a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
forth
תִּתֵּ֔נוּti.Te.nu
H5414
to give · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
branches
עַנְפְּכֶ֣ם'an.pe.Khem
H6057
a twig (as covering the limbs) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
yield
תִּשְׂא֖וּtis.'U
H5375
to lift · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
fruit
וּפֶרְיְכֶ֥םu.fer.ye.Khem
H6529
fruit (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
people
לְעַמִּ֣יle.'a.Mi
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
hand
קֵרְב֖וּke.re.Vu
H7126
to approach (causatively · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
come
לָבֽוֹאla.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 27:6 He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
Ezekiel 34:26-29 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be s…
Hebrews 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Psalms 67:6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
Psalms 85:12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
Isaiah 4:2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that a…
Isaiah 30:23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat…
Ezekiel 12:25 For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebe…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 36:1-15
The prophet had been ordered to set his face towards the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, Eze 6:2. Then God was coming forth to contend with his people; but now that God is returning in mercy to them he must speak good words and comfortable words to these mountains, Eze 36:1 and again Eze 36:4. You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; and what he says to them he says to the hills, to the rivers, to the valleys, to the desolate wastes in the country, and to the cities that are forsaken, Eze 36:4. and again Eze 36:6. The people were gone, some one way and some another; nothing remained there to be spoken to but the places, the mountains and valleys; these the Chaldeans…
they are at hand to come--that is the Israelites are soon about to return to their land. This proves that the primary reference of the prophecy is to the return from Babylon, which was "at hand," or comparatively near. But this only in part fulfilled the prediction, the full and final blessing in future, and the restoration from Babylon was an earnest of it.
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 36:8
For they are at hand to come - The restoration of the Jews is so absolutely determined that you may rest assured it will take place; and be as confident relative to it, as if you saw the different families entering into the Israelitish borders. It was near at hand in God's determination, though there were about fifty-eight of the seventy years unelapsed.
John Gill on Ezekiel 36:8
But ye, O mountains of Israel,.... Literally understood, as appears by what follows; for though they could not hear what was said, the proprietors of them could, now in captivity; and the efficacy of the word should be seen on them, producing the following effects:
ye shall shoot forth your branches; that is, the trees that grew upon them should; the vines, and the olive trees, planted on hills and mountains, as was usual, as appears from the mount of Olives, and other places:
and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; not only put forth branches, but bear fruit; and which should be given to the right owners, the people of Israel, and not to the Heathens, who had claimed the ancient moun…
The Church Fathers
I will strengthen the people's hope, and I will make steadfast their expectation of good things to come, and they will return and enjoy those fruits that are produced by you.
Therefore, we will say that the mountains of Israel are the prophets and apostles, who hear the word of God, and to whom the enemy devil insulted, saying: 'Well done, once lofty mountains, about which it is written: The mountains are round about it, and the Lord is round about His people' (Ps. 124:2), have been given to me as a possession, when they were desolated by the narrowness of persecution, and trodden down round about, and have become an inheritance to the rest of the nations, and have been blasphemed by all.
And lest this seem difficult to you, I myself will come to you, and those who had departed from you will return to you, so that you may regain your former culture and all things may be fulfilled, so that there may be many people among you, and cities, which were previously destroyed, may be inhabited. And not only will I multiply people, but also animals will multiply and increase, and I will make you dwell as in the beginning, when Moses, leading the two and a half tribes across the Jordan (Numbers 32), and under Joshua, son of Nun, the other nine and a half tribes possessed the land of Judah (Joshua 1 and 13): and I will give you much greater possessions than you had in the beginning before you experienced various captivities. And when I have done this to you, then you will know that I am the Lord.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
