Ezekiel 36:11 (WEB)

Passage

I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 36:9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will come to you, and you will be tilled and sown.

Ezekiel 36:10 I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built.

Ezekiel 36:11 I will multiply man and animal on you. They will increase and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before, and you will do better than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

Ezekiel 36:12 Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will never again bereave them of their children.”

Ezekiel 36:13 “‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;’

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "multiply", "animal", "increase", "fruitful", "cause", "inhabited", "before", and "better". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "multiply" and "animal", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "I will multiply men on you all..." into verse 12's "Yes I will cause men to walk...", so "multiply" and "animal" belong inside that flow. In Ezekiel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "multiply" and "animal" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.