A great whirlwind - Or, storm.

The coasts of the earth - See Jeremiah 6:22 note. The thunderstorm seen first on the edge of the horizon overspreads the heaven, and travels from nation to nation in its destructive course.

Evil shall go forth from nation to nation - One nation after another shall fall before the Chaldeans.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation,.... Begin in one nation, and then go on to another; first in Judea, and then in Egypt; and so on, like a catching distemper, or like fire that first consumes one house, and then another; and thus shall the cup go round from nation to nation, before prophesied of: thus, beginning at Judea, one nation after another was destroyed by the king of Babylon; then he and his monarchy were destroyed by the Medes and Persians; and then they by the Macedonians; and then the Greeks by the Romans;

and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth; or "from the sides of it" (t); that is, "from the ends of it"; as the Targum, which paraphrases it,

"and many people shall come openly from the ends of the earth;''

this was first verified in the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar, compared to a whirlwind, Jeremiah 4:13; and then in the Medes and Persians under Cyrus; and after that in the Greeks under Alexander; the great and last of all in the Romans under Titus Vespasian.

(t) "a lateribus terrae", Schmidt; "a finibus terrae", Vatablus.

As a fierce storm (cf. Jeremiah 23:19) rises from the ends of the earth on the horizon, so will evil burst forth and seize on one nation after another. Those slain by Jahveh will then lie, unmourned and unburied, from one end of the earth to the other; cf. Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 16:4. With "slain of Jahveh," cf. Isaiah 66:16. Jahveh slays them by the sword in war.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

32. from the coasts-rather, "from the uttermost regions." Like a storm which arises in one region and then diffuses itself far and wide, so God's judgments shall pass "from nation to nation," till all has been fulfilled; no distance shall prevent the fulfilment.

not be lamented-(Jer 16:4, 6).

neither gathered-to their fathers, in their ancestral tombs (Jer 8:2).

dung-(Ps 83:10).

25:30-38 The Lord has just ground of controversy with every nation and every person; and he will execute judgment on all the wicked. Who can avoid trembling when God speaks in displeasure? The days are fully come; the time fixed in the Divine counsels, which will make the nations wholly desolate. The tender and delicate shall share the common calamity. Even those who used to live in peace, and did nothing to provoke, shall not escape. Blessed be God, there is a peaceable habitation above, for all the sons of peace. The Lord will preserve his church and all believers in all changes; for nothing can separate them from his love.