Introduction: Prophecy Concerning Mount Seir
Chapter 35 in Yechezkel is a prophecy concerning Mount Seir, which is Edom. This chapter is placed here specifically because the prophecies regarding Israel's return to their land and the destruction of Edom are close to each other in time; and because these events occurred in close proximity, when the prophet prophesies about Israel's return, he also prophesies about Edom's destruction.
(א) וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהֹוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃ (ב) בֶּן־אָדָם שִׂים פָּנֶיךָ עַל־הַר שֵׂעִיר וְהִנָּבֵא עָלָיו׃ - (1) And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: (2) Son of man, set your face toward Mount Seir, and prophesy against it.
The Malbim explains: We have a longstanding score to settle with Edom. This enmity dates back to the time of Esav, and at the destruction of the First Temple, when Nevuchadnezzar came against us, we saw Edom rejoicing in our downfall - as if Yaakov was now paying the price for having taken the birthright from Esav. Later, in the days of the Hasmonean dynasty and Herod, judgment was executed upon them, and even Nevuchadnezzar laid waste to their land - but notice: that destruction was not a permanent, everlasting ruin, but a temporary one. And this is precisely what the prophet mentions here, detailing it in stages.
Three Desolations: From Nevuchadnezzar to Everlasting Desolation
(ג) וְאָמַרְתָּ לּוֹ כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה הִנְנִי אֵלֶיךָ הַר־שֵׂעִיר וְנָטִיתִי יָדִי עָלֶיךָ וּנְתַתִּיךָ שְׁמָמָה וּמְשַׁמָּה׃ - (3) And you shall say to it: Thus said the Lord Hashem: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and make you a desolate waste.
"Behold, I am against you" - I will wage war against you. "And I will stretch out My hand against you" - to strike you. "And make you a desolate waste" - this is the first ruin, the destruction wrought by Nevuchadnezzar, which was not yet absolute.
(ד) עָרֶיךָ חׇרְבָּה אָשִׂים וְאַתָּה שְׁמָמָה תִהְיֶה וְיָדַעְתָּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהֹוָה׃ - (4) I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am Hashem.
"I will lay your cities waste" - I will make the cities ruinous. Here a difficulty arises: if the cities are ruined, then by definition it is desolate; why then does it add "and you"? It would have sufficed to say "and it shall be desolate." The Malbim explains: "and you shall be desolate" refers to the people - the people of Seir themselves; wherever they are, even outside their cities, desolation will pursue them. Metzudas David, on the other hand, explains that "and you" refers to the entire land: there are the cities, which are the inhabited settlements, and there is the land as a whole, which is why they are mentioned separately.
The Malbim further adds that this refers to an additional stage: while "and make you a desolate waste" corresponds to the destruction by Nevuchadnezzar, "I will lay your cities waste" refers to a much later period, by the Hasmoneans. And as for what is stated, "and you shall know that I am Hashem" - as is known, many of the descendants of Edom converted, entering the covenant through circumcision and immersion and accepting the sovereignty of the Creator; concerning this it is said, "and you shall know" - you will come to recognize My divinity.
"In the Time of Their Calamity, in the Time of the Final Iniquity" - Enmity with No Purpose
(ה) יַעַן הֱיוֹת לְךָ אֵיבַת עוֹלָם וַתַּגֵּר אֶת־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל־יְדֵי־חָרֶב בְּעֵת אֵידָם בְּעֵת עֲוֺן קֵץ׃ - (5) Because you have harbored an everlasting enmity, and delivered the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the final iniquity.
The Malbim explains: When the Romans entered Jerusalem, the Edomites ostensibly came to our aid - yet in their hearts they harbored that ancient enmity. "Vatager" (you poured them out) comes from the root of pouring, like a liquid that flows and spills, as in "and I will pour down her stones into the valley" (Michah 1:6) - you brought down the Children of Israel by the sword. And this is what is written, "even you were as one of them... Neither should you have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape" (Ovadiah 1:11, 14): when Israel fled during the destruction, the Edomites stood "at the crossway", meaning at the borders and crossroads, and struck them down.
"At the time of the iniquity of the end" - there was an end to their iniquity; the punishments were already completed and their sin was paid for. "In the time of their calamity (eidam)" - at the time of their ruin and downfall, as in "gloating over calamity (same'ach le'eid)", where eid means ruin. Now, when a person sees his fellow in such a state, whose calamity is sealed and whose iniquity has run its course, it is only right to have mercy on him. Yet you did not act this way; specifically in the time of their calamity, you pursued them with the sword. And why? Everything you did, says the Malbim, was out of pure malice rather than for any practical benefit: not because they harmed you, nor because they did you any wrong, but out of that ancient enmity.
"Surely You Have Hated Blood, and Blood Shall Pursue You"
(ו) לָכֵן חַי־אָנִי נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה כִּי־לְדָם אֶעֶשְׂךָ וְדָם יִרְדְּפֶךָּ אִם־לֹא דָם שָׂנֵאתָ וְדָם יִרְדְּפֶךָּ׃ - Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Hashem, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; surely you hated blood, and blood shall pursue you.
Here the decree is sealed with an oath. "I will prepare you for blood" - just as you shed blood, so too will you be filled with the blood of the slain. "And blood shall pursue you" - the way of the world is to pursue an enemy in order to take captives or seize spoils; but here that will not be the case, rather they will pursue you solely to shed blood. This is measure for measure: "Surely you hated blood" - your hatred toward Israel was an innate, visceral hatred, as in the idiom "hating someone in one's blood". That is to say, you hate a person simply because he is of Jewish blood, not because of any damage done to you, nor because of any practical reckoning. And because this hatred was not driven by gain or profit, nor by fear of harm - "and blood shall pursue you", a pursuit whose sole purpose is bloodshed, not captives and not plunder.
Rashi presents an interesting explanation here: "You hated blood" refers to Esav, since Edom stems from Esav. Esav did not want to perform the sacrificial service in the Beit HaMikdash. Why? "You hated dirtying yourself with the blood of the offerings of My service." You found it unpleasant to soil yourself with sacrificial blood - so the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: The filth of the blood of the slain will pursue you. Rashi also brings another interpretation: Some say you fear murderers like any other man - therefore murderers will pursue you. And some say that "you hated blood" aligns with the Malbim's explanation: You hated your brother who is your own flesh and blood, you hated one who was your close kin, and therefore your pursuit will be a pursuit of blood.
(ז) וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־הַר שֵׂעִיר לְשִׁמְמָה וּשְׁמָמָה וְהִכְרַתִּי מִמֶּנּוּ עֹבֵר וָשָׁב׃ - And I will make Mount Seir a desolation and a wasteland, and I will cut off from it him that passes through and him that returns.
"Shimmah" - on the grammatical pattern of simlah and shifchah, as Radak explains. And when will this take place? At the end of days. The desolation will be so absolute that no one will pass through there - "and I will cut off from it him that passes through and him that returns", no one will travel through their land. And why does the verse duplicate the term, "leshimmah u-shemamah"? The Malbim explains that the repeated phrasing indicates that after it becomes a desolation, He will make it yet another desolation - desolation upon desolation. Any doubling of language indicates an intensification and multiplication of the matter.
(ח) וּמִלֵּאתִי אֶת־הָרָיו חֲלָלָיו גִּבְעוֹתֶיךָ וְגֵיאוֹתֶיךָ וְכׇל־אֲפִיקֶיךָ חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב יִפְּלוּ בָהֶם׃ - And I will fill his mountains with his slain; in your hills and in your valleys and in all your streams, those slain by the sword shall fall.
Lest you think that all that will happen to you is exile from your land, Hashem says: They will not go into exile; rather, "I will fill his mountains with his slain" - the corpses of the Edomites will fill the mountains. And lest you think this will only occur where they fought battle, namely on the mountains, Scripture states "your hills", etc. There too, those slain by the sword will fall, meaning that even after the conquest, they will kill everyone.
And what are "his mountains, your hills, your valleys, your streams"? The Malbim already explained earlier: Mountains are larger than hills; the mountains stand in the center with the lower hills surrounding them. The afikim (streams or ravines) are places where water rushes and flows with force, situated between the high mountains from which the waters drain down into the riverbeds. The valleys (ge'ayot) correspond to the hills - a valley lies between hills. In other words: riverbeds run between the mountains, and valleys lie between the hills.
Perpetual Desolations: "Yet I Hated Esav"
(ט) שִׁמְמוֹת עוֹלָם אֶתֶּנְךָ וְעָרֶיךָ לֹא (תישבנה) [תָשֹׁבְנָה] וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי יְהֹוָה׃ - I will make you perpetual desolations, and your cities shall not return, and you shall know that I am Hashem.
Rashi explains: Not like what I said regarding Egypt, "And I will restore the captivity of Egypt," nor like what I said, "And I will restore the captivity of the children of Ammon," who are destined to experience a restoration - for you, this will not be the case: "Your cities shall not return," an eternal desolation forever. And this is what is stated, "And Esav I hated, and I made his mountains a desolation." Even Egypt and the children of Ammon Hashem will eventually restore from captivity, yet of Esav it is said "I hated" - because Esav's hatred was an eternal hatred, and from Esav descended Amalek, and this is not a hatred dependent on any specific circumstance, but a blood hatred; therefore Hashem delivers his mountains unto perpetual desolations.
The Malbim explains that this is the third level of desolation: earlier were "desolate and waste" and "desolation and waste," and here the addition is eternity - "I will make you perpetual desolations," to the point where the cities will not return. Radak, whose consistent approach is to synthesize the Keri and the Ketiv, says that both are true: the written text (Ketiv) is teishevnah - there will be no habitation there; and the read text (Keri) is tashovnah - not only that, but they will never return to their former state, to what they were before. "And you shall know that I am Hashem" - through this you will know that I am Hashem Who punishes, as it is said, "They shall build, but I will tear down," proving that this retribution is driven by Divine Providence.
"These Two Nations... and Hashem Was There"
(י) יַעַן אֲמׇרְךָ אֶת־שְׁנֵי הַגּוֹיִם וְאֶת־שְׁתֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת לִי תִהְיֶינָה וִירַשְׁנוּהָ וַיהֹוָה שָׁם הָיָה׃ - Because you said: These two nations and these two lands shall be mine, and we will possess it, whereas Hashem was there.
The verse is obscure; let us see how the Malbim explains it. During the days of exile, Edom wished to subjugate the Jewish people permanently, and intended for the Land of Israel to belong to them. "These two nations" refers to Judah and the Ten Tribes, which formed two separate kingdoms; "and these two lands shall be mine, and we will possess it" - I will take both Samaria and Judea as my inheritance. "Whereas Hashem was there" - you purported to dispossess even Hashem, Whose Presence was there.
Here the Malbim provides a wonderful explanation applying all these verses to Christianity. Living among Christians, however, he had to exercise great prudence and express himself with delicate subtlety, speaking in hints; yet anyone with even a slight knowledge of history understands what his words point to. Edom claimed to replace Israel: the Christians asserted that the Holy One, blessed be He, cast the Jewish people out of their land because they rebelled against Him, and chose the children of Edom in their stead. "You said that Israel desecrated Hashem's Name and that you are the nation chosen by Hashem" - alleging that Israel was guilty of killing his messiah, that man whose name is an acronym for yimach shemo vezikhro (may his name and memory be blotted out). And since they supposedly desecrated His Name, "and Hashem was there" - you sought to inherit Him as well, claiming that the Holy One, blessed be He, abandoned Israel and chose you instead.
Midrash Rabbi Tanchuma: Esav's Plot
Rashi cites an Aggadic Midrash here, which Rabbi Tanchuma expounds regarding Esav going to Yishmael to intermarry with him - Seir and his father-in-law. And what was his objective? It was not love for Yishmael, but rather to incite Yishmael and inflame him against Yitzchak: Your father Avraham died and left an inheritance, yet you were dispossessed, while Yitzchak took over everything, as it is stated, "For through Yitzchak shall your offspring be named." We have already discussed how Yishmael harbored an abysmal hatred, for while Esav still received a portion, Yishmael was driven out with his mother and received nothing; and though he later repented, scripture nowhere states that he received an inheritance - hence his hatred was an enduring hatred.
Esav said: I will exploit this hatred. I will incite Yishmael to go and murder Yitzchak over Avraham's inheritance, and then, since Yitzchak is my father, I will be the blood redeemer - and go and kill Yishmael. Thus, I will catch two birds with one stone: inheriting both Yishmael and Yitzchak. These were Edom's designs. And of this scripture states, "Whereas Hashem was there" - as Rashi explains: The Holy One, blessed be He, was there, privy to your schemes and thoughts. "Because you said: These two nations and these two lands shall be mine" - both Yishmael's portion and Yitzchak's portion shall be mine; "whereas Hashem was there" - and Hashem knows.
"I Will Deal According to Your Anger and According to Your Envy"
(יא) לָכֵן חַי־אָנִי נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה וְעָשִׂיתִי כְּאַפְּךָ וּכְקִנְאָתְךָ אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָה מִשִּׂנְאָתֶיךָ בָּם וְנוֹדַעְתִּי בָם כַּאֲשֶׁר אֶשְׁפְּטֶךָ׃ - Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Hashem, I will deal according to your anger and according to your envy which you have demonstrated out of your hatred against them, and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.
"Therefore, as I live" - I swear. "I will do according to your anger and according to your envy" - for you inflicted many evils upon Israel during the days of exile. Anyone who knows what the exile of Edom was knows that it was not like the other exiles among the Arab nations: it was an exile in which the Jewish people suffered throughout all the years - murders, persecutions, the massacres of Tach veTat (1648-1649), pogroms, blood libels, what not. "Anger" is wrath, and "envy" - that they could not bear the very existence of the Jewish people: according to their thesis, the Holy One, blessed be He, abandoned them and they are supposed to be downtrodden and subjugated, and suddenly they see that the Jewish people endures; hence a terrible hatred toward the Jewish people.
We once mentioned one of their archbishops from five hundred years ago, who said that the proof that Hashem abandoned the Jewish people is that they will never return to their Land. In 5708 (1948), we returned to our Land, which is why the Pope did not come to visit here - for it contradicts the thesis. They tried to find an explanation and said: the intention was that they would not return to Jerusalem. But in 5727 (1967), we returned to Jerusalem as well - and then they simply do not come, neither seeing nor hearing. The ostrich approach: what you do not see and do not hear does not concern you, and you do not have to confront the facts.
And see here how difficult it is to utter prophecy. The prophets are filled with prophecies throughout history, and everything that was meant to come to pass was fulfilled, one by one. Yet here an archbishop came and uttered a prophecy that did not hold up for five hundred years - and his prophecy was completely logical: the Jews are scattered, what chance is there that they will return? Within a few decades they will surely be wiped out. The prophets, on the other hand, utter prophecies that defy human logic: whichever nation is an empire today - will fall. To say today that the United States will fall and Washington will become a desolate wasteland, who could make such a claim? Yet this is what the prophets said about Babylon, and their words stand to this day: ancient Babylon is a wasteland, "No Arab will pitch his tent there, nor will shepherds fold their flocks there," as we have learned. To utter prophecies contrary to natural course - that is an immense power, and they have come to pass.
And since all their plans were overturned, and the Jewish people returned to their Land, they do not know how to swallow the facts. So what do they do? The nations of Edom take every action to undermine Israel's standing: they establish foundations against us, put us on trial in The Hague, tie the hands of the army so it cannot act against its enemies - and all under the guise of pleasantness, all through law and supposedly legitimate courts. "There is apartheid here," "there are terrible things here," a youth whom the IDF might have killed years ago - it immediately requires an investigation. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands killed in our backyard do not bother anyone, because that is Assad and his own people. But if an illegally built village is evacuated - all of Europe is in an uproar, and moralizers and rebukers immediately rise up against us. These are the children of Edom, and they will not change: if they can - they would put us into crematoria; and if that is not "politically correct" - they will do so in subtle, pseudo-legal ways.
And this is what the Malbim explains here: you inflicted many evils upon Israel during the days of exile out of anger and envy, as though you were zealously championing God's cause. Once again, the Malbim hints at Christianity: they claimed that the Jew must be persecuted and that it is an obligation to persecute him, which is why the priests were always at the forefront of inciting pogroms, asserting that this was punishment from Hashem because the Jews had killed his messiah. They had religious legitimacy, and on the contrary - the more the Jews were persecuted, the more it reinforced the thesis that Hashem had abandoned them and cast them aside. "Which you have done out of your hatred against them" - all of this was not out of zeal for God, but out of hatred. "And I will make Myself known among them when I judge you" - when I judge you, it will become known to all that the people of Israel are My nation and I am their God, and the true faith will be revealed. Notice: the Malbim does not mention Christians at all, but writes "as though you were zealously championing God's cause" and "the true faith will be revealed" - and this is precisely what he is referring to.
"I have heard all your blasphemies"
(יב) וְיָדַעְתָּ כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת־כׇּל־נָאָצוֹתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתָּ עַל־הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר שָׁמֵמוּ לָנוּ נִתְּנוּ לְאׇכְלָה׃ - "And you shall know that I, Hashem, have heard all your blasphemies that you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying: They are desolate; they are given to us to consume."
In contrast to what you said, that both lands belong to you - and we explained according to the Malbim that this refers to the portion of Yehudah and Binyamin and the portion of the ten tribes - Hashem says: I have heard all your blasphemies, how you revile Me through this. "That you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying: They are desolate" - you said they are desolate because of Israel's sin, which is the claim of Christianity, that Hashem abandoned us and cast us out of the Land, and therefore it is desolate. "They are given to us to consume" - the inheritance was not given to us merely to dwell there, but also to eat its fruits; meaning that everything in the Land is given to us, for we are allegedly the replacement of the original people of Israel.
(יג) וַתַּגְדִּילוּ עָלַי בְּפִיכֶם וְהַעְתַּרְתֶּם עָלַי דִּבְרֵיכֶם אֲנִי שָׁמָעְתִּי׃ - "And you magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it."
In contrast to what they said, "and Hashem was there," meaning that Hashem abandoned them and is now with us, wanting to inherit Hashem as well - the verse says, "And you magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth." Here, too, the Malbim hints, writing about "the matter of the nonsensical, foolish tales regarding the Divinity" (and by the way, in all printings it is printed as hamavhilim, "frightening," but this is a clear scribal error; it should read hamahbilim, "frivolous/nonsensical"). "And multiplied your words against Me" - the details they told about the Divinity, which contain disgrace, blemish, and vanity. And he does not elaborate - which itself proves that the intention is not "frightening" (mavhilim) but "frivolous/nonsensical" (mahbilim), since he states that they contain disgrace and vanity (hevel).
And what is this referring to? To the foolish claims of Christianity, that the holy spirit allegedly impregnated an impure woman, and from this was born oto ha'ish (that man), who is not an ordinary man but the son of the holy spirit. This is what the Malbim terms "tales of disgrace, blemish, and vanity." He does not elaborate, but he hints at it. "And you magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth" - this means speaking haughtily and making very grave claims against Hashem. The Malbim explains that this pertains to the honor of Heaven, for there is no greater debasement than to say that the holy spirit unites with a woman. And regarding this, Hashem says: "I have heard it" - these words too, I have heard.
And the Radak explains "ve-he'etartem" (you multiplied) as an expression of abundance, as in "The kisses of an enemy are profuse (ne'etarot)" and "an abundant (atar) cloud of incense" - meaning plentiful; and similarly, Targum Yonatan renders: "Ve'asgitun alai pitgameichon," and you multiplied your words against Me, uttering many words against Hashem.
Measure for Measure: Joy Against Joy
(יד) כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה כִּשְׂמֹחַ כׇּל־הָאָרֶץ שְׁמָמָה אֶעֱשֶׂה־לָּךְ׃ - Thus said the Lord God: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation.
Corresponding to your rejoicing over Israel's downfall - measure for measure, I will make you a desolation. When the entire earth rejoices at the return of the people of Israel to their land and there will be great joy, matching it you will suffer desolation: first you will witness their joy, and only afterward will your downfall arrive.
(טו) כְּשִׂמְחָתְךָ לְנַחֲלַת בֵּית־יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל אֲשֶׁר־שָׁמֵמָה כֵּן אֶעֱשֶׂה־לָּךְ שְׁמָמָה תִהְיֶה הַר־שֵׂעִיר וְכׇל־אֱדוֹם כֻּלָּהּ וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהֹוָה׃ - As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall become a desolation, Mount Seir and all of Edom, entirely, and they shall know that I am Hashem.
The previous verse spoke of your rejoicing over the downfall of Israel, and here it addresses your rejoicing over the desolation of the Land: "As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate" - so will I do to you, and thus everyone will rejoice over the destruction of your land. We find measure for measure in both: just as you rejoiced over their downfall and over their ruin - so will all rejoice over your downfall and your ruin. "You shall become a desolation, Mount Seir and all of Edom, entirely, and they shall know that I am Hashem."
In summary:
Chapter 35 is the prophecy of settling accounts with Edom, interwoven with the prophecies of Israel's return because of their chronological proximity. The prophet delineates three stages of desolation: the destruction wrought by Nebuchadnezzar ("a desolation and an astonishment"), the devastation during the Hasmonean era ("I will lay your cities waste"), and finally "perpetual desolations" from which there is no recovery. Edom's sin is an eternal hatred that is entirely baseless - "you hated blood" - a hatred that brings no practical benefit, aimed purely at the very blood and existence of Israel. Therefore, its punishment is measure for measure: "blood shall pursue you," a pursuit whose sole culmination is bloodshed. Edom sought to inherit both lands and even displace the Divine Presence itself, claiming that Israel had been abandoned and that Edom had taken their place. Against this, the Holy One, Blessed be He, declares, "and Hashem was there" - I heard the blasphemies, the baseless fabrications, and the arrogance of your mouths boasting against Me. Ultimately, just as Edom rejoiced over Israel's downfall and the desolation of their land, so will it be made desolate and the world will rejoice over its collapse - "and they shall know that I am Hashem," and true faith will be revealed to all.