Ezekiel 39:14

14 ?"And they will set apart {men to continually} go through the land burying the travelers, the ones left over on [the] surface of the land to cleanse it; {for the whole of} seven months they will explore [it].

Ezekiel 39:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 39:14

And they shall sever out men of continual employment
That is, the principal of the house of Israel, their magistrates and governors, shall select certain persons, to be daily employed in the following work, till ended: passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain
upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it;
these men will be appointed to go through the land of Israel, to gather up such carcasses and bones of dead men as remain anywhere after the seven months' burial before observed; and all passengers or travellers shall be assisting to them in it, both in directing where any such carcasses and bones may lie, and in bringing them to the common place of burial; that so the land may he thoroughly cleansed from such disagreeable objects: after the end of seven months shall they search
or begin to search, as the Targum; when seven months are ended, in which the people in general will be employed in burying the dead; these men before mentioned will be sent out into each part of the land, to search in caves, and dens and ditches; among thickets, thorns, and briers, where the slain may fall; or where soldiers, being wounded, might betake themselves and die; or their carcasses or bones be dragged and left by beasts and fowls; to find them out, and bring them to the place of interment.

Ezekiel 39:14 In-Context

12 And the house of Israel will bury them for seven months to cleanse the land.
13 All of the people of the land will bury them, and it will be an honor for them [on] the day when I appear," ' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
14 ?"And they will set apart {men to continually} go through the land burying the travelers, the ones left over on [the] surface of the land to cleanse it; {for the whole of} seven months they will explore [it].
15 And the ones going through, they will go through within the land, and if [anyone] sees [the] bones of [a] person, [then] he will build beside it a sign [to remain] until the buriers have buried him in the Valley of Hamon-Gog.
16 And furthermore [the] name of [the] city [there] [is] Hamonah, and [thus] they will cleanse the land." '

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Literally "men of continuity/men who regularly"
  • [b]. In a negative sense = "invaders"
  • [c]. Literally "from [the] end of"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.