Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 32:17
It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17. The month is not specified, but presumably the same month as that named in Eze 32:1 is intended, the twelfth. The present passage would in that case date a fortnight later than Eze 32:1-16. LXX. reads first month of twelfth year; if this reading were followed the year in Eze 32:1 must be read eleventh (with Syr.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
17 32. Dirge sung at the interment of Egypt and its multitude
Several things are observable in this remarkable passage:
1. It is a funeral dirge primarily over the multitude or nation of Egypt; and so in the case of the other nations referred to, Asshur, Elam and the rest. These peoples are all gone down to Shel, uncircumcised, slain with the sword. There in the world of the dead each people has an abode to itself. Around one chief grave the graves of the general mass are gathered. The chief grave is probably that of the prince, though the prince is considered the genius, the embodiment of the spirit and being of the nation. The prophet regards the nations, even when no more existing on earth, as still having a subsistence in the world of the dead (cf. on Sodom, ch. 14). They are beings, who, having once lived, continue throughout all time. Though passed from the stage of history they still subsist in Shel. This idea of the continued existence, not of individuals only but of nationalities, suggests a conception of the meaning of history upon the earth which is not only weird but almost disturbing.
2. The prophet uses two words for the world of the dead, “the pit” and Shel. The former name seems suggested by the grave, which is regarded as the entrance to Shel, and indicates what kind of place Shel is. It is a vast burying-place, deep in the earth, and full of graves. The nationalities spoken of have, like Egypt, all fallen by the sword, and the scene on earth is transferred to the world below. The nation and its prince are represented as slain on the battle-field, and the graves that crowd the field, the prince or genius of the nation in the midst, and those of the multitude around, are let down so to speak into Shel beneath, where they abide. This scene of overthrow, the final experience of the nation on earth, expresses the meaning of the nation’s history and the verdict of God upon it, and it is consequently transferred to the world of the dead and made eternal. In this respect the idea of the prophet in regard to nations coincides with the general view of the Old Testament regarding individuals; the judgment of God regarding a man’s life becomes manifest at the close of it on earth, and the state of death but perpetuates the manner of the end of life.
3. For, of course, the prophet desires to express by his representation a moral truth. The nations which he mentions are those that have come into conflict with Israel, although their sin is regarded as more general than this. They are chiefly the contemporary peoples whom Nebuchadnezzar, under commission from Jehovah, was to destroy, though Asshur belongs to an earlier time. Although, therefore, the nations can hardly be supposed to fall under a common judgment, the day of the Lord, the effect is the same. Their fate is the judgment of Jehovah upon them, his verdict in regard to their life as nations. Their common sin is violence: they put their terror in the land of the living. And their fate is but the nemesis of their conduct: taking the sword they perish by it. The history of nations is the judgment of nations. But the nations like individuals continue to subsist, they bear their shame in Shel for ever.
4. The text of the passage is in considerable disorder. The LXX. offers a briefer and smoother text, though it is also marked by singular blunders (cf. Eze 32:29-30). It can hardly be doubted that the Hebrew is to some extent overgrown with glosses. The meaning too is in some parts obscure. The passage has affinities with Isaiah 14, but the representations there are in some respects different, and care must be taken to allow each passage to speak for itself. It is doubtful if any ideas to be called specially Babylonian be found in either of the prophets. There are two points in the interpretation of some difficulty: 1. There are two names for the world of the dead, “the pit” and Shel; are they different in meaning? or, do they indicate, if not strictly a different locality in the underworld, a different condition? The usage of other passages appears decidedly against any distinction. The term “pit” is used of what we so call, e.g. of the pit into which Joseph was cast (Gen 37:24), of the “dungeon” into which Jeremiah was thrown (Jer 38:6 seq.), and the like (Jer 41:7). The ideas of the people regarding the world of the dead were formed by looking into the grave and from the condition of the body in death. The world of the dead was created by the shuddering imagination out of these things. Apparently the name “pit” was given to the underworld because the grave was the mouth of it. The “pit” is used in parallelism with Shel, and in the same sense, e.g. Psa 30:3; Psa 88:3; Psa 4:2. Another question closely connected is this. Certain persons called the mighty ones ( Eze 32:21 ; Eze 32:27) are referred to and spoken of as being in Shel (A.V. hell), and the question is, are these persons, though in Shel, in a condition in some measure different from those like Pharaoh and his multitude, slain by the sword? Unfortunately in both verses the Heb. and Greek disagree. In Eze 32:27 Heb. reads: they (Meshech and Tubal) shall not lie with the mighty ones, while LXX. omits the not, making their destiny the same.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The seventh prophecy against Egypt Ezek. 32:17-32. A funeral dirge founded on Eze 31:18. The figure is the same as in Isa. 14, where see the notes. In this dirge Pharaoh is especially addressed. The other nations are represented by their kings, the nations overthrow being depicted by the kings body laid low in the grave.
The month – i. e., the twelfth (see Eze 32:1).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. In the twelfth year] Two of Kennicott’s MSS., one of De Rossi’s, and one of my own, (that mentioned Eze 32:1,) have, in the ELEVENTH year; and so has the Syriac, as before. This prophecy concerns the people of Egypt.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the twelfth year: see Eze 32:1.
The fifteenth day; about the 19th of February new style, or the 1st of March old style.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. The second lamentation forPharaoh. This funeral dirge in imagination accompanies him to theunseen world. Egypt personified in its political head is ideallyrepresented as undergoing the change by death to which man is liable.Expressing that Egypt’s supremacy is no more, a thing of the past,never to be again.
the monththe twelfthmonth (Eze 32:1); fourteen daysafter the former vision.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
It came to pass also the twelfth year,…. Another prophecy of the like kind was delivered out the same year as before:
in the fifteenth day of the month; of the twelfth month, the month Adar, which is not here expressed, because mentioned before, Eze 32:1, it was about a fortnight after the other prophecy. The Septuagint and Arabic versions read it,
“it came to pass in the twelfth year, the first month, the fifteenth day of the month;”
according to which this prophecy was before the other, which is not to be supposed.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Funeral-Dirge for the Destruction of the Might of Egypt
This second lamentation or mourning ode, according to the heading in Eze 32:17, belongs to the same year as the preceding, and to the 15th of the month, no doubt the 12th month; in which case it was composed only fourteen days after the first. The statement of the month is omitted here, as in Eze 26:1; and the omission is, no doubt, to be attributed to a copyist in this instance also. In the ode, which Ewald aptly describes as a “dull, heavy lamentation,” we have six regular strophes, preserving the uniform and monotonous character of the lamentations for the dead, in which the thought is worked out, that Egypt, like other great nations, is cast down to the nether world. The whole of it is simply an elegiac expansion of the closing thought of the previous chapter (Ezekiel 31).
Eze 32:18-21 Introduction and first strophe. – Eze 32:18. Son of man, lament over the tumult of Egypt, and hurl it down, her, like the daughters of glorious nations, into the nether world, to those who go into the pit! Eze 32:19. Whom dost thou surpass in loveliness? Go down and lay thyself with the uncircumcised. Eze 32:20. Among those slain with the sword will they fall; the sword is handed, draw her down and all her tumult. Eze 32:21. The strong ones of the heroes say of it out of the midst of hell with its helpers: they are gone down, they lie there, the uncircumcised, slain with the sword. – , utter a lamentation, and , thrust it (the tumult of Egypt) down, are co-ordinate. With the lamentation, or by means thereof, is Ezekiel to thrust down the tumult of Egypt into hell. The lamentation is God’s word; and as such it has the power to accomplish what it utters. is not intended as a repetition of the suffix , but resumes the principal idea contained in the object already named, viz., , Egypt, i.e., its population. and the daughters of glorious nations are co-ordinate. , as in the expression, daughter of Tyre, daughter Babel, denotes the population of powerful heathen nations. The can only be the nations enumerated in Eze 32:22, Eze 32:24., which, according to these verses, are already in Sheol, not about to be thrust down, but thrust down already. Consequently the copula before is to be taken in the sense of a comparison, as in 1Sa 12:15 (cf. Ewald, 340 b). All these glorious nations have also been hurled down by the word of God; and Egypt is to be associated with them. By thus placing Egypt on a level with all the fallen nations, the enumeration of which fills the middle strophes of the ode, the lamentation over Egypt is extended into a funeral-dirge on the fall of all the heathen powers of the world. For and , compare Ezekiel 276:20. The ode itself commences in Eze 32:19, by giving prominence to the glory of the falling kingdom. But this prominence consists in the brief inquiry , before whom art thou lovely? i.e., art thou more lovely than any one else? The words are addressed either to (Eze 32:18), or what is more probable, to Pharaoh with all his tumult (cf. Eze 32:32), i.e., to the world-power, Egypt, as embodied in the person of Pharaoh; and the meaning of the question is the following: – Thou, Egypt, art indeed lovely; but thou art not better or more lovely than other mighty heathen nations; therefore thou canst not expect any better fate than to go down into Sheol, and there lie with the uncircumcised. , as in Eze 31:18. This is carried out still further in Eze 32:20, and the ground thereof assigned. The subject to is the Egyptians, or Pharaoh and his tumult. They fall in the midst of those pierced with the sword. The sword is already handed to the executor of the judgment, the king of Babel (Eze 31:11). Their destruction is so certain, that the words are addressed to the bearers of the sword: “Draw Egypt and all its tumult down into Sheol” ( is imperative for in Exo 12:21), and, according to Eze 32:21, the heathen already in Sheol are speaking of his destruction. is rendered by many, “there speak to him, address him, greet him,” with an allusion to Isa 14:9., where the king of Babel, when descending into Sheol, is greeted with malicious pleasure by the kings already there. But however obvious the fact may be that Ezekiel has this passage in mind, there is no address in the verse before us as in Isa 14:10, but simply a statement concerning the Egyptians, made in the third person. Moreover, could hardly be made to harmonize with , if signified ad eum . For it is not allowable to connect (taken in the sense of along with their helpers) with as a noun in apposition, for the simple reason that the two are separated by . Consequently can only belong to : they talk (of him) with his helpers. , his (Pharaoh’s) helpers are his allies, who have already gone down before him into hell (cf. Eze 30:8). The singular suffix, which has offended Hitzig, is quite in order as corresponding to . The words, “they have gone down, lie there,” etc., point once more to the fact that the same fate has happened to the Egyptians as to all the rest of the rulers and nations of the world whom God has judged. For , strong ones of the heroes, compare the comm. on Eze 31:11. , hell = the nether world, the gathering-place of the dead; not the place of punishment for the damned. without the article is a predicate, and not in apposition to . On the application of this epithet to the Egyptians, Kliefoth has correctly observed that “the question whether the Egyptians received circumcision is one that has no bearing upon this passage; for in the sense in which Ezekiel understands circumcision, the Egyptians were uncircumcised, even if they were accustomed to circumcise their flesh.”
In the four following strophes (Eze 32:22-30) a series of heathen nations is enumerated, whom the Egyptian finds already in hell, and with whom he will share the same fate. There are six of these – namely, Asshur, Elam, Meshech-Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north, and Sidon. The six are divisible into two classes – three great and remote world-powers, and three smaller neighbouring nations. In this no regard is paid to the time of destruction. With the empire of Asshur, which had already fallen, there are associated Elam and Meshech-Tubal, two nations, which only rose to the rank of world-powers in the more immediate and more remote future; and among the neighbouring nations, the Sidonians and princes of the north, i.e., The Syrian kings, are grouped with Edom, although the Sidonians had long ago given up their supremacy to Tyre, and the Aramean kings, who had once so grievously oppressed the kingdom of Israel, had already been swallowed up in the Assyrian and Chaldean empire. It may, indeed, be said that “in any case, at the time when Ezekiel prophesied, princes enough had already descended into Sheol both of the Assyrians and Elamites, etc., to welcome the Egyptians as soon as they came” (Kliefoth); but with the same justice may it also be said that many of the rulers and countrymen of Egypt had also descended into Sheol already, at the time when Pharaoh, reigning in Ezekiel’s day, was to share the same fate. It is evident, therefore, that “any such reflection upon chronological relations is out of place in connection with our text, the intention of which is merely to furnish an exemplification” (Kliefoth), and that Ezekiel looks upon Egypt more in the light of a world-power, discerning in its fall the overthrow of all the heathen power of the world, and predicting it under the prophetic picture, that Pharaoh and his tumult are expected and welcomed by the princes and nations that have already descended into Sheol, as coming to share their fate with them.
Eze 32:22-23 Second strophe. – Eze 32:22. There is Asshur and all its multitude, round about it their graves, all of them slain, fallen by the sword Eze 32:23. Whose graves are made in the deepest pit, and its multitude is round about its grave; all slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living. – The enumeration commences with Asshur, the world-power, which had already been overthrown by the Chaldeans. It is important to notice here, that , like in Eze 32:24, and in Eze 32:26, is construed as a feminine, as which follows in every case plainly shows. It is obvious, therefore, that the predominant idea is not that of the king or people, but that of the kingdom or world-power. It is true that in the suffixes attached to in Eze 32:22, and in Eze 32:25 and Eze 32:26, the masculine alternates with the feminine, and Hitzig therefore proposes to erase these words; but the alternation may be very simply explained, on the ground that the ideas of the kingdom and its king are not kept strictly separate, but that the words oscillate from one idea to the other. It is affirmed of Asshur, that as a world-power it lies in Sheol, and the gravers of its countrymen are round about the graves of its ruler. They all lie there as those who have fallen by the sword, i.e., who have been swept away by a judgment of God. To this is added in Eze 32:23 the declaration that the graves of Asshur lie in the utmost sides, i.e., the utmost or deepest extremity of Sheol; whereas so long as this power together with its people was in the land of the living, i.e., so long as they ruled on earth, they spread terror all around them by their violent deeds. From the loftiest height of earthly might and greatness, they are hurled down to the lowest hell. The higher on earth, the deeper in the nether world. Hvernick has entirely misunderstood the words “round about Asshur are its graves” (Eze 32:22), and “its multitude is round about its grave” (the grave of this world-power), when he finds therein the thought that the graves and corpses are to be regarded as separated, so that the dead are waiting near their graves in deepest sorrow, looking for the honour of burial, but looking in vain. There is not a word of this in the text, but simply that the graves of the people lie round about the grave of their ruler.
Eze 32:24-25 Third strophe. – Eze 32:24. There is Elam, and all its multitude round about its grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the nether world, who spread terror before them in the land of the living, and bear their shame with those who went into the pit. Eze 32:25. In the midst of the slain have they made it a bed with all its multitude, round about it are their graves; all of them uncircumcised, pierced with the sword; because terror was spread before them in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who have gone into the pit. In the midst of slain ones is he laid. – Asshur is followed by , Elam, the warlike people of Elymais, i.e., Susiana, the modern Chusistan, whose archers served in the Assyrian army (Isa 22:6), and which is mentioned along with the Medes as one of the conquerors of Babylon (Isa 21:2), whereas Jeremiah prophesied its destruction at the commencement of Zedekiah’s reign (Jer 49:34.). Ezekiel says just the same of Elam as he has already said of Asshur, and almost in the same words. The only difference is, that his description is more copious, and that he expresses more distinctly the thought of shameful destruction which is implied in the fact of lying in Sheol among the slain, and repeats it a second time, and that he also sets the bearing of shame into Sheol in contrast with the terror which Elam had spread around it during its life on earth. , as in Eze 16:52. The in is either the “with of association,” or the fact of being in the midst of a crowd. refers to ; and has an indefinite subject, “they gave” = there was given. , the resting-place of the dead, as in 2Ch 16:14. The last clause in Eze 32:25 is an emphatic repetition of the leading thought: he (Elam) is brought or laid in the midst of the slain.
Eze 32:26-28 Fourth strophe. – Eze 32:26. There is Meshech-Tubal and all its multitude, its graves round about it; all of them uncircumcised, slain in with the sword, because they spread terror before them in the land of the living. Eze 32:27. They lie not with the fallen heroes of uncircumcised men, who went down into hell with their weapons of war, whose swords they laid under their heads; their iniquities have come upon their bones, because they were a terror of the heroes in the land of the living. Eze 32:28. Thou also wilt be dashed to pieces among uncircumcised men, and lie with those slain with the sword. – and , the Moschi and Tibareni of the Greeks (see the comm. on Eze 27:13), are joined together here as one people or heathen power; and Ewald, Hitzig, and others suppose that the reference is to the Scythians, who invaded the land in the time of Josiah, and the majority of whom had miserably perished not very long before (Herod. i. 106). But apart from the fact that the prophets of the Old Testament make no allusion to any invasion of Palestine by the Scythians (see Minor Prophets, vol. ii. p. 124, Eng. transl.), this view is founded entirely upon the erroneous supposition that in this funeral-dirge Ezekiel mentions only such peoples as had sustained great defeats a longer or shorter time before. Meshech-Tubal comes into consideration here, as in Ezekiel 38, as a northern power, which is overcome in its conflict with the kingdom of God, and is prophetically exhibited by the prophet as having already fallen under the judgment of death. In Eze 32:26 Ezekiel makes the same announcement as he has already made concerning Asshur in Eze 32:22, Eze 32:23, and with regard to Elam in Eze 32:24, Eze 32:25. But the announcement in Eze 32:27 is obscure. Rosenmller, Ewald, Hvernick, and others, regard this verse as a question ( in the sense of ): “and should they not lie with (rest with) other fallen heroes of the uncircumcised, who…?” i.e., they do lie with them, and could not possibly expect a better fate. But although the interrogation is merely indicated by the tone where the language is excited, and therefore might stand for , as in Exo 8:22, there is not the slightest indication of such excitement in the description given here as could render this assumption a probable one. On the contrary, at the commencement of the sentence suggests the supposition that an antithesis is intended to the preceding verse. And the probability of this conjecture is heightened by the allusion made to heroes, who have descended into the nether world with their weapons of war; inasmuch as, at all events, something is therein affirmed which does not apply to all the heroes who have gone down into hell. The custom of placing the weapons of fallen heroes along with them in the grave is attested by Diod. Sic. xviii. 26; Arrian, i. 5; Virgil, Ane. vi. 233 (cf. Dougtaei Analectt. ss. i. pp. 281, 282); and, according to the ideas prevailing in ancient times, it was a mark of great respect to the dead. But the last place in which we should expect to meet with any allusion to the payment of such honour to the dead would be in connection with Meshech and Tubal, those wild hordes of the north, who were only known to Israel by hearsay. We therefore follow the Vulgate, the Rabbins, and many of the earlier commentators, and regard the verse before us as containing a declaration that the slain of Meshech-Tubal would not receive the honour of resting in the nether world along with those fallen heroes whose weapons were buried with them in the grave, because they fell with honour.
(Note: C. a Lapide has already given the true meaning: “He compares them, therefore, not with the righteous, but with the heathen, who, although uncircumcised, had met with a glorious death, i.e., they will be more wretched than these; for the latter went down to the shades with glory, but they with ignominy, as if conquered and slain.”)
, instruments of war, weapons, as in Deu 1:41. The text leaves it uncertain who they were who had been buried with such honours. The Seventy have confounded with , and rendered , possibly thinking of the gibborim of Gen 6:4. Dathe and Hitzig propose to alter the text to this; and even Hvernick imagines that the prophet may possibly have had such passages as Gen 6:4 and Gen 10:9. floating before his mind. But there is not sufficient ground to warrant an alteration of the text; and if Ezekiel had had Gen 6:4 in his mind, he would no doubt have written . The clause is regarded by the more recent commentators as a continuation of the preceding ‘ , which is a very natural conclusion, if we simply take notice of the construction. But if we consider the sense of the words, this combination can hardly be sustained. The words, “and so were their iniquities upon their bones” (or they came upon them), can well be understood as an explanation of the reason for their descending into Sheol with their weapons, and lying upon their swords. We must therefore regard as a continuation of , so that their not resting with those who were buried with their weapons of war furnishes the proof that their guilt lay upon their bones. The words, therefore, have no other meaning than the phrase in Eze 32:24 and Eze 32:30. Sin comes upon the bones when the punishment consequent upon it falls upon the bones of the sinner. In the last clause we connect with , terror of the heroes, i.e., terrible even to heroes on account of their savage and cruel nature. In Eze 32:28 we cannot take as referring to Meshech-Tubal, as many of the commentators propose. A direct address to that people would be at variance with the whole plan of the ode. Moreover, the declaration contained in the verse would contradict what precedes. As Meshech-Tubal is already lying in Sheol among the slain, according to Eze 32:26, the announcement cannot be made to it for the first time here, that it is to be dashed in pieces and laid with those who are slain with the sword. It is the Egyptian who is addressed, and he is told that this fate will also fall upon him. And through this announcement, occurring in the midst of the list of peoples that have already gone down to Sheol, the design of that list is once more called to mind.
Eze 32:29-30 Fifth strophe. – Eze 32:29. There are Edom, its kings and all its princes, who in spite of their bravery are associated with those that are pierced with the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and with those that have gone down into the pit. Eze 32:30. There are princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians who have gone down to the slain, been put to shame in spite of the dread of them because of their bravery; they lie there as uncircumcised, and bear their shame with those who have gone into the pit. – In this strophe Ezekiel groups together the rest of the heathen nations in the neighbourhood of Israel; and in doing so, he changes the of the preceding list for , thither. This might be taken prophetically: thither will they come, “to these they also belong” (Hvernick), only such nations being mentioned here as are still awaiting their destruction. But, in the first place, the perfects , , in Eze 32:29, Eze 32:30, do not favour this explanation, inasmuch as they are used as preterites in Eze 32:22, Eze 32:24, Eze 32:25, Eze 32:26, Eze 32:27; and, secondly, even in the previous strophes, not only are such peoples mentioned as have already perished, but some, like Elam and Meshech-Tubal, which did not rise into historical importance, or exert any influence upon the development of the kingdom of God till after Ezekiel’s time, whereas the Edomites and Sidonians were already approaching destruction. We therefore regard as simply a variation of expression in the sense of “thither have they come,” without discovering any allusion to the future. – In the case of Edom, kings and , i.e., tribe-princes, are mentioned. The allusion is to the ‘alluphim or phylarchs, literally chiliarchs, the heads of the leading families (Gen 36:15.), in whose hands the government of the people lay, inasmuch as the kings were elective, and were probably chosen by the phylarchs (see the comm. on Gen 36:31.). , in, or with their bravery, i.e., in spite of it. There is something remarkable in the allusion to princes of the north ( , lit., persons enfeoffed, vassal-princes; see the comm. on Jos 13:21 and Mic 5:4) in connection with the Sidonians, and after Meshech-Tubal the representative of the northern nations. The association with the Sidonians renders the conjecture a very natural one, that allusion is made to the north of Palestine, and more especially to the Aram of Scripture, with its many separate states and princes (Hvernick); although Jer 25:26, “the kings of the north, both far and near,” does not furnish a conclusive proof of this. So much, at any rate, is certain, that the princes of the north are not to be identified with the Sidonians. For, as Kliefoth has correctly observed, “there are six heathen nations mentioned, viz., Asshur, Elam, Meshech-Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north, and Sidon; and if we add Egypt to the list, we shall have seven, which would be thoroughly adapted, as it was eminently intended, to depict the fate of universal heathenism.” A principle is also clearly discernible in the mode in which they are grouped. Asshur, Elam, and Meshech-Tubal represent the greater and more distant world-powers; Edom the princes of the north, and Sidon the neighbouring nations of Israel on both south and north. , literally, in dread of them, (which proceeded) from their bravery, i.e., which their bravery inspired. ‘ , as in Eze 32:24.
Eze 32:31-32 Sixth and last strophe. – Eze 32:31. Pharaoh will see them, and comfort himself over all his multitude. Pharaoh and all his army are slain with the sword, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 32:32. For I caused him to spread terror in the land of the living, therefore is he laid in the midst of uncircumcised, those slain with the sword. Pharaoh and all his multitude, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. – In these verses the application to Egypt follows. Pharaoh will see in the nether world all the greater and smaller heathen nations with their rulers; and when he sees them all given up to the judgment of death, he will comfort himself over the fate which has fallen upon himself and his army, as he will perceive that he could not expect any better lot than that of the other rulers of the world. , to comfort oneself, as in Eze 31:16 and Eze 14:22. Hitzig’s assertion, that never signifies to comfort oneself, is incorrect (see the comm. on Eze 14:22). , I have given terror of him, i.e., I have made him an instrument of terror. The Keri arose from a misunderstanding. The Chetib is confirmed by Eze 32:24 and Eze 32:26. In Eze 32:32 the ode is brought to a close by returning even in expression to Eze 32:19 and Eze 32:20.
If, now, we close with a review of the whole of the contents of the words of God directed against Egypt, in all of them is the destruction of the might of Pharaoh and Egypt as a world-power foretold. And this prophecy has been completely fulfilled. As Kliefoth has most truly observed, “one only needs to enter the pyramids of Egypt and its catacombs to see that the glory of the Pharaohs has gone down into Sheol. And it is equally certain that this destruction of the glory of ancient Egypt dates from the times of the Babylonio-Persian empire. Moreover, this destruction was so thorough, that even to the New Egypt of the Ptolemies the character of the Old Egypt was a perfect enigma, a thing forgotten and incomprehensible.” But if Ezekiel repeatedly speaks of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon as executing this judgment upon Egypt, we must bear in mind that here, as in the case of Tyre (see the comm. on Ezekiel 28:1-19), Ezekiel regards Nebuchadnezzar as the instrument of the righteous punishment of God in general, and discerns in what he accomplishes the sum of all that in the course of ages has been gradually fulfilling itself in history. At the same time, it is equally certain that this view of the prophet would have no foundation in truth unless Nebuchadnezzar really did conquer Egypt and lay it waste, and the might and glory of this ancient empire were so shattered thereby, that it never could recover its former greatness, but even after the turning of its captivity, i.e., after its recovery from the deadly wounds which the imperial monarchy of Babylonia and afterwards of Persia inflicted upon it, still remained a lowly kingdom, which could “no more rule over the nations” (Eze 29:13-16). Volney, however, in his Recherch. nouv. sur l’hist. anc. (III pp. 151ff.), and Hitzig ( Ezekiel p. 231), dispute the conquest and devastation of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, because the Greek historians, with Herodotus (ii. 161ff.) at their head, make no allusion whatever to an invasion of Egypt; and their statements are even opposed to such an occurrence. But the silence of Greek historians, especially of Herodotus, is a most “miserable” argument. The same historians do not say a word about the defeat of Necho by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish; and yet even Hitzig accepts this as an indisputable fact. Herodotus and his successors derived their accounts of Egypt from the communications of Egyptian priests, who suppressed everything that was humiliating to the pride of Egypt, and endeavoured to cover it up with their accounts of glorious deeds which the Pharaohs had performed. But Hitzig has by no means proved that the statements of the Greeks are at variance with the assumption of a Chaldean invasion of Egypt, whilst he has simply rejected but not refuted the attempts of Perizonius, Vitringa, Hvernick, and others, to reconcile the biblical narrative of the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar with the accounts given by Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and other Greeks, concerning the mighty feats of Necho, and his being slain by Amasis. The remark that, in the description given by Herodotus, Amasis appears as an independent king by the side of Cambyses, only less powerful than the Persian monarch, proves nothing more, even assuming the correctness of the fact, than that Amasis had made Egypt once more independent of Babylonia on the sudden overthrow of the Chaldean monarchy.
The conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, after the attitude which Pharaoh Necho assumed towards the Babylonian empire, and even attempted to maintain in the time of Zedekiah by sending an army to the relief of Jerusalem when besieged by the Chaldeans, is not only extremely probable in itself, but confirmed by testimony outside the Bible. Even if no great importance can be attached to the notice of Megasthenes, handed down by Strabo (xv. 1. 6) and Josephus ( c. Ap. i. 20): “he says that he (Nebuchadnezzar) conquered the greater part of Libya and Iberia;” Josephus not only quotes from Berosus ( l.c. i. 19) to the effect that “the Babylonian got possession of Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia, Arabia,” but, on the ground of such statements, relates the complete fulfilment of the prophecies of Scripture, saying, in Antt. x. 9. 7, with reference to Nebuchadnezzar, “he fell upon Egypt to conquer it. And the reigning king he slew; and having appointed another in his place, made those Jews prisoners who had hitherto resided there, and led them into Babylon.” And even if Josephus does not give his authority in this case, the assertion that he gathered this from the prophecies of Jeremiah is untrue; because, immediately before the words we have quoted, he says that what Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer 43:10 and Jer 44) had thus come to pass; making a distinction, therefore, between prophecy and history. And suspicion is not to be cast upon this testimony by such objections as that Josephus does not mention the name of the Egyptian king, or state precisely the time when Egypt was conquered, but merely affirms in general terms that it was after the war with the Ammonites and Moabites.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Fall of Egypt; Egypt’s Destruction Completed. | B. C. 587. |
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD 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 and all her multitudes. 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword. 22 Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: 23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which 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, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they 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 him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain. 26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though 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, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword. 29 There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit. 30 There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be 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 GOD. 32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
This prophecy concludes and completes the burden of Egypt, and leaves it and all its multitude in the pit of destruction.
I. We are here invited to attend the funeral of that once flourishing kingdom, to lament its fall, and to take a view of those who attend it to the grave and accompany it in the grave.
1. This dead corpse of a kingdom is here brought to the grave. The prophet is ordered to cast them down to the pit (v. 18), to foretel their destruction as one that had authority, as Jeremiah was set over the kingdoms, Jer. i. 10. He must speak in God’s name, and as from him who will cast them down. Yet he must foretel it as one that had an affectionate concern for them; he must wail for the multitude of Egypt, even when he casts them down. When Egypt is slain, let her have an honourable funeral, befitting her quality; let her be buried with the daughters of the famous nations, in their burying-places and with the same ceremony. It is but a poor allay to the reproach and terror of death to be buried with those that were famous; yet this is all that is allowed to Egypt. Shall Egypt think to exempt herself from the common fate of proud and imperious nations? No; she must take her lot with them (v. 19): “Whom dost thou surpass in beauty? Art thou so much fairer than any other nation that thou shouldst expect therefore to be excused? No; others as fair as thou have sunk into the pit; go down therefore, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. Thou art like them and art likely to lie among them. The multitude of Egypt shall all fall in the midst of those that are slain with the sword, now that there is a general slaughter made among the nations.” Egypt with the rest must drink of the bloody cup, and therefore she is delivered to the sword, to the sword of war (but, in God’s hand, the sword of justice), is delivered to be publicly executed. Draw her and all her multitude; draw them either as the dead bodies of great men are drawn in honour to the grave, in a hearse, or as malefactors are drawn in disgrace to the place of execution, on a sledge; draw them to the pit, and let them be made a spectacle to the world.
2. This corpse of a kingdom is bid welcome to the grave, and Pharaoh is made free of the congregation of the dead, and admitted into their regions, not without some pomp and ceremony. As the surprising fall of the king of Babylon is thus illustrated, Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming, and to introduce thee into those mansions of darkness (Isa. xiv. 9, c.), so here (<i>v. 21), They shall speak to him out of the midst of hell, as it were congratulating his arrival and calling him to join with them in acknowledging that which neither he nor they would be brought to own when they were in their pomp and pride, that it is in vain to think of contesting with God, and none ever hardened their hearts against him and prospered. They shall say to him, and to those that pretended to help him, Where are you now? What have you brought your attempts to at last? Divers nations are here mentioned as gone down to the grave before Egypt that are ready to give her a scornful reception and upbraid her with coming to them at last. These nations here spoken of were probably such as had been of late years ruined and wasted by the king of Babylon, and their princes cut off; let Egypt know that she has neighbour’s fare. When she goes to the grave she does but migrare ad plures–migrate to the majority; there are innumerable before her. But it is observable that though Judah and Jerusalem were just about this time, or a little before, utterly ruined and laid waste, yet they are not mentioned here among the nations that welcome Egypt to the pit; for though they suffered the same things that these nations suffered, and by the same hand, yet the kind intentions of their affliction, and its happy issue at last, and the mercy God had yet in reserve for them, altered the property of it; it was not to them a going down to the pit, as it was to the heathen; they were not smitten as others were, nor slain according to the slaughter of other nations, Isa. xxvii. 7. But let us see who those are that have gone to the grave before Egypt, that lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword, with whom she must now take up her lodging. (1.) There lie the Assyrian empire, and all the princes and mighty men of that monarchy (v. 22): Asshur is there and all her company, all the countries that were tributaries to and had dependence upon that crown. That mighty potentate who used to lie in state, with his guards and grandees about him, now lies in obscurity, with his graves about him and his soldiers in them, unable any longer to do him service or honour; they are all of them slain, fallen by the sword. The number of their months was cut off in the midst, and, being bloody and deceitful men, they were not suffered to live out half their days. Their braves were set in the sides of the pit, all in a row, like beds in a common chamber, v. 23. All their company is such as were slain, fallen by the sword; a vast congregation there is of such, who had caused terror in the land of the living. But as the death of those to whom they were a terror put an end to their fears (in the grave the prisoners rest together and hear not the voice of the oppressor, Job iii. 18), so the death of these mighty men puts an end to their terrors. Who is afraid of a dead lion? Note, Death will be a king of terrors to those who, instead of making themselves blessings, make themselves terrors, in their generation. (2.) There lies the kingdom of Persia, which perhaps within the memory of man at that time had been wasted and brought down: There is Elam and all her multitude, the king of Elam and his numerous armies, Eze 32:24; Eze 32:25. They also had caused their terror in the land of the living, had made a fearful noise and bluster among the nations in their day. But Elam has now a grave by herself, and the graves of the common people round about her, fallen by the sword; she has her bed in the midst of the slain that went down uncircumcised, unsanctified, unholy, and not in covenant with God. They have borne their shame with those that go down to the pit; they have fallen under the common disgrace and mortification of mankind, that they die and are buried; nay, they die under particular marks of ignominy, which God and man put upon them. Note, Those who cause their terror shall, sooner or later, bear their shame, and be made a terror to themselves. The king of Elam is put in the midst of those that are slain. All the honour he can now pretend to is to be buried in the chief sepulchre. (3.) There lies the Scythian power, which, about this time, was busy in the world. Meshech and Tubal, those barbarous northern nations, had lately made a descent upon the Medes, and caused their terror among them, lived among them upon free quarter for some years, making every thing their own that they could lay their hands on; but at length Cyaxares, king of the Medes, drew them by a wile into his power, but off abundance of them, and obliged them to quit his country, v. 26. There lie Meshech and Tubal, and all their multitude; there is a burying place for them, with their chief commander in the midst of them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword. These Scythians, dying ingloriously as they lived, are not laid, as the other nations spoken of before, in the bed of honour (v. 27): They shall not lie with the mighty, shall not be buried in state, as those are, even by consent of the enemy, that are slain in the field of battle, that go down to their graves with their weapons of war carried before the hearse, or trailed after it, that have particularly their swords laid under their heads, as if they could sleep the sweeter in the grave when they laid their heads on such a pillow. These Scythians are not buried with these marks of honour, but their iniquities shall be upon their sons; they shall, for their iniquity, be left unburied, though they were the terror even of the mighty in the land of the living. (4.) There lies the kingdom of Edom, which had flourished long, but about this time, at least before the destruction of Egypt, was made quite desolate, as was foretold, ch. xxv. 13. Among the sepulchres of the nations there is Edom, v. 29. There lie, not dignified with monuments or inscriptions, but mingled with common dust, her kings and all her princes, her wise statesmen (which Edom was famous for), and her brave soldiers. These with their might are laid by those that were slain by the sword; their might could not prevent it, nay, their might helped to procure it, for that both encouraged them to engage in war and incensed their neighbours against them, who thought it necessary to curb their growing greatness. A great deal of pains they took to ruin themselves, as many do, who with their might, with all their might, are laid by those that were slain with the sword. The Edomites retained circumcision, being of the seed of Abraham. But that shall stand them in no stead; they shall lie with the uncircumcised. (5.) There lie the princes of the north, and all the Zidonians. These were as well acquainted with maritime affairs as the Egyptians were, who relied much upon that part of their strength, but they have gone down with the slain (v. 30), down to the pit. Now they are ashamed of their might, ashamed to think how much they boasted of it and trusted to it; and, as the Edomites with their might, so these with their terror, are laid with those that are slain by the sword and are forced to take their lot with them. They bear their shame with those that go down to the pit, die in as much disgrace as those that are cut off by the hand of public justice. (6.) All this is applied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who have no reason to flatter themselves with hopes of tranquillity when they see how the wisest, and wealthiest, and strongest, of their neighbours have been laid waste (v. 28): “Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised; when God is pulling down the unhumbled and unreformed nations thou must expect to come down with them.” [1.] It will be some extenuation of the miseries of Egypt to observe that it has been the case of so many great and mighty nations before (v. 31): Pharaoh shall see them and be comforted; it will be some ease to his mind that he is not the first king that has been slain in battle–his not the first army that has been routed, his not the first kingdom that has been made desolate. Mr. Greenhill observes here, “The comfort which wicked ones have after death is poor comfort, not real, but imaginary.” They will find little satisfaction in having so many fellow-sufferers; the rich man in hell dreaded it. It is only in point of honour that Pharaoh can see and be comforted. [2.] But nothing will be an exemption from these miseries; for (v. 32) I have caused my terror in the land of the living. Great men have caused their terror, have studied how to make every body fear them. Oderint dum metuant–Let them hate, so that they do but fear. But now the great God has caused his terror in the land of the living; and therefore he laughs at theirs, because he sees that his day is coming, Ps. xxxvii. 13. In this day of terror Pharaoh and all his multitude shall be laid with those that are slain by the sword.
II. The view which this prophecy gives us of ruined states may show us something, 1. Of this present world, and the empire of death in it. Come, and see the calamitous state of human life; see what a dying world this is. The strong die, the mighty die, Pharaoh and all his multitude. See what a killing world this is. They are all slain with the sword. As if men did not die fast enough of themselves, men are ingenious at finding out ways to destroy one another. It is not only a great pit, but a great cock-pit. 2. Of the other world. Though it is the destruction of nations as such that perhaps is principally intended here, yet here is a plain allusion to the final and everlasting ruin of impenitent sinners, of those that are uncircumcised in heart; they are slain by the sword of divine justice; their iniquity is upon them, and with it they bear their shame. Those, Christ’s enemies, that would not have him to reign over them, shall be brought forth and slain before him, though they be as pompous, though they be as numerous, as Pharaoh and all his multitude.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
THE LAMENTATION FOR EGYPT
Verses 17-32:
Verses 17, 18 take up a second lamentation upon the inhabitants of Egypt in particular. This call came to Ezekiel fifteen days following that described v. 1-16. He was to wail for the people, bemoaning and foretelling their uprooting, their downfall, a part of his Divine calling, Jer 1:10. They were to be uprooted, torn apart, slain and some carried away as captive slaves into other nations, Eze 26:20; Eze 31:14; Eze 43:3; Hos 6:5. They were destined for oblivion.
Verse 19 rhetorically asks, “do you pass others in beauty?” You do, don’t you? is the idea. For they too were to be slain, decay in death or be carried away by and as chattel property slaves of the uncircumcised heathen, to be raped, ravished, and brutalized, at the pleasure of their masters, Eze 27:3-4; Eze 28:12-17; Eze 31:2; 1Sa 17:26; 1Sa 17:36; Jer 9:25-26.
Verse 20 seems to address her executioners saying, “draw her forth to death,” speedily, without just cause for delay, for the sword was laid out before her, Psa 7:11-12.
Verse 21 .describes the strong one (king of Babylon) who shall speak to Pharaoh out of hell or the fury of hell, taunting him as one defeated and fallen, gasping, dying, begging to live; Yet with no further mercy to be extended, Eze 31:16; Luk 16:23-24; Pro 1:25-29; Pro 29:1.
Verse 22 describes alternately, the king as “he” and the land as “her,” who both alike faced Assyrian punishment, to be slain, laid in their graves in the open fields, because of their idolatrous guilt, Exo 20:1; Exo 20:5; Num 32:23.
Verse 23 explains that graves were cut as sepulchres out of the side of rock mountains for those to be buried, whose bodies might be brought intact from the fields of slaughter, where their Assyrian enemies had struck terror over all Egypt, Isa 14:15; Eze 26:17; Eze 26:20.
Verse 24 declares that Edom, and all those surrounding her, as auxiliaries to Assyria, reaching into ancient. Persia, had fallen on the field of battle, by the sword, bearing their heathen shame to the pit or the grave, Gen 10:2; Gen 14:1; 1Ch 1:17; Isa 22:6; Jer 25:25; Jer 49:34; Dan 8:2; 2Sa 3:31. They were slain in their pride, by Nebuchadnezzar, according to prophecy, Jer 49:34-38.
Verse 25 adds that they of Edom had set her bed (resting place) in the midst of the slain, to go down in death, as uncircumcised heathen, falling by the sword, v. 21, 23, 24. It is a monotonous dirge of death, by divine judgment over proud heathen.
Verse 26 tells of the former fall of Meshech, Tubal, northern nations from Assyria, between the Black and Caspian seas; who too had fallen by the sword. For they too had once caused cruel terror in their land.
Verse 27 affirms that they shall not lie with the mighty, be carried to places of honor for burial, but would rot in the fields, with their heads and carcasses upon their own swords, bearing their iniquities in a death of judgment, Gal 6:7-8; Job 3:13-15; Isa 14:18-19; Isa 54:17; 2Co 10:4.
Verse 28 relates that Egypt should fall too, like other neighboring nations of Assyria, who had lived in uncircumcised rebellion against the living God; She too should become a vanquished nation.
Verse 29 describes Edom and her kings and princes or dukes who too lay among the mighty in death on the battlefields. Though Edom was of the circumcision, because of her sins she was laid in death on the field of battle to rot with the uncircumcised, Gen 36:40; Isa 34:5; Isa 34:10-17; Jer 49:7; Jer 49:13-18. He was to lie on the battlefield as surely as Egypt who had no hereditary right to circumcision.
Verse 30 adds that the princes of the north, rulers with the Zidonians, had gone down with the slain to lie in shame with the uncircumcised all about, Jer 1:14; Jer 4:6; Eze 38:6; Eze 38:15; Eze 39:2; See also Gen 10:15; Jer 25:22; Eze 28:21.
Verse 31 foretells that Pharaoh shall see the fall of the surrounding nations before him and find his only comfort in their destruction, a very poor ground of comfort, Lam 2:13; Eze 14:22; Eze 31:16.
Verse 32 discloses that the Lord had caused His terror in the land of the living, of Judea and Israel. He had caused them to be overthrown by cruel heathen powers. They had, as circumcised Jews, fallen on the battlefield, and been left there with the dead of the uncircumcised armies of the Assyrians, by Divine judgment decree. They of Israel would lay in death with Pharaoh and the uncircumcised of Egypt, each because of rebellion and against God, their own pride, lust, and idolatry, Exo 20:1-5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
VII. THE DESCENT INTO SHEOL 32:1732
TRANSLATION
(17) And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month the word of the LORD 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 mighty nations unto the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down to the pit. (19) Who do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid with the uncircumcised, (20) They shall fall in the midst of those who fall with the sword; to the sword she is given; draw her down and all her multitude. (21) The strong ones among the mighty shall speak to him from the midst of Sheol with his helpers: they have gone down, they lie still even the uncircumcised, those slain by the sword! (22) Assyria is there and all her company; round about them are their graves; all of them slain, fallen by the sword; (23) whose graves are 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 have gone down uncircumcised unto the lower parts of the earth, who caused terror in the land of the living; yet they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. (25) They have put for her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are round about them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, because their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet they have borne their shame, with those who go down to the pit; they are put in the midst of the slain. (26) There is Meshech, Tubal and all her multitude; her graves are round about them; all of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword; because they caused their terror in the land of the living. (27) The ones who are inferior to the uncircumcised shall not lie down with the mighty ones who went down to Sheol with all their war weapons, with their swords laid under their heads, and their iniquities upon their bones; because the terror of the mighty ones was in the land of the living. (28) But you, in the midst of the uncircumcised shall be broken, and shall lie with those slain by the sword. (29) There was Edom, her kings and all her princes who in their might are put with those slain by the sword; they with the uncircumcised shall lie with those who go down to the pit. (30) There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians who went down with the slain, ashamed for the terror which was caused by their might, and they lie down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword, and they bear their shame with those that go down to the pit. (31) Pharaoh shall see them and shall be comforted concerning all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, (oracle of the LORD). (32) For I have put My terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude (oracle of the Lord GOD).
COMMENTS
Lofthouse calls the sixteen verses of the final Egyptian oracle the death song of the world in which Israel had grown up. The language here is highly poetical and one must be careful not to press it too far in formulating the Biblical doctrine of the afterlife. In this chapter Sheol is envisioned as consisting of compartments where nations lie together in graves gathered about their king. Warriors who had experienced proper burial are thought of as occupying a higher status than those who did not.
The month is missing in the Hebrew text of Eze. 32:17. The Greek version supplies the first month However, it is more likely that this oracle should be dated to the same month as the preceding one, the twelfth month. It would then have been composed two weeks after the oracle contained in Eze. 32:1-16. According to our calendar the date would be March 18, 585 B.C.
Ezekiel is told to wail over Egypt. A prophetic lament had the power to actually set in motion the wheels of judgment. In this sense Ezekiel is to cast down the multitude of Egypt into the lower parts of the earth. This is Sheol, the abode of the dead in which the once powerful nations on earth are thought of as continuing their collective identity. The daughters of the mighty nations are the countries which share the fate of Egypt in going down to Sheol. The pit is still another designation for Sheol (Eze. 32:18).
Egypt is in no way superior to the other powers of that day. She would go down in defeat. She would lie with the uncircumcised, those who have experienced the most dishonorable death (Eze. 32:19). Egyptian soldiers would fall by the sword and their corpses would be abandoned on the field of battle. Nations already in Sheol are exhorted to drag the slain Egyptian forces on down into their midst (draw her down and all her multitude; Eze. 32:20). The irony here is obvious. No nation in history put more emphasis on life after death the elaborate pyramids and subterranean burial vaults; the art of embalming; the amassing of enormous wealth and every conceivable provision for abundant life in the world to come. But none of this would prevent the mighty Pharaohs from being brought down in shame to the pit.
The leaders of nations already in Sheol are represented as greeting Pharaoh and his allies with mocking words upon their arrival in the pit. The mighty Egyptians have died an ignominious death the death of the uncircumcised by the sword (Eze. 32:21). Egypt has joined Assyria and her allies in Sheol. The Egyptian graves lie scattered about those of the Assyrians (Eze. 32:22) in the uttermost part of the pit. This expression may point to degrees of ignominy in the afterlife. The great nations which terrorized the earth have been permanently and totally removed from the world of the living. The graves of satellite nations surround that of Egypt itself in those inaccessible regions (Eze. 32:23).
Other once powerful nations lie quietly in Sheol far removed from the land of the living where once they spread terror. Elam rests in shame there (Eze. 32:24-25). Meshech and Tubal were once powerful kingdoms located south and south-east of the Black Sea. Other warlike powers descended into Sheol with their military equipment. But Meshech and Tubal met with an even more humiliating end. They rest among those who had been stripped of their arms. Ezekiel does not specify the particular crimes that justified this more severe humiliation of Tubal and Meshech (Eze. 32:26-27).
Apparently Pharaoh would experience still a worse fate. He would lie among those slain by the sword, but not, apparently, with the mighty ones mentioned in the preceding verses (Eze. 32:28). He would lie among the leaders of Edom, the princes of the north (Babylonian satellite kings) and the Zidonians (Phoenicians). These all lie uncircumcised, i.e., they have experienced the ignominious death of those slain in battle and left unburied (Eze. 32:29-30). Pharaoh would take some measure of comfort in the fact that others have shared Egypts fate (Eze. 32:31).
All the mighty powers that terrorize the land of the living will ultimately be brought to nought. Ultimately Gods power prevails on earth. The fall of Pharaoh and his host would be another indication of this grand truth (Eze. 32:32),
A fitting conclusion to this section dealing with Egypt is found on the final page of Breasteds monumental History of Ancient Egypt:
The fall of Egypt and the close of her characteristic history, were already an irrevocable fact before the relentless Cambyses knocked at the doors of Pelusium. The Saitic state was a creation of rulers who looked into the future, who belonged to it, and had little or no connection with the past. They were as essentially non Egyptian as the Ptolemies who followed the Persians. The Persian conquest in 525 B.C., which deprived Psamtik III, the son Amasis of his throne and kingdom, was but a change of rulers, a purely external fact. And if a feeble burst of national feeling enabled this or that Egyptian to thrust off the Persian yoke for a brief period, the movement may be likened to the convulsive contractions which sometimes lend momentary motion to limbs from which conscious life has long departed. With the fall of Psamtik III, Egypt belonged to a new world, toward the development of which she had contributed much, but in which she could no longer play an active part. Her great work was done, and unable, like Nineveh and Babylon, to disappear from the scene, she lived on her artificial life for a time under the Persians and the Ptolemies, ever sinking, till she became merely the granary of Rome, to be visited as a land of ancient marvels by wealthy Greeks and Remans, who have left their names scratched here and there upon her hoary monuments, just as the modern tourists, admiring the same marvels, still continue to do.[450]
[450] Cited by Wilbur Smith, EBP, p. 118.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(17) The fifteenth day of the month.The month itself is not mentioned, but since the previous prophecy was in the twelfth, or last month of the year, this must be in the same. There was thus an interval of just fourteen days between them. This dirge, which occupies the rest of the chapter, is to be compared with Isaiah 14, on which it is evidently founded.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. The prophet closed his last prophecy by bringing into vivid relief the funeral cortege of the dead Egyptian empire, in which the princesses, who represent the surrounding nations which yet live, appear chanting the funeral dirge. In his prophecy-poem, which seems to have been uttered a fortnight later, the prophet sees the entire procession, mourning women and all, engulfed in Sheol. (Compare Isaiah xiv, and for Sheol see Appendix to chapter.) Their sins have found them out and judgment has overtaken them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And so it was also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, wail for the numerous people of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, into the nether parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid with the uncircumcised.’ They will fall in the midst of those who are slain with the sword. She is delivered to the sword. They have drawn her away and all her numerous people.”
Egypt’s boasts were ended. She had exalted herself and her beauty, but where was it now? She lay in the grave with the lowest of the low, the uncircumcised nations. Such was her beauty. And she and other famous nations shared Sheol together. Her people were numerous, but the sword had delivered them to the pit, drawn there by those slain by the sword before her. The dead attract the dead, and Egypt as it was was dead.
‘Cast them down.’ Ezekiel would do it by his prophecy and by his lament.
‘Even her and the daughters of the famous nations.’ This must represent Egypt’s allies. They all descend together. But it may be that we should translate ‘you and the daughters of the famous nations’ (same Hebrew text but different vowel pointing) interpreting it of the mourning women of Eze 32:16 as aiding Ezekiel in his mourning.
‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid with the uncircumcised.’ The question is put by Ezekiel in his lament.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Seventh Oracle Against Egypt. Pharaoh’s Final Farewell ( Eze 32:17-32 ).
The descriptions here are not to be thought of as illustrating what the afterlife will be like. The ancients looked on death as the end of life leading to a shadowy half-existence. They could not conceive of nothingness, but did not look for anything joyous beyond the grave. Man went into the grave, and the combination of all graves combined was called Sheol. It was like some huge unearthly interconnected burial chamber, and those who were there were but shadows, enduring a joyless non-existence. (See note on Eze 31:17). Notice that they all lie there. It is not a place of movement and life. And here the nations themselves are seen to be present as well as their population. It is not to be taken too literally.
It is the place to which all nations go, and it has opened its mouth to receive the nations subjugated by Nebuchadnezzar, for many have fallen by the sword, and by pestilence and famine, and now they endure their end. And Egypt will share their fate.
The dating omits the month and this may be because it was seen as in the same month as the previous oracle, and thus again March 585 BC a fortnight later.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Dirge over tile Destruction of tile Egyptian Power
v. 17. It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, v. 18. Son of man, wail, v. 19. Whom dost thou, v. 20. They, v. 21. The strong among the mighty, v. 22. Asshur is there and all her company, v. 23. whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, v. 24. There is Elam, v. 25. They have set her, v. 26. There is Meshech, v. 27. And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, v. 28. Yea, thou, v. 29. There is Edom, v. 30. There be the princes of the North, v. 31. Pharaoh, v. 32. For I have caused My terror in the land of the living,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Eze 32:17. In the fifteenth day of the month In the fifth month, the tenth day of the month. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The Prophet seems here to be closing the subject of the humiliation of men and princes, with all the great ones of the earth; and therefore includes in one and the same view the Egyptian, the Assyrian, and the Persian monarchies. Edom and the children of Zidon, all alike must fall before Christ and his people, and all go down into the grave of hell together, unless grace saves in the hour of visitation, by turning the heart to seek salvation in Jesus. The Psalmist long before had it in commission to admonish them to behold and bend the knee to Jehovah’s King, whom the Lord had set upon his holy hill of Zion. Be wise now therefore, (said the Psalmist), O ye kings; be instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Psa 2 throughout.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 32:17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ver. 17. In the fifteenth day of the month, ] i.e., Of the twelfth month, Eze 32:1 and about a fortnight after the former prophecy. God loves to foretell, and to do it often.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 32:17-21
17In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 18Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit;
19 ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised.’
20They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. She is given over to the sword; they have drawn her and all her hordes away. 21The strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, ‘They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
Eze 32:18-19 These verses contain four commands, two to Ezekiel, two to Egypt.
1. wail, BDB 624, KB 675, Qal IMPERATIVE, Eze 32:18
2. bring it down, BDB 432, KB 434, Hiphil IMPERATIVE, Eze 32:18
3. go down, BDB 432, KB 434, Qal IMPERATIVE, Eze 32:19
4. make your bed, BDB 1011, KB 1486, Hophal IMPERATIVE, Eze 32:19
Eze 32:19 with the uncircumcised See note at Eze 28:10. This is a recurrent curse (cf. Eze 28:10; Eze 31:18; Eze 32:19; Eze 32:21; Eze 32:24; Eze 32:29-30; Jer 9:25-26).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the month: i.e. the twelfth month. See Eze 32:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 32:17-24
Eze 32:17-24
“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, 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. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. 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. 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. Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of the slain, fallen by the sword; whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave, all of the slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. 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.”
EGYPT WAS SENTENCED
TO THE UNDERWORLD
(Eze 32:16-32)
“Twelfth year, fifteenth day of the month …” (Eze 32:17). “This date is April 27,586 B.C.” Bruce supplemented the data given here by accepting the “twelfth month” indication from the LXX. “This was only about two weeks later than the oracle in the first half of the chapter.
The thought presented here is doleful indeed. Just as all the other mighty nations of human history have enjoyed their brief glory and then gone down in the oblivion of the grave, just so it was to be with Egypt. The picture that emerges here should not deceive us into thinking that Sheol is a place either of intelligence or activity of any kind. The intimations of such things are only designed to stimulate our estimation of the place as totally undesirable. The purpose is to contrast the arrogance and conceit of those powers which “in the land of the living” produced so much terror, sorrow, and human misery, with their peaceful harmlessness after they have gone down into Shed! God’s perfect answer to all of that is Sheol, the Pit, the grave I This lament is to remind Egypt that she too shall also receive the treatment that came to other evil powers, several of whom are mentioned here as a kind of “reception committee” for Pharaoh!
“The strong among the mighty shall speak to him …” (Eze 32:21). Yes indeed, there shall really be some of the `Big Shots’ of history on hand in Sheol to welcome Pharaoh who is scheduled to arrive soon!
“Asshur is there …” (Eze 32:22). Look! Even the wicked and ruthless Assyrians are there! How peaceful they are; no one is afraid of them now! Their reign of terror had ended in 612 B.C., on that very night when the king was having a big banquet to celebrate his victory! An unexpected flood destroyed a section of the city wall; and the whole Babylonian army came in and destroyed Nineveh. (See our Commentary on Nahum).
“Elam is there …” (Eze 32:24). They had been there ever since they were conquered by the Assyrians in 643 B.C. The Elamites were a nation of terrorists living east of the Tigris River and north of the Persian Gulf. At one time, they had been the scourge of Mesopotamia. Behold, how quiet and harmless they are now! Note also that the text states that they took their shame with them. They never got rid of it merely by descending into Sheol. A further word on Elam is given in Eze 32:25.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
in the twelfth: Eze 32:1, Eze 1:2
the fifteenth: That is, of the twelfth month, just a fortnight after the preceding prophecy.
Reciprocal: Eze 8:1 – in the sixth year Eze 24:1 – the ninth year Eze 40:1 – In the five
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 32:17. The following prediction was made in the same year as the one we have just considered but was a few days later. The prophet is always careful to let us know the source of his information; that it is the word, of the Lord.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 32:17-18. It came to pass, in the fifteenth day of the month Namely, of the month before mentioned, which was a few days after the time of the preceding revelation. The word of the Lord came unto me Giving me further directions how to improve the fall of Egypt. Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt Prepare the funeral ceremonies at the burial of Egypt, and compose an elegy suitable to the sad occasion. Bishop Lowth observes, that this prophetic ode is a master-piece in that species of writing which is appropriated to the exciting terror. And cast them down, even her, &c. Houbigant renders this clause, And thrust them down with the daughters of the nations; thrust them down to the lower parts of the earth, to those who are gone down to the lake. And he observes, that the prophet is commanded to thrust the Egyptians down to the shades below; that is, to exhibit, by an hypotyposis, familiar with the prophets, the ruin of the Egyptians, similar to the ruin of the people who have been destroyed and gone down to the regions of the dead. The reader will observe that this figure of speech is a representation of things painted in such strong and bright colours as may cause the imagination of the hearers to conceive of them rather as present to their view than described in words. Such is the representation which the prophet here gives of the calamities of the Egyptians. The expressions, Unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit, denote utter destruction, and are parallel to those elsewhere used, of being brought down to hell, to the grave, or into silence. The Egyptians affected to be buried in their pyramids, and their kings, princes, and nobles would be laid by themselves, but Ezekiel provides them their graves among common people, to lie just where they fell.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 32:17-32. The Descent of Egypt to the Lower World.This, the last oracle against Egypt, is unusually fascinating, whether we consider its sombre imagination, its literary power, or its religious importance. It describes the descent of Pharaoh and his multitude to the underworld, and the ironical welcome (cf. Isa 14:9 f.) which they there receive from the heroes of the olden time. There appear to be two divisions in Sheolone for those heroes who have been honourably buried, the other for such as the uncircumcised and those who have enjoyed no funeral rites. In that world the national distinctions of this live on. Significantly enough, seven nations are mentioned, four great and three smallAssyria, Elam (south of Assyria), Meshech and Tubal (cf. Eze 27:13), Edom, the North (perhaps the Syrians), and Zidonand each is in a place by itself, the graves of the people grouped round the grave of their king. The mighty warriors of old who went down to Sheol with their armour, and are still recognisable by their swords and shields (Eze 32:27), greet the newcomers with the words, Descend ye, lie ye down with the uncircumcised (Eze 32:21 : so LXX). But the power of them all is departed: so terrible as they were in this world, they are terrible no more (cf. Isa 14:10): and Pharaoh is comforted (cf. Eze 31:16) to find that they too are in the pit. The weird effect of the passage is heightened by the repetitions. (The last half of Eze 32:20 is obscure. In Eze 32:27 for uncircumcised read olden time with LXX; and for iniquities read shields. In Eze 32:32 for I have put read he put.)
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
7. A summary lament over Egypt 32:17-32
The last of the seven oracles against Egypt fittingly pictures the nation in its final resting place, the grave or Sheol, surrounded by other dead nations that had preceded it in judgment.
"The language is highly poetical and the details must not be taken too literally. This is not the chapter to turn to if one wishes to understand the Bible’s teaching about the after-life. It does, however, illustrate something of the concept of death which was common to Near Eastern thought and from which the Old Testament was constantly striving to break free." [Note: Taylor, p. 210.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Apparently Ezekiel delivered this oracle two weeks after the previous one, on March 18, 585 B.C. [Note: Parker and Dubberstein, p. 28.] The meter of this mourning song is two plus two rather than the three plus two meter of the more common funeral dirge (the qinah meter). Thus while this lament is similar to the one in the preceding oracle (Eze 32:1-16), it is not exactly the same. Wevers called this the only example of a mourning song in the Old Testament. [Note: Wevers, p. 244.] The distinction between the two types of lament is not great, however.