Ezekiel30
King James Version · Public Domain
1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
3 For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
6 Thus saith the Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God.
7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.
8 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.
9 In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.
10 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
12 And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it.
13 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.
15 And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.
16 And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Memphis shall have distresses daily.
17 The young men of Aven and of Pi–beseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity.
18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.
25 But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.
26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
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Ezekiel 30Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 30. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: A prophecy against Egypt. (1-19). Another. (20-26).
vv1-19
The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is very full. Those who take their lot with God's enemies, shall be with them in punishment. The king of Babylon and his army shall be instruments of this destruction. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another. No place in the land of Egypt shall escape the fury of the Chaldeans. The Lord is known by the judgments he executes. Yet these are only present effects of the Divine displeasure, not worthy of our fear, compared with the wrath to come, from which Jesus delivers his people.
vv20-26
Egypt shall grow weaker and weaker. If lesser judgments do not prevail to humble and reform sinners, God will send greater. God justly breaks that power which is abused, either to put wrongs upon people, or to put cheats upon them. Babylon shall grow stronger. In vain do men endeavour to bind up the arm the Lord is pleased to break, and to strengthen those whom he will bring down. Those who disregard the discoveries of his truth and mercy, shall know his power and justice, in the punishment for their sins.
Key Words
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
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.)
נָבָא: to prophesy, i.e. speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse)
כֹּה: properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now
אֲדֹנָי: the Lord (used as a proper name of God only)
יָלַל: to howl (with a wailing tone) or yell (with a boisterous one)
הָהּ: ah! expressing grief
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
Cross References
Ezekiel 30Messengers going in ships/vessels of bulrushes up the Nile to warn the Ethiopians of judgment.
Supported by JFB
Prophecy of the drying up of the rivers of Egypt and the resulting national ruin.
Supported by JFB
Identifies the same foreign mercenary troops (Ethiopians, Libyans, Lydians) allied with and defending Egypt.
Supported by Poole, JFB
Parallels Ezekiel's prediction of the destruction of Egypt's false gods and idols by Babylon.
Supported by JFB
Tehaphnehes (Daphne) noted as a royal residence where Pharaoh's yoke is broken.
Supported by JFB
Pharaoh's arm is broken beyond healing, using the same metaphor of ineffective medicines.
Supported by JFB
Ezekiel 30:1-19 serves as a repetition and expansion of the earlier doom of Egypt.
Supported by JFB
Mentions the 'mingled people' falling under the cup of God's wrath alongside Egypt.
Supported by Poole, JFB
Defines the geographical limits of Egypt's ruin 'from the tower of Syene'.
Supported by Poole, JFB
The Lord's arrival in Egypt causes the idols of Egypt to move and diminish.
Supported by JFB
Historical fulfillment: Pharaoh's army fails to assist Jerusalem, retreating to Egypt with broken power.
Supported by JFB
The 'day of the Lord' as a near day of destruction from the Almighty.
Supported by JFB
Aven (On/Heliopolis) identified with Beth-shemesh and its idolatrous pillars to be destroyed.
Supported by JFB
The Lord breaks the arms of the wicked but upholds the righteous.
Supported by Matthew Henry