1 The word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came again unto me, saying, H559
2 Son H1121 of man, H120 prophesy H5012 and say, H559 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Howl H3213 ye, Woe worth H1929 the day! H3117
3 For the day H3117 is near, H7138 even the day H3117 of the LORD H3068 is near, H7138 a cloudy H6051 day; H3117 it shall be the time H6256 of the heathen. H1471
4 And the sword H2719 shall come H935 upon Egypt, H4714 and great pain H2479 shall be in Ethiopia, H3568 when the slain H2491 shall fall H5307 in Egypt, H4714 and they shall take away H3947 her multitude, H1995 and her foundations H3247 shall be broken down. H2040
5 Ethiopia, H3568 and Libya, H6316 and Lydia, H3865 and all the mingled H6153 people, and Chub, H3552 and the men H1121 of the land H776 that is in league, H1285 shall fall H5307 with them by the sword. H2719
6 Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 They also that uphold H5564 Egypt H4714 shall fall; H5307 and the pride H1347 of her power H5797 shall come down: H3381 from the tower H4024 of Syene H5482 shall they fall H5307 in it by the sword, H2719 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069
7 And they shall be desolate H8074 in the midst H8432 of the countries H776 that are desolate, H8074 and her cities H5892 shall be in the midst H8432 of the cities H5892 that are wasted. H2717
8 And they shall know H3045 that I am the LORD, H3068 when I have set H5414 a fire H784 in Egypt, H4714 and when all her helpers H5826 shall be destroyed. H7665
9 In that day H3117 shall messengers H4397 go forth H3318 from me H6440 in ships H6716 to make the careless H983 Ethiopians H3568 afraid, H2729 and great pain H2479 shall come upon them, as in the day H3117 of Egypt: H4714 for, lo, it cometh. H935
10 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 I will also make the multitude H1995 of Egypt H4714 to cease H7673 by the hand H3027 of Nebuchadrezzar H5019 king H4428 of Babylon. H894
11 He and his people H5971 with him, the terrible H6184 of the nations, H1471 shall be brought H935 to destroy H7843 the land: H776 and they shall draw H7324 their swords H2719 against Egypt, H4714 and fill H4390 the land H776 with the slain. H2491
12 And I will make H5414 the rivers H2975 dry, H2724 and sell H4376 the land H776 into the hand H3027 of the wicked: H7451 and I will make the land H776 waste, H8074 and all that is therein, H4393 by the hand H3027 of strangers: H2114 I the LORD H3068 have spoken H1696 it.
13 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 I will also destroy H6 the idols, H1544 and I will cause their images H457 to cease H7673 out of Noph; H5297 and there shall be no more a prince H5387 of the land H776 of Egypt: H4714 and I will put H5414 a fear H3374 in the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
14 And I will make Pathros H6624 desolate, H8074 and will set H5414 fire H784 in Zoan, H6814 and will execute H6213 judgments H8201 in No. H4996
15 And I will pour H8210 my fury H2534 upon Sin, H5512 the strength H4581 of Egypt; H4714 and I will cut off H3772 the multitude H1995 of No. H4996
16 And I will set H5414 fire H784 in Egypt: H4714 Sin H5512 shall have great H2342 pain, H2342 and No H4996 shall be rent asunder, H1234 and Noph H5297 shall have distresses H6862 daily. H3119
17 The young men H970 of Aven H206 and of Pibeseth H6364 shall fall H5307 by the sword: H2719 and these cities shall go H3212 into captivity. H7628
18 At Tehaphnehes H8471 also the day H3117 shall be darkened, H2821 H2820 when I shall break H7665 there the yokes H4133 of Egypt: H4714 and the pomp H1347 of her strength H5797 shall cease H7673 in her: H1931 as for her, a cloud H6051 shall cover H3680 her, and her daughters H1323 shall go H3212 into captivity. H7628
19 Thus will I execute H6213 judgments H8201 in Egypt: H4714 and they shall know H3045 that I am the LORD. H3068
20 And it came to pass in the eleventh H259 H6240 year, H8141 in the first H7223 month, in the seventh H7651 day of the month, H2320 that the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came unto me, saying, H559
21 Son H1121 of man, H120 I have broken H7665 the arm H2220 of Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt; H4714 and, lo, it shall not be bound up H2280 to be healed, H7499 H5414 to put H7760 a roller H2848 to bind H2280 it, to make it strong H2388 to hold H8610 the sword. H2719
22 Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I am against Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt, H4714 and will break H7665 his arms, H2220 the strong, H2389 and that which was broken; H7665 and I will cause the sword H2719 to fall H5307 out of his hand. H3027
23 And I will scatter H6327 the Egyptians H4714 among the nations, H1471 and will disperse H2219 them through the countries. H776
24 And I will strengthen H2388 the arms H2220 of the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and put H5414 my sword H2719 in his hand: H3027 but I will break H7665 Pharaoh's H6547 arms, H2220 and he shall groan H5008 before H6440 him with the groanings H5009 of a deadly wounded H2491 man.
25 But I will strengthen H2388 the arms H2220 of the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and the arms H2220 of Pharaoh H6547 shall fall down; H5307 and they shall know H3045 that I am the LORD, H3068 when I shall put H5414 my sword H2719 into the hand H3027 of the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and he shall stretch it out H5186 upon the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
26 And I will scatter H6327 the Egyptians H4714 among the nations, H1471 and disperse H2219 them among the countries; H776 and they shall know H3045 that I am the LORD. H3068
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 30
Commentary on Ezekiel 30 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 30
Eze 30:1-26. Continuation of the Prophecies against Egypt.
Two distinct messages: (1) At Eze 30:1-19, a repetition of Eze 29:1-16, with fuller details of lifelike distinctness. The date is probably not long after that mentioned in Eze 29:17, on the eve of Nebuchadnezzar's march against Egypt after subjugating Tyre. (2) A vision relating directly to Pharaoh and the overthrow of his kingdom; communicated at an earlier date, the seventh of the first month of the eleventh year. Not a year after the date in Eze 29:1, and three months before the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
2. Woe worth the day!—that is, Alas for the day!
3. the time of the heathen—namely, for taking vengeance on them. The judgment on Egypt is the beginning of a world-wide judgment on all the heathen enemies of God (Joe 1:15; 2:1, 2; 3:1-21; Ob 15).
4. pain—literally, "pangs with trembling as of a woman in childbirth."
5. the mingled people—the mercenary troops of Egypt from various lands, mostly from the interior of Africa (compare Eze 27:10; Jer 25:20, 24; 46:9, 21).
Chub—the people named Kufa on the monuments [Havernick], a people considerably north of Palestine [Wilkinson]; Coba or Chobat, a city of Mauritania [Maurer].
men of the land that is in league—too definite an expression to mean merely, "men in league" with Egypt; rather, "sons of the land of the covenant," that is, the Jews who migrated to Egypt and carried Jeremiah with them (Jer 42:1-44:30). Even they shall not escape (Jer 42:22; 44:14).
6. from the tower of Syene—(see on Eze 29:10).
7. in the midst of … countries … desolate—Egypt shall fare no better than they (Eze 29:10).
9. messengers … in ships to … Ethiopians—(Isa 18:1, 2). The cataracts interposing between them and Egypt should not save them. Egyptians "fleeing from before Me" in My execution of judgment, as "messengers" in "skiffs" ("vessels of bulrushes," Isa 18:2) shall go up the Nile as far as navigable, to announce the advance of the Chaldeans.
as in the day of Egypt—The day of Ethiopia's "pain" shall come shortly, as Egypt's day came.
10. the multitude—the large population.
12. rivers—the artificial canals made from the Nile for irrigation. The drying up of these would cause scarcity of grain, and so prepare the way for the invaders (Isa 19:5-10).
13. Noph—Memphis, the capital of Middle Egypt, and the stronghold of "idols." Though no record exists of Nebuchadnezzar's "destroying" these, we know from Herodotus and others, that Cambyses took Pelusium, the key of Egypt, by placing before his army dogs, cats, &c., all held sacred in Egypt, so that no Egyptian would use any weapon against them. He slew Apis, the sacred ox, and burnt other idols of Egypt.
no more a prince—referring to the anarchy that prevailed in the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. There shall no more be a prince of the land of Egypt, ruling the whole country; or, no independent prince.
14. Pathros—Upper Egypt, with "No" or Thebes its capital (famed for its stupendous buildings, of which grand ruins remain), in antithesis to Zoan or Tanis, a chief city in Lower Egypt, within the Delta.
15. Sin—that is, Pelusium, the frontier fortress on the northeast, therefore called "the strength (that is, the key) of Egypt." It stands in antithesis to No or Thebes at the opposite end of Egypt; that is, I will afflict Egypt from one end to the other.
16. distresses daily—Maurer translates, "enemies during the day," that is, open enemies who do not wait for the covert of night to make their attacks (compare Jer 6:4; 15:8). However, the Hebrew, though rarely, is sometimes rendered (see Ps 13:2) as in English Version.
17. Aven—meaning "vanity" or "iniquity": applied, by a slight change of the Hebrew name, to On or Heliopolis, in allusion to its idolatry. Here stood the temple of the sun, whence it was called in Hebrew, Beth-shemesh (Jer 43:13). The Egyptian hieroglyphics call it, Re Athom, the sun, the father of the gods, being impersonate in Athom or Adam, the father of mankind.
Pi-beseth—that is, Bubastis, in Lower Egypt, near the Pelusiac branch of the Nile: notorious for the worship of the goddess of the same name (Coptic, Pasht), the granite stones of whose temple still attest its former magnificence.
these cities—rather, as the Septuagint, "the women," namely, of Aven and Pi-beseth, in antithesis to "the young men." So in Eze 30:18, "daughters shall go into captivity" [Maurer].
18. Tehaphnehes—called from the queen of Egypt mentioned in 1Ki 11:19. The same as Daphne, near Pelusium, a royal residence of the Pharaohs (Jer 43:7, 9). Called Hanes (Isa 30:4).
break … the yokes of Egypt—that is, the tyrannical supremacy which she exercised over other nations. Compare "bands of their yoke" (Eze 34:7).
a cloud—namely, of calamity.
20. Here begins the earlier vision, not long after that in the twenty-ninth chapter, about three months before the taking of Jerusalem, as to Pharaoh and his kingdom.
21. broken … arm of Pharaoh—(Ps 37:17; Jer 48:25). Referring to the defeat which Pharaoh-hophra sustained from the Chaldeans, when trying to raise the siege of Jerusalem (Jer 37:5, 7); and previous to the deprivation of Pharaoh-necho of all his conquests from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates (2Ki 24:7; Jer 46:2); also to the Egyptian disaster in Cyrene.
22. arms—Not only the "one arm" broken already (Eze 30:21) was not to be healed, but the other two should be broken. Not a corporal wound, but a breaking of the power of Pharaoh is intended.
cause … sword to fall out of … hand—deprive him of the resources of making war.