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Ezekiel 32

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The First Dirge: God's Judgment on Pharaoh 1–16

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 Jehovah came unto me, saying, ​
2
Son 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. ​
3
Thus 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. ​
4
And 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. ​
5
And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.
6
I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of thee.
7
And 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. ​
8
All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.
9
I 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.
10
Yea, 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.
11
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. ​
12
By 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.
13
I 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.
14
Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​
15
When 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.
16
This 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. ​

The Second Dirge: Egypt’s Descent into Sheol 17–32

17
It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ​
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. ​
19
Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. ​
20
They 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.
21
The 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. ​
22
Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword; ​
23
whose 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.
24
There 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. ​
25
They 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.
26
There 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. ​
27
And 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; forthey werethe terror of the mighty in the land of the living. ​
28
But thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain by the sword.
29
There 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.
30
There 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.
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 Jehovah. ​
32
For 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.

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

Study Notes for Ezekiel 32

Verse 1

in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day — The date falls about two months after the escaped man brought the news 'The city is smitten' in the tenth month of the same year (33:21). It is the last word against Egypt to carry a month and day, and it is a lamentation (v.2). A second word follows at v.17.

Verse 2

a young lion of the nations… a whale in the seas — 'Whale' is tannim, a sea monster or dragon, the word of 'the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers' (29:3) and of 'the dragon that is in the sea' (Isa 27:1). The 'lamentation' (qinah) is of the kind already taken up over Tyrus (27:2) and her king (28:12).

Verse 3

I will therefore spread out my net over thee — The net is the LORD's own, as for 'the prince in Jerusalem' (12:10): 'My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare' (12:13). The 'company of many people' (qahal) is the army that draws the monster up (alah) out of the water, so the 'whale' of v.2 is taken like a fish.

Verse 4

all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee — The words of 29:5, 'thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven'. The birds and beasts that sheltered in the cedar in 31:6 now remain on its ruin (31:13), and here on Pharaoh's body.

Verse 7

the moon shall not give her light — 'Put thee out' is kabah, to quench, the verb used of a fire that 'shall not be quenched' (20:47–48): Pharaoh is a light put out. The darkened sun, moon and stars are also said of Babylon's day (Isa 13:10) and in Joel 2:31 and Matt 24:29. 'Cloud' (anan) is the word of 30:3.

Verse 11

The sword of the king of Babylon — The agent is named after the figures of vv.2–10. The LORD puts 'my sword in his hand' (30:24), and Jeremiah had the same word about Egypt: 'how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt' (Jer 46:13). Nebuchadrezzar is brought against Tyrus in 26:7 as well.

Verse 14

make their waters deep… rivers to run like oil — 'Make deep' is shaqa', to sink or settle. The waters Pharaoh 'troubledst' and 'fouledst' with his feet (v.2) become still, and v.13 says neither 'the foot of man' nor the hoofs of beasts shall trouble them any more. 'Oil' (shemen) pictures them smooth and slow.

Verse 16

the daughters of the nations shall lament her — 'Lamentation' (qinah) is the dirge of v.2; 'lament' is qun, to chant at a funeral, as David 'lamented with this lamentation' over Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam 1:17) and Jeremiah over Josiah (2 Chr 35:25). The dirge Ezekiel is told to take up is now taken up by the nations.

Verse 17

in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month — No month is named. This second word of the chapter turns from the sword on the land to the dead going down to the pit (vv.18–32). It uses the same lines as 31:14–18: 'nether parts of the earth', 'the pit', and the uncircumcised slain by the sword.

Verse 18

wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down — The prophet is told himself to 'cast down', as Jeremiah was set 'over the nations' to 'pull down' and 'throw down' (Jer 1:10): his word does what it declares. 'Wail' is nahah. 'Nether parts of the earth' and 'the pit' (bor) are the words of 31:14, 16; 'famous' (addir) means majestic.

Verse 19

Whom dost thou pass in beauty? — The question answers 31:2, 'Whom art thou like in thy greatness?' 'Pass in beauty' is na'em, to be pleasant. 'Uncircumcised' (arel) occurs in ten verses of this chapter (vv.19, 21, 24–30, 32), the word of 31:18, where Pharaoh is told he will lie 'in the midst of the uncircumcised'.

Verse 21

The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell — 'Strong' (el) and 'mighty' (gibbor) are the great warriors already in sheol, who greet him as the dead kings greet Babylon's king: 'Art thou also become weak as we?' (Isa 14:9–10). 'Them that help him' (azar) are the 'helpers' of 30:8.

Verse 22

Asshur is there — The nations of the pit are named in a list (vv.22–30): Asshur, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north and the Zidonians. Asshur is first. The cedar of Lebanon in 31:3 is here a slain people with 'his graves… about him'; its fall answers the question of 31:2.

Verse 24

There is Elam — Elam is a son of Shem, with Asshur (Gen 10:22). Jeremiah spoke against Elam (Jer 49:34) and ended that word with a promise: 'in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam' (Jer 49:39). Here Elam lies among the slain, having 'caused their terror in the land of the living' and now bearing 'their shame'.

Verse 26

Meshech, Tubal — Sons of Japheth (Gen 10:2), they were Tyre's traders: 'Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants' (27:13). They are named again with Gog, 'the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal' (38:2–3). Like the others, they 'caused their terror in the land of the living' and now lie 'uncircumcised, slain by the sword'.

Verse 27

their swords under their heads — Meshech and Tubal 'shall not lie with the mighty' who went down 'with their weapons of war', 'their swords under their heads', the burial of honoured warriors. Their own 'iniquities shall be upon their bones', as Job 20:11 speaks of bones 'full of the sin of his youth', though they were 'the terror of the mighty in the land of the living'.

Verse 31

Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted — 'Comforted' is nacham, the verb of 31:16, where the trees of Eden are 'comforted in the nether parts of the earth'. 'All his multitude' (hamon) is the word of 31:2, 18, and Pharaoh with 'all his army' (chayil) is placed last in the list, 'slain by the sword'.