Ezekiel32
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou wast likened unto a young lion of the nations: yet art thou as a monster in the seas; and thou didst break forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.
3Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will spread out my net upon thee with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring thee up in my net.
4And I will leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle upon thee, and I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with thee.
5And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.
6I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of thee.
7And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.
8All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.
9I will also vex the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.
10Yea, I will make many peoples 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.
11For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.
12By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nought the pride of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
13I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
14Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord Jehovah.
15When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Jehovah.
16This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, saith the Lord Jehovah.
17It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
18Son 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.
19Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
20They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.
21The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
22Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;
23whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.
24There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
25They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are round about her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that are slain.
26There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are round about them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, that are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are upon their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28But thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain by the sword.
29There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with them that are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.
31Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, saith the Lord Jehovah.
32For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 32.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The fall of Egypt. (1-16). It is like that of other nations. (17-32).
vv1-16
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.
vv17-32
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.
Key Words
שָׁנֶה: a year (as a revolution of time)
חֹדֶשׁ: the new moon; by implication, a month
אֶחָד: properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
נָשָׂא: to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
קִינָה: a dirge (as accompanied by beating the breasts or on instruments)
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
פַּרְעֹה: Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kings
Cross References
Ezekiel 32Direct literary model of Sheol greeting fallen rulers with taunting welcomes.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallels the vivid image of Pharaoh as a crocodile/monster in his rivers.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Echoes the supernatural darkness plague of Egypt; cosmic signs of judgment.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The net of divine judgment thrown over nations to capture them.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Judgment of being cast into the open wilderness for birds to devour.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Allusion to the first plague of Egypt turning waters into blood.
Supported by JFB
New Testament use of heavenly bodies darkening to represent dynastic falls.
Supported by JFB
The common biblical image of extinguishing a wicked ruler's light.
Supported by JFB
Desolation of Egypt's waters, left untroubled by foot of man or beast.
Supported by JFB
Egypt joining other great empires descending into the nether parts.
Supported by JFB
Introduction of a prophetic lamentation using the 'young lion' metaphor.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The prophet's declarative word 'casting down' nations.
Supported by JFB
Pharaoh being asked whom he surpasses in glory, and lying uncircumcised.
Supported by JFB
Establishing the solemn lamentation as a formal decree of ruin.
Supported by JFB