fill the cities of replanted Judea.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts,.... Like flocks of sheep, which were consecrated and set apart for holy uses, for sacrifices; even like the flocks of sheep, which were brought to Jerusalem to be offered in sacrifice at the three solemn festivals in the year; especially at the passover, when the Jews came from all parts of the country to slay and eat their passover; and every family had a lamb, which in all must be a great number: we read of thirty thousand lambs and three thousand bullocks given at one time for this service by King Josiah, besides what was given by the princes, 2 Chronicles 35:7. The Targum is,

"as the holy people, as a people that is cleansed, and comes to Jerusalem at the feasts of the passover:''

or, "as the flock of the Holy Ones" (q); either of the holy God, Father, Son, and Spirit; or of holy men, who are made holy or sanctified by the Spirit of God:

so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; or with men that are like sheep for meekness, harmlessness, patience, cleanness, society, and usefulness; and not with such as are comparable to unclean beasts, or beasts of prey; so it denotes both the quantity of persons that shall inhabit Judea, and dwelt both in the cities and churches there, and the quality of them.

(q) "sicut oves sanctorum", Vatablus, Gussetius, Starckius.

Geneva Study Bible

As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

38. the holy flock] i.e. the sacrificial sheep. The solemn feasts (where solemn has its proper sense of “customary,” appointed) may be the three great yearly festivals, though in point of fact Ezek. does not refer to Pentecost, or the feast of weeks, in his concluding chapters. The comparison shews that already in pre-exile times enormous numbers of sacrificial animals were brought to Jerusalem for offerings at the feasts.

flocks of men] lit. sheep-flocks in men. The word “flock” in Heb. is not generalized so as to express a great number—it means a sheep-flock, and is explained by “men.”

Probably no passage in the Old Testament of the same extent offers so complete a parallel to New Testament doctrine, particularly to that of St Paul. It is doubtful if the Apostle quotes Ezek. anywhere, but his line of thought entirely coincides with his. The same conceptions and in the same order belong to both—forgiveness (Ezekiel 36:25); regeneration, a new heart and spirit (Ezekiel 36:26); the spirit of God as the ruling power in the new life (Ezekiel 36:27); the issue of this, the keeping of the requirements of God’s law (Ezekiel 36:27; Romans 8:4); the effect of being “under grace” in softening the human heart and leading to obedience (Ezekiel 36:31; Romans 6, 7); and the organic connexion of Israel’s history with Jehovah’s revelation of himself to the nations (Ezekiel 36:33-36; Romans 11). The prophet’s idea of the divine pedagogic is not precisely the same as that of the Apostle, and the present passage has in some particulars to be supplemented from ch. 16. As put here it is Israel’s historical experiences, their dispersion and restoration, with the thoughts which these suggest, that impress the nations and teach them what Jehovah is.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 38. - The people who should occupy the land of Israel in the coming age should be as the holy flock - literally, as the flock of holy things, or beasts; i.e. of sacrificial lambs - as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; literally, in her appointed times; i.e. her festal seasons (comp. Micah 2:12), referring to the three well-known annual occasions when the male population of the land came to the sanctuary (Deuteronomy 16:16), and when in consequence the flocks and herds poured into the metropolis were well-nigh past reckoning (see 2 Chronicles 29:33; 2 Chronicles 35:7; and comp. Josephus, 'Wars,' 6:9. 3). Perhaps in addition to the idea of the multiplication of the people, that of their dedication to the service of Jehovah is suggested by the prophet's language.



Ezekiel 36:38

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Lord will richly bless, multiply, and glorify His people, when thus renewed and sanctified. - Ezekiel 36:29. And I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and will call the corn, and multiply it, and no more bring famine upon you; Ezekiel 36:30. But I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that ye will no more bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Ezekiel 36:31. But ye will remember your evil ways, and your deeds which were not good, and will loathe yourselves on account of your iniquities and your abominations. Ezekiel 36:32. Not for your sake do I this, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, be this known to you; be ye ashamed and blush for your ways, O house of Israel! Ezekiel 36:33. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, In the day when I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will make the cities inhabited, and the ruins shall be built, Ezekiel 36:34. And the devastated land shall be tilled instead of being a desert before the eyes of every one who passed by. Ezekiel 36:35. And men will say, This land, which was laid waste, has become like the garden of Eden, and the desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. Ezekiel 36:36. And the nations, which have been left round about you, shall know that I Jehovah build up that which is destroyed, and plant that which is laid waste. I, Jehovah, have said it, and do it. Ezekiel 36:37. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will still let myself be sought by the house of Israel in this, to do it for them; I will multiply them, like a flock, in men; Ezekiel 36:38. Like a flock of holy sacrifices, like the flock of Jerusalem on its feast-days, so shall the desolate cities be full of flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. - The words 'הושׁעתּי , I help or save you from all your uncleannesses, cannot be understood as relating to their purification from the former uncleannesses; for they have already been cleansed from these, according to Ezekiel 36:25. The טמאות can only be such defilements as are still possible even after the renewing of the people; and הושׁע, to help, means to guard them against any further recurrence of such defilements (cf. Ezekiel 37:23), and not to deliver them from the consequences of their former pollutions. But if God preserves His people from these, there is no longer any occasion for a fresh suspension of judgments over them, and God can bestow His blessing upon the sanctified nation without reserve. It is in this way that the further promises are appended; and, first of all, in Ezekiel 36:29 and Ezekiel 36:30, a promise that He will bless them with an abundant crop of fruits, both of the orchard and the field. "I call to the corn," i.e., I cause it to come or grow, so that famine will occur no more (for the fact, compare Ezekiel 34:29).

In consequence of this blessing, Israel will blush with shame at the thought of its former sins, and will loathe itself for those abominations (Ezekiel 36:31); compare Ezekiel 20:43, where the same thought has already occurred. To this, after repeating what has been said before in Ezekiel 36:22, namely, that God is not doing all this for the sake of the Israelites themselves, the prophet appends the admonition to be ashamed of their conduct, i.e., to repent, which is so far inserted appropriately in the promise, that the promise itself is meant to entice Israel to repent and return to God. Then, secondly, in two strophes introduced with 'כּה אמר יי, the promise is still further expanded. In Ezekiel 36:33-36, the prophet shows how the devastated land is to be restored and rebuilt, and to become a paradise; and in Ezekiel 36:37 and Ezekiel 36:38, how the people are to be blessed through a large increase in their numbers. Both of these strophes are simply a further elaboration of the promise contained in Ezekiel 36:9-12. הושׁיב, causative of ישׁב, to cause to be inhabited, to populate, as in Isaiah 54:3. לעיני כּל־עובר, as in Ezekiel 5:14. The subject to ואמרוּ in Ezekiel 36:35 is, "those who pass by." For the comparison to the garden of Eden, see Ezekiel 31:9. בּצוּרות is a circumstantial word belonging to ישׁבוּ: they shall be inhabited as fortified cities, that is to say, shall afford to their inhabitants the security of fortresses, from which there is no fear of their being expelled. In Ezekiel 36:36 the expression, "the heathen nations which shall be left round about you," presupposes that at the time of Israel's redemption the judgment will have fallen upon the heathen (compare Ezekiel 30:3 with Ezekiel 29:21), so that only a remnant of them will be still in existence; and this remnant will recognise the work of Jehovah in the restoration of Israel. This recognition, however, does not involve the conversion of the heathen to Jehovah, but is simply preparatory to it. For the fact itself, compare Ezekiel 17:24. הדּרשׁ, to let oneself be asked or entreated, as in Ezekiel 14:3. זאת, with regard to this, is explained by לעשׂות . What God will do follows in 'ארבּה ותו. God will multiply His people to such an extent, that they will resemble the flock of lambs, sheep, and goats brought to Jerusalem to sacrifice upon the feast days. Compare 2 Chronicles 35:7, where Josiah is said to have given to the people thirty thousand lambs and goats for the feast of the passover. כּצּאן אדם does not mean, like a flock of men. אדם cannot be a genitive dependent upon צאן, on account of the article in כּצּאן, but belongs to ארבּה, either as a supplementary apposition to אותם, or as a second object, so that ארבּה would be construed with a double accusative, after the analogy of verbs of plenty, to multiply them in men. Kliefoth's rendering,, "I will multiply them, so that they shall be the flock of men" (of mankind), is grammatically untenable. צאן קדשׁים, a flock of holy beasts, i.e., of sacrificial lambs. The flock of Jerusalem is the flock brought to Jerusalem at the yearly feasts, when the male population of the land came to the sanctuary (Deuteronomy 16:16): So shall the desolate cities be filled again with flocks of men (compare Micah 2:12).