Ezekiel 38:12

Ezekiel 38:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
• English Standard Version (ESV)to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.
• New Living Translation (NLT)I will go to those formerly desolate cities that are now filled with people who have returned from exile in many nations. I will capture vast amounts of plunder, for the people are rich with livestock and other possessions now. They think the whole world revolves around them!’

Context of Ezekiel 38:12

10“ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.” 13Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, “Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?” ’ 14“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it?

Ezekiel 38:12 word by word

לִשְׁלֹ֥ל שָׁלָ֖ל וְלָבֹ֣ז בַּ֑ז לְהָשִׁ֨יב יָדְךָ֜ עַל־חֳרָב֣וֹת נוֹשָׁבֹ֗ת וְאֶל־עַם֙ מְאֻסָּ֣ף מִגּוֹיִ֔ם עֹשֶׂה֙ מִקְנֶ֣ה וְקִנְיָ֔ן יֹשְׁבֵ֖י עַל־טַבּ֥וּר הָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• To takeשָׁלַלshâlal · to lootH7997
• a spoilשָׁלָלshâlâl · spoilH7998
• and to takeבָּזַזbâzaz · to plunderH962
• a preyבַּזbaz · plunderH957
• to turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• thine handיָדyâd · hand: powerH3027
• upon the desolate placesחׇרְבָּהchorbâh · desolationH2723
• inhabitedיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• and upon the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• gatheredאָסַף'âsaph · to gatherH622
• out of the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• which have gottenעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: offerH6213
• cattleמִקְנֶהmiqneh · livestockH4735
• and goodsקִנְיָןqinyân · acquisitionH7075
• in the midstטַבּוּרţabbûr · highestH2872
• of the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776

Cross-references for Ezekiel 38:12

• Ezekiel 29:19Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will carry off its wealth. He will loot and plunder the land as pay for his army.
• Isaiah 10:6I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.
• Jeremiah 30:16“ ‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
• Isaiah 1:24Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.
• Amos 1:8I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines are dead,” says the Sovereign Lord.
• Zechariah 13:7“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
• Ezekiel 36:33“ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
• Jeremiah 32:43Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.’
• Jeremiah 33:12“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In this place, desolate and without people or animals—in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks.
• Zechariah 1:12Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”
• Ezekiel 38:8After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.
• Zechariah 10:8I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before.
• Judges 9:37But Gaal spoke up again: “Look, people are coming down from the central hill, and a company is coming from the direction of the diviners’ tree.”

Commentaries on Ezekiel 38:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12To take a spoil - and a prey - When Antiochus took Jerusalem he gave the pillage of it to his soldiers, and spoiled the temple of its riches, which were immense. See Josephus War, B. 1. C. 1.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-23In Ezekiel 37, the nation is reunited and lives in peace in its own land. In Ezekiel 38–39, this peaceful picture changes. A new danger appears. These chapters describe the attack, defeat, and removal of the final enemy, called Gog. Many readers have tried to identify Gog. Some have connected him with Gyges, king of Lydia, who ruled about 680 to 644 BC. However, the Gog described in the Bible goes beyond any one historical ruler. The text focuses less on…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. midst of the land--literally, "the navel" of the land (Jud 9:37, Margin). So, in Eze 5:5, Israel is said to be set "in the midst of the nations"; not physically, but morally, a central position for being a blessing to the world: so (as the favored or "beloved city," Re 20:9) an object of envy. Grotius translates, "In the height of the land" (so Eze 38:8), "the mountains of Israel," Israel being morally elevated above the rest of the world.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Ezekiel, Book of
• Gog
• Ezekiel
• Goods

Commentaries on Ezekiel 38

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings