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Ezekiel Chapter Thirty-two                            

 

Ezekiel 32

Chapter Contents

The fall of Egypt. (1-16) It is like that of other nations. (17-32)

Commentary on Ezekiel 32:1-16

(Read Ezekiel 32:1-16)

It becomes us to weep and tremble for those who will not weep and tremble for themselves. Great oppressors are in God's account no better than beasts of prey. Those who admire the pomp of this world will wonder at the ruin of that pomp; which to those who know the vanity of all things here below is no surprise. When others are ruined by sin we have to fear knowing ourselves guilty. The instruments of the desolation are formidable. And the instances of the desolation are frightful. The waters of Egypt shall run like oil which signifies there should be universal sadness and heaviness upon the whole nation. God can soon empty those of this world's goods who have the greatest fulness of them. By enlarging the matters of our joy we increase the occasions of our sorrow. How weak and helpless as to God are the most powerful of mankind! The destruction of Egypt was a type of the destruction of the enemies of Christ.

Commentary on Ezekiel 32:17-32

(Read Ezekiel 32:17-32)

Divers nations are mentioned as gone down to the grave before Egypt who are ready to give her a scornful reception; these nations had been lately ruined and wasted. But though Judah and Jerusalem were about this time ruined and laid waste yet they are not mentioned here. Though they suffered the same affliction and by the same hand yet the kind design for which they were afflicted and the mercy God reserved for them altered its nature. It was not to them a going down to the pit as it was to the heathen. Pharaoh shall see and be comforted; but the comfort wicked ones have after death is poor comfort not real but only in fancy. The view this prophecy gives of ruined states shows something of this present world and the empire of death in it. Come and see the calamitous state of human life. As if men did not die fast enough they are ingenious at finding out ways to destroy one another. Also of the other world; though the destruction of nations as such seems chiefly intended here is plain allusion to the everlasting ruin of impenitent sinners. How are men deceived by Satan! What are the objects they pursue through scenes of bloodshed and their many sins? Surely man disquiets himself in vain whether he pursues wealth fame power or pleasure. The hour cometh when all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of Christ and shall come forth; those that have done good to the resurrection of life and those that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.

── Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on Ezekiel

 

Ezekiel 32

Verse 1

[1] And it came to pass in the twelfth year in the twelfth month in the first day of the month that the word of the LORD came unto me saying

Twelfth year — Of the captivity of Jeconiah.

Verse 2

[2] Son of man take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say unto him Thou art like a young lion of the nations and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers and troubledst the waters with thy feet and fouledst their rivers.

Like a young lion — Spoiling all thou canst.

Crocodile — The crocodiles lay in the rivers though sometimes they went down the river to the sea.

With thy rivers — Raisedst mighty armies and didst lead them out against thy neighbours.

The waters — The people and kings near thee.

Thy feet — With thy soldiers.

Fouledst — Didst spoil all the conveniences of thy neighbours.

Verse 3

[3] Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.

With a company — In the countries where these creatures were hunted they went in mighty companies.

Verse 4

[4] Then will I leave thee upon the land I will cast thee forth upon the open field and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.

Leave thee — This was literally fulfilled in the deserts of Lybia where the slain of Hophra's army were left to be devoured by fowls and beasts.

Verse 5

[5] And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains and fill the valleys with thy height.

With thy height — With the carcasses of thy princes.

Verse 6

[6] I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.

Even to the mountains — Blood shall be poured forth as if it were to rise to the very mountains.

Full of thee — O thy blood and of thy carcasses cast into them.

Verse 7

[7] And when I shall put thee out I will cover the heaven and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon shall not give her light.

Put thee out — As a torch is extinguished.

Cover the sun — Probably some unusual darkness was seen in the heavens and on the earth about that time.

Verse 9

[9] I will also vex the hearts of many people when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations into the countries which thou hast not known.

Thy destruction — The fame of it.

Not known — Such as were strangers to Egypt shall be troubled with apprehension of what mischief may come upon the world from so mighty a conqueror.

Verse 10

[10] Yea I will make many people amazed at thee and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment every man for his own life in the day of thy fall.

Shall tremble — Be greatly afraid lest Nebuchadnezzar who is God's sword should smite them.

Every man — Every one of the kings whose kingdoms are near to Egypt.

Verse 13

[13] I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.

All the beasts — The sheep and oxen devoured or driven away: the horses taken up to mount the horsemen whose own horses were tired or spoiled.

Great waters — The pasture lying along the river side.

Trouble them — There shall be so few men left in Egypt that they shall not as formerly disturb the waters by digging swimming or rowing on them.

Nor the hoofs — So few horses or cows that they shall not at watering-times or in the heat of the day foul the waters.

Verse 14

[14] Then will I make their waters deep and cause their rivers to run like oil saith the Lord GOD.

Like oil — A figurative expression signifying there shall be such an universal sadness and heaviness upon the whole nation that the very rivers which used to flow briskly shall grow deep and slow and heavy.

Verse 15

[15] When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full when I shall smite all them that dwell therein then shall they know that I am the LORD.

Of that — Men and women cattle wealth and peace.

Verse 16

[16] This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her even for Egypt and for all her multitude saith the Lord GOD.

This is the lamentation — This mournful account which the prophet has given of Egypt.

Verse 18

[18] Son of man wail for the multitude of Egypt and cast them down even her and the daughters of the famous nations unto the nether parts of the earth with them that go down into the pit.

Wail — Prepare the funeral ceremonies at the burial of Egypt.

The daughters — And celebrate the funerals of other cities and kingdoms that lie buried in their own ruins.

The nether parts of the earth — A well known description of the state of the dead.

The pit — The Egyptians affected to be buried in the Pyramids and their kings and great ones would be laid by themselves; but Ezekiel provides them their grave among common people being buried just where they fall.

Verse 19

[19] Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.

Whom — Art thou better than others that thou shouldest not die and be laid in the dust as well as they.

Go — Go down like others.

With the uncircumcised — Among profane and loathed carcasses such the uncircumcised were in the opinion of the circumcised as were the Egyptians.

Verse 20

[20] They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.

They — The Egyptians.

She — The whole Egyptian kingdom.

Draw — And throw them together into the pit.

Verse 21

[21] The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down they lie uncircumcised slain by the sword.

Him — The king of Egypt.

The grave — Where they lie without strength as dead mortals tho' while they lived they bore themselves as gods.

That help — His helpers dead before him shall speak to him.

Gone down — To the grave.

They lie — Neglected and forgotten.

Verse 22

[22] Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain fallen by the sword:

Ashur — The famous warlike king of Assyria.

Is there — In the state of the dead in the land of darkness and oblivion.

Her company — Princes soldiers subjects and confederates.

Are about him — They are about him who were slain with him.

Verse 23

[23] Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain fallen by the sword which caused terror in the land of the living.

Whose graves — Here is supposed a spacious vault in the midst whereof the king of Ashur lies and round the vault his familiar captains and commanders.

Her company — The common subjects of the Assyrian empire all buried undistinguished about her.

Her grave — The ruins of an empire are its grave.

In the land — While they were in the land of the living.

Verse 24

[24] There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave all of them slain fallen by the sword which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

Elam — The Persians and their famous kings who lived in former days.

Their shame — God and man poured contempt upon them and turned their glory into shame.

Verse 25

[25] They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: 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: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.

A bed — The Persians had their coffins in which with balms and spices the dead were kept in the midst of places provided for them; in such is the king of Elam here placed with his slaughtered captains about him. All the honour he can now pretend to is to be buried in the chief sepulchre.

Verse 26

[26] There is Meshech Tubal and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised slain by the sword though they caused their terror in the land of the living.

Her multitude — With the Cappadocians and Albanians the Scythians may be included many of whom were next neighbors to them.

Verse 27

[27] And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads but their iniquities shall be upon their bones though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

They — The leaders of these Scythians were not buried with a pomp like that of Ashur or Elan but surprised by Halyattes and Cyaxares were cut off with all their multitude and tumbled into pits with the rabble.

With their weapons — A ceremony observed in pompous funerals of great captains to have their weapons and their armour carried before the hearse.

Laid their swords — In their graves as if they could sleep the sweeter there when they laid their heads on such a pillow: These barbarous Scythians were not so buried.

Their iniquity — The exemplary punishment of their iniquity shall be seen upon their bones unburied.

Verse 28

[28] Yea thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.

Thou — Chief of Mesech and Tubal.

Shalt be broken — Shalt be killed with the rest of thy wicked followers.

Shalt lie — Without regard hurled into the pit with common soldiers.

Verse 29

[29] There is Edom her kings and all her princes which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised and with them that go down to the pit.

With the uncircumcised — The Edomites retained circumcision being of the seed of Abraham. But that shall stand them in no stead: they shall lie with the uncircumcised.

Verse 30

[30] There be the princes of the north all of them and all the Zidonians which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.

Of the north — Tyrians Assyrians and Syrians who lay northward from Judea now swallowed up by the Babylonian.

Of their might — When it appeared too weak to resist the enemy.

Uncircumcised — Scorned and cast out as profane and loathsome.

Verse 31

[31] Pharaoh shall see them and shall be comforted over all his multitude even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword saith the Lord GOD.

Comforted — Poor comfort! Yet all that he will find!

Verse 32

[32] For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword even Pharaoh and all his multitude saith the Lord GOD.

My terror — These tyrants were a terror to the world by their cruelty; and God hath made them a terror by his just punishments; and so saith God will I do with Pharaoh. Come and see the calamitous state of human life! See what a dying world this is! The strong die the mighty die; Pharaoh and all his multitude! But here is likewise an allusion to the final and everlasting death of impenitent sinners. Those that are uncircumcised in heart are slain by the sword of Divine Justice. Their iniquity is upon them and they bear their shame for ever.

── John WesleyExplanatory Notes on Ezekiel

 

32 Chapter 32

 

Verses 1-32


Verse 27

Ezekiel 32:27

Gone down to hell with their weapons of war.

Teaching from ancient tombs

I. The utter helplessness of mortality.

1. What might is there that call withstand death! From armies thrones castles courts and empires death hath plucked his prey.

2. The universality of death’s empire.

3. What a picture is here drawn of all enmity against God! Rebellion against God is madness (Psalms 2:1-12).

4. What a contrast the grave of the Saviour presents to these! Victorious death in that bright Easter morn was subdued and crushed. Ours is the triumph also. Though mortality be helpless and must bow to the dust yet humanity is triumphant and shall rise again.

II. The fond tenacity of memory. Memory surrounds the living with relics of the dead and mementoes of the past. Even the dead are surrounded with tokens of their circumstances character and career. Above the grave stands the grey tombstone with the simple inscription “To the memory.” What memories are you preparing for your deathbed and the grave? Our moral actions mental emotions and impressions we cannot bury in everlasting oblivion. Our character is our true epitaph cut deeply into our tomb. (R. S. Latimer.)

──The Biblical Illustrator

 

32 Chapter 32

 

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.

Verse 1

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:

Verse 2

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.'

Verse 3

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.

Verse 4

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.

Verse 5

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.'

Verse 6

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.

Verse 7

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.'

Verse 8

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.'

Verse 9

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.

Verse 10

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.

Verse 11

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.

Verse 12

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.

Verse 13

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.

Verse 14

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.'

Verse 15

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.

Verse 16

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.

Verse 17

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.

Verse 18

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.'

Verse 19

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.'

Verse 20

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.

Verse 21

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.

Verse 22

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.

Verse 23

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.'

Verse 24

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:

Verse 25

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.

Verse 26

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.

Verse 27

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.

Verse 28

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.

Verse 29

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.

Verse 30

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.

Verse 31

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.

Verse 32

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.

── John Gill