Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 30:18
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
18. Tehaphnehes, spelled somewhat differently Jer 2:16. Jer 43:8 speaks of a royal palace there, and Eze 46:14 it is named along with Memphis as a chief city in Egypt. Its site is probably the modern Tell Defenneh (Daphnae), near the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, south of lake Menzaleh, about 30 miles S.-W. of the ancient Pelusium.
the yokes of Egypt ] must here be those imposed by Egypt, a sense not very suitable to the connexion. A different pointing would give sceptres (LXX.) or staves but “staves” in the sense of supports is more than doubtful (cf. Isa 14:5).
her daughters ] may be literal (cf. Eze 30:17, young men of On), or said figuratively of her towns.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Tehaphnehes – See the marginal reference note. break the yokes of Egypt i. e., break the yokes imposed by Egypt, or break up the tyrannous dominion of Egypt over other lands.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Tehaphnehes] Called also Tahapanes, Jer 2:16. This is the Pelusian Daphne.
Break there the yokes] The sceptres. Nebuchadnezzar broke the sceptre of Egypt when he confirmed the kingdom to Amasis, who had rebelled against Apries.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Tehaphnehes; a great and goodly city of Egypt. Tachapanes, Tachpanes, Tahapanes, Tahpanes, Chanes, and Hanes, Isa 30:4, are names given it, and this from a queen of Egypt of that name in Solomons time, 1Ki 11:19,20. It stood not far from Sin or Pelusium, and by the Greeks, a little softening the name, called Daphne Pelusiaca. It was a royal city, in it Pharaoh had a house; to it many Jews fled, when forbidden of the Lord by the prophet Jeremiah, Eze 44. It was one of the first cities you come to out of the desert of Sin, and was one of the keys of Egypt.
The day shall be darkened; a night shall come upon it, and such a night of sorrow as shall grow darker and darker till the day, i.e. their day, be
darkness; or else, word for word, darkness shall be the day, and may bear this sense, shall be more welcome, more useful, more desired, than the day, whose light would discover their flight, which the night concealed.
I shall break, as into shivers.
The yokes; the sceptres; for there was one of Pharaohs houses, and probably some sceptre and other regal ornaments: or, the bars, which kept enemies out, and secured the citizens and country; such was this frontier town. Or, when, by giving this strong place into Nebuchadnezzars hand, I shall break the kingdom of Egypt, that it no more oppress with yokes, i.e. burdens.
The pomp; the beauty and goodliness with which the strength of this city was set out in her buildings, towers, forts.
Shall cease in her; shall be buried in her own ruins.
A cloud; sorrow at the success of the Chaldeans against her, compared often to a cloud.
Her daughters; either metaphorically, i.e. the towns and villages about her, or literally, her children; her daughters only mentioned, because her sons were destroyed and slain.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Tehaphnehescalled fromthe queen of Egypt mentioned in 1Ki11:19. The same as Daphne, near Pelusium, a royal residence ofthe Pharaohs (Jer 43:7; Jer 43:9).Called Hanes (Isa 30:4).
break . . . the yokes ofEgyptthat is, the tyrannical supremacy which she exercisedover other nations. Compare “bands of their yoke” (Eze34:7).
a cloudnamely, ofcalamity.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened,…. The same with Hanes in Isa 30:4 and Tahapanes in Jer 2:16 and Tahpanhes,
Jer 43:7, it was a royal seat of the kings of Egypt: there was in Solomon’s time a queen of Egypt of this name, and perhaps it might be so called from her, 1Ki 11:19. It is generally thought to be the Daphne of Pelusium, it being near that city; though Junius takes it to be a place in another part of Egypt, at a great distance, which Herodotus i calls Tahcompso, an island encompassed by the Nile; and by Ptolemy k called Metacompso: now at this place the day should be darkened; or should “restrain” l, as it may be rendered; that is, its light; it should be a calamitous and mournful time with the inhabitants of it:
when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt; the yokes they put upon the necks of others, who now should be freed from them: or, “the sceptres of Egypt”, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; the regalia of their kings, which might lie in this place; it being a royal seat where Pharaoh had a house, as appears from Jer 43:9:
and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her; all that grandeur and magnificence which appeared in the courts of the kings of Egypt in this place:
as for her, a cloud shall cover her; as for this city, a cloud of calamity shall cover it, so as its glory shall not be seen. The Targum is,
“a king with his army shall cover her as a cloud ascends and covers the earth:”
and her daughters shall go into captivity; which may be taken either in a literal sense for the daughters of the inhabitants of this place, which must be a great affliction to their tender parents, to have them forced away by rude soldiers, and carried captive into distant lands; or in a figurative sense, for the villages and the inhabitants of them round about this city; it being usual to represent a city as a mother, and its villages as daughters; and so the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi interpret it.
i Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 29. k Geograph. l. 4. c. 5. l “prohibuit”, Montanus; “vitavit”, Munster; “cohibuit”, Cocceius; “probibebit, arcebit”, Vatablus; so Ben Melech.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(18) Tehaphnehes.(Jer. 2:16; Jer. 43:7-9; Jer. 44:1; Jer. 46:14.) Otherwise called Tahpanhes; the city Daphne, also a frontier town near Pelusium, strongly fortified. It may be especially mentioned, because the Jews who fled from Palestine through fear of Nebuchadnezzar had taken refuge there (Jeremiah 43, 44).
The day shall be darkened.This is a common prophetic form of describing coming calamity. (See Eze. 30:3, Eze. 32:8; Isa. 13:10; Joe. 2:10; Joe. 2:31; Joe. 3:15; Amo. 8:9; Mat. 24:29, &c.)
The yokes of Egypt.Not the yokes placed upon Egypt, but the tyranny which she exercised over others. The fuller expression, bands of a yoke, occurs in Eze. 34:27, and also in Lev. 26:13, the latter in reference to the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. It appears from Jer. 43:9-10 that there was a royal palace at Tahpanhes, and it was foretold by the prophet that Nebuchadnezzar should there set up his pavilion, and thence smite Egypt. It is correspondingly foretold here that the power of Egypt should there be broken, because this and the neighbouring Pelusium were the frontier fortresses and keys of the land.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Tehaphnehes LXX., Tapne (Daphnae). Modern name, Tel Deppennuch. This was another fortress which had guarded the great highway into Syria from Solomon’s day or earlier. In Ezekiel’s era it was occupied largely by Greek mercenaries. It was naturally to this frontier city that Jeremiah and other Hebrews fled (Jer 43:5-11). Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Egypt may have been largely due to Egypt’s favorable reception of these refugees. Dr. Petrie has found the old Greek camp and fort, and uncovered the brickwork where Nebuchadnezzar spread his royal pavilion ( Egyptian Exploration Fund, Fourth Memmoir). The largest building in the ruins is still called by the Arabs “the palace of the Jew’s daughter.”
The yokes of Egypt LXX. and Vulgate translate scepters. If yokes is the correct reading, it cannot mean that the yokes that bind Egypt are broken (compare Eze 34:27), but the yokes which Egypt has heretofore placed upon others. (For the symbolic “darkness” see Eze 30:3; Eze 32:7; Amos 5:29; Joe 2:2; Joe 3:15.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 30:18. Tehaphnehesyokes Daphnesceptres.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 30:18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
Ver. 18. At Tehaphnehes. ] Or, Daphne, the gate of Egypt, at which the Chaldees entered.
A cloud shall cover her.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Tehaphnehes. See note on Jer 43:7. Greek name Daphne. Now Tel Defenneh. See App-87.
the yokes of Egypt. The yokes imposed by Egypt on other peoples. Genitive of Origin. See App-17.; and Compare Eze 34:27.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Tehaphnehes: Jer 2:16, Tahapanes, Jer 43:7-9, Jer 46:14, Tahpanhes
the day: Exo 10:15, Isa 5:30, Isa 9:19, Isa 13:10, Joe 3:15, Mat 24:29
darkened: or, restrained
I shall break: Eze 29:15, Isa 9:4, Isa 10:27, Isa 14:25
the pomp: Eze 31:18, Eze 32:18-32, Isa 14:11, Jer 46:20-26
a cloud: Eze 30:3, Isa 19:1
Reciprocal: Isa 20:4 – shall Isa 30:4 – Hanes Jer 44:1 – Tahpanhes Lam 2:1 – covered Eze 30:23 – General Eze 30:26 – I will Eze 32:7 – I will cover the heaven Act 25:23 – with
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 30:18. Smiths Bible Dictionary says the following of Tehaphnehes: “It was an important town, being twice mentioned by Jeremiah with Noph or Memphis. Here stood a house of Pharaobhophra before which Jeremiah hid great stones. Jer 43:8-10.” The prediction is that even as strong a place as this city will be darkened which means to be subdued. Yokes is used in the sense of power or control, and this will be overthrown when Nebuchadnezzar comes into the country. The city will have her pride brought down by the death of her chief men, and her daughters shall be scattered among the cities of the various other heathen countries.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
30:18 At Tehaphnehes also the day {c} shall be darkened, when I shall break there the {d} yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
(c) Meaning that there will be great sorrow and affliction.
(d) That is, the strength and force.