29 There `is' Edom, her kings, and all her princes, Who have been given up in their might, With the pierced of the sword, They with the uncircumcised do lie, And with those going down to the pit.
Concerning Edom: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Perished hath counsel from the intelligent? Vanished hath their wisdom? Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, ye inhabitants of Dedan, For the calamity of Esau I brought in upon him, The time I inspected him. If gatherers have come in to thee, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency! For I -- I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And to be hidden he is not able, Spoiled `is' his seed, and his brethren, And his neighbours, and he is not. Leave thine orphans -- I do keep alive, And thy widows -- on Me trust ye, For thus said Jehovah: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And thou `art' he that is entirely acquitted! Thou art not acquitted, for thou certainly drinkest. For, by Myself, I have sworn, An affirmation of Jehovah, That for a desolation, for a reproach, For a waste, and for a reviling -- is Bozrah, And all her cities are for wastes age-during. A report I have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations is sent, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise ye for battle. For, lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised among men. Thy terribleness hath lifted thee up, The pride of thy heart, O dweller in clefts of the rock, Holding the high place of the height, For thou makest high as an eagle thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah. And Edom hath been for a desolation, Every passer by her is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues. As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbours, said Jehovah, No one doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man. Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? concerning her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? and who conveneth Me? And who `is' this shepherd who standeth before Me? Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He hath counselled concerning Edom, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Make desolate over them doth he not their habitation? From the noise of their fall hath the earth shaken, The cry -- at the sea of Suph is its voice heard. Lo, as an eagle he cometh up, and flieth, And he spreadeth his wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom hath been in that day, As the heart of a distressed woman!'
and Esau saith unto Jacob, `Let me eat, I pray thee, some of this red red thing, for I `am' weary;' therefore hath `one' called his name Edom `Red';
And these `are' births of Esau, who `is' Edom. Esau hath taken his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Bashemath daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebajoth. And Adah beareth to Esau, Eliphaz; and Bashemath hath born Reuel; and Aholibamah hath born Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah. These `are' sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan. And Esau taketh his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance which he hath acquired in the land of Canaan, and goeth into the country from the face of Jacob his brother; for their substance was more abundant than to dwell together, and the land of their sojournings was not able to bear them because of their cattle; and Esau dwelleth in mount Seir: Esau is Edom. And these `are' births of Esau, father of Edom, in mount Seir. These `are' the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz son of Adah, wife of Esau; Reuel son of Bashemath, wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz are Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz; and Timnath hath been concubine to Eliphaz son of Esau, and she beareth to Eliphaz, Amalek; these `are' sons of Adah wife of Esau. And these `are' sons of Reuel: Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah; these were sons of Bashemath wife of Esau. And these have been the sons of Aholibamah daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon, wife of Esau; and she beareth to Esau, Jeush and Jaalam and Korah. These `are' chiefs of the sons of Esau: sons of Eliphaz, first-born of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek; these `are' chiefs of Eliphaz, in the land of Edom; these `are' sons of Adah. And these `are' sons of Reuel son of Esau: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah; these `are' chiefs of Reuel, in the land of Edom; these `are' sons of Bashemath wife of Esau. And these `are' sons of Aholibamah wife of Esau: chief Jeush, chief Jaalam, chief Korah; these `are' chiefs of Aholibamah daughter of Anah, wife of Esau. These `are' sons of Esau (who `is' Edom), and these their chiefs.
Come near, ye nations, to hear, And ye peoples, give attention, Hear doth the earth and its fulness, The world, and all its productions. For wrath `is' to Jehovah against all the nations, And fury against all their host, He hath devoted them to destruction, He hath given them to slaughter. And their wounded are cast out, And their carcases cause their stench to ascend, And melted have been mountains from their blood. And consumed have been all the host of the heavens, And rolled together as a book have been the heavens, And all their hosts do fade, As the fading of a leaf of a vine, And as the fading one of a fig-tree. For soaked in the heavens was My sword, Lo, on Edom it cometh down, On the people of My curse for judgment. A sword `is' to Jehovah -- it hath been full of blood, It hath been made fat with fatness, With blood of lambs and he-goats. With fat of kidneys of rams, For a sacrifice `is' to Jehovah in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And come down have reems with them, And bullocks with bulls, And soaked hath been their land from blood, And their dust from fatness is made fat. (For a day of vengeance `is' to Jehovah, A year of recompences for Zion's strife,) And turned have been her streams to pitch, And her dust to brimstone, And her land hath become burning pitch. By night and by day she is not quenched, To the age go up doth her smoke, From generation to generation she is waste, For ever and ever, none is passing into her. And possess her do pelican and hedge-hog, And owl and raven dwell in her, And He hath stretched out over her A line of vacancy, and stones of emptiness. `To' the kingdom her freemen they call, But there are none there, And all her princes are at an end. And gone up her palaces have thorns, Nettle and bramble `are' in her fortresses, And it hath been a habitation of dragons, A court for daughters of an ostrich. And met have Ziim with Aiim, And the goat for its companion calleth, Only there rested hath the night-owl, And hath found for herself a place of rest. There made her nest hath the bittern, Yea, she layeth, and hath hatched, And hath gathered under her shadow, Only there gathered have been vultures, Each with its companion. Seek out of the book of Jehovah, and read, One of these hath not been lacking, None hath missed its companion, For My mouth -- it hath commanded, And His spirit -- He hath gathered them. And He hath cast for them a lot, And His hand hath apportioned `it' to them by line, Unto the age they possess it, To all generations they dwell in it!
`Who `is' this coming from Edom? With dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is honourable in his clothing, Travelling in the abundance of his power?' -- `I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.' `Wherefore `is' thy clothing red? And thy garments as treading in a wine fat?' -- `A wine-press I have trodden by myself, And of the peoples there is no one with me, And I tread them in mine anger, And I trample them in my fury, Sprinkled is their strength on my garments, And all my clothing I have polluted. For the day of vengeance `is' in my heart, And the year of my redeemed hath come. And I look attentively, and there is none helping, And I am astonished that there is none supporting, And give salvation to me doth mine own arm. And my wrath -- it hath supported me. And I tread down peoples in mine anger, And I make them drunk in my fury, And I bring down to earth their strength.
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man, set thy face unto the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them; and thou hast said to the sons of Ammon: Hear ye a word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of thy saying, Aha, to My sanctuary, Because it hath been polluted, And unto the ground of Israel, Because it hath been desolate, And unto the house of Judah, Because they have gone into a removal: Therefore, lo, I am giving thee to sons of the east for a possession, And they set their towers in thee, And have placed in thee their tabernacles. They eat thy fruit, and they drink thy milk, And I have given Rabbah for a habitation of camels, And the sons of Ammon for the crouching of a flock, And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah. For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of thy clapping the hand, And of thy stamping with the foot, And thou rejoicest with all thy despite in soul Against the ground of Israel, Therefore, lo, I -- I have stretched out My hand against thee, And have given thee for a portion to nations, And I have cut thee off from the peoples, And caused thee to perish from the lands; I destroy thee, and thou hast known that I `am' Jehovah. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of the saying of Moab and Seir: Lo, as all the nations `is' the house of Judah; Therefore, lo, I am opening the shoulder of Moab -- From the cities -- from his cities -- from his frontier, The beauty of the land, Beth-Jeshimoth, Baal-Meon, and Kiriathaim, To the sons of the east, with the sons of Ammon, And I have given it for a possession, So that the sons of Ammon are not remembered among nations. And in Moab I do judgments, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of the doings of Edom, In taking vengeance on the house of Judah, Yea, they are very guilty, And they have taken vengeance on them. Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have stretched out My hand against Edom, And I have cut off from it man and beast, And given it up -- a waste, from Teman even to Dedan, By sword they do fall. And I have given My vengeance on Edom, By the hand of My people Israel, And they have done in Edom, According to My anger, and according to My fury, And they have known My vengeance, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of the doings of the Philistines in vengeance, And they take vengeance with despite in soul, To destroy -- the enmity age-during! Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am stretching out My hand against the Philistines, And I have cut off the Cherethim, And destroyed the remnant of the haven of the sea, And done upon them great vengeance with furious reproofs, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah, In My giving out My vengeance on them!
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: `Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and thou hast said to it: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I `am' against thee, O mount Seir, And have stretched out My hand against thee, And made thee a desolation and an astonishment. Thy cities a waste I make, and thou art a desolation, And thou hast known that I `am' Jehovah. Because of thy having an enmity age-during, And thou dost saw the sons of Israel, By the hands of the sword, In the time of their calamity, In the time of the iniquity of the end: Therefore, I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Surely for blood I do appoint thee, And blood doth pursue thee, If blood thou hast not hated, Blood also doth pursue thee. And I have given mount Seir for a desolation and an astonishment, And have cut off from it him who is passing over and him who is returning, And filled his mountains with his wounded, Thy hills, and thy valleys, and all thy streams, The pierced of the sword fall into them. Desolations age-during I make thee, And thy cities do not return, And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah. Because of thy saying: The two nations and the two lands are mine, and we have possessed it, And Jehovah hath been there; Therefore, I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And I have done according to thine anger, And according to thine envy, With which thou hast wrought, Because of thy hatred against them, And I have been known among them when I judge thee. And thou hast known that I -- Jehovah, I have heard all thy despisings that thou hast spoken Against mountains of Israel, saying: A desolation, to us they were given for food. And ye magnify yourselves against Me with your mouth, And have made abundant against Me your words, I -- I have heard. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: According to the rejoicing of the whole land, A desolation I make of thee. According to thy joy at the inheritance of the house of Israel because of desolation, So I do to thee -- a desolation thou art, O mount Seir, and all Edom -- all of it, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah!
Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of his pursuing with a sword his brother, And he hath destroyed his mercies, And tear perpetually doth his anger, And his wrath -- he hath kept it for ever, And I have sent a fire against Teman, And it hath consumed palaces of Bozrah.
Thus said the Lord Jehovah to Edom, A report we have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations was sent, `Rise, yea, let us rise against her for battle.' Lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised `art' thou exceedingly. The pride of thy heart hath lifted thee up, O dweller in clifts of a rock, (A high place `is' his habitation, He is saying in his heart, `Who doth bring me down `to' earth?') If thou dost go up high as an eagle, And if between stars thou dost set thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah. If thieves have come in to thee, If spoilers of the night, How hast thou been cut off! Do they not steal their sufficiency? If gatherers have come in to thee, Do they not leave gleanings? How hath Esau been searched out! Flowed out have his hidden things, Unto the border sent thee have all thine allies, Forgotten thee, prevailed over thee, have thy friends, Thy bread they make a snare under thee, There is no understanding in him! Is it not in that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah, That I have destroyed the wise out of Edom, And understanding out of the mount of Esau? And broken down have been thy mighty ones, O Teman, So that every one of the mount of Esau is cut off.
Is not Esau Jacob's brother? -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I love Jacob, and Esau I have hated, And I make his mountains a desolation, And his inheritance for dragons of a wilderness. Because Edom saith, `We have been made poor, And we turn back and we build the wastes,' Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: They do build, and I do destroy, And `men' have called to them, `O region of wickedness,' `O people whom Jehovah defied to the age.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 32
Commentary on Ezekiel 32 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 32
This chapter contains two more prophecies concerning the destruction of Egypt. The date of the first is given, Ezekiel 22:1, in which the king of Egypt is compared to a large fish taken in a net, and brought to land, and left on it, to be the prey of the fowls of the air and beasts of the field, Ezekiel 32:2, and the ruin of that kingdom is further amplified by the casting of it on the mountains and valleys; by the land flowing with its blood; by the darkness of the heavens; by the vexation in the hearts of many people; and by the amazement of kings and nations, Ezekiel 32:5, the means and instruments of all which will be the king of Babylon and his army, Ezekiel 32:11, the devastation made by him, which would be such as would cause lamentation in other nations, is described, Ezekiel 32:13, then follows the other prophecy, whose date is given, Ezekiel 32:17, the prophet is bid to lament the fall of Egypt, which is represented under the funeral of a corpse, Ezekiel 32:18, saluted by those gone down to the grave before, or were become desolate; which are mentioned, to assure Egypt of its destruction, Ezekiel 32:21 as the Assyrian empire, and all its provinces, Ezekiel 32:22, the Persians and Medes, with all their dominions, Ezekiel 32:24, the posterity of Meshech and Tubal, or the Scythians, those warlike people, Ezekiel 32:26, the Edomites, the princes of the north, and all the Zidonians, Ezekiel 32:29 which would be a comfort, though a poor one to the king of Egypt and his subjects, to have such company with them, Ezekiel 32:31.
And it came to pass in the twelfth year,.... Of Jeconiah's captivity, above a year and a half after the taking of Jerusalem; the Syriac version reads in the eleventh year:
in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month; the month Adar, which answers to part of our February, and part of March; the Septuagint version reads it the tenth month: according to Bishop UsherF20Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3417. , this was on the twenty second of March, on the fourth day of the week (Wednesday), 3417 A.M.or 587 years before Christ:
that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying; as follows:
Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Pharaohhophra, or Apries; say a funeral dirge for him; this is ordered, not out of honour and respect to him, or in compassion for his misery and ruin, but to assure him of it:
and say unto him, thou art like a young lion of the nations; for strength and fierceness, for cruelty and tyranny, which he exercised, not in one nation only, but in many; a lively emblem of the beast of Rome, spiritually called Egypt and Sodom, compared to a leopard, bear, and lion, Revelation 11:8,
and thou art as a whale in the seas; or rather "like a crocodile"F21כתנים "similis es crocodile", Noldius, Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 375. , which was common in the rivers of Egypt, but not the whale; which also has not scales, nor does it go upon land, nor is it taken in a net; all which is said of this creature here, and in Ezekiel 29:3 and to the crocodile there is an allusion in the name of Pharaoh, in the Arabic language, as Noldius from Camius observesF23Ibid. No. 1306. ; see Ezekiel 29:3,
and thou camest forth with thy rivers; or, "by thy rivers"F24בנהרותיך "per flumina tua", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. ; as the crocodile in the river Nile, by the arms of it, or canals made out of it, sometimes went out from thence to other parts: or, "out of thy rivers"F25"Ex fluminibus tuis", Starckius. upon the land, as the crocodile does; so the king of Egypt went forth with his armies out of his own land, into other countries, to disturb them, as follows: or rather, "camest forth in thy rivers"F26"In fluviis tuis", V. L. Piscator; "in fluminibus tuis", Cocceius. ; as the crocodile puts forth its head out of the water for respiration:
and thou troublest the waters with thy feet, and foulest their rivers; just as the feet of men or beasts, in shallow waters, raise up the mud or clay at the bottom, and so foul them; this best agrees with the crocodile, which has feet; Grotius thinks, for this reason, the sea horse is intended; the meaning is, that Pharaoh with his soldiers entered other nations, made war upon them, and disturbed their peace and tranquillity. The Targum is,
"thou hast been strong among the people, as a whale in the seas, thou hast fought with thine army; and thou hast moved the people with thine auxiliaries, and thou hast wasted their provinces.'
Thus saith the Lord God,.... The Lord God Almighty, who is able to manage this fierce and turbulent creature, this mighty monarch and disturber of the nations:
I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; meaning the Chaldean army, which the Lord would instigate, and by his providence bring against the king of Egypt, and surround him as fishes in a net, and take him and his people; see Ezekiel 12:13,
and they shall bring thee up in my net; out of his rivers, out of his fortresses, out of his own land, and carry him captive, or destroy him.
Then will I leave thee upon the land,.... Like a fish that is drawn out of the waters with a net or hook, and laid on dry land, and left gasping and expiring, where it cannot long live:
I will cast thee forth on the open field; the same in different words, signifying that his army should fall in battle by the sword of the Cyreneans, or Chaldeans, or both, and be left on the surface of the earth unburied:
and will cause all the fowls of the heavens to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee; which may be understood either literally of the fowls of the air, that should light upon the slain carcasses, and rest on them till they had satisfied themselves with their flesh; and of the beasts of the field that should gather about them from all parts, and fill themselves with them; see Revelation 19:17 or figuratively of the soldiers of the enemy's army, that should plunder them, and enrich themselves with the spoil.
And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains,.... The remainder of it, left by the birds and beasts of prey, and who might carry it thither; or it intends such of the Egyptians who should flee to the mountains for safety, but should fall by the hands of the enemy there. So the Targum,
"and I will give the flesh of thy slain upon the mountains.'
And fill the valleys with thy height; his huge army, and with which he prided and lifted up himself, and thought himself safe in; which should fall in such great numbers as to cover the plains and valleys where the battle was fought. Jarchi observes, that the word for "height" has with some the signification of "worms"; and so the Syriac version renders it, "and the valleys shall be filled with thy worms"; bred in the carcasses of the slain: and so the Vulgate Latin version, "with corrupt matter"; such as issues out of putrefied wounds. The Targum very rightly paraphrases it,
"the valleys shall be filled with the carcasses of thine army.'
And I will also water with thy blood the land wherewith thou swimmest,.... Where he resided, over which he ruled; alluding to his being compared to a fish, a whale, or a crocodile; and which land abounded with all good things, and he with them; instead of being watered with the waters of the Nile, by which it became fruitful, it should now be flooded with the blood of his army:
even to the mountains; an hyperbolical expression, signifying the vast quantity of blood that should be shed; see the like in Revelation 14:20,
and the rivers shall be full of them; of the carcasses of his army, and of the blood of them; they should lie about everywhere, on mountains and valleys, on the land and in the rivers; and which should now be turned into blood, as the rivers of Egypt of old were; and which figure is used to express the destruction of the antichristian states; see Exodus 7:20.
And when I shall put thee out,.... As a candle is put out, or some great light or blazing torch is extinguished; such was the king of Egypt in his splendour and glory; but now should be like a lamp put out in obscure darkness, and all his brightness and glory removed from him, Job 18:5,
I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; with the smoke that should arise at the extinguishing of this lamp; or they should be covered with mourning, or clad in black, at the destruction of this monarch and his monarchy:
I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light; all which figures are sometimes made use of to denote the dissolution of kingdoms and states: the "heaven" being an emblem of a kingdom itself; the "sun" of an emperor or king, or kingly power; the "moon" of the queen, or of the priesthood; the "stars" of nobles, princes, counsellors, and such like eminent persons, useful in government; who being destroyed or removed, the light and glory, the prosperity and happiness of a kingdom, are gone; see Isaiah 13:10. The Targum is,
"tribulation shall cover thee when I shall extinguish the splendour of the glory of thy kingdom from heaven; and the people of thine army shall be lessened, who are many as the stars; a king with his army shall cover thee as a cloud that ascends and covers the sun, and as the moon, whose light does not shine in the day.'
All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee,.... Or, "all the lights of the light"F1כל מאורי אור "omnia luminaria lucis", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius. ; the rest of the luminaries of heaven; the other five planets, as Kimchi, besides the sun and moon:
and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God; as there must needs be, the sun, moon, and stars, and all the lights of heaven, being darkened above: there seems to be an allusion to the thick darkness that was formerly over the land of Egypt; and this is a figure and representation of that darkness that shall be in the kingdom of the beast, or spiritual Egypt, yet to come; see Exodus 10:21. The Targum is,
"tribulation as darkness shall cover thy land.'
I will also vex the hearts of many people,.... With anger and grief, with fear and dread, with consternation and amazement:
when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations; or, "thy breach"F2שברך "fractionem tuam", Piscator, Cocceius, Starckius. ; the news of it, the tidings of their destruction; which by one means or another should come to their ears, and fill them with concern and great anxiety of mind, so rich and powerful a kingdom being subdued, and the king of Babylon made so great thereby, and fearing they fall a prey unto him also. The Targum renders it,
"when I shall bring the broken of thy war;'
that is, the soldiers that should be wounded in battle, their limbs broke, and they taken captive, and brought among the nations, dismal spectacles to look at; and which should be brought
into countries, which thou hast not known; at a distance from Egypt, and which had no commerce nor communication with them, nor were their friends and allies; yet as their destruction would reach their ears, so it would affect their hearts, and fill them with vexation and grief; not so much on account of Egypt, as the growing power of Nebuchadnezzar, and the danger they were in of falling into his hands.
Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee,.... That so potent a state, and such a flourishing kingdom, should at once be so easily subdued and conquered: and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee; because of her destruction, lest their turn should be next; so the kings of the earth will be afraid when God's judgments are executed on mystical Egypt; see Revelation 18:9,
when I shall brandish my sword before them; the sword of the king of Babylon after mentioned, called the Lord's, because it was by his appointment and permission, and came by the direction of his providence, and was succeeded by his power: this glittering sword being brandished over Egypt, in the sight of the nations round about, was terrible to them; dreading that it would not be put up until it was sheathed in them, or they felt the effects of it:, or, "when I shall cause it to fly before them"F3בעופפו "cum volare fecero", Munster, Tigurine version. Abendaus mentions such a sense of the word. ; in their sight, and upon the borders of their countries; expressive of the swiftness of its motion, the sudden destruction it brought on Egypt, and its nearness to them. The Targum is,
"when I shall bring upon thee those that kill with the sword.'
And they shall tremble at every moment; from moment to moment, or continually; they shall never be free from fear:
every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall; not kings for their subjects, or subjects for their kings, but every man for himself; expecting every moment that the sword which flew and ravaged through Egypt, and now hovered over them, would be instantly plunged in them.
For thus saith the Lord God, the sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. Upon Pharaoh and his kingdom; having a commission and a direction from the Lord, and which would be the instrument of the destruction before threatened. The Targum is,
"those that slay with the sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon or against thee;'
his army, sword in hand.
By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall,.... Pharaoh's numerous subjects; or his army, as the Targum; the vast number of soldiers in it, whose carcasses should fall in battle by the sword of the Chaldeans, the mighty men of Nebuchadnezzar's army:
the terrible of the nations all of them; which army consisted of men of several nations, and those the most terrible, fierce, and cruel, by whose swords this slaughter should be made:
and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt; cut off the king, the princes of the blood, the nobility and gentry, the prime of the nation; plunder the king's palace of all the wealth and riches in it, the treasury of the kingdom; destroy the metropolis of it; demolish its cities and fortified places, and take away all its strength and glory:
and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed: all the people of the land, high and low, rich and poor; the destruction shall be general, all ranks and degrees of men shall share in it.
I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters,.... Which used to graze beside the river Nile, and the canal, of it, in the plains and meadows, valley, and hills, which these ran by; meaning both horses, which Egypt abounded with, and would be good booty for the Chaldeans, and oxen and sheep, which they would kill for present use, or drive away for future service:
neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them; there should so few remain of men and beasts, that the waters of the rivers would not be disturbed, either by men passing over them, and doing any business upon them, or by beasts drinking at them.
Then will l make their waters deep,.... Either the water, of Egypt literally, the waters of the Nile: no canals being cut from it, to carry the water to the several parts of the land, the land being depopulated, and no business done: or, figuratively, other nations, compared to waters for their numbers, who before had been disturbed by the Egyptians; but now they being destroyed, these would be at ease, like troubled waters, which subside, and: become deep and clear, when there is none to trouble them:
and cause their, rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God; very slowly, as if, they were mourning the unhappy condition of the land; or smoothly, clearly, undisturbed, as before. The Targum is,
"there will I cause the people to rest, and I will lead their kings quietly, saith the Lord God.'
When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate,.... The cities being demolished, the inhabitants destroyed with the sword, or carried captive:
and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full; men and cattle, corn and other fruits of the earth, wealth and riches, pomp and grandeur:
when I shall smite all them that dwell therein; with the sword of the Chaldeans:
then shall they know that I am the Lord for God is known in the perfections of his nature, omnipotence, omniscience, holiness, justice, &c. by the judgments he executes; for this is not to be understood of a spiritual knowledge of him, but of a terrible conviction of the truth of his being and attributes, by the awful dispensations of his providence.
This is the lamentation with which they shall lament her,.... The Egyptians themselves, or rather they that are after mentioned. The Targum is,
"the prophet said, a lamentation is this prophecy, and it shall be for a lamentation;'
he was bid at the beginning of it to take up a lamentation, and now at the end of it he pronounces it to be one, and that it should be sung as such:
the daughters of the nations shall lament for her; either literally understood, it being the business and custom of women to say or sing the funeral dirge, or the lamentation at the interment of the deceased; or figuratively, the inhabitants of other nations. So Ben Melech and the Targum,
"the villages of the people shall lament her';
that is, the inhabitants of them, who were in alliance with Egypt, and under its protection:
they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude; for the desolation of the land, and for the vast numbers of people that should be slain with the sword, or carried captive:
saith the Lord God; which is added for the confirmation of it; for what he has spoken shall be done.
It came to pass also the twelfth year,.... Another prophecy of the like kind was delivered out the same year as before:
in the fifteenth day of the month; of the twelfth month, the month Adar, which is not here expressed, because mentioned before, Ezekiel 32:1, it was about a fortnight after the other prophecy. The Septuagint and Arabic versions read it,
"it came to pass in the twelfth year, the first month, the fifteenth day of the month;'
according to which this prophecy was before the other, which is not to be supposed.
Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt,.... Sing a funeral song or dirge, or compose one, to be sung by the mourning women, on account of the vast numbers of the inhabitants of Egypt that shall be slain; for the prophet himself would not mourn, but rejoice, on this occasion; but this is said to show the certainty of the destruction, and the lamentation that would be made on that account:
and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations; Egypt, and all those countries, and the inhabitants of them, that were in alliance and friendship with her; that is, declare by prophecy that they shall be cast down and destroyed, or be brought down from the height of grandeur and prosperity in which they now were:
unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down to the pit; not unto stately sepulchres built on high, such as were made for the kings of Egypt; but unto common pits or graves, dug in the lower parts of the earth, where the meaner and common sort of people were buried; there should be no distinction between them and others, they should have one common burial. The Targum is,
"son of man, prophesy concerning the multitude of Egypt, and break her, even her, and the villages of the mighty people; prophesy that they shall be delivered unto the lowest earth, with those that go down to the pit of the house of perdition.'
Whom dost thou pass in beauty?.... This question the prophet is bid to put to Egypt; what nation is there, or has been, that thou excellest in wisdom, in riches, or in strength, in the multitude of subjects, or extent of dominions, that thou thinkest thyself secure from destruction? look over other kingdoms and states mightier than thou, or at least equal to thee, and see how they are brought to ruin, and expect that this will quickly be thy case:
go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised; go down to the grave, and take thy place, and lie there among the wicked and most profligate of mankind, and such as might be most despised by the Egyptians, since they used circumcision. The Targum is,
"go down and sleep with sinners.'
They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword,.... The Egyptians shall fall in battle by the sword of the Chaldeans:
she is delivered to the sword; Egypt is given to the sword, to perish by it, for her sins, according to the just appointment of God:
draw her and all her multitudes; to the place of burial; not in pomp and splendour, as great persons are drawn in hearses; but in great disgrace, as carcasses are dragged unto a common pit or grave, and cast into it: this is said to the Chaldeans, who had a commission from the Lord to slay Egypt, and to bury her, and all her people.
The strong among the mighty shall speak to him,.... The strongest of them, such who have excelled others in strength and courage, famous for military exploits, who have been generals of armies, great warriors, and conquerors; and yet with all their might and strength could not withstand death, but were subdued by it, and brought down to the grave; these are, by a poetical figure, represented as meeting Pharaoh king of Egypt, when he came to his grave, saluting and welcoming him to the state of the dead in which they were; taking a sort of comfort in it, and insulting him as being as weak as they; see Isaiah 14:9, which they should do
out of the midst of hell, or the grave, "Hades", the state of the dead:
with them that help him; the associates, allies, and friends of Pharaoh, his auxiliaries that fell with him, and were brought to the grave at the same time with him; these should be greeted, saluted, and welcomed in like manner:
they are gone down; to the grave; those mighty ones that are represented as speaking, and the Egyptians and their helpers who are spoken to:
they lie uncircumcised; among them that are so, Ezekiel 32:19,
slain by the sword; of their enemies, who got the victory over them.
Ashur is there, and all her company,.... In the state of the dead, or in a most desolate and ruinous condition; the great Assyrian monarchy, the kings of it, the princes, nobles, generals, soldiers, and the vast number of subjects in all the dominions of it; all his army, as the Targum; this, with what follows, shows who the mighty are, that should meet and address the king of Egypt at his funeral:
his graves are about him; either the graves of Pharaoh and his multitude are round about the graves of the Assyrian monarch and his subjects, as Kimchi; or rather the graves of his subjects and soldiers are round about him: it seems to represent the king of Assyria as having a more stately monument, and the graves of his people as lesser ones round about him, but all in the same condition:
all of them slain, fallen by the sword of their enemies, the Medes and the Babylonians, by whom the Assyrian monarchy was destroyed.
Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit,.... Or vault, where lay the king of Assyria, and those who fell by the sword with him, who are represented as lying in graves all around him; the nearest to him those who were in the highest posts, and most valiant and courageous, and next the common soldiers, as follows:
and her company is round about her grave not Pharaoh's company round about the grave of the Assyrian monarch; but the company of the king of Assyria, or his army, as the Targum, round about grave; or lying about in the ruins of his kingdom:
all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living; even they who now are in the state of the dead, and can no more disturb and distress any, while they were alive, or in the world, struck terror in all neighbouring states and kingdoms; threatening destruction to them, and obliging them to submit to their tyranny and exactions. Jarchi interprets this of the land of Israel; and the Jewish writers commonly understand by the land of the living the land of Canaan wherever they meet with it; because here men worshipped the living God, and lived before him; and the inhabitants of this land were often terrified by the king of Assyria. So the Targum,
"because they ruled in the land of Israel.'
There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave,.... The kingdom of the Medes and Persians lying in ruin, and the potent kings thereof in the state of the dead; with their army, as the Arabic version, slain and destroyed, and placed round about the grave of the king of Persia; for of him rather it is to be understood than of the king of Assyria, or of Egypt, as some:
all of them slain, fallen by the sword; either of the Scythians in the reign of Cyaxares; or of Nebuchadnezzar a few years before this, in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah; see Jeremiah 49:34,
which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth; unholy persons, profane sinners, destitute of the grace of God; who were gone down into the grave, and even into hell and everlasting destruction, as their sins deserved:
which caused their terror in the land of the living; made a great noise in the world, and struck a panic in neighbouring nations, invaded and conquered by them; this they did while living, but now, being in the state of the dead, nothing was to be feared from them: yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit; were obliged to submit to death, and a shameful one, by the hands of their conquerors, and to be laid with ignominy in the grave with others, without any mark of distinction; all being upon a level, cast into the same pit of destruction, and into the lower parts of it; though their king might have a magnificent sepulchre erected for him, as follows:
They have set her bed in the midst of the slain, with all her multitude,.... The grave is called a bed, Isaiah 57:2, whereon is put the sepulchral chest or coffin, in which the body is laid, and rests as on a bed. It may here design a stately sepulchre or coffin in it, with a magnificent monument over it for the king of Elam, with his army, and the generals of it slain in battle, placed all around him, in less stately beds, coffins, and graves, as explained in the next clause:
her graves are round about him; the king of Persia and his grave, surrounded with the graves of his soldiers and officers:
all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit; which is repeated for the confirmation of it:
he is put in the midst of them that be slain; the king of Elam or Persia; he is laid among the slain, having fallen with them, and his grave is placed in the midst of them.
There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude,.... The Scythians, a powerful and warlike people; and all their armies, as the Targum; with their leaders, generals, and commanders, as lying in their graves next to the Assyrians and Elamites, or
her graves are round about him; not the king of Egypt, nor the king of Assyria, nor the king of Persia; but the chief commander of the Scythians, called the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, Ezekiel 38:2,
all of them slain by the sword; of Halyattes, king of Lydia, and Cyaxares, king of Media, who was assisted by the former in subduing the Scythians:
though they caused their terror in the land of the living; as they did in Media, and other countries, and especially in some parts of Asia.
And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised,.... That is, shall not lie in such state, or be buried with such pomp and magnificence, and have such sepulchral monuments erected to their memory, as other heroes among the Heathens have had; such as the mighty kings of Assyria and Persia before mentioned:
which are gone down to hell, or "the grave",
with their weapons of war; which were never taken from them, and which they held in their hands to the last, being never conquered, and died at last a natural death, and not by the sword; or which were carried in state before their hearse at the time of interment, as is the custom to this day so to do at the funeral of great warriors, generals, and officers:
and they have laid their swords under their heads; as a sign and token, as Jarchi says, that the sword did not rule over them, that they did not fall by it; either their statues and sepulchral monuments were adorned with these, and other instruments of war, as was the grave of Misenus by AeneasF4Vid. Virgil. Aeneid. l. 6. & Seneca, l. 4. controvers. 4. ; and as is still the custom where the heads of such mighty ones are laid, to engrave them on them: or, literally, their swords and other weapons of war were put in their graves under their heads; as it was usual, in former times, in some places to put swords, shields, and other armour, in the graves of military men, as were in the grave of Theseus, on the bier of Alexander the great, and others, as reported by Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, and SophoclesF5Vid. Lydium de Re Militari, l. 6. c. 7. p. 250,251. & Kirchman, de Funer. Roman. l. 3. c. 18. : now the Scythians were not buried: after this grand and pompous manner:
but their iniquities shall be upon their bones; or the punishment of their sin should be, that their bones should lie unburied and scattered about, or be dug up and broke to pieces, and treated with inhumanity and contempt, as a just reward for their savageness, and cruelty:
though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living: not only the terror of the common people, but even of the most powerful kings and mighty warriors.
Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised,.... Kimchi, and so others, think this is said to Pharaoh king of Egypt; but rather it respects the prince of the Scythians, who should fall into the hands of Heathens, and be destroyed by them:
and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword; be buried with them, or in like manner as they are; and not as mighty warriors, who die a natural death in their own country, and are buried in a stately and magnificent manner; but like those that fall by the sword of the enemy, and are thrown into one common pit.
There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes,.... In the next place, near the graves of the above mentioned, and in the same ruinous and desolate condition, lie the famous kingdom of Idumea, and the several kings and dukes of it, from the first setting of it up, to its last destruction prophesied of, Ezekiel 25:12, of many of which mention is made, Genesis 36:15,
which with their might are laid by them that are slain with the sword; who, notwithstanding their powerful armies, and prowess and skill in war, yet are conquered, and destroyed, and laid in graves in like manner as all others slain by the, sword of the enemy are:
they shall lie with the uncircumcised; for though they themselves were circumcised, being the descendants of Esau the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, on whose seed circumcision was enjoined; yet this did not secure them from a violent death, and an ignominious burial; they being uncircumcised in heart, wicked and ungodly men, and so should be joined in their death and burial with such:
and with them that go down to the pit; the common receptacle of the slain.
There be the princes of the north,..... The kings of Babylon, according to Kimchi, which lay north of Judea; or the princes of Syria, Damascus, and Tyre, especially the latter, which commonly goes along with Zidon, being near it, as follows:
and all the Zidonians. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "and all the hunters"; but wrongly; as also the Septuagint and Arabic versions, which read the princes or soldiers of Assyria. The Zidonians or inhabitants of Zidon are meant as the Targum; a famous maritime city, as Tyre also was, in Phoenicia:
which are gone down with the slain; into the grave, being conquered and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; see Ezekiel 28:21,
with their terror they are ashamed of their might, the number and strength of their armies, the valour and courage of their soldiers, and the fortifications of their cities, in which they trusted, and of which they boasted; but yet could not preserve them from ruin:
and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword; in common with other profane and wicked persons that have fallen by the sword as they have done:
and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit; See Gill on Ezekiel 32:24.
Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over his multitude,.... That is, when Pharaoh is brought to the grave, and into the state of the dead, he shall look about him, and see who lie by him; and he shall behold the above mentioned kings of Assyria, Persia, Idumea, and the princes of Tyre and Zidon, and all their mighty armies, generals and soldiers, in the same condition with himself; and this shall be some solace to him in his own death, and at the loss of so great a kingdom, such numerous subjects, and a vast army, that others as rich, as powerful as himself, lie in the same low and miserable condition; though such comfort as this must be poor comfort indeed! and yet this is all the comfort wicked men have in hell, that they have company with them there:
even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword. Pharaohhophra and his numerous army slain by the sword of the king of Babylon. This explains who is meant by Pharaoh and his multitude: and that this would certainly be his case it is added,
saith the Lord God; he hath spoken it, and it shall be done; whose words are continued in the next verse.
For I have caused my terror in the land of the living,.... Or, "his terror"F6חתיתו "terrorem ejus", Grotius; "consternationem ejus", Starckius. ; there is a double reading. The Keri or marginal reading, which we follow has it "my terror"F7חתיתי "terrorem meum", Pagninus, Munster, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. ; but the Cetib or writing is his terror; and so read the Septuagint. Syriac, and Arabic versions; both may be taken, and the sense be, I have caused or suffered him, Pharaoh king of Egypt, to be a terror to the nations about him, particularly to the land of Israel, which the Targum expressly mentions as the land of the living; and now I will terrify him who has terrified others:
and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with those that are slain with the sword; shall have a common burial with other Heathen nations; even with such, who, in a way of judgment, have perished by the sword of their victorious enemies, as he will:
even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God; the king of Egypt, his subjects, and his soldiers, as numerous as they are; and thus ends this doleful ditty, and funeral dirge or lamentation, composed, taken up, and sung for Pharaoh as ordered, thereby to assure him of his certain destruction.