Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 30:12
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].
12. make the rivers dry ] Cf. Isa 19:5-6. The expression is scarcely figurative (Isa 44:27); the drying up of her rivers would be the severest calamity that could befall Egypt, as indeed in all her history whenever her canal system has been allowed to fall into disrepair the country has sunk into wretchedness.
hand of the wicked ] Or, of evil men, ch. Eze 7:24; Jer 15:21; cf. Isa 19:4 “a cruel lord.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 12. I will make the rivers dry] As the overflowing of the Nile was the grand cause of fertility to Egypt, the drying it up, or preventing that annual inundation, must be the cause of dearth, famine, &c. By rivers, we may understand the various canals cut from the Nile to carry water into the different parts of the land. When the Nile did not rise to its usual height these canals were quite dry.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will make the rivers dry; either by some extraordinary drought, or rather by means of that mighty lake, which drew so much water from Nilus, that all their canals were ever after shallow, and the lake, as the oracle foretold, helped their enemy, and hurt their friends; or the Chaldeans might divert them, and so their fortified towns would want one great defence.
Sell the land: God gave it, here he sells; the one is proper, the other a borrowed expression; indeed God seems to pay wages with it, Eze 29:19,20; but hereby is intimated, that as sellers deliver into the hand of the buyer, so God would deliver Egypt into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, as surely as if he had bought it. arid we may conclude the Chaldean as a buyer will make the most of all he buys.
Of the wicked; not of just and compassionate, but of injurious and merciless men. Strangers, who leave nothing they can carry away, eat up, or spoil.
I the Lord have spoken it; it is the decree and edict of Heaven, which cannot be broken.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. riversthe artificialcanals made from the Nile for irrigation. The drying up of thesewould cause scarcity of grain, and so prepare the way for theinvaders (Isa 19:5-10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I will make the rivers dry,…. Egypt was a country that abounded with rivers; however, with canals cut from the river Nile; its wealth and riches very much depended here on, partly on account of the multitude of fishes taken out of them, and the paper reeds that grew upon their banks; but chiefly because the whole land, was watered by them, and made exceeding fruitful, rain being not so common in it; so that to dry up the riven was in effect to take away their substance and dependence; besides, hereby the way was made easy and passable for the enemy; there was nothing to obstruct him, he could overrun and ravage the land at pleasure:
and sell the land into the hand of the wicked; the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, who were wicked idolaters, men of flagitious lives, and of merciless and cruel dispositions; who would show no favour to the inhabitants of the land, when delivered up to them, which is called a selling it; for, as things sold are delivered to the buyer, so should this land be to them; which though they had no right to it before, yet by the event of war, and disposal of divine Providence, came to have a property in it, given them by him who is the proprietor of all lands; and after them into the hands of the Persians, under Cambyses, and Ochus; who were very wicked and cruel princes, and may be reckoned among the terrible or violent ones of the nations in the preceding verse; and then into the hands of the Grecian, Romans, Saracen, Mamaluck, and now the Turks, all very wicked people:
and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers; the Babylonians, people of another country and distant, of another language, and with whom they had no commerce, alliance, and friendship, and so would not spare them, and their land, when in their possession; and so all the rest above mentioned, into whose hands they successively fell:
I the Lord have spoken it; determined it, prophesied of it; and it shall come to pass, as it did accordingly.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) Make the rivers dryi.e., the canals of Egypt, by which the land was irrigated, and on which its fertility depended. It may also include the comparative drying, the lessening of the inundation of the Nile, which occurred from time to time, and was the cause of the various famines in Egypt mentioned in Scripture.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Rivers dry The Nile canals (note Eze 29:3; compare Isa 19:5-6).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hands of evil men. And I will make the land desolate, and all that is in it by the hand of strangers. I Yahweh have spoken it.”
Egypt would not only have to cope with invasion but with drought as the level of the Nile fell and many tributaries dried up. The irrigation canals, which required constant attention by the people, would be neglected and silt up. Furthermore as regularly happens in such a war there would be a rise of brigandage, to add to the people’s troubles as the desolation continued through visiting armies. All this would be seen as Yahweh’s doing.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eze 30:12. I will make the rivers dry, &c. “I will destroy the strength of Egypt.” The metaphor is taken from the decrease or falling of the Nile, upon the overflowings of which all the plenty and prosperity of Egypt depended. See 2Ki 19:24 and Isa 37:25.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 30:12 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].
Ver. 12. And I will make the rivers dry. ] The Chaldees shall drink them up; as 2Ki 19:24 or I will dry them up, for a punishment of your vain trust in them, and boasting of them. Eze 29:3 ; Eze 29:9
And sell the land.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
wicked. Hebrew. ra’a. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will make: Eze 29:3, Isa 19:4-10, Isa 44:27, Jer 50:38, Jer 51:36, Nah 1:4, Rev 16:12
dry: Heb. drought
sell: Jdg 2:14, Isa 19:4
all that is therein: Heb. the fullness thereof, 1Co 10:26
by the hand: Eze 28:10, Eze 31:12
Reciprocal: Psa 107:33 – turneth Isa 1:7 – strangers Isa 11:15 – shall smite Isa 19:5 – General Eze 5:17 – I the Eze 19:7 – the fulness Eze 26:14 – for I Eze 29:10 – I will Eze 32:13 – destroy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 30:12, In some way the Lord will interfere with the irrigation system of the country which will result in assisting the Babylonians in their attack upon the land. The effect of this interference with the watering program will be to lay waste the land.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Yahweh would cause the canals of the Nile River to dry up as a result of the warfare. The irrigation canals in Egypt required constant attention and maintenance, but during war the Egyptians would not have time for that. Consequently Egypt would stop producing food. The Babylonians, strangers to Egypt, would take over Egypt and desolate it.