Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 32:3
Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.
3. Jehovah shall drag him out with his net by means of many peoples ( Eze 32:11-12). On figure, cf. Eze 12:13, Eze 17:20; Hos 7:12. For people read peoples. My net; a large, long, and wide net, drawn out to full extent. Over thee; with which both lions and crocodiles might be taken, and in which this lion and crocodile should certainly be taken; for God, whose hand never erreth, will spread the net. With a company of many people: in the countries where these creatures were hunted, they went in mighty companies to the game, as they accounted it. Bring thee up in my net; drag thee along to destroy thee, pull thee up out of the pit, in which the net was laid to take the lion to kill him, and draw this crocodile up out of the water for the same end; in brief, war by land and sea by a confederacy of many people against Hophra shall be Gods net, wherein he shall be taken, kept a prisoner, as he was, and at last strangled: see Eze 29:4. 3. with a company of manypeoplenamely, the Chaldeans (Eze 29:3;Eze 29:4; Hos 7:12). my netfor they are Myinstrument. Thus saith the Lord God,…. The Lord God Almighty, who is able to manage this fierce and turbulent creature, this mighty monarch and disturber of the nations:
I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; meaning the Chaldean army, which the Lord would instigate, and by his providence bring against the king of Egypt, and surround him as fishes in a net, and take him and his people; see Eze 12:13:
and they shall bring thee up in my net; out of his rivers, out of his fortresses, out of his own land, and carry him captive, or destroy him.
(3) Spread out my net over thee.The figure (Eze. 32:4-6) of drawing the crocodile to land and casting him upon the desert for food to the birds and beasts of prey is the same as in Eze. 29:4-5. (Comp. also Eze. 31:12-13.) In Eze. 32:6, the land wherein thou swimmest is, literally, the land of thine outflow, and may be taken either of the land on which his blood is poured out, or, more probably, the land of the inundations of the Nile, now to be watered with blood.
3. They shall bring me up in my net LXX., I will, etc. Jehovah will capture the great monster in a net as if he were a harmless bird. (Compare Eze 29:4.) For people read, as usual, peoples.
“Thus says the Lord Yahweh,
I will throw my dragnet over you, with a large group of many peoples,
And they will bring you up in my net.
And I will leave you on the land,
I will cast you out on the open field,
And will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you,
And I will satiate all the beasts of the earth with you.
And I will strew your flesh on the mountains,
And fill the valleys with your tossed out carcass.
I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim,
Even to the mountains,
And the watercourses will be full of you.”
The description is of the hunting and capture of a large water monster, and parallels the description of the capture of the chaos monster by Marduk. But here it is taken in the net by a large group of peoples. This is an earthly battle, although initiated by Yahweh. Apart from Him no gods are involved. Then (as previously described – Eze 29:5) he is cast out on dry land well away from water so that the scavengers, both bird and beast, can come and eat his flesh. But here the description goes further for he is torn into pieces to fill the mountains and the valleys, and the land and rivers are watered with his blood (compare Exo 7:20-24). The description is dramatic and conclusive. Pharaoh’s power is broken. The supposed god is no more.
Eze 32:3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.
Ver. 3. I will therefore spread out my net. ] Thou shalt be taken in an evil net, when thou little thinkest of it: “Evil shall hunt the violent man, to overthrow him.” Psa 140:11 Look how Leo cassibus irretitus ait, Si praescivissem; and as the whale, enclosed by fishers, is lugged to land, done to death, cleft in pieces with axes, his flesh being made a prey for birds and beasts, his blood far and near drenching the earth, so shall it fare with Pharaoh and his forces.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 32:3-10
3Thus says the Lord GOD,
Now I will spread My net over you
With a company of many peoples,
And they shall lift you up in My net.
4I will leave you on the land;
I will cast you on the open field.
And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you,
And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5I will lay your flesh on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your refuse.
6I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
7And when I extinguish you,
I will cover the heavens and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud
And the moon will not give its light.
8All the shining lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And will set darkness on your land,
Declares the Lord GOD.
9I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. 10I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.
Eze 32:3 In Eze 29:4 YHWH uses a hook, here a net (cf. Eze 12:13; Eze 17:20). This is also described in mythological terms in Psa 74:13-14.
Eze 32:4 This same ignominious fate (i.e., unburied and eaten by animals) is described in Eze 29:5.
Eze 32:5
NASBrefuse
NKJVcarcass
PESHITTAdust
TEV, JPSOArotting corpse
NJBcorruption
REBworms that fed on it
The REB assumes the MT’s (BDB 928) should be (BDB 942, be wormy, cf. Exo 16:20). Some see a parallel to Isa 14:11 to maggots (BDB 942).
Eze 32:6
NASBflowing blood
LXXdung
NEBdischarge
JPSOAoozing blood
This NOUN (BDB 847) is found only here in the OT. It is somehow linked to blood (BDB 196). NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 833, calls it a sort of discharge. . .of sloughing tissue.
Eze 32:7-8 As the Genesis creation account (Genesis 1) depreciates the astral deities of Babylon, these verses depreciate the astral deities of Egypt. The darkness shows YHWH’s power.
1. BDB 871, KB 1072 (Hiphil found only in Ezekiel , 3 times, cf. Eze 31:15)
a. HIphil PERFECT, Eze 32:7
b. HIphil IMPERFECT, Eze 32:8
2. BDB 365 (cf. Gen 1:2; Exo 10:22; Amo 5:18; Amo 5:20)
Eze 32:9-10 This is a common theme in these chapters (cf. Eze 32:16; Eze 32:19; Eze 27:29-36; Eze 28:19). YHWH’s judgment on prideful Tyre and Egypt was meant to send a message to the nations (i.e., they will know that I am the Lord, e.g., Eze 32:15; Eze 29:9; Eze 33:29; Eze 35:3-4; Eze 35:9; Eze 35:14).
Eze 32:10 shall be horribly afraid This is the NOUN and VERB of the same root (BDB 972, KB 1343, cf. Eze 27:35; Jer 2:12), which denotes the hair standing up in fear.
they shall tremble This term (BDB 353, KB 350) denotes fear in YHWHs coming and present judgment (cf. Eze 26:16; Eze 26:18; Eze 30:9).
the Lord GOD. Hebrew. Adonai Jehovah, See note on Eze 2:4.
company = gathered host. Compare Eze 16:40.
many: or, mighty.
people = peoples.
Eze 12:13, Eze 17:20, Ecc 9:12, Jer 16:16, Lam 1:13, Hos 7:12, Hab 1:14-17
Reciprocal: Job 18:8 – he is cast Job 19:6 – compassed
Eze 32:3. This verse is a direct prophecy of the invasion into Egypt of the forces of Babylon, The Lord calls them His net because the actions of the army of Nebuchadnezzar will be by the divine decree.
Eze 32:3-6. I will spread out my net over thee, &c. I will bring thine enemies upon thee, who shall encompass thee on every side, and master thee as a wild beast or monstrous fish is taken in a net. Then will I leave thee upon the land That is, leave thee to certain destruction, or take away from thee all means of recovery. For Pharaoh being here spoken of as a water animal, leaving him upon the land, signified leaving him to certain death, without the means of escaping it; for a fish left upon the land must needs die, let it struggle as it will, water being absolutely necessary to its life. This was literally fulfilled when, making war upon the Cyrenians, he was vanquished, and his army cut in pieces, and left a prey to the fowls and beasts in the deserts of Libya and Cyrene: see note on Eze 29:4-5. And I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee With the flesh of thy vast armies. Or rather, understanding the words figuratively, I will enrich all nations with thy spoils. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, &c. Thy people shall be slain, both upon the mountains and in the valleys, and their carcasses lie unburied there. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest The land of Egypt, wherein thou bearest rule; even to the mountains The mountains shall be wet with it, as well as the lower grounds: compare Isa 34:3. And the rivers shall be full of thee All places, both high and low, both land and water. All the expressions in these verses are hyperbolical, signifying the vast slaughter that should be made of the Egyptians, and the immense booty that should be obtained by their enemies.
The Lord announced that He would cast His net over Pharaoh using a large group of people as His instruments. In the Babylonian account of Creation, the Enuma elish (4:95), the god Marduk captured the chaos-monster Tiamat in a net and slew him. [Note: See Thomas, ed., p. 9.] God may have wanted the Jewish exiles in Babylon to see a parallel between what Ezekiel predicted and what the Babylonians believed. Fulfillment would demonstrate Yahweh’s sovereignty. The Babylonians would take Pharaoh captive, and the Egyptians would go into captivity. Since the Egyptians regarded the Pharaoh, the crocodile, and the Nile as manifestations of their gods, this announcement meant that Yahweh would humble Egypt’s gods as well as bring her defeat.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)