2 Son H1121 of man, H120 take up H5375 a lamentation H7015 for Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt, H4714 and say H559 unto him, Thou art like H1819 a young lion H3715 of the nations, H1471 and thou art as a whale H8577 H8565 in the seas: H3220 and thou camest forth H1518 with thy rivers, H5104 and troubledst H1804 the waters H4325 with thy feet, H7272 and fouledst H7515 their rivers. H5104
Speak, H1696 and say, H559 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt, H4714 the great H1419 dragon H8577 that lieth H7257 in the midst H8432 of his rivers, H2975 which hath said, H559 My river H2975 is mine own, and I have made H6213 it for myself.
Where is the dwelling H4583 of the lions, H738 and the feedingplace H4829 of the young lions, H3715 where the lion, H738 even the old lion, H3833 walked, H1980 and the lion's H738 whelp, H1482 and none made them afraid? H2729 The lion H738 did tear in pieces H2963 enough H1767 for his whelps, H1484 and strangled H2614 for his lionesses, H3833 and filled H4390 his holes H2356 with prey, H2964 and his dens H4585 with ravin. H2966 Behold, I am against thee, saith H5002 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 and I will burn H1197 her chariots H7393 in the smoke, H6227 and the sword H2719 shall devour H398 thy young lions: H3715 and I will cut off H3772 thy prey H2964 from the earth, H776 and the voice H6963 of thy messengers H4397 shall no more be heard. H8085
In that day H3117 the LORD H3068 with his sore H7186 and great H1419 and strong H2389 sword H2719 shall punish H6485 leviathan H3882 the piercing H1281 serpent, H5175 even leviathan H3882 that crooked H6129 serpent; H5175 and he shall slay H2026 the dragon H8577 that is in the sea. H3220
Sheba, H7614 and Dedan, H1719 and the merchants H5503 of Tarshish, H8659 with all the young lions H3715 thereof, shall say H559 unto thee, Art thou come H935 to take H7997 a spoil? H7998 hast thou gathered H6950 thy company H6951 to take H962 a prey? H957 to carry away H5375 silver H3701 and gold, H2091 to take away H3947 cattle H4735 and goods, H7075 to take H7997 a great H1419 spoil? H7998
Seemeth it a small thing H4592 unto you to have eaten up H7462 the good H2896 pasture, H4829 but ye must tread down H7429 with your feet H7272 the residue H3499 of your pastures? H4829 and to have drunk H8354 of the deep H4950 waters, H4325 but ye must foul H7515 the residue H3498 with your feet? H7272
This is the lamentation H7015 wherewith they shall lament H6969 her: the daughters H1323 of the nations H1471 shall lament H6969 her: they shall lament H6969 for her, even for Egypt, H4714 and for all her multitude, H1995 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069
Son H1121 of man, H120 take up H5375 a lamentation H7015 upon the king H4428 of Tyrus, H6865 and say H559 unto him, Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Thou sealest up H2856 the sum, H8508 full H4392 of wisdom, H2451 and perfect H3632 in beauty. H3308
Moreover take thou up H5375 a lamentation H7015 for the princes H5387 of Israel, H3478 And say, H559 What is thy mother? H517 A lioness: H3833 she lay down H7257 among lions, H738 she nourished H7235 her whelps H1482 among H8432 young lions. H3715 And she brought up H5927 one H259 of her whelps: H1482 it became a young lion, H3715 and it learned H3925 to catch H2963 the prey; H2964 it devoured H398 men. H120 The nations H1471 also heard H8085 of him; he was taken H8610 in their pit, H7845 and they brought H935 him with chains H2397 unto the land H776 of Egypt. H4714 Now when she saw H7200 that she had waited, H3176 and her hope H8615 was lost, H6 then she took H3947 another H259 of her whelps, H1482 and made H7760 him a young lion. H3715 And he went up and down H1980 among H8432 the lions, H738 he became a young lion, H3715 and learned H3925 to catch H2963 the prey, H2964 and devoured H398 men. H120
The lion H738 is come up H5927 from his thicket, H5441 and the destroyer H7843 of the Gentiles H1471 is on his way; H5265 he is gone forth H3318 from his place H4725 to make H7760 thy land H776 desolate; H8047 and thy cities H5892 shall be laid waste, H5327 without an inhabitant. H3427
Judah H3063 is a lion's H738 whelp: H1482 from the prey, H2964 my son, H1121 thou art gone up: H5927 he stooped down, H3766 he couched H7257 as a lion, H738 and as an old lion; H3833 who shall rouse him up? H6965
And in their wailing H5204 they shall take up H5375 a lamentation H7015 for thee, and lament H6969 over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, H6865 like the destroyed H1822 in the midst H8432 of the sea? H3220
Awake, H5782 awake, H5782 put on H3847 strength, H5797 O arm H2220 of the LORD; H3068 awake, H5782 as in the ancient H6924 days, H3117 in the generations H1755 of old. H5769 Art thou not it that hath cut H2672 Rahab, H7294 and wounded H2490 the dragon? H8577
As a roaring H5098 lion, H738 and a ranging H8264 bear; H1677 so is a wicked H7563 ruler H4910 over the poor H1800 people. H5971
Thou didst divide H6565 the sea H3220 by thy strength: H5797 thou brakest H7665 the heads H7218 of the dragons H8577 in the waters. H4325 Thou brakest H7533 the heads H7218 of leviathan H3882 in pieces, and gavest H5414 him to be meat H3978 to the people H5971 inhabiting the wilderness. H6728
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 32
Commentary on Ezekiel 32 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 32
Eze 32:1-32. Two Elegies over Pharaoh, One Delivered on the First Day (Eze 32:1), THE Other on the Fifteenth Day of the Same Month, the Twelfth of the Twelfth Year.
1. The twelfth year from the carrying away of Jehoiachin; Jerusalem was by this time overthrown, and Amasis was beginning his revolt against Pharaoh-hophra.
2. Pharaoh—"Phra" in Burmah, signifies the king, high priest, and idol.
whale—rather, any monster of the waters; here, the crocodile of the Nile. Pharaoh is as a lion on dry land, a crocodile in the waters; that is, an object of terror everywhere.
camest forth with thy rivers—"breakest forth" [Fairbairn]. The antithesis of "seas" and "rivers" favors Grotius rendering, "Thou camest forth from the sea into the rivers"; that is, from thy own empire into other states. However, English Version is favored by the "thy": thou camest forth with thy rivers (that is, with thy forces) and with thy feet didst fall irrecoverably; so Israel, once desolate, troubles the waters (that is, neighboring states).
3. with a company of many people—namely, the Chaldeans (Eze 29:3, 4; Ho 7:12).
my net—for they are My instrument.
4. leave thee upon the land—as a fish drawn out of the water loses all its strength, so Pharaoh (in Eze 32:3, compared to a water monster) shall be (Eze 29:5).
5. thy height—thy hugeness [Fairbairn]. The great heap of corpses of thy forces, on which thou pridest thyself. "Height" may refer to mental elevation, as well as bodily [Vatablus].
6. land wherein thou swimmest—Egypt: the land watered by the Nile, the the source of its fertility, wherein thou swimmest (carrying on the image of the crocodile, that is, wherein thou dost exercise thy wanton power at will). Irony. The land shall still afford seas to swim in, but they shall be seas of blood. Alluding to the plague (Ex 7:19; Re 8:8). Havernick translates, "I will water the land with what flows from thee, even thy blood, reaching to the mountains": "with thy blood overflowing even to the mountains." Perhaps this is better.
7. put thee out—extinguish thy light (Job 18:5). Pharaoh is represented as a bright star, at the extinguishing of whose light in the political sky the whole heavenly host is shrouded in sympathetic darkness. Here, too, as in Eze 32:6, there is an allusion to the supernatural darkness sent formerly (Ex 10:21-23). The heavenly bodies are often made images of earthly dynasties (Isa 13:10; Mt 24:29).
9. thy destruction—that is, tidings of thy destruction (literally, "thy breakage") carried by captive and dispersed Egyptians "among the nations" [Grotius]; or, thy broken people, resembling one great fracture, the ruins of what they had been [Fairbairn].
10. brandish my sword before them—literally, "in their faces," or sight.
13. (See on Eze 29:11). The picture is ideally true, not to be interpreted by the letter. The political ascendency of Egypt was to cease with the Chaldean conquest [Fairbairn]. Henceforth Pharaoh must figuratively no longer trouble the waters by man or beast, that is, no longer was he to flood other peoples with his overwhelming forces.
14. make their waters deep—rather, "make … to subside"; literally, "sink" [Fairbairn].
like oil—emblem of quietness. No longer shall they descend violently on other countries as the overflowing Nile, but shall be still and sluggish in political action.
16. As in Eze 19:14. This is a prophetical lamentation; yet so it shall come to pass [Grotius].
17. The second lamentation for Pharaoh. This funeral dirge in imagination accompanies him to the unseen world. Egypt personified in its political head is ideally represented as undergoing the change by death to which man is liable. Expressing that Egypt's supremacy is no more, a thing of the past, never to be again.
the month—the twelfth month (Eze 32:1); fourteen days after the former vision.
18. cast them down—that is, predict that they shall be cast down (so Jer 1:10). The prophet's word was God's, and carried with it its own fulfilment.
daughters of … nations—that is, the nations with their peoples. Egypt is to share the fate of other ancient nations once famous, now consigned to oblivion: Elam (Eze 32:24), Meshech, &c. (Eze 32:26), Edom (Eze 32:29), Zidon (Eze 32:30).
19. Whom dost thou pass in beauty?—Beautiful as thou art, thou art not more so than other nations, which nevertheless have perished.
go down, &c.—to the nether world, where all "beauty" is speedily marred.
20. she is delivered to the sword—namely, by God.
draw her—as if addressing her executioners: drag her forth to death.
21. (Eze 31:16). Ezekiel has before his eyes Isa 14:9, &c.
shall speak to him—with "him" join "with them that help him"; shall speak to him and his helpers with a taunting welcome, as now one of themselves.
22. her … his—The abrupt change of gender is, because Ezekiel has in view at one time the kingdom (feminine), at another the monarch. "Asshur," or Assyria, is placed first in punishment, as being first in guilt.
23. in the sides of the pit—Sepulchres in the East were caves hollowed out of the rock, and the bodies were laid in niches formed at the sides. Maurer needlessly departs from the ordinary meaning, and translates, "extremities" (compare Isa 14:13, 15).
which caused terror—They, who alive were a terror to others, are now, in the nether world, themselves a terrible object to behold.
24. Elam—placed next, as having been an auxiliary to Assyria. Its territory lay in Persia. In Abraham's time an independent kingdom (Ge 14:1). Famous for its bowmen (Isa 22:6).
borne their shame—the just retribution of their lawless pride. Destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 49:34-38).
25. a bed—a sepulchral niche.
all … slain by … sword, &c.—(Eze 32:21, 23, 24). The very monotony of the phraseology gives to the dirge an awe-inspiring effect.
26. Meshech, Tubal—northern nations: the Moschi and Tibareni, between the Black and Caspian Seas. Herodotus [3.94], mentions them as a subjugated people, tributaries to Darius Hystaspes (see Eze 27:13).
27. they shall not lie with the mighty—that is, they shall not have separate tombs such as mighty conquerors have: but shall all be heaped together in one pit, as is the case with the vanquished [Grotius]. Havernick reads it interrogatively, "Shall they not lie with the mighty that are fallen?" But English Version is supported by the parallel (Isa 14:18, 19), to which Ezekiel refers, and which represents them as not lying as mighty kings lie in a grave, but cast out of one, as a carcass trodden under foot.
with … weapons of war—alluding to the custom of burying warriors with their arms (1 Maccabees 13:29). Though honored by the laying of "their swords under their heads," yet the punishment of "their iniquities shall be upon their bones." Their swords shall thus attest their shame, not their glory (Mt 26:52), being the instruments of their violence, the penalty of which they are paying.
28. Yea, thou—Thou, too, Egypt, like them, shalt lie as one vanquished.
29. princes—Edom was not only governed by kings, but by subordinate "princes" or "dukes" (Ge 36:40).
with their might—notwithstanding their might, they shall be brought down (Isa 34:5, 10-17; Jer 49:7, 13-18).
lie with the uncircumcised—Though Edom was circumcised, being descended from Isaac, he shall lie with the uncircumcised; much more shall Egypt, who had no hereditary right to circumcision.
30. princes of the north—Syria, which is still called by the Arabs the north; or the Tyrians, north of Palestine, conquered by Nebuchadnezzar (Eze 26:1-28:26), [Grotius].
Zidonians—who shared the fate of Tyre (Eze 28:21).
with their terror they are ashamed of their might—that is, notwithstanding the terror which they inspired in their contemporaries. "Might" is connected by Maurer thus, "Notwithstanding the terror which resulted from their might."
31. comforted—with the melancholy satisfaction of not being alone, but of having other kingdoms companions in his downfall. This shall be his only comfort—a very poor one!
32. my terror—the Margin or Keri. The Hebrew text or Chetib is "his terror," which gives good sense (Eze 32:25, 30). "My terror" implies that God puts His terror on Pharaoh's multitude, as they put "their terror" on others, for example, under Pharaoh-necho on Judea. As "the land of the living" was the scene of "their terror," so it shall be God's; especially in Judea, He will display His glory to the terror of Israel's foes (Eze 26:20). In Israel's case the judgment is temporary, ending in their future restoration under Messiah. In the case of the world kingdoms which flourished for a time, they fall to rise no more.