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Ezekiel 29:2 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

2 `Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy concerning him, and concerning Egypt -- all of it.

Cross Reference

Ezekiel 6:2 YLT

`Son of man, set thy face unto mountains of Israel, and prophesy concerning them:

Jeremiah 44:30 YLT

Thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those seeking his life, as I have given Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and who is seeking his life.'

Jeremiah 46:2-16 YLT

For Egypt, concerning the force of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, that hath been by the river Phrat, in Carchemish, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: `Set ye in array shield and buckler, And draw nigh to battle. Gird the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, And station yourselves with helmets, Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed -- They are turned backward, And their mighty ones are beaten down, And `to' a refuge they have fled, and not turned the face? Fear `is' round about -- an affirmation of Jehovah. The swift do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, Northward, by the side of the river Phrat, They have stumbled and fallen. Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves! Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it. Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling -- treading the bow. And that day `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat. Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt, In vain thou hast multiplied medicines, Healing there is none for thee. Nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the land, For the mighty on the mighty did stumble, Together they have fallen -- both of them!' The word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt: `Declare ye in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, Yea, sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes say: Station thyself, yea, prepare for thee, For a sword hath devoured around thee, Wherefore hath thy bull been swept away? He hath not stood, because Jehovah thrust him away. He hath multiplied the stumbling, Yea one hath fallen upon his neighbour, And they say: Rise, and we turn back to our people, And unto the land of our birth, Because of the oppressing sword.

Isaiah 20:1-6 YLT

In the year of the coming in of Tartan to Ashdod, when Sargon king of Asshur sendeth him, and he fighteth against Ashdod, and captureth it, at that time spake Jehovah by the hand of Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, `Go, and thou hast loosed the sackcloth from off thy loins, and thy sandal thou dost draw from off thy foot,' and he doth so, going naked and barefoot. And Jehovah saith, `As My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder for Egypt and for Cush, so doth the king of Asshur lead the captivity of Egypt, and the removal of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with seat uncovered -- the nakedness of Egypt; and they have been affrighted and ashamed of Cush their confidence, and of Egypt their beauty, and the inhabitant of this isle hath said in that day -- Lo, thus `is' our trust, Whither we have fled for help, To be delivered from the king of Asshur, And how do we escape -- we?'

Jeremiah 9:25-26 YLT

Lo, days are coming -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I have laid a charge on all circumcised in the foreskin, On Egypt, and on Judah, and on Edom, And on the sons of Ammon, and on Moab, And on all cutting the corner `of the beard', Who are dwelling in the wilderness, For all the nations `are' uncircumcised, And all the house of Israel `are' uncircumcised in heart!

Jeremiah 25:18-19 YLT

Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, And its kings, its heads, To give them to waste, to astonishment, To hissing, and to reviling, as `at' this day. Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, And his heads, and all his people,

Jeremiah 43:8-13 YLT

And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, `Take in thy hand great stones, and thou hast hidden them, in the clay, in the brick-kiln, that `is' at the opening of the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, before the eyes of the men of Judah, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: `Lo, I am sending, and I have taken Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have set his throne above these stones that I have hid, and he hath stretched out his pavilion over them, and he hath come, and smitten the land of Egypt -- those who `are' for death to death, and those who `are' for captivity to captivity, and those who `are' for the sword to the sword. And I have kindled a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and it hath burned them, and he hath taken them captive, and covered himself with the land of Egypt, as cover himself doth the shepherd with his garment, and he hath gone forth thence in peace; and he hath broken the standing pillars of the house of the sun, that `is' in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt he doth burn with fire.'

Ezekiel 20:46 YLT

Son of man, set thy face the way of Teman, and prophesy unto the south, and prophesy unto the forest of the field -- the south;

Ezekiel 21:2 YLT

`Son of man, set thy face unto Jerusalem, and prophesy unto the holy places, and prophesy unto the ground of Israel;

Ezekiel 25:2 YLT

`Son of man, set thy face unto the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them;

Ezekiel 28:21-22 YLT

`Son of man, set thy face unto Zidon, and prophesy concerning it; and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I `am' against thee, O Zidon, And I have been honoured in thy midst, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah, In My doing in her judgments, And I have been sanctified in her.

Joel 3:19 YLT

Egypt a desolation becometh, And Edom a desolation, a wilderness, becometh, For violence `to' sons of Judah, Whose innocent blood they shed in their land.

Zechariah 14:18-19 YLT

And if the family of Egypt go not up, nor come in, Then not on them is the plague With which Jehovah doth plague the nations That go not up to celebrate the feast of booths. This is the punishment of the sin of Egypt, And the punishment of the sin of all the nations, That go not up to celebrate the feast of booths.

Commentary on Ezekiel 29 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 29

Eze 29:1-21. The Judgment on Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar; though about to Be Restored after Forty Years, It Was Still to Be in a State of Degradation.

This is the last of the world kingdoms against which Ezekiel's prophecies are directed, and occupies the largest space in them, namely, the next four chapters. Though farther off than Tyre, it exercised a more powerful influence on Israel.

2. Pharaoh—a common name of all the kings of Egypt, meaning "the sun"; or, as others say, a "crocodile," which was worshipped in parts of Egypt (compare Eze 29:3). Hophra or Apries was on the throne at this time. His reign began prosperously. He took Gaza (Jer 47:1) and Zidon and made himself master of Phœnicia and Palestine, recovering much that was lost to Egypt by the victory of Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish (2Ki 24:7; Jer 46:2), in the fourth year of Jehoiakim [Wilkinson, Ancient Egypt, 1.169]. So proudly secure because of his successes for twenty-five years did he feel, that he said not even a god could deprive him of his kingdom [Herodotus, 2.169]. Hence the appropriateness of the description of him in Eze 29:3. No mere human sagacity could have enabled Ezekiel to foresee Egypt's downfall in the height of its prosperity. There are four divisions of these prophecies; the first in the tenth year of Ezekiel's captivity; the last in the twelfth. Between the first and second comes one of much later date, not having been given till the twenty-seventh year (Eze 29:17; 30:19), but placed there as appropriate to the subject matter. Pharaoh-hophra, or Apries, was dethroned and strangled, and Amasis substituted as king, by Nebuchadnezzar (compare Jer 44:30). The Egyptian priests, from national vanity, made no mention to Herodotus of the Egyptian loss of territory in Syria through Nebuchadnezzar, of which Josephus tells us, but attributed the change in the succession from Apries to Amasis solely to the Egyptian soldiery. The civil war between the two rivals no doubt lasted several years, affording an opportunity to Nebuchadnezzar of interfering and of elevating the usurper Amasis, on condition of his becoming tributary to Babylon [Wilkinson]. Compare Jer 43:10-12, and see on Jer 43:13, for another view of the grounds of interference of Nebuchadnezzar.

3. dragon—Hebrew, tanim, any large aquatic animal, here the crocodile, which on Roman coins is the emblem of Egypt.

lieth—restest proudly secure.

his rivers—the mouths, branches, and canals of the Nile, to which Egypt owed its fertility.

4. hooks in thy jaws—(Isa 37:29; compare Job 41:1, 2). Amasis was the "hook." In the Assyrian sculptures prisoners are represented with a hook in the underlip, and a cord from it held by the king.

cause … fish … stick unto … scales—Pharaoh, presuming on his power as if he were God (Eze 29:3, "I have made it"), wished to stand in the stead of God as defender of the covenant-people, his motive being, not love to them, but rivalry with Babylon. He raised the siege of Jerusalem, but it was only for a time (compare Eze 29:6; Jer 37:5, 7-10); ruin overtook not only them, but himself. As the fish that clung to the horny scales of the crocodile, the lord of the Nile, when he was caught, shared his fate, so the adherents of Pharaoh, lord of Egypt, when he was overthrown by Amasis, should share his fate.

5. wilderness—captivity beyond thy kingdom. The expression is used perhaps to imply retribution in kind. As Egypt pursued after Israel, saying, "The wilderness hath shut them in" (Ex 14:3), so she herself shall be brought into a wilderness state.

open fields—literally, "face of the field."

not be brought together—As the crocodile is not, when caught, restored to the river, so no remnant of thy routed army shall be brought together, and rallied, after its defeat in the wilderness. Pharaoh led an army against Cyrene in Africa, in support of Aricranes, who had been stripped of his kingdom by the Cyrenians. The army perished and Egypt rebelled against him [Junius]. But the reference is mainly to the defeat by Nebuchadnezzar.

beasts … fowls—hostile and savage men.

6. staff of reed to … Israel—alluding to the reeds on the banks of the Nile, which broke if one leaned upon them (see on Eze 29:4; Isa 36:6). All Israel's dependence on Egypt proved hurtful instead of beneficial (Isa 30:1-5).

7. hand—or handle of the reed.

rend … shoulder—by the splinters on which the shoulder or arm would fall, on the support failing the hand.

madest … loins … at a stand—that is, made them to be disabled. Maurer somewhat similarly (referring to a kindred Arabic form), "Thou hast stricken both their loins." Fairbairn, not so well, "Thou lettest all their loins stand," that is, by themselves, bereft of the support which they looked for from thee.

8. a sword—Nebuchadnezzar's army (Eze 29:19). Also Amasis and the Egyptian revolters who after Pharaoh-hophra's discomfiture in Cyrene dethroned and strangled him, having defeated him in a battle fought at Memphis [Junius].

9. I am the Lord—in antithesis to the blasphemous boast repeated here from Eze 29:3, "The river is mine, and I have made it."

10. from the tower of Syene—Grotius translates, "from Migdol (a fortress near Pelusium on the north of Suez) to Syene (in the farthest south)"; that is, from one end of Egypt to the other. So "from Migdol to Syene," Eze 30:6, Margin. However, English Version rightly refers Syene to Seveneh, that is, Sebennytus, in the eastern delta of the Nile, the capital of the Lower Egyptian kings. The Sebennyte Pharaohs, with the help of the Canaanites, who, as shepherds or merchants, ranged the desert of Suez, extended their borders beyond the narrow province east of the delta, to which they had been confined by the Pharaohs of Upper Egypt. The defeated party, in derision, named the Sebennyte or Lower Egyptians foreigners and shepherd-kings (a shepherd being an abomination in Egypt, Ge 46:34). They were really a native dynasty. Thus, in English Version, "Ethiopia" in the extreme south is rightly contrasted with Sebennytus or Syene in the north.

11. forty years—answering to the forty years in which the Israelites, their former bondsmen, wandered in "the wilderness" (compare Note, see on Eze 29:5). Jerome remarks the number forty is one often connected with affliction and judgment. The rains of the flood in forty days brought destruction on the world. Moses, Elias, and the Saviour fasted forty days. The interval between Egypt's overthrow by Nebuchadnezzar and the deliverance by Cyrus, was about forty years. The ideal forty years' wilderness state of social and political degradation, rather than a literal non-passing of man or beast for that term, is mainly intended (so Eze 4:6; Isa 19:2, 11).

12. As Israel passed through a term of wilderness discipline (compare Eze 20:35, &c.), which was in its essential features to be repeated again, so it was to be with Egypt [Fairbairn]. Some Egyptians were to be carried to Babylon, also many "scattered" in Arabia and Ethiopia through fear; but mainly the "scattering" was to be the dissipation of their power, even though the people still remained in their own land.

13. (Jer 46:26).

14. Pathros—the Thebaid, or Upper Egypt, which had been especially harassed by Nebuchadnezzar (Na 3:8, 10). The oldest part of Egypt as to civilization and art. The Thebaid was anciently called "Egypt" [Aristotle]. Therefore it is called the "land of the Egyptians' birth" (Margin, for "habitation").

base kingdom—Under Amasis it was made dependent on Babylon; humbled still more under Cambyses; and though somewhat raised under the Ptolemies, never has it regained its ancient pre-eminence.

16. Egypt, when restored, shall be so circumscribed in power that it shall be no longer an object of confidence to Israel, as formerly; for example, as when, relying on it, Israel broke faith with Nebuchadnezzar (Eze 17:13, 15, 16).

which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them—rather, "while they (the Israelites) look to (or, turn after) them" [Henderson]. Israel's looking to Egypt, rather than to God, causes their iniquity (unfaithfulness to the covenant) to be remembered by God.

17. The departure from the chronological order occurs here only, among the prophecies as to foreign nations, in order to secure greater unity of subject.

18. every head … bald, … shoulder … peeled—with carrying baskets of earth and stones for the siege works.

no wages … for the service—that is, in proportion to it and the time and labor which he expended on the siege of Tyre. Not that he actually failed in the siege (Jerome expressly states, from Assyrian histories, that Nebuchadnezzar succeeded); but, so much of the Tyrian resources had been exhausted, or transported to her colonies in ships, that little was left to compensate Nebuchadnezzar for his thirteen year's siege.

19. multitude—not as Fairbairn, "store"; but, he shall take away a multitude of captives out of Egypt. The success of Nebuchadnezzar is implied in Tyre's receiving a king from Babylon, probably one of her captives there, Merbal.

take her spoil … prey—literally, "spoil her spoil, prey her prey," that is, as she spoiled other nations, so shall she herself be a spoil to Babylon.

20. because they wrought for me—the Chaldeans, fulfilling My will as to Tyre (compare Jer 25:9).

21. In the evil only, not in the good, was Egypt to be parallel to Israel. The very downfall of Egypt will be the signal for the rise of Israel, because of God's covenant with the latter.

I cause the horn of … Israel to bud—(Ps 132:17). I will cause its ancient glory to revive: an earnest of Israel's full glory under Messiah, the son of David (Lu 1:69). Even in Babylon an earnest was given of this in Daniel (Da 6:2) and Jeconiah (Jer 52:31).

I will give thee … opening of … mouth—When thy predictions shall have come to pass, thy words henceforth shall be more heeded (compare Eze 24:27).