As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you: The judgment announced in the previous verse was the payback for what Edom had done to Israel. The Edomites rejoiced when the land of Israel was destroyed, so God will destroy their land in the same way. Although technically the Hebrew word for inheritance refers to the property that someone receives from a dead person, as when a father passes on his property to his son, in the Old Testament it often refers to the land of Israel, the land that God promised to Abraham and his descendants. Here the inheritance of the house of Israel means the land that belonged to the Israelites. New International Reader’s Version renders this whole sentence as “You were happy when the land of Israel became empty. So I will treat you in the same way.”

You shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it: The threefold repetition at the end of this clause stresses that God will punish the whole of Edom. All of it emphasizes that not one bit will escape destruction. For Mount Seir, see Ezek 35.2. This clause may be rendered “Mount Seir, your land will be an empty wasteland. Yes, all of Edom will be empty.”

Then they will know that I am the LORD: The prophecy against Edom closes with this traditional recognition formula (see Ezek 35.4). The pronoun they refers to the Israelites. They will recognize Yahweh as God when he destroys the land of Edom.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .