Ezekiel 39 · Verse 12

Ezekiel 39:12

And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
Ezekiel 39:12, King James Version

Ezekiel 39:12 in other translations

BSBFor seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.
WEB“‘“The house of Israel will be burying them for seven months, that they may cleanse the land.
ASVAnd seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land.
YLTAnd the house of Israel have buried them--in order to cleanse the land--seven months.
DARBYAnd seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land;
BBEAnd the children of Israel will be seven months putting them in the earth, so as to make the land clean.
WebsterAnd seven months shall the house of Israel be in burying them, that they may cleanse the land.

What does Ezekiel 39:12 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 And seven months - It shall require a long time to bury the dead. This is another figurative expression; which, however, may admit of a good deal of literal meaning. Many of the Syrian soldiers had secreted themselves in different places during the pursuit after the battle, where they died of their wounds, of hunger, and of fatigue; so that they were not all found and buried till seven months after the defeat of the Syrian army. This slow process of burying is distinctly related in the three following verses, and extended even to a bone, Eze 39:15; which, when it was found by a passenger, the place was marked, that the buriers might see and inter it. Seven months was little time enough for all this work; and in that country putrescency does not easily take place: the scorching winds serving to desiccate the flesh, and preserve it from decomposition.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 39:11-22

How numerous the enemies which God destroyed for the defence of his people Israel! Times of great deliverances should be times of reformation. Every one should help the utmost he can, toward cleansing the land from reproach. Sin is an enemy every man should strive against. Those engaged in public work, especially of cleansing and reforming a land, ought to be men who will go through with what they undertake, who…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 39:11-22 →

Ezekiel 39:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּקְבָרוּם֙u.ke.va.Rumand they will bury themH6912
בֵּ֣יתbeit[the] house ofH1004
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
לְמַ֖עַןle.Ma.'anso asH4616
טַהֵ֣רta.Herto cleanseH2891
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
שִׁבְעָ֖הshiv.'AhsevenH7651
חֳדָשִֽׁים\׃cho.da.ShimmonthsH2320

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezekiel 39:12

  • Deuteronomy 21:23

    His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

  • Ezekiel 39:14

    And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.

  • Ezekiel 39:16

    And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

  • Numbers 19:16

    And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
cleanse.
14,16; Nu 19:16; De 21:23

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ezekiel 39:11

    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 Hamon–gog.

  • Ezekiel 39:12

    And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.

  • Ezekiel 39:13

    Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.

Read all of Ezekiel 39

Ezekiel 39:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y la casa de Israel los estará enterrando por siete meses, para limpiar la tierra:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et la maison d’Israël les enterrera pendant sept mois, pour purifier le pays;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und das Haus Israel wird sie begraben, um das Land zu reinigen, sieben Monate lang;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et sepelient eos domus Israël, ut mundent terram septem mensibus.