After Yechezkel 33 opens the prophet’s mouth and restores the watchman commission, and after Yechezkel 34 condemns the failed shepherds and promises that HaShem Himself will gather His flock and establish one shepherd, My servant David, the sefer turns to another necessary stage of restoration.
Before the mountains of Israel can be comforted, the mountain of Seir must be judged.
Before the land of Israel can receive its people again, the enemies who rejoiced over her desolation must be confronted.
Before Israel can return fully, the profanation of HaShem’s Name among the nations must be reversed.
This is the movement of Yechezkel 35–36.
Yechezkel 35 begins with the command: שֵׂﬠִיר ﬠַל־הַר פָּנֶיָך שִׂים בֶּן־אָדָם / Ben-adam sim panekha al-har Se’ir / “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir.” Again, the face turns by command. Yechezkel must face Seir directly because Seir represents an ancient hostility toward Israel.
Mount Seir is associated with Edom. Earlier, in Yechezkel 25, Edom was judged for taking vengeance against the House of Yehudah. Here the judgment becomes more focused and more severe. Seir is not merely a neighboring land. It becomes the symbolic mountain of anti-Israel hatred, rivalry, revenge, and desire to possess what HaShem gave to Israel.
HaShem says: שֵׂﬠִיר הַר אֵלֶיָך הִנְנִי / Hineni elekha har Se’ir / “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir.” This phrase is direct. When HaShem says “I am against you,” the mountain’s power, history, and hostility cannot protect it.
HaShem stretches out His hand against Seir and makes it a desolation and an astonishment. The hand appears again. Seir’s hatred moved through human hands, but HaShem’s hand answers. The mountain that wanted Israel’s inheritance becomes desolate.
The accusation is: עוֹלָם אֵיבַת לְָך הֱיוֹת יַﬠַן / Ya’an heyot lekha eivat olam / “Because you had everlasting hatred.” This is one of the central phrases of the chapter. Seir is not judged only for one moment of anger. It carried עוֹלָם אֵיבַת / eivat olam / “ancient/ everlasting hatred.” Hatred became identity.
This teaches a major law: when hatred is preserved across generations, it becomes a spiritual structure. It is no longer only an emotion. It becomes a mountain.
The chapter says that Seir delivered the children of Israel to the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of final iniquity. This is the sin of exploiting Israel’s collapse. When Israel was already under judgment, Seir used that moment to attack. This is cruelty added to judgment.
For the Torah of Mashiach, this is essential. Israel’s sins can be real, and still the enemies who exploit Israel’s vulnerability are guilty. HaShem may discipline Israel, but no nation is permitted to turn that discipline into ancient hatred, bloodshed, or theft of inheritance.
HaShem says that blood will pursue Seir because Seir did not hate bloodshed. The phrase is: יִרְדְּפֶָך דָּם / Dam yirdefekha / “Blood shall pursue you.” This is middah k’neged middah. The one who loves bloodshed becomes pursued by blood. What a nation releases into the world returns upon it.
Then HaShem exposes Seir’s speech. Seir said of the two nations and two lands: לִי ָוִירַשְׁנוּה תִהְי ֶינָה / Li tihyenah viyrashnuha / “They shall be mine, and we shall possess it.” This is a direct attack on HaShem’s inheritance structure. Seir sees the divided and wounded houses of Israel and Yehudah and imagines that their inheritance can be seized.
But the verse adds: הָיָה שָׁם וַה׳ / Va-HaShem sham hayah / “But HaShem was there.” This is one of the most important phrases in the chapter. Seir looked at the ruined land and saw opportunity. HaShem says: I was there.
This is the correction to the enemy’s imagination. A land may appear abandoned, but HaShem is there. A people may appear broken, but HaShem is there. Yerushalayim may be under judgment, but HaShem is there. The enemies misread desolation as vacancy. Yechezkel says the Presence of HaShem cannot be erased from the covenantal reality of the land.
For the Torah of Mashiach, this is a major principle. The nations may look at Israel’s broken condition and say, “Now it is ours.” The answer is: הָיָה שָׁם וַה׳ / Va-HaShem sham hayah / “But HaShem was there.”
Seir magnified itself against HaShem with its mouth and multiplied words against Him. The phrase is: בְּפִיכֶם ﬠָלַי וַתַּגְדִּילוּ / Va-tagdilu alai be-fikhem / “You magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth.” Speech matters. The enemy’s words against Israel are counted as words against HaShem when they deny His covenant and His inheritance.
HaShem says: שָׁמָﬠְתִּי אֲנִי / Ani shamati / “I have heard.” This answers the false confidence of the nations. Their boasting was not hidden. Their hatred was heard.
Then HaShem says that as all the earth rejoices, He will make Seir desolate. Because Seir rejoiced over the inheritance of the House of Israel when it was
desolate, HaShem will make Seir desolate. Again, the measure is exact. Rejoicing over desolation brings desolation.
The chapter ends with the formula: ה׳ כִּי־אֲנִי וְיָדְעוּ / Ve-yade’u ki-ani HaShem / “And they shall know that I am HaShem.” Even Seir’s judgment serves the knowledge of HaShem.
Yechezkel 35 therefore teaches the Torah of ancient hatred and stolen inheritance.
Seir carries everlasting hatred.
Seir exploits Israel’s calamity.
Seir desires the two lands and two nations.
Seir imagines that Israel’s desolation means vacancy.
HaShem answers: I was there.
Seir speaks against Israel, and HaShem hears it as speech against Him.
Seir rejoices over desolation and becomes desolate.
This chapter must come before Yechezkel 36 because the mountains of Israel cannot be fully comforted until the hostile mountain is judged. The mountain of hatred must fall so the mountains of Israel can rise.
Yechezkel 36 opens with the opposite command: יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־הָרֵי הִנָּבֵא בֶן־אָדָם וְאַתָּה / Ve-attah ven-adam hinave el-harei Yisra’el / “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel.” Earlier, in chapter 6, Yechezkel prophesied to the mountains of Israel in judgment because the high places were filled with idolatry. Now he prophesies to the mountains in consolation and restoration.
This is one of the great reversals of the sefer. The same mountains that heard judgment now hear comfort. The land itself is addressed again, but this time as the vessel of return.
The mountains are told: דְּבַר־ה׳ שִׁמְעוּ / Shim’u devar-HaShem / “Hear the word of HaShem.” The land hears. The mountains hear. The soil hears. The ravines, valleys, desolate ruins, and abandoned cities are all included. The land is not passive scenery. It is part of covenantal history.
HaShem says the enemy said: הֶאָח / He’ach / “Aha!” and: הָיְתָה לְמוֹרָשָׁה עוֹלָם בָּמוֹת לָּנוּ / Bamot olam le-morashah hayetah lanu / “The ancient high places have become our inheritance.” This repeats the Seir-pattern. The nations look at Israel’s desolation and claim inheritance. They think the ancient heights now belong to them.
HaShem answers by speaking to the mountains, hills, streams, valleys, desolate ruins, and forsaken cities that became prey and mockery to the remnant of the nations. The land’s shame is acknowledged. The land has been swallowed by the mouths of the nations and become a subject of gossip.
The phrase ﬠָם ו ְדִבַּת לְשׁוֹן / leshon ve-dibbat am / “the tongue and slander of a people,” shows that land can suffer through speech. The nations not only invaded; they spoke. They mocked. They claimed. They turned Israel’s desolation into language.
HaShem says He has spoken in the fire of His jealousy against the remnant of the nations and all Edom, who appointed His land for themselves as a possession with joy of all the heart and contempt of soul, to cast it out as prey. This is the same sin as Seir: joy over Israel’s desolation and desire to possess HaShem’s land.
Then HaShem turns to the mountains of Israel and says: תִּתֵּנוּ ﬠַנְפְּכֶם יִשְׂרָאֵל הָרֵי ו ְאַתֶּם / Ve-attem harei Yisra’el anpekem tittenu / “But you, mountains of Israel, you shall give forth your branches.” And: יִשְׂרָאֵל לְﬠַמִּי תִּשְׂאוּ וּפֶרְיְכֶם / U-firyekhem tisu le-ammi Yisra’el / “And your fruit you shall bear for My people Israel.”
This is one of the most beautiful reversals in the sefer. The mountains that were desolate will bear branches and fruit again. The fruit is specifically for יִשְׂרָאֵל ﬠַמִּי / ammi Yisra’el / “My people Israel.” HaShem still calls them My people.
The reason is: לָבוֹא קֵרְבוּ כִּי / Ki kervu lavo / “For they are near to come.” The people are near to return. The land is commanded to prepare fruit before the people arrive. The mountains are told to become ready for the returning nation.
For the Torah of Mashiach, this is a major sign of geulah: the land begins turning toward Israel again. Branches and fruit become signs that the land recognizes the nearness of the people.
HaShem says: אֲלֵיכֶם הִנְנִי כִּי / Ki hineni aleikhem / “For behold, I am for you.” This phrase reverses “Behold, I am against you.” To Seir, HaShem says, “I am against you.” To the mountains of Israel, He says, “I am for you.” This is the entire shift from judgment of the hostile mountain to comfort of the covenantal mountains.
He says the land will be turned to and worked and sown. People will be multiplied upon it, all the House of Israel, all of it. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. Man and beast will multiply. The land will be inhabited as before and made better than at the beginnings.
This is not merely return to baseline. HaShem says He will do better than the former state. Restoration is not only replacement of what was lost. It becomes elevation.
Then comes the formula: ה׳ כִּי־אֲנִי וִידַﬠְתֶּם / Viyda’tem ki-ani HaShem / “And you shall know that I am HaShem.” The land’s restoration becomes knowledge of HaShem.
HaShem says He will cause people, His people Israel, to walk upon the mountains. They will possess the land, and it will be their inheritance. The land will no longer bereave them of children. The nations had accused the land of devouring people and bereaving its nations. HaShem answers that the land will no longer bear that reproach.
This is important. The land itself had been shamed by history. It appeared dangerous, barren, devouring, cursed. HaShem promises to remove the reproach of the land. The land will no longer be known as a devourer. It will become a mother again, not a bereaver.
For the Torah of Mashiach, this teaches that redemption repairs not only the people’s condition, but the land’s reputation. The land of Israel must be vindicated before the nations.
Then the chapter shifts from the land’s restoration to Israel’s sin and HaShem’s Name.
HaShem says that when the House of Israel dwelled on their land, they defiled it by their way and by their deeds. The phrase is: וּבַﬠֲלִילוֹתָם בְּדַרְכָּם אוֹתָהּ וַיְטַמְּאוּ / Va- yetamme’u otah be-darkam u-va’alilotam / “They defiled it by their way and by their deeds.” The land’s desolation was not arbitrary. Israel’s conduct contaminated the land.
Their way was before HaShem like the impurity of a woman in separation. This is purity-language, not merely moral language. The land became impure through their conduct. Therefore, wrath was poured out because of bloodshed and idols. Blood and idols again appear together.
HaShem scattered them among the nations and dispersed them through the lands. According to their way and deeds He judged them. This repeats the justice principle. Exile was not random.
But then comes the deeper crisis: when they came to the nations, they profaned HaShem’s holy Name. The phrase is: קָדְשִׁי אֶת־שֵׁם וַיְחַלְּלוּ / Va-yechallelu et-shem kodshi / “And they profaned My holy Name.” The nations said: וּמֵאַרְצוֹ אֵלֶּה ﬠַם־ה׳ יָצָאוּ / Am-HaShem elleh u-me’artzo yatza’u / “These are the people of HaShem, and they have gone out from His land.”
This is the greatest crisis of exile. The nations interpret Israel’s exile as weakness or failure of HaShem’s Name. Israel’s condition becomes a chilul HaShem among the nations. The covenantal people outside the covenantal land cause the nations to misunderstand HaShem.
This is why the restoration that follows is not based on Israel’s merit alone. It is for the sake of HaShem’s Name.
HaShem says: קָדְשִׁי ﬠַל־שֵׁם וָאֶחְמֹל / Va-echmol al-shem kodshi / “And I had pity on My holy Name.” This is an astonishing phrase. HaShem’s concern is for His Name that Israel profaned among the nations.
Then He says clearly: עֹשֶׂה אֲנִי לְמַﬠַנְכֶם לֹא / Lo lema’ankhem ani oseh / “Not for your sake am I doing this.” This phrase appears more than once in the chapter. It must be handled carefully. It does not mean HaShem does not love Israel. It means the decisive ground of restoration is not Israel’s worthiness. It is HaShem’s holy Name.
This is one of the greatest guardrails in the Torah of Mashiach. Redemption is not self-congratulation. It is not Israel saying, “We deserved this.” It is HaShem sanctifying His Name. Therefore the proper response to geulah is humility, shame over sin, and gratitude—not arrogance.
HaShem says He will sanctify His great Name that was profaned among the nations. The phrase is: הַגָּדוֹל אֶת־שְׁמִי ו ְקִדַּשְׁתִּי / Ve-kiddashti et-shemi ha-gadol / “And I will sanctify My great Name.” The nations will know that He is HaShem when He is sanctified through Israel before their eyes.
This is the core of Yechezkel 36: geulah is kiddush HaShem.
The restoration of Israel is the public sanctification of HaShem’s Name in history. The nations saw exile and misunderstood. They will see return and know.
Then the restoration sequence begins: מִן־הַגּוֹיִם אֶתְכֶם וְלָקַחְתִּי / Ve-lakachti etkhem min-ha-goyim / “And I will take you from the nations.” מִכָּל־הָאֲרָצוֹת אֶתְכֶם וְקִבַּצְתִּי / Ve- kibbatzti etkhem mi-kol-ha’aratzot / “And I will gather you from all the lands.” וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶל־אַדְמַתְכֶם אֶתְכֶם / Ve-heveti etkhem el-admatkhem / “And I will bring you to your own soil.”
The sequence is divine action: take, gather, bring. Israel is acted upon by HaShem’s hand. The return begins with HaShem’s initiative.
Then comes purification: טְהוֹרִים מַיִם ﬠֲלֵיכֶם וְזָרַקְתִּי / Ve-zarakti aleikhem mayim tehorim / “And I will sprinkle upon you pure waters.” And: וּטְהַרְתֶּם / U-tehartem / “And you shall be purified.” From all impurities and all idols, HaShem will purify them.
This is crucial. Return to land is followed by purification. The people are not merely relocated. They are cleansed. The idols that caused exile must be removed from the inner and national system.
Then comes the famous promise: חָדָשׁ לֵב לָכֶם וְנָתַתִּי / Ve-natatti lakhem lev chadash / “And I will give you a new heart.” And: בְּקִרְבְּכֶם אֶתֵּן חֲדָשָׁה ַוְרוּח / Ve-ruach chadashah etten be-kirbekhem / “And a new spirit I will place within you.”
This fulfills and expands Yechezkel 11 and answers Yechezkel 18. In chapter 18, Israel was commanded to make for themselves a new heart and new spirit. Here,
HaShem gives the new heart and places the new spirit within. These are not contradictions. They are two sides of teshuvah: human turning and divine transformation.
Then: מִבְּשַׂרְכֶם הָאֶבֶן אֶת־לֵב וַהֲסִרֹתִי / Va-hasiroti et-lev ha-even mi-besarkhem / “And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh.” And: בָּשָׂר לֵב לָכֶם וְנָתַתִּי / Ve-natatti lakhem lev basar / “And I will give you a heart of flesh.”
The heart of stone is hard, sealed, unresponsive, and unable to receive. The heart of flesh is living, sensitive, capable of obedience, grief, joy, and covenantal responsiveness. HaShem does not merely command the stone heart to behave better. He removes it.
For the Torah of Mashiach, this is one of the central teachings. The final restoration requires inner surgery. The people need more than information. They need a new heart. They need a new ruach. They need the stone removed and living responsiveness restored.
Then HaShem says: בְּקִרְבְּכֶם אֶתֵּן וְאֶת־רוּחִי / Ve-et-ruchi etten be-kirbekhem / “And My spirit I will place within you.” This goes beyond a new human spirit. HaShem places His ruach within them. The result: תֵּלֵכוּ אֲשֶׁר־בְּחֻקַּי אֵת וְﬠָשִׂיתִי / Ve-asiti et asher be- chukkai telekhu / “And I will cause you to walk in My statutes.” And: תִּשְׁמְרוּ וּמִשְׁפָּטַי וַﬠֲשִׂיתֶם / U-mishpatai tishmeru va-asitem / “And My judgments you shall guard and do.”
This is critical. The new heart and new spirit are not given for lawless feeling. They are given so Israel will walk in HaShem’s statutes and guard His judgments. The inner renewal produces Torah-obedience.
Any interpretation of new heart that removes mitzvot is not Yechezkel. In Yechezkel, ruach leads to chukkim and mishpatim.
Then Israel will dwell in the land HaShem gave to their fathers. They will be His people, and He will be their God. This restores the covenant formula. Inner transformation, land, and covenant all join.
HaShem says He will save them from all impurities, call for the grain, multiply it, and not bring famine. He will multiply fruit of the tree and produce of the field so they no longer bear the shame of famine among the nations. The land’s fruitfulness returns as part of the sanctification of the Name.
Then Israel will remember their evil ways and deeds that were not good, and they will loathe themselves in their own faces for their iniquities and abominations. Again, holy shame appears. The new heart does not erase memory. It makes memory truthful.
This is important. Restoration does not mean Israel forgets its sins. It means Israel remembers them from a purified heart, without arrogance, without denial, and without despair.
HaShem repeats: עֹשֶׂה אֲנִי לְמַﬠַנְכֶם לֹא / Lo lema’ankhem ani oseh / “Not for your sake am I doing this.” Therefore, they should be ashamed and confounded for their ways. This humility protects restoration from pride.
Then HaShem says that on the day He cleanses them from all iniquities, He will cause the cities to be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. The desolate land will be worked instead of being desolate before all who passed by. People will say: הָאָרֶץ כְּגַן־ﬠֵדֶן הָיְתָה הַנְּשַׁמָּה הַלֵּזוּ / Ha-aretz hallezu ha-neshammah hayetah ke-Gan Eden / “This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden.”
This is one of the most beautiful reversals in the chapter. The land that was mocked as desolate becomes compared to Gan Eden. The cities that were ruined, desolate, and destroyed become fortified and inhabited. The nations that remain around Israel will know that HaShem rebuilt the destroyed places and replanted the desolate land.
The phrase is: ו ְﬠָשִׂיתִי דִּבַּרְתִּי ה׳ אֲנִי / Ani HaShem dibbarti ve-asiti / “I, HaShem, have spoken and I have done.” This repeats the seal from chapter 17. HaShem speaks and does. Restoration is not merely hoped for; it is anchored in divine speech.
Then HaShem says He will still be inquired of by the House of Israel to do this for them. This is important. Earlier, false inquiry was rejected. Here, after purification and restoration, inquiry is accepted. The same act—inquiring of HaShem—can be rejected or accepted depending on the heart and covenantal posture.
HaShem will multiply them like a flock of people, like the holy flock, like the flock of Yerushalayim in her appointed times. The cities that were ruined will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that He is HaShem.
This connects back to Yechezkel 34. HaShem gathers His flock, shepherds them, and then the ruined cities are filled like flocks. Shepherding becomes population, life, and restored pilgrimage. The flock returns to the appointed times, the mo’adim, the holy rhythms of Israel’s service.
Yechezkel 36 therefore gives one of the greatest restoration sequences in all of Yechezkel.
Seir is judged because it carried ancient hatred and tried to possess Israel’s inheritance.
The mountains of Israel are comforted and commanded to bear fruit for HaShem’s people.
The land is vindicated against the mockery of the nations.
Israel’s exile is explained as the consequence of defiling the land through blood and idols.
The deeper crisis is chilul HaShem, the profanation of HaShem’s Name among the nations.
HaShem acts not for Israel’s merit, but for His holy Name.
He takes Israel from the nations, gathers them, and brings them to their soil.
He sprinkles pure water upon them and purifies them from idols.
He gives a new heart and new spirit.
He removes the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh.
He places His ruach within them.
He causes them to walk in His statutes and guard His judgments.
He restores the land until the desolate place becomes like Gan Eden.
He fills the ruined cities like a holy flock.
For the Torah of Mashiach, this chapter is indispensable.
The servant must know that the land of Israel is not empty property. HaShem is there.
He must know that ancient hatred against Israel will be judged.
He must know that the mountains of Israel are destined to bear fruit for HaShem’s people.
He must know that geulah is not self-glory for Israel, but kiddush HaShem.
He must teach that return to land requires purification from idols.
He must insist that the new heart leads to Torah, not away from Torah.
He must understand that the heart of stone cannot be argued into life; it must be removed by HaShem.
He must believe that desolation can become Gan Eden.
He must know that HaShem speaks and does.
The movement from Yechezkel 35 to 36 is therefore exact.
First, HaShem judges the mountain of hatred.
Then He comforts the mountains of Israel.
First, He rejects the nations’ attempt to seize the inheritance.
Then He commands the land to produce fruit for His returning people.
First, He explains exile as judgment for defilement.
Then He reveals restoration as sanctification of His Name.
First, He gathers externally.
Then He purifies internally.
First, He brings Israel to the land.
Then He gives Israel a new heart.
This prepares the next and most famous movement of the sefer: the valley of dry bones. After the land is promised fruit, after the people are promised a new heart and new ruach, Yechezkel is brought to a valley filled with bones. There he must learn how HaShem turns national death into life.
The mountains have been told to bear fruit.
Now the bones must hear the word of HaShem.
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