Ezekiel32

Ezekiel is commanded to lament for Pharaoh and Egypt, prophesying their violent destruction by the sword of Babylon, leading to widespread desolation and darkness. The Lord declares that Egypt, once mighty, will be cast down and consumed, its fall serving as a terrifying spectacle to other nations. Furthermore, Egypt's multitude will descend into the pit of Sheol, joining other uncircumcised nations already slain by the sword, bearing their shame in the nether parts of the earth.

The First Dirge: God's Judgment on Pharaoh

In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.

Thus says the Lord GOD: I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net.

I will leave you on the land, I will cast you out on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.

I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height.

I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you.

When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.

All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on your land, says the Lord GOD.

I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.

Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, 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 your fall.

For thus says the Lord GOD: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you.

By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed.

I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them.

Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord GOD.

When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD.

This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, says the Lord GOD.

The Second Dirge: Egypt’s Descent into Sheol

Also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, the LORD’s word came to me, saying,

Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.

Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.

They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.

The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;

whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit.

They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are around 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 those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain.

There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.

They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword.

There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit.

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 those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord GOD.

For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD.

Study Notes for Ezekiel 32

Verse 1

This prophecy is dated approximately one month after the previous oracle (30:20) and marks the final word against Egypt in the book of Ezekiel. The timing, late in 585 B.C., places it shortly after the fall of Jerusalem, demonstrating God's consistent judgment on all nations.

Verse 2

Pharaoh is compared both to a 'young lion' (a symbol of aggressive power) and a 'whale' (Hebrew: *tannin*, a sea monster or dragon). This imagery links Pharaoh to primeval chaos, often associated with Egypt, whose aggressive foreign policy 'troubled the waters' of the nations.

Verse 3

The metaphor shifts from Pharaoh as a chaotic sea creature to God, the divine fisherman, using a 'net' to capture the monster. The 'company of many people' refers to the invading Babylonian forces used by God as his instrument of judgment.

Verse 4

The image of the monstrous carcass being cast onto the land and devoured by scavengers emphasizes the utter humiliation and dishonor of Pharaoh’s death, denying him a proper burial.

Verse 7

The judgment on Egypt is depicted using 'cosmic catastrophe' language (darkening the sun, moon, and stars). This hyperbole is common in prophetic literature and signifies a historical event so momentous that it overturns the established order of the world.

Verse 11

Ezekiel explicitly identifies the agent of God's judgment: Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. This clarifies that the preceding cosmic imagery describes the devastating impact of the Babylonian invasion.

Verse 14

The violent imagery gives way to profound stillness, where the waters of the Nile (Egypt’s lifeblood) flow 'like oil'—slowly and undisturbed. This signifies the total cessation of human and animal activity and the end of Egypt’s economic vitality.

Verse 16

The lamentation itself is decreed by God to be sung by the 'daughters of the nations.' This ensures that Egypt’s humiliation will be widely known and remembered by its former allies and rivals.

Verse 17

This second oracle, given only two weeks after the first, shifts the focus from the physical destruction of Egypt to its fate in the afterlife. It describes a dramatic vision of the underworld (Sheol, 'the pit').

Verse 18

Ezekiel is commanded to 'wail' and 'cast them down' to Sheol, the common grave of humanity. The focus is on the vast 'multitude' of Egypt, reflecting the great size of its army and population.

Verse 19

The question 'Whom dost thou pass in beauty?' is a taunt, mocking Egypt’s former glory and self-perception. Being laid 'with the uncircumcised' is a critical insult, as circumcision was a mark distinguishing Israel from pagan nations, emphasizing Egypt's pagan disgrace.

Verse 21

The 'strong among the mighty' are the deceased kings and warriors of other nations already residing in Sheol. They greet Pharaoh with bitter irony, acknowledging him as a new, equally disgraced member of their company.

Verse 22

The description shifts to a roll call of nations already humbled in death. Assyria, the great imperial power of the previous century, is listed first, showing that no earthly might can escape the judgment of the grave.

Verse 24

Elam (a strong kingdom east of Babylon) is listed as another former terror now bearing 'shame' in the pit. The vision emphasizes that all nations, regardless of their past military might, share the same fate of humiliation.

Verse 26

Meshech and Tubal (peoples in modern Turkey, often associated with Gog in Ezekiel 38-39) are included, demonstrating the universal scope of God’s judgment extending even to nations on the periphery.

Verse 27

This verse may describe an elite section of Sheol reserved for honored pagan warriors who died bravely (implied by 'weapons of war' and 'swords under their heads'). However, even this honor is negated by the mention of their 'iniquities' and ultimate shame.

Verse 31

The comfort Pharaoh receives is purely ironic and hollow: he is comforted only because he sees that his great empire has fallen no further than all the other once-mighty nations. His fate is universal humiliation.

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Ezekiel32

The First Dirge: God's Judgment on Pharaoh

The Second Dirge: Egypt’s Descent into Sheol

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