Ezekiel Chapter 39 Vs. 11

Prophecy against Gog

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. Eze. 39:11

in that day,... In that day—after Armageddon, Gog and his armies (that is, five-sixths of his armies) will be buried. It will take seven months to bury such a vast multitude of bodies and dispose of every bone in all the land (Eze. 39:12-14).

it shall stop... Before the most of them are buried men will stop their noses as they pass through the land because of such a stench coming from the decaying bodies. The publicity of the road would cause many to observe God's judgments, as the stench (as English Version translates) or the multitude of graves would arrest the attention of passers-by. Their grave would be close to that of their ancient prototypes, Sodom and Gomorrah in the Dead Sea, both alike being signal instances of God's judgments.

a place there... Gog found only a grave where he had expected the spoils of conquest.

the valley of... So vast were to be the masses that nothing but a deep valley would suffice for their corpses. the passengers on the east of the sea - those traveling on the high road, east of the Dead Sea, from Syria to Petra and Egypt.

east of the... To what "sea" is Ezekiel referring? It is the sea that the "Valley of the Passengers" enters. That is the "Sea of Salt" or the "Dead Sea". The "Valley of the Passengers" in Hebrew is "Guy-'Ohverim". It is a deep gorge, an abysmal chasm, a canyon that descends from the crest of Mount Moab down between Mount Nebo's Pisgah on the North and the mount called "Ohverim" on the South. "Oh-ver" means "pass", "Ohverim" means "Passengers". Guy-'Ohverim enters the sea directly opposite to the Cave of the Column.

Over the ridge of Mount Moab flowing east away from Guy-'Ohverim, is the Valley of Tubal. The Tubal River flows down all the way from Mount Moab to the Euphrates at the ancient city of Babylon.

They shall call... Hamon-gog the valley of, the multitude of Gog (Eze. 39:11, 39:15).



After the battle Israel will also bury Gog’s dead. The burials will take place in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea. This translation is somewhat confusing as “toward” was supplied by the translators, and the “east” (qiḏmat) should be translated “on the east of” (cf. Gen. 2:14; 1Sam. 13:5). The valley where Gog’s army will be buried is “on the east side of” the Dead Sea (NIV marg.) in what is today Jordan. The phrase “those who travel east” (hā‛ōḇerı̂m) could be taken as a proper name. It might refer to the “mountains of Abarim” (hā‛ăḇārı̂m) east of the Dead Sea that Israel traversed on her way to the Promised Land (cf. Num. 33:48). If so, Gog’s burial will be in the Valley of Abarim just across the Dead Sea from Israel proper in the land of Moab. Yet the burial will be in Israel because Israel controlled that area during some periods of her history (cf. 2Sam. 8:2; Psm. 60:8).

The number of corpses will be so great that the way of travelers will be blocked. “The way of travelers” could again be translated “Abarim.” The valley will be clogged with the bodies of soldiers. The name of the valley will be changed to the Valley of Hamon Gog, meaning “the Valley of the hordes of Gog.”