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Ezekiel 29

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Prophecy Against Pharaoh and Egypt (Dated) 1–7

1
In the tenth year, in the tenthmonth, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ​
2
Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt;
3
speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. ​
4
And I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales; and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, with all the fish of thy rivers which stick unto thy scales. ​
5
And I will cast thee forth into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered; I have given thee for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens.
6
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. ​
7
When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and didst rend all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand. ​

The Desolation of Egypt 8–12

8
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and will cut off from thee man and beast.
9
And the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. Because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it;
10
therefore, behold, I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even unto the border of Ethiopia. ​
11
No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. ​
12
And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. ​

Egypt's Limited Restoration 13–16

13
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered; ​
14
and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom. ​
15
It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. ​
16
And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah. ​

Egypt Given as Wages to Babylon 17–21

17
And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the firstmonth, in the firstdayof the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ​
18
Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. ​
19
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. ​
20
I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​
21
In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth unto the house of Israel, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 29

Verse 1

In the tenth year, in the tenth month — The tenth month of the captivity is the month the siege began (24:1, 'the tenth day') and the month the news of the city's fall arrived (33:21). The oracles against Egypt begin here and run to the end of chapter 32; six are dated (29:1, 17; 30:20; 31:1; 32:1, 17).

Verse 3

the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers — Tannin, the sea or river monster, is the word of Aaron's rod, which 'became a serpent' before Pharaoh (Ex 7:10), and of the 'dragons in the waters' whose heads God broke (Ps 74:13; Isa 51:9). 'Rivers' (ye'or) are the Nile's streams. 'My river is mine own' echoes the prince of Tyre's claim (28:2).

Verse 4

hooks in thy jaws — The same sentence is said of Gog (38:4) and, of Sennacherib, 'I will put my hook in thy nose' (2 Kings 19:28). Job 41:1–2 asks who could 'draw out leviathan with an hook'; here the LORD does it. The fish of his own rivers cling (dabaq) to his scales as he is brought up out of the water.

Verse 6

a staff of reed — Egypt as a support that breaks: 'the staff of this broken reed… whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it' (Isa 36:6; 2 Kings 18:21). 'Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help' (Isa 31:1); Zedekiah's rebellion sent 'ambassadors into Egypt' for horses (17:15). 'Staff' (mish'enah) is what a man leans on.

Verse 7

thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder — The reed splits under the hand that takes hold of it: 'when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest'. 'Brakest' is shabar, the word of Tyre's 'she is broken' in 26:2; the first verb, 'didst break' (ratsats), is that of the 'broken reed' in Isa 36:6. 'Shoulder' (katheph) occurs again in v.18, of the soldiers at Tyre.

Verse 10

from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia — The KJV's 'tower of Syene' joins two names, Migdol (Jer 44:1) and Syene (Seveneh), as in 30:6; with the border of Ethiopia they mark the extent of the land. 'Utterly waste and desolate' piles up three Hebrew words for ruin (choreb, chorbah, shemamah).

Verse 11

neither shall it be inhabited forty years — Forty years is the span of Israel's wandering in the wilderness (Num 14:33), here a time of emptiness for Egypt. 'No foot of man… nor foot of beast' is echoed in 32:13. Jeremiah's term for Israel at Babylon is 'seventy years' (Jer 29:10).

Verse 12

desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate — The same sentence is repeated in 30:7, and 'I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries' in 30:23, 26. 'Scatter' (puts) is the verb used of Israel's scattering and gathering in 28:25. Jeremiah's word on Egypt is likewise a going 'into captivity' (Jer 46:19).

Verse 13

At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians — The two verbs, 'gather' (qabats) and 'scattered' (puts), are those of the promise to Israel in 28:25. Isaiah speaks of the same turn, 'he shall smite and heal it' (Isa 19:22), and ends with 'Blessed be Egypt my people' (Isa 19:25). Forty years is the term of v.11.

Verse 14

the land of Pathros — 'Bring again the captivity' (shub shebuth) is also said of Jacob in 39:25; here it is Egypt's. Pathros is named with Migdol and Noph where Jews lived (Jer 44:1). 'Habitation' is mekurah, birth or origin, the word of 'thy birth' in 16:3; the Pathrusim are among the sons of Mizraim (Gen 10:13–14).

Verse 15

the basest of the kingdoms — Shaphal, low, is repeated from v.14, 'a base kingdom'. The loss is of rule: 'neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations', and in 30:13 'there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt'. Zechariah has 'the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away' (Zech 10:11).

Verse 16

the confidence of the house of Israel — Mibtach, a thing trusted, is the word of Jer 48:13, 'ashamed of Bethel their confidence'; cf. Isa 20:5, Egypt as Israel's 'expectation'. Looking to Egypt would 'bring… iniquity to remembrance', the phrase used of the offering of jealousy (Num 5:15). Hosea says, 'now will he remember their iniquity… they shall return to Egypt' (Hos 8:13).

Verse 17

in the seven and twentieth year — This is the latest date in the book: 40:1 is in the 'five and twentieth year', and this oracle comes seventeen years after v.1, after the siege of Tyre announced in 26:7–14. It belongs with the Egypt oracles because it names Egypt as the payment for that siege (vv.18–20).

Verse 18

every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled — The 'great service' is the siege of Tyre foretold in 26:8, with its 'fort' and 'mount'; heads bald and shoulders peeled show the toil of it. 'Yet had he no wages', though 26:12 had said of Tyre, 'they shall make a spoil of thy riches'. 'Serve' (abad) and 'wages' (sakar) run through vv.18–20.

Verse 19

the wages for his army — The verbs of 26:12 return, 'make a spoil… make a prey' (shalal, bazaz), as 'take her spoil, and take her prey' of Egypt. Jeremiah was told how Nebuchadrezzar 'should come and smite the land of Egypt' (Jer 46:13) and called him 'my servant' (Jer 43:10).

Verse 20

because they wrought for me — 'Labour' is pe'ullah, work or its pay (Lev 19:13, 'the wages of him that is hired'). The king of Babylon is paid by God for service he did not know he was doing, as Assyria 'meaneth not so' in Isa 10:7, and as Cyrus is 'his anointed' in Isa 45:1. Egypt is the payment for the work against Tyre.

Verse 21

the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth — Tsamach, to sprout, is the verb of 'I make the horn of David to bud' (Ps 132:17) and of the Branch 'to grow up unto David' (Jer 33:15). Luke 1:69 says God 'hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David'. 'The opening of the mouth' (pithchon) recurs only in 16:63 and recalls the silence of 24:27 and 33:22.