Ezekiel 39:1-8. General announcement of his destruction. - Ezekiel 39:1. And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with thee, Gog, thou prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. Ezekiel 39:2. I will mislead thee, and conduct thee, and cause thee to come up from the uttermost north, and bring thee to the mountains of Israel; Ezekiel 39:3. And will smite thy bow from thy left hand, and cause thine arrows to fall from thy right hand. Ezekiel 39:4. Upon the mountains of Israel wilt thou fall, thou and all thy hosts, and the peoples which are with thee: I give thee for food to the birds of prey of every plumage, and to the beasts of the field. Ezekiel 39:5. Upon the open field shalt thou fall, for I have spoken it, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Ezekiel 39:6. And I will send fire in Magog, and among those who dwell in security upon the islands, that they may know that I am Jehovah. Ezekiel 39:7. I will make known my holy name in the midst of my people Israel, and will not let my holy name be profaned any more, that the nations may know that I am Jehovah, holy in Israel. Ezekiel 39:8. Behold, it comes and happens, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah; this is the day of which I spoke. - The further description of the judgment with which Gog and his hosts are threatened in Ezekiel 38:21-23, commences with a repetition of the command to the prophet to prophesy against Gog (Ezekiel 39:1, cf. Ezekiel 38:2-3). The principal contents of Ezekiel 38:4-15 are then briefly summed up in Ezekiel 39:2. שׁבבתּיך, as in Ezekiel 38:4, is strengthened by שׁשּׁתיך, שׁשׁא, ἁπαχ λεγ.., is not connected with שׁשׁ in the sense of "I leave a sixth part of thee remaining," or afflict thee with six punishments; but in the Ethiopic it signifies to proceed, or to climb, and here, accordingly, it is used in the sense of leading on (lxx καθοδηγήσω σε, or, according to another reading, κατάξω; Vulg. educam). For Ezekiel 39:2, compare Ezekiel 38:15 and Ezekiel 38:8. In the land of Israel, God will strike his weapons out of his hands, i.e., make him incapable of fighting (for the fact itself, compare the similar figures in Psalm 37:15; Psalm 46:10), and give him up with all his army as a prey to death. עיט, a beast of prey, is more precisely defined by צפּור, and still further strengthened by the genitive כּל־כּנף: birds of prey of every kind. The judgment will not be confined to the destruction of the army of Gog, which has invaded the land of Israel, but (Ezekiel 39:6) will also extend to the land of Gog, and to all the heathen nations that are dwelling in security. אשׁ, fire, primarily the fire of war; then, in a further sense, a figure denoting destruction inflicted directly by God, as in Ezekiel 38:22, which is therefore represented in Revelation 20:9 as fire falling from heaven. Magog is the population of the land of Magog (Ezekiel 38:2). With this the inhabitants of the distant coastlands of the west (the איּים) are associated, as representatives of the remotest heathen nations. Ezekiel 39:7, Ezekiel 39:8. By this judgment the Lord will make known His holy name in Israel, and show the heathen that He will not let it be blasphemed by them any more. For the fact itself, compare Ezekiel 36:20. For Ezekiel 39:8, compare Ezekiel 21:12, and for היּום, see Ezekiel 38:18-19.