Глава 38

Beyond the return of the chosen people from captivity and their happy life in the promised land, other prophets for the most part do not extend their predictions about Israel. For an eschatologist like the prophet Ezekiel, the prophetic gaze naturally penetrates further and traces the fate of Israel to the final fulfillment of all the promises of God on it. This realization is impossible as long as the pagan world is strong on earth: on its part it is always possible to resume the struggle against the people of God. For the latter's complete prosperity it is necessary that this world be completely weakened. In addition, the return of the chosen people from captivity and their establishment in the promised land will not completely restore the honor of the name of God, nor will the shame to which the humiliation of Israel subjected them in the eyes of the nations be completely washed away from them. And according to Ezekiel, the glory of the name of God is determined mainly by God’s attitude towards the world. The final glorification of this great name or, which is the same, the recognition of Jehovah as God by the pagans requires a new and final discovery of the glory of God on earth, a discovery of the unprecedented, through a hitherto unprecedented decisive weakening, close to the complete destruction of the pagan world on earth, a weakening that would destroy the last doubt in anyone about the exclusive, only greatness of the name of God. This last struggle of the world hostile to God on earth with the kingdom of God, a struggle that is likely to end in complete weakening, if not complete destruction of the first world, is depicted in chapters XXXVIII and XXXIX under the guise of a war of the most distant and diverse peoples with Gog at their head against the new Israel. Naturally, this struggle, which in the New Testament is depicted more from its spiritual side, as the struggle of the Antichrist and his false teachings with Christ and His truth, is presented in the form of war by the Old Testament prophet, who wrote in an era of widespread bloody wars and weak ideological struggle. However, this does not mean that all the features in this representation have only symbolic meaning and only require spiritual application. It is possible that Ezekiel depicts from the material side the same struggle that the New Testament describes from the spiritual and ideological side. On earth, everything spiritual is so closely connected with the bodily and physical that no struggle can be only spiritual. As in all the predictions of the last chapters, the prophet Ezekiel, in these two, contemplates first of all the fate of post-exilic Israel, his truly heroic defense of his people and faith from the immeasurably physically stronger pagan world, which pressed on him from all sides and could not, however, destroy this small people, who in the end (in the person of Christianity) won a decisive victory over him. The pagans who did not come into direct contact with Israel (like the pagans of chapters XXV-XXXII) should have felt the power of Jehovah. It is remarkable that Ezekiel awaits this final judgment on paganism after a greater change in things; in him, the complete renewal of the world and salvation is divided into two acts: the second opens with the deposition of Gog, like the first with the death of the pagan neighbors of Israel. – It is believed that Ezekiel takes the colors for depicting this great struggle not so much from the campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar, but from the Scythian invasion of Western Asia that took place around the time of Josiah, which then brought fear to all of Asia for a long time; from this invasion they take colors to depict the judgment of God (“the day of the Lord”) and even directly describe it by Jeremiah III-VI and Zephaniah; Ezek.32.26–27 also indicates this invasion. There was no doubt that the political situation at that time did not exclude the possibility of a repetition of this invasion. From the north, new hordes of Scythians penetrated to the south and took over the leadership of the old ones. What Ezekiel calls Gog was the real magnitude of his time (Smend). This is confirmed by a comparison of Ezek.38:2–3, 39c Ezek.38:5–6, 32:26. Although the invasion of Gog subsequently became an image of hostile worldly power, which will perish at the world court (Rev 20.7 et). but Gog does not come as an enemy of Jehovah or Israel; he knows nothing about Jehovah and is only looking for prey (Ezek.38.12–13); it is his sin (Smend). Some people attribute the prophecy to Babylon. Indeed, although the prophet Ezekiel looks at the Chaldeans as executors of God’s instructions regarding Judea and its punishment, and therefore not responsible for the evil that they caused to Judea, they could fulfill this assignment with excessive cruelty. So Isaiah moves on to threats to Assyria, in which he saw the punishing rod of God (Isaiah 10.5 etc.); and the prophets of the end of the captivity speak of the imminent destruction of Babylon; the fall of the Babylonian monarchy, apparently, was a necessary precondition for the liberation of Israel and Ezekiel, like Jeremiah earlier, was not alien to the thought of such a fall: Jer 29.13 et cf. Ezek.4:4–5, 34:12, 27. In the very names Gog and Magog they see a hidden indication of Babylon. The opinion has been expressed (Bohmer in Zeitschrift fur wissensch Theologie 1897, S. 321), that in the name Magog Ezekiel gives the name of Babylon according to one of the methods accepted in Kabbalism, namely, by replacing each letter (consonant) with the next one in the alphabet and by reading the word in reverse order. Babylon, according to Heb. Vavel, has consonant letters vvl, followed by yym - back mgy, magog. But the prophecy about Gog dates back to times later than the fall of the Babylonian monarchy, to those when Israel, having returned from captivity, would already achieve significant prosperity in St. earth (Ezek.36.33 etc.). The prophet should have been deterred from predicting the destruction of Babylon, of course, not by fear of a powerful conqueror (the prophets knew no fear of earthly power), but by the benefit of the listeners. If the sufferings of captivity were yet to bear fruit, then it was no longer time to direct the people’s gaze to the sin of Babylon and its certain final destruction. Speech XXXVIII chapter, in addition to the introduction, 1–2 art., contains three parts: 2–9 art. They develop the idea that, in essence, Jehovah himself in the last days will attract Gog, as if even against his will, to his land, in order to demonstrate omnipotence in his destruction. In parallel to this part of Art. 10–16 (cf. vv. 9 and 16) proves that, on the other hand, Gog will be attracted by his thirst for prey. Art. 17–23 talk about the punishment of Gog, its correspondence to prophetic predictions and the impression on the world through which the latter recognizes Jehovah. Ezek.38:2. son of man! turn your face to Gog in the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him Gog here is a person, a prince from the land of Magog, but in Rev. 20.7 this is a name, like Magog - the names of nations. The particle ma in the Sanskrit language contains the idea of ​​earth and placed before the name of Gog can mean the land of Gog. The name Gog could be the same formation from Magog as the Arabic Yagug from Magd, Magu, Magi (Persians). Therefore, the immediate definition of the mysterious name "Gog" depends on the meaning of the more famous name "Magog". The member placed here under Magog makes it clear that this is a famous people and refers to Gen. 10.2, the only place in the Old Testament where this people is named (1 Chron. 1.5). According to this place, Magog is the 2nd son of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan (Elissa), Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. Of these names, those following Magog found very probable identifications: Madai - Medes, Javan - Greeks, etc. According to Josephus (Autiqu, 1:6, 1) and others, Magog means Scythians. But the Scythians, who attacked Western Asia during the time of Josiah, are called in Ezekiel Ezekiel 32.26, apparently, Meshech and Tubal, and here the peoples with the last two names are subordinate to Gog and, apparently, from recent times. Gog probably entered from the north. And X ch. Genesis indicates for the land of Magog a country north of the Caucasus, because, in all likelihood, the people "Gomer" lived there. If here Gog is presented as living in the land of Magog and appears as the prince of Meshech and Tubal, then it does not follow from this that the land of Magog should be sought close to these latter nations. Gen. 10.2 speaks against this, placing a series of names between Magog and Meshech. Meshech and Tubal are obviously conquests of Gog. Neither the Massagetae, who in the time of Herodotus lived between the Caspian and Aral seas and in the Kyrgyz steppes, nor Armenia, which even under the Achaemenids formed a special satrapy and was inhabited mainly by Scythian shepherd tribes, respond to this name Magog. Even less suitable for defining the land of Magog is the so-called Scythian wall, which stretched from Derbent on the Caspian Sea to the Pontus Euxine and was called by the Arabs a name consonant with Magog. If it is so difficult to say anything definite about the meaning of the name Magog and the place of this country or people, despite the fact that the Old Testament, apparently, connected with this name a definite and well-known idea, then it is even more difficult to say something about the name Gog, used only by Ezekiel (However, it is found in 1 Chronicles 5.4 as the name of one descendant of Reuben, about whom nothing is reported). The name was compared with the Turkic g¨g, sky, Persian. kog, mountain; travelers of the 13th century they call the prince of the Tatar cat-khan; the title of prince in many languages ​​sounds like this: kuk, khon, king, konig; Wed our sovereign, you goy, an outcast. In the wedge-shaped inscription of Assurbanipal, next to Birigudi, the prince of Madaya, that is, the Medes, is named Sariti and Parisi, the sons of The Hague, prince of Saka (Scythians?): maybe this last one is also that of Gutu, Gyges, the Lydian king (Del Wo 1. d. Par. 246). In the Thoth-Amarna inscription (Schrad. Keilinchr Bibl. V, 5) Eider is the name of some northern barbarians. Compare with the name, Gog and Antiochus Epiphanes: (Ant) ioch (us) and ' Ωγυγος᾿ a. – Ezekiel first used this name, terrible in its novelty and striking in its brevity and energy, and he, perhaps, compared it with the consonant name Magog, one of the most northern peoples, in order to designate with this rare and unfamiliar name all the new enemies of Israel in the distant future, who will appear from the most distant parts of the north, always hostile to the Jews, from where the final catastrophe - captivity - came upon them (cf. Ezekiel 1.4; Jer 1.14), from where all the enemies of Israel came (Assyria, Scythians, Babylon, Persians) - and, having emerged from there, they will receive strong auxiliary troops from the south (v. 5), thanks to which, as it were, the whole world will fall on Israel. "Prince", Heb. Nasi, that is, the further listed peoples, who, as conquered ones, must have been more subordinate to Gog than his native people Magog. "Roche" in euros “head”, “chief”, why is this perhaps a definition for Nasi: “chief prince”, as the high priest was called kohen roga, “chief priest”; so indeed Vulg.: princeps capitis. But the LXX and all other ancient translations consider Rosh to be a proper name, therefore the name of the people. The Bible does not know such a people. They compare with it the οι Ρως of Byzantine and Eastern writers of the 10th century. (cf. Ras Koran XXV, 50), who so call the Scythian mountain people, near the Arctic Taurus or near the Black Sea and Volga, thus, obviously, us Russians; against such identification (Gesenius) Hengstenberg noted (we will be grateful to him) that “Russians cannot be placed among the enemies of the kingdom of God.” They also compare with Roxolani Pliny (Hist. nat IV, 12) and Ptolemy (III, 5) Rhos † Alani and Rasi wedge-shaped inscriptions, which must be sought on the western border of Elam near the Tigris (Del. W. 1. d. Par. 322. Schr. Keil. u. A. T., 427). In any case, they are also the people of the farthest north and terrible in their unknown, “Meshech” and “Tubal” - see the explanation of Ezek.27.13, cf. Ezek.32.26. Meshech and in Ps 119.5 (Mosoch in the Russian Bible) the image of a ruthless barbarian people. Ezek.38:4. And I will turn you around, and I will put the bit in your jaws, and I will bring you out and all your army, horses and horsemen, all fully armed, a large army, with armor and shields, all armed with swords, Although Gog undertook this campaign of his own impulse, out of a thirst for prey (v. 13), he followed an imperceptible impulse on the part of Jehovah, who led him like a wild beast of his own will. In Rev 20.7 it is led by Satan; Wed 2 Samuel 24.1 with 1 Chronicles 21.1. In later theology, the attitude of the Divine to such actions is designated through the term “permission.” - “And I will turn you”, Hebrew. shuv, return in the form of Poel - also allows the translation “I will deceive” (cf. Is 47.10), “I will lure”; but LXX: “I will turn you back”; Vulg. circumagam. – “I will put the bit in your jaws” - see the explanation of Ezek.29.4; υστερον προτερον. Vatican, etc. do not have both sentences. The further description of the enemy corresponds to the Assyro-Babylonian army, about which the prophet repeatedly uses the words hail, “army”, glory. “strength” and “horde”, kagal. - “In full armor”, lit. “in the garb of perfection”—brilliant armor. See explanation of Ezek.23.12. - “A large horde,” perhaps infantry, unlike the previously mentioned cavalry, armed, if not so brilliantly, then still fully armed: “in armor, with shields.” Shields were more a property of infantry (rather than cavalry), for which they were famous according to Ezekiel 27.10. verse peoples. Ezek.38:5. Persians, Ethiopians and Libyans with them, all with shields and helmets, In addition to the unheard of peoples of the north, Gog’s army will also have a whole number of peoples of the south or civilized, but who have not yet entered the prominent historical field. These latter peoples include, first of all, the Persians and the Jews. paras - see explanation of Ezek.20.10. – “Ethiopians” – see explanation Eze.29.10, glory. "Muryans". – “Libyans”, Hebrew. Foot or Put, see explanation of Ezek.27.10. Slav. also “Lidians” (not in Greek either) – doublet or insertion according to Ezek.27.10. – “With shields” – see Art. 4. Ezek.38:6. Gomer with all his troops, the house of Togarm, from the borders of the north, with all his troops, many nations are with you. “Homer” is just like Magog Gen 10.3 1 Chron 1.6. Identified either with the Cimmerians (Odis. XI, 14), cuneiform. Gimiraya by the Black Sea or with the Cappadonians, who are called Hamir by the Armenians, mentioned nearby (“house of Togarm”) (Eus. Chron Arm. I, 95; II, 12). Since the Cimmerians, according to Strabo (I, 3, 21), raided Asia Minor and even invaded the Lydian kingdom, which was oppressed by the Scythians (Herod. I, 6, 15, etc.), they could have left traces of their name in Asia Minor among the Cappadonians (therefore Josephus must mean the Galatians by Homer). Wed. also the names "Cimbri" or "Kumri". - “With all his troops”, Heb. agan, translated in XII.14 “the whole army”, see explanation there. Slav. “all those around him.” – “House of Togarm” see explanation of Ezek.27.14. – “Many nations” are smaller and secondary. Ezek.38:7. Prepare and equip yourself, you and all your hordes gathered to you, and be their leader. "Get Ready and Equipped". Ironic advice: he will die anyway. - “Be their leader.” All the peoples named here are not subjects of Gog, but are only under his command; hence the somewhat unusual expression. But heb. mishmar means own. "banner". LXX: “and you will be Mi in the first watch”, προφυλακτην, avant-garde (Bertolet): “reserve”, meaning, confirmed trace. in verse. Ezek.38:8. After many days you will be needed; in the last years you will come to a land delivered from the sword, gathered from many nations, to the mountains of Israel, which were constantly desolate, but now its inhabitants will be brought back from the nations, and they will all live in safety. Although Gog is already ready, the time has not yet come for the Lord to use him, for first Israel must settle in its land. – “After many days” (cf. Isa 24.22) is the same as “in the last years”, at the end of the World, according to Rev. 20.7 after the mysterious 1000 years. – “You will need it” is a tentative translation of the Hebrew. tippacked kotor LXX more accurately translates “prepared” (literally “to make a review”), Vulg. visitaberis. - “A land delivered from the sword.” The land is a synonym for the people, about which, in fact, one can only say: delivered (but LXX: corrupted) from the sword, and especially “gathered from many nations” from captivity. – “Mountains of Israel” is Ezekiel’s favorite name for Palestine, in which one can see the love for his country of a mountaineer who was forcibly settled in a distant and low-lying foreign land. - “In constant desolation”, LXX: “very empty”, δι ολον. Palestine was desolate during 70 years of captivity; but the expression may indicate the time from the death of the Savior to the coming of the Antichrist, during which the Jews are scattered. - “They will all live safely.” “Such will be the position of the church before the final struggle between good and evil” (Trosh.). Ezek.38:9. And you will rise like a storm, you will go like a cloud to cover the earth, you and all your hordes and many nations with you. “Storm” (glorified “rain”) and cloud are images of a great disaster; Wed Isaiah 11.1, etc. “To cover the earth,” as a cloud darkens the sky. – “You and everything” – Greek. εση συ και παντες that is glorious. for some reason it conveys: “you will fall”; It’s too early for death. Ezek.38:10. Thus says the Lord God: on that day thoughts will come into your heart, and you will plan an evil deed. 2nd part of speech (see preliminary note to the chapter). Although, in essence, Jehovah himself brings Gog, the will (more precisely: permission) of the Lord coincides with the aspirations of Gog. The parallel of 2–9 and 10–16 could be a classic place of what in theology is called concursus: the action, the influence of God is not something different from the action of the creature, but it is a single and indivisible action (Bert.). "Thoughts" . Heb. davar, word, often has this meaning, LXX "verbs", Vulg. sermones. Ezek.38:11. and you will say: “I will rise to the unfenced land, I will go to the carefree people who live carelessly - they all live without walls, and they have neither locks nor doors - “Unfenced land” - lit. “land from villages”, without cities with their fortifications. Future St. The earth appears in this verse as lying in the deepest world, not even having cities, but only villages; Wed Zech 6.5, 8. A prediction that has not yet come true. - “I will go to the carefree, living carelessly”; glory better (without a shade of condemnation): “I will come to those who are silent in silence and living peacefully.” Ezek.38:12. to carry out robbery and gather booty, to lay hands on the newly settled ruins and on the people gathered from the nations, engaged in farming and trade, living on the top of the earth.” "Hand", Heb. “your hand”, LXX “my hand” (Gog’s speech). - “To the newly inhabited ruins.” Gog wants to devastate the country, which has barely erased the traces of its disasters and previous attacks. - “Engaged in farming and trade,” slav. more precisely: “who created the attractions of estates”; lit.: “having acquired property (mikhne) and goods.” The chosen people of the blessed future appear to be agricultural, not commercial. In a mysterious sense, these are the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Antichrist and his servants will want to take away from Christians. – “At the top” – glory, more precisely – “pupe”. See explanation of Ezek.5.5. Expression for the first time in Court. 9.37. So Canaan could be named for its mountainousness, and the mysterious promised land of the future described here for the beauty and abundance of God's blessing on it. The expression is not alien and classic. writers: Cic. With. Verrem VI, 48 De divinat. 2. Liv. XXXV, 18; Odys I, 50. Ezek.38:13. Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all their young lions will say to you: “Have you come to carry out robbery, have you gathered your army to gather booty, to take silver and gold, to take away cattle and property, to seize great booty?” The most trading peoples of the world, who understand wealth, understand that greed alone armed Gog and his people and prompts them to war (Trosh.). They try to verify the rumors that have reached them about his grandiose campaign on the spot in order to benefit from his future rich booty; just as battlefields attract hyenas (Krech.), so large armies always attract crowds of speculators. Just as Gog’s army is composed of the most distant peoples, so traders gather into his army from all over the world (Smend). – “Sheba” see explanation of Ezek.27.22. – “Dedan” – Ezek.27.20. – “Merchants of Tarshish” – glory. “Carhidonstia” – Ezek.27.12. – “Young Lions” is a completely unexpected addition; LXX should be a paraphrase: “and all weigh them”; Kretschm. allows in euro. kefirega damage to Cyprus, Cyprians (Song 4.13; Song 1.13). Ezek.38:14. Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: is it not so? on the day when my people Israel dwell securely, you will know it; What was said in vv. 10–13 is repeated with some changes and additions. "You'll know it". LXX “you will rise” (instead of ted they read theor). Ezek.38:15. and you will go from your place, from the borders of the north, you and many nations with you, all sitting on horses, a great congregation and a great army. "From the limits of the north". The North is a dark country, a symbol of the source of all disasters (see explanation of Eze. 1.4 “from the north”). From the north, the Jews were subjected to the greatest blows of fate (see the preliminary note to the chapter;). This property of the north with a deepening into it, at its edge, intensifies. - “All those sitting on horses.” The Scythian cavalry surprised the East. “Gathering” is a quantitative definition, and “army” (glorified “strength”) is a qualitative one. Ezek.38:16. And you will rise upon My people, upon Israel, like a cloud to cover the earth: it will be in the last days, and I will bring you to My land, so that the nations will know Me, when I, O Gog, will show My holiness over you before their eyes. “Like a cloud” - see the explanation of Art. 9. – “In the last days”, see explanation of Art. 8. – “I will bring you.” In addition to his desire, Gog will also fulfill the will of God. - “I will demonstrate My holiness” - explanation of the expression: “so that the nations may know Me.” Through the destruction of Gog (the highest embodiment of evil), God will reveal himself to the world from the side of holiness, his main property, in a way that he has not yet revealed. Then in truth they will fully recognize God. Ezek.38:17. Thus says the Lord God: Are you not the same one of whom I spoke in ancient days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days that I would bring you against them? "Aren't you?" LXX “thou art,” perhaps because they considered it inappropriate for God to reflect (reflect) on His previous predictions. - “In ancient days through My servants the prophets.” Although Gog was not named by the former prophets, everything hostile to God that the prophets spoke about was essentially the same as Gog, and God’s final judgment on evil in the world, the so-called “day of the Lord”, the last day among the prophets, is the day of Gog’s destruction. In particular, Ezekiel could have in mind here Numbers 24.7 (“Agag” Gog according to Blessed Jerome), Isaiah 10:5–34, 17 etc.; Mic 5:11; Soph 3.8. Prophecy appears here as a relatively complete and objective value, which in history should come true sooner or later. This idea is natural on the eve of the cessation of the prophetic gift in the Old Testament; Wed Zech 1.4. – “In those times” – ancient and long. Ezek.38:18. And it shall come to pass in the day when Gog comes upon the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my wrath shall be kindled in my wrath. "Rage" is another motivation for the destruction of Gog; in addition to favor towards the chosen people - indignation at evil. Ezek.38:19. And in My jealousy, in the fire of My indignation, I said: Truly on that day there will be a great turmoil in the land of Israel. The closest way the wrath of God and His glory will be revealed is in a strong earthquake ("shock" - glorious, more precisely: "coward"), which He will produce when enemies enter His land. The earthquake from Amos (Amos 8.8, 9.5) is one of the signs of the “day of the Lord,” the last judgment of God: Joel 3.16; Agg 2.6–7; Matthew 24.7, 29 and parallels; Open 16.8. – “Truly”, LXX, more precisely “if not”, is an oath formula. Ezek.38:20. And the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth, and all the people that are upon the face of the earth, shall tremble at my presence, and the mountains shall crumble, and the rocks shall fall, and all the walls shall fall to the ground. Together with the earth, all nature will vibrate: the four-part animal kingdom, all of humanity and soulless nature. Ezek.38:21. And against all my mountains I will call a sword against him, says the Lord God; Every man's sword will be against his brother. Then Gog's army will be destroyed by the allies turning against each other and turning the sword on themselves. Perhaps this seems to be a consequence of the confusion into which they will come from the terrible earthquake. Wed. Court. 7.22; 1 Samuel 14.20; 2 Chronicles 20.23; Zechariah 14:13. - “Across all My mountains” - in the mountainous land of Israel. But the expression is not as natural as in Art. 8 and under. Therefore, LXX is better: “all fear” (garada instead of garai), for which there is only glory. adds: “sword”; without this it’s smoother, because we’ll talk about the sword later. Ezek.38:22. And I will judge him with pestilence and bloodshed, and I will rain on him and on his armies and on the many nations that are with him, flooding rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone; “The entire arsenal of Divine punishments will be used against Gog” (Krechm.). – “By plague and bloodshed” see explanation of Ezek.5.17. – “All-flooding rain” – almost a second flood. “Stone city”, as in Egypt and under I. Navin (Joshua 10.11), lit. “huge stones” (Vulg.) see explanation of Ezek.13.11. - “Fire and brimstone”, as in Sodom. Gen 19.24; Ps 10.6; 2 Kings 1.10. Those punishments of God, which were sent separately to all developing wickedness, will now all unite against Gog, because he will be the completion of earthly wickedness. The combination of the most powerful disasters will be as terrible as this last rebellion on earth against God will be. Ezek.38:23. And I will show My greatness and My holiness, and I will manifest Myself in the sight of many nations, and they will know that I am the Lord. “Greatness” – for the first time in Ezek., cf. Isa 10.15; Dan 5.19. “I will reveal Myself” – also for the first time. God will then be known by the earth as fully and deeply as he could not have been known before. But quite - hardly: after the events of Chapters XL-XLVIII. this knowledge will be even more complete. You might be interested in: