“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.”
My Notes
What Does Ezekiel 39:11 Mean?
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog." After Gog's defeat, the burial is so massive it BLOCKS a valley: the 'valley of the passengers' (a travel route east of the sea) becomes impassable — stopped up with corpses. The stench stops the noses of travelers. The valley is renamed 'Hamon-gog' — 'the multitude of Gog.' The defeat is so total that the geography is permanently altered and renamed.
The phrase "a place of graves in Israel" (meqom sham qever beYisra'el — a place there of burial in Israel) is ironic: Gog came to CONQUER Israel. Gog receives a GRAVE in Israel instead. The invader who planned to possess the land possesses only a burial plot. The territory Gog wanted becomes the territory that buries Gog.
The "stop the noses of the passengers" (vechosameth hia et ha'overim — it will block/stop up the passers-through) means the valley becomes IMPASSABLE: the corpses are so numerous and the stench so overwhelming that travelers can't pass through. The defeat doesn't just kill the army. It blocks the road. The dead bodies physically obstruct the landscape.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What enemy has God promised to bury in the very place it tried to conquer?
- 2.What does the invader receiving a grave instead of a kingdom teach about the outcome of opposing God?
- 3.How does the defeat being SENSORY (smellable, physical, landscape-altering) describe its completeness?
- 4.What 'valley' in your life has been renamed by a defeat God accomplished?
Devotional
Gog came to conquer Israel. Gog gets a GRAVE in Israel instead. The valley fills with so many corpses that travelers can't pass through — the stench stops their noses, the bodies block the road. The valley gets a new name: Hamon-gog. The Multitude of Gog. The geography is permanently renamed by the defeat.
The 'place of graves in Israel' is the supreme irony: the invader wanted the LAND. The invader receives the land — six feet of it. The territory Gog marched his army across to conquer becomes the territory that holds Gog's body. The possession he wanted is granted — as a burial plot. The land owns Gog, not the other way around.
The 'stop the noses of the passengers' is the scale of defeat made SENSORY: you don't just SEE the defeat. You SMELL it. The corpses are so numerous that the valley — a travel route that people normally walk through — becomes impassable. The stench of the dead army blocks the noses of everyone who tries to pass. The defeat isn't just military. It's environmental. The landscape is changed by the volume of the dead.
The renaming — 'the valley of Hamon-gog' — makes the defeat PERMANENT in the geography: the valley that had one name gets a new one. The name 'Hamon-gog' (Multitude of Gog) means every future traveler who mentions this valley invokes the memory of God's victory. The geography itself becomes a monument. The map itself preaches the sermon.
What enemy has God promised to bury in the very territory it tried to conquer?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When this destruction of the army of Gog shall be made:
that I will give…
The prophet pictures to himself some imaginary valley (compare Zec 14:5) at the “east of the sea,” the Dead Sea, a place…
The valley of the passengers on the east of the sea - That is, of Gennesareth, according to the Targum. The valley near…
Though this prophecy was to have its accomplishment in the latter days, yet it is here spoken of as if it were already…
Gog's burial place shall be east of the Dead Sea.
a place there of graves a place for a grave, lit. a place where a…
Cross References
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