Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 29:4
But 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, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
4. with hooks. This is suggested by the monster inhabiting the waters. Possibly the crocodile was occasionally caught with hooks, as Herodotus affirms (cf. ch. Eze 32:3), although Job 41:1 seems to doubt the practicability of it. On “hooks,” ch. Eze 38:4; Isa 37:29.
fish of thy rivers ] A figure for the population of the country of rivers; hardly merely for the army of Pharaoh.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hooks in thy jaws – Compare Job 41:2. The crocodile is thus rendered an easy prey.
Fish of thy rivers – i. e., the allies of Egypt shall be involved in her ruin.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. I will put hooks in thy jaws] Amasis, one of this king’s generals, being proclaimed king by an insurrection of the people, dethroned Apries, and seized upon the kingdom; and Apries was obliged to flee to Upper Egypt for safety.
I will cause the fish – to stick unto thy scales] Most fish are sorely troubled with a species of insect which bury their heads in their flesh, under their scales, and suck out the vital juices. The allusion seems to be to this. Pharaoh was the crocodile; the fish, the common people; and the sticking to his scales, the insurrection by which he was wasted and despoiled of his kingdom.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou art secure against all, but God will draw thee out of thy river to thy ruin.
Hooks; the allegory is continued; fish are drawn out with hooks and lines, and God hath hooks for this proud dragon, first Areasis, and next the Babylonian king. The expedition of Areasis at the head of the Cyreneans and Grecians, and the event of it, is exactly represented in this hieroglyphic in the text. Amasis with those forces mastered Libya, the king thereof applies for help to this Pharaoh, he gathers all the power of Egypt out of Egypt with him into Cyrene, where he was defeated, lost all but a few that fled with him, and on this occasion the Egyptians rebelled against him: now this short history opens the parable. The first hook you see in the jaws of this dragon, this drew him out of his river, i.e. his kingdom.
The fish; these are the people of Egypt, the subjects of this kingdom.
To stick unto thy scales; to adhere to their king in this war.
I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers; both the king and his subjects, which made up his army, go out of the rivers, leave Egypt, and march into Cyrene (which was part of that kingdom now called Bares) with their king, as if they had been little fishes on the back of a mighty one. Thus far the emblem; the rest follows.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. hooks in thy jaws (Isa37:29; compare Job 41:1;Job 41:2). Amasis was the “hook.”In the Assyrian sculptures prisoners are represented with a hook inthe underlip, and a cord from it held by the king.
cause . . . fish . . . stickunto . . . scalesPharaoh, presuming on his power as if he wereGod (Eze 29:3, “I havemade it”), wished to stand in the stead of God as defender ofthe covenant-people, his motive being, not love to them, but rivalrywith Babylon. He raised the siege of Jerusalem, but it was only for atime (compare Eze 29:6; Jer 37:5;Jer 37:7-10); ruin overtooknot only them, but himself. As the fish that clung to the hornyscales of the crocodile, the lord of the Nile, when he was caught,shared his fate, so the adherents of Pharaoh, lord of Egypt, when hewas overthrown by Amasis, should share his fate.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But I will put hooks in thy jaws,…. The allusion is to fishhooks, which are taken by fishes with the bait into their mouths, and stick in their jaws, by which they are drawn out of the river, and taken. The king of Egypt being before compared to a fish, these hooks design some powerful princes and armies, which should be the ruin of Pharaoh; one of them, according to Junius and Grotius, was Amasis, at the head of the Cyreneans and Greeks; and another was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; see Job 41:1:
and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales; the people of his kingdom, especially his soldiers, generals, princes, and great men, to cleave to him, follow him, and go out with him in his expedition against Amasis. The Targum is,
“I will kill the princes of thy strength with thy mighty ones:”
and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers: alluding to the crocodile, to which he is compared, which sometimes comes out of the river, and goes on dry land. The king of Egypt was brought out of his kingdom by the following means: Amasis, with the Cyreneans and Greeks, having seized upon Lybia, and drove the king of it from thence, he applied to Pharaoh for help, who gathered a large army of Egyptians, and led them out into the fields of Cyrene, where they were defeated by Amasis, and almost all perished, and the king saved himself by flight; upon which the Egyptians mutinied and rebelled against him, and Amasis became their king:
and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales; the common people of Egypt; for the above numerous army consisted only of Egyptians, whom he gathered from all parts, drained his rivers of them, and almost exhausted his country hereby; he had indeed in an army, after this battle with Amasis, thirty thousand auxiliaries, Carians and Ionians; but these were not the fish of his rivers. The Targum is,
“I will make thy kingdom to cease from thee, and all the princes of thy strength with thy mighty ones shall be killed;”
with which the history agrees. The allusion to the crocodile is here very just and pertinent, which is a fish full of scales. Monsieur Thevenot a, who saw many of them, says, that
“the body of this fish is large, and all of a size; the back is covered with high scales, like the heads of nails in a court gate, of a greenish colour, and so hard that they are proof against a halberd; and it has a long tail covered with scales like the body;”
and another traveller says b they have scales on their back musket proof, and therefore must be wounded in the belly; but another traveller c says, this is a vulgar report that a musket shot will not pierce the skins of the crocodiles, for upon trial it is found false; yet all writers, ancient and modern, allow it to have very firm scales on its back, which render it capable of bearing the heaviest strokes, and to be in a measure impenetrable and invincible; so Herodotus d says, it has a skin full of scales, on the back infrangible; or, as Pliny e expresses it, invincible against all blows and strokes it may be stricken with; and so says Aristotle f, with which Aelian g agrees, who says that the crocodile has by nature a back and tail impenetrable; for it is covered with scales, as if it was armed as one might say, not unlike to hard shells.
a Travels, par. 1. B. 2. c. 72. p. 245. b Mandelsloe in Harris’s Voyages, &c. vol. 1. p. 759. c Tavernier in ib. p. 835. d Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 63. e Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 25. f Hist. Animal: l. 2. c. 10. g De Animal. l. 10. c. 24.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) Hooks in thy jaws.An allusion to the ancient way of taking and destroying the crocodile, otherwise invulnerable to their arms.
Fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.As the crocodile, the lord of the Nile, represents the royal power of Egypt, so the fish represent the people dependent upon him. Pharaoh is not to fall alone, but shall drag his people with him into a common ruin.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. I will put hooks in thy jaws So the crocodile was sometimes caught ( Herodotus, 2:70). The fish which stick to his scales represent the Egyptian population and dependencies such as Gaza and Jerusalem and other towns which had foolishly trusted to the Pharaoh for help against the Assyrians.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your rivers, to stick to your scales, and I will bring you up out of the midst of the rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales.”
The picture is of a crocodile hunt, in which hooks were put in the crocodile’s mouth so that he could be pulled ashore, and killed, or left high and dry to die. The fish that stick to his scales may be foreign mercenaries, or allies, or the aristocracy and armies of Egypt. So the great invincible Pharaoh can die like any other, along with all his helpers.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 29:4 But 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, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
Ver. 4. But I will put hooks in thy jaws. ] Speaking to Tyre, a sea town, sea metaphors were made use of. Now he fetcheth them from waters and fishes, that he may frame himself to his hearers. A good precedent for preachers.
To stick unto thy scales.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fish. Symbols of Pharaoh’s subjects
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will put: Eze 38:4, 2Ki 19:28, Job 41:1, Job 41:2, Isa 37:29, Amo 4:2
the fish: Hab 1:14, Hab 1:15
Reciprocal: Psa 105:29 – General Eze 13:8 – behold Eze 30:10 – I will
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 29:4. We understand this language to be figurative, but all figures of speech are based on some literal facts or at least something that would be literally possible. The literal fact in the present case is the attachment of the king of Egypt and bis people to the Nile and the creatures living in it. even to the extent of regarding them as gods. Hence the imagery is that of a great monster (the king) living in the river and mingling with the fish of the stream. By the same token, also, the capture of the king is likened to the taking of a large water creature wihch would be done by putting hooks in his jaws. Fish , . . stick unto thy scales. If the fish of a stream should stick to the body of a monster living therein, they would have to share the same fate with him when he is drawn out of the water. Likewise, the people of Egypt who adhered to Pharaoh in his wicked plots, would have to share with him when lie is caught by an invader.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 29:4-5. But I will put hooks in thy jaws The king of Egypt being spoken of as a great fish, or a crocodile, God here, in pursuance of the same metaphor, tells him that he will put hooks in his jaws, or stop his vain-glorious designs and boastings, by raising up enemies that should gain the mastery over him, as the fisherman has the fish in his power, when he has struck the hook into its jaws. This hook to the king of Egypt was Amasis, one of his officers, who set up himself as king, by the favour of the people, and dethroned his master. I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales I will cause even thy own people to press thee hard, and to be a torment to thee. And I will bring thee up out of thy rivers By this is metaphorically expressed his being induced to undertake a foreign expedition. The expression alludes to the nature of a crocodile, which is not confined to the water, but uses to come upon the land, where he is frequently taken. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, and all the fish of thy rivers Thy army shall be discomfited, and fall in the deserts of Lybia and Cyrene; for there seems to be here an allusion to the heavy loss which Apries and the Egyptian army sustained in his expedition against the Cyrenians, toward whom they must have marched over the desert. Herod. 2. 161. Apries himself did not fall in battle, but was taken prisoner by Amasis, and strangled by the Egyptians. Herod. 2. 169. See note on Jer 44:30. Thou shalt fall upon the open fields A king is said to be defeated, or victorious, when his armies are so. Thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered The bones, or carcasses, of thy army shall not be collected in order to their burial, nor gathered to the dead in the sepulchres allotted for them. I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field, &c. See Rev 19:17-18. Some think the expression here is metaphorical, and signifies that the power of depriving him of his kingdom, power, liberty, riches, and at last life itself, should be given to cruel and rapacious men.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
29:4 But I will put {c} hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick to thy scales, and I will bring thee out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick to thy scales.
(c) I will send enemies against you who will pluck you and your people which trust in you out of your sure places.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord promised to remove Pharaoh and his people from their land, as a fisherman pulls a crocodile out of the water with hooks. He would remove the river-dragon along with the lesser fish that would cling to it. These fish probably refer to the neighbor nations and allies of Egypt that relied on her. Normally people caught crocodiles by placing hooks in their jaws and then dragging them onto land where they killed them. [Note: Herodotus, 2:70.] In the delta region of Egypt, the Egyptians worshipped the crocodile as a god, Sebek, which they believed protected their nation (cf. 32:2; Psa 74:13; Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9). Thus God promised to destroy Pharaoh, Egypt, and the god supposedly responsible for their protection.