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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Ezekiel 32:1 - 32:1
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Lamentation over the King of Egypt
Pharaoh, a sea-monster, is drawn by the nations out of his waters with the net of God, and cast out upon the earth. His flesh is given to the birds and beasts of prey to devour, and the earth is saturated with his blood (Eze 32:2-6). At his destruction the lights of heaven lose their brightness, and all the nations will be amazed thereat (Eze 32:7-10). The king of Babel will come upon Egypt, will destroy both man and beast, and will make the land a desert (Eze 32:11-16). - The date given in Eze 32:1 - ”In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying” - agrees entirely with the relation in which the substance of the ode itself stands to the prophecies belonging to the tenth and eleventh years in Ezekiel 29:1-16 and Eze 30:20-26; whereas the different date found in the Septuagint cannot come into consideration for a moment.
Eze 32:2-6
The destruction of Pharoah. - Eze 32:2. Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and say to him, Thou wast compared to a young lion among the nations, and yet wast like a dragon in the sea; thou didst break forth in thy streams, and didst trouble the waters with thy feet, and didst tread their streams. Eze 32:3. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Therefore will I spread out my net over thee in the midst of many nations, that they may draw thee up in my yarn; Eze 32:4. And will cast thee upon the land, hurl thee upon the surface of the field, and will cause all the birds of the heaven to settle upon thee, and the beasts of the whole earth to satisfy themselves with thee. Eze 32:5. Thy flesh will I put upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy funeral heap. Eze 32:6. I will saturate the earth with thine outflow of thy blood even to the mountains, and the low places shall become full of thee. - This lamentation begins, like others, with a picture of the glory of the fallen king. Hitzig objects to the ordinary explanation of the words כְּפִיר גֹּויִם נִדְמֵיתָה, λέοντι ἐθνῶν ὡμοιώθης (lxx), leoni gentium assimilatus es (Vulg.), on the ground that the frequently recurring נִדְמָה would only have this meaning in the present passage, and that נִמְשָׁל, which would then be synonymous, is construed in three other ways, but not with the nominative. For these reasons he adopts the rendering, “lion of the nations, thou belongest to death.” But it would be contrary to the analogy of all the קִינֹות to commence the lamentation with such a threat; and Hitzig's objections to the ordinary rendering of the words will not bear examination. The circumstance that the Niphal נִדְמָה is only met with here in the sense of ὁμοιοῦσθαι, proves nothing; for דָּמָה has this meaning in the Kal, Piel, and Hithpael, and the construction of the Niphal with the accusative (not nominative, as Hitzig says) may be derived without difficulty from the construction of the synonymous נִמְשַׁל with כ. But what is decisive in favour of this rendering is the fact that the following clause is connected by means of the adversative וְאַתָּה (but thou), which shows that the comparison of Pharaoh to a תַּנִּים forms an antithesis to the clause in which he is compared to a young lion. If נִדְמֵיתָ 'כְּפִיר ג contained a declaration of destruction, not only would this antithesis be lost, but the words addressed to it as a lion of the nations would float in the air and be used without any intelligible meaning. The lion is a figurative representation of a powerful and victorious ruler; and כְּפִיר גֹּויִם is really equivalent to אֵל גֹּויִם in Eze 31:11.
Pharaoh was regarded as a mighty conqueror of the nations, “though he was rather to be compared to the crocodile, which stirs up the streams, the fresh waters, and life-giving springs of the nations most perniciously with mouth and feet, and renders turbid all that is pure” (Ewald). תַּנִּים, as in Eze 29:3. Ewald and Hitzig have taken offence at the words תָּגַח בְּנַהֲרֹתֶיךָ, “thou didst break forth in thy streams,” and alter בְּנַהֲרֹתֶיךָ retla d into בִּנְחְרֹתֶיךָ, with thy nostrils (Job 41:12); but they have not considered that תָּגַח would be quite out of place with such an alteration, as גִּיחַ in both the Kal and Hiphil (Jdg 20:33) has only the intransitive meaning to break out. The thought is simply this: the crocodile lies in the sea, then breaks occasionally forth in its streams, and makes the waters and their streams turbid with its feet. Therefore shall Pharaoh also end like such a monster (Eze 32:3-6). The guilt of Pharaoh did not consist in the fact that he had assumed the position of a ruler among the nations (Kliefoth); but in his polluting the water-streams, stirring up and disturbing the life-giving streams of the nations. God will take him in His net by a gathering of nations, and cause him to be drawn out of his element upon the dry land, where he shall become food to the birds and beasts of prey (cf. Eze 29:4-5; Eze 31:12-13). The words 'בִּקְהַל עַמִּים ר are not to be understood as referring to the nations, as spectators of the event (Hävernick); but ב denotes the instrument, or medium employed, here the persons by whom God causes the net to be thrown, as is evident from the וְהֶעֱלוּךָ which follows. According to the parallelismus membrorum, the ἁπ. λεγ. רָמוּת can only refer to the carcase of the beast, although the source from which this meaning of the word is derived has not yet been traced. There is no worth to be attached to the reading rimowt in some of the codices, as רִמָּה does not yield a suitable meaning either in the sense of reptile, or in that of putrefaction or decomposed bodies, which has been attributed to it from the Arabic. Under these circumstances we adhere to the derivation from רוּם, to be high, according to which רָמוּת may signify a height or a heap, which the context defines as a funeral-pile. צָפָה, strictly speaking, a participle from צוּף, to flow, that which flows out, the outflow (Hitzig), is not to be taken in connection with אֶרֶץ, but is a second object to הִשְׁקֵיתִי; and the appended word מִדָּמְךָ indicates the source whence the flowing takes place, and of what the outflow consists. אֶל הֶהָרִים, to the mountains, i.e., up to the top of the mountains. The thought in these verses is probably simply this, that the fall of Pharaoh would bring destruction upon the whole of the land of Egypt, and that many nations would derive advantage from his fall.
Eze 32:7-10
His overthrow fills the whole world with mourning and terror. - Eze 32:7. When I extinguish thee, I will cover the sky and darken its stars; I will cover the sun with cloud, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. Eze 32:8. All the shining lights in the sky do I darken because of thee, and I bring darkness over thy land, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 32:9. And I will trouble the heart of many nations when I bring out thine overthrow among the nations into lands which thou knowest not, Eze 32:10. And I will make many nations amazed at thee, and their kings shall shudder at thee when I brandish my sword before their face; and they shall tremble every moment, every one for his life on the day of his fall. - The thought of Eze 32:7 and Eze 32:8 is not exhausted by the paraphrase, “when thou art extinguished, all light will be extinguished, so far as Egypt is concerned,” accompanied with the remark, that the darkness consequent thereupon is a figurative representation of utterly hopeless circumstances (Schmieder). The thought on which the figure rests is that of the day of the Lord, the day of God's judgment, on which the lights of heaven lose their brightness (cf. Eze 30:3 and Joe 2:10, etc.). This day bursts upon Egypt with the fall of Pharaoh, and on it the shining stars of heaven are darkened, so that the land of Pharaoh becomes dark. Egypt is a world-power represented by Pharaoh, which collapses with his fall. But the overthrow of this world-power is an omen and prelude of the overthrow of every ungodly world-power on the day of the last judgment, when the present heaven and the present earth will perish in the judgment-fire. Compare the remarks to be found in the commentary on Joe 3:4 upon the connection between the phenomena of the heavens and great catastrophes on earth. The contents of both verses may be fully explained from the biblical idea of the day of the Lord and the accompanying phenomena; and for the explanation of בְּכַבֹּותְךָ, there is no necessity to assume, as Dereser and Hitzig have done, that the sea-dragon of Egypt is presented here under the constellation of a dragon; for there is no connection between the comparison of Egypt to a tannim or sea-dragon, in Eze 32:2 and Eze 29:3 (=רַהַב, Isa 51:9), and the constellation of the dragon (see the comm. on Isa 51:9 and Isa 30:7). In בְּכַבֹּותְךָ Pharaoh is no doubt regarded as a star of the first magnitude in the sky; but in this conception Ezekiel rests upon Isa 14:12, where the king of Babylon is designated as a bright morning-star. That this passage was in the prophet's mind, is evident at once from the fact that Eze 32:7 coincides almost verbatim with Isa 13:10. - The extinction and obscuration of the stars are not merely a figurative representation of the mourning occasioned by the fall of Pharaoh; still less can Eze 32:9 and Eze 32:10 be taken as an interpretation in literal phraseology of the figurative words in Eze 32:7 and Eze 32:8. For Eze 32:9 and Eze 32:10 do not relate to the mourning of the nations, but to anxiety and terror into which they are plunged by God through the fall of Pharaoh and his might. הִכְעִיס , to afflict the heart, does not mean to make it sorrowful, but to fill it with anxiety, to deprive it of its peace and cheerfulness. “When I bring thy fall among the nations” is equivalent to “spread the report of thy fall.” Consequently there is no need for either the arbitrary alteration of שִׁבְרְךָ into שִׂבְרְךָ, which Ewald proposes, with the imaginary rendering announcement or report; nor for the marvellous assumption of Hävernick, that שִׁבְרְךָ describes the prisoners scattered among the heathen as the ruins of the ancient glory of Egypt, in support of which he adduces the rendering of the lxx αἰχμαλωσίαν σου, which is founded upon the change of שׁברך into שׁביך. For Eze 32:10 compare Eze 27:35. עֹופֵף, to cause to fly, to brandish. The sword is brandished before their face when it falls time after time upon their brother the king of Egypt, whereby they are thrown into alarm for their own lives. לִרְגָעִים, by moments = every moment (see the comm. on Isa 27:3).
Eze 32:11-16
The judgment upon Egypt will be executed by the king of Babylon. - Eze 32:11. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon thee. Eze 32:12. By swords of heroes will I cause thy tumult to fall, violent ones of the nations are they all, and will lay waste the pride of Egypt, and all its tumult will be destroyed. Eze 32:13. And I will cut off all its cattle from the great waters, that no foot of man may disturb them any more, nor any hoof of cattle disturb them. Eze 32:14. Then will I cause their waters to settle and their streams to flow like oil, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, Eze 32:15. When I make the land of Egypt a desert, and the land is made desolate of its fulness, because I smite all the inhabitants therein, and they shall know that I am Jehovah. Eze 32:16. A lamentatoin (mournful ode) is this, and they will sing it mournfully; the daughters of the nations will sing it mournfully, over Egypt and over all its tumult will they sing it mournfully, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - In this concluding strophe the figurative announcement of the preceding one is summed up briefly in literal terms; and toward the close (Eze 32:14) there is a slight intimation of a better future. The destruction of the proud might of Egypt will be effected through the king of Babylon and his brave and violent hosts. עָרִיצֵי גֹּויִם, as in Eze 31:12 (see the comm. on Eze 28:7). הָמֹון in Eze 32:12 and Eze 32:13 must not be restricted to the multitude of people. It signifies tumult, and embraces everything in Egypt by which noise and confusion were made (as in Eze 31:2 and Eze 31:18); although the idea of a multitude of people undoubtedly predominates in the use of הָמֹון in Eze 32:12. גְּאֹון , the pride of Egypt, is not that of which Egypt is proud, but whatever is proud or exalts itself in Egypt. The utter devastation of Egypt includes the destruction of the cattle, i.e., of the numerous herds which fed on the grassy banks of the Nile and were driven to the Nile to drink (cf. Gen 47:6; Gen 41:2.; Exo 9:3); and this is therefore specially mentioned in Eze 32:13, with an allusion to the consequence thereof, namely, that the waters of the Nile would not be disturbed any more either by the foot of man or hoof of beast (compare Eze 32:13 with Eze 29:11). The disturbing of the water is mentioned with evident reference to Eze 32:2, where Pharaoh is depicted as a sea-monster, which disturbs the streams of water. The disturbance of the water is therefore a figurative representation of the wild driving of the imperial power of Egypt, by which the life-giving streams of the nations were stirred up.
Eze 32:14. Then will God cause the waters of Egypt to sink. Hitzig and Kliefoth understand this as signifying the diminution of the abundance of water in the Nile, which had previously overflowed the land and rendered it fertile, but for which there was no further purpose now. According to this explanation, the words would contain a continued picture of the devastation of the land. But this is evidently a mistake, for the simple reason that it is irreconcilable with the אָז, by which the thought is introduced. אָז, tunc, is more precisely defined by 'בְּתִתִּי וגו in Eze 32:15 as the time when the devastation has taken place; whereas Kliefoth takes the 15th verse, in opposition both to the words and the usage of the language, as the sequel to Eze 32:14, or in other words, regards בְּתִתִּי as synonymous with וְנָתַתִּי. The verse contains a promise, as most of the commentators, led by the Chaldee and Jerome, have correctly assumed.
(Note: The explanation of Jerome is the following: “Then will purest waters, which had been disturbed by the sway of the dragon, be restored not by another, but by the Lord Himself; so that their streams flow like oil, and are the nutriment of true light.”)
הַשְׁקִיעַ, to make the water sink, might no doubt signify in itself a diminution of the abundance of water. But if we consider the context, in which reference is made to the disturbance of the water through its being trodden with the feet (Eze 32:13), השׁקיע can only signify to settle, i.e., to become clear through the sinking to the bottom of the slime which had been stirred up (cf. Eze 34:18). The correctness of this explanation is confirmed by the parallel clause, to make their streams flow with oil. To understand this as signifying the slow and gentle flow of the diminished water, would introduce a figure of which there is no trace in Hebrew. Oil is used throughout the Scriptures as a figurative representation of the divine blessing, or the power of the divine Spirit. כְּשֶׁמֶן, like oil, according to Hebrew phraseology, is equivalent to “like rivers of oil.” And oil-rivers are not rivers which flow quietly like oil, but rivers which contain oil instead of water (cf. Job 29:6), and are symbolical of the rich blessing of God (cf. Deu 32:13). The figure is a very appropriate one for Egypt, as the land is indebted to the Nile for all its fertility. Whereas its water had been stirred up and rendered turbid by Pharaoh; after the fall of Pharaoh the Lord will cause the waters of the stream, which pours its blessings upon the land, to purify themselves, and will make its streams flow with oil. The clarified water and flowing oil are figures of the life-giving power of the word and Spirit of God. But this blessing will not flow to Egypt till its natural power is destroyed. Ewald has therefore given the following as the precise meaning of Eze 32:14 : “The Messianic times will then for the first time dawn on Egypt, when the waters no more become devastating and turbid, that is to say, through the true knowledge to which the chastisement leads.” Eze 32:16 “rounds off the passage by turning back to Eze 32:2” (Hitzig). The daughters of the nations are mentioned as the singers, because mourning for the dead was for the most part the business of women (cf. Jer 9:16). The words do not contain a summons to the daughters of the nations to sing the lamentation, but the declaration that they will do it, in which the thought is implied that the predicted devastation of Egypt will certainly occur.