1. The prophecy is dated the first of the twelfth month of the twelfth year, nearly a year and seven months after the fall of Jerusalem. Syr. reads eleventh year.

Ch. 32 Final prophecy against Pharaoh

The chapter contains two parts:

First, Ezekiel 32:1-16. A lament over Pharaoh.

Second, Ezekiel 32:17-32. A funeral dirge over the interment of him and his multitude.

The line of thought in Ezekiel 32:1-16 resembles that in the other chapters:

(1) Ezekiel 32:1-6. Pharaoh, represented as a dragon in the waters, is dragged out by the net of Jehovah, and flung upon the land, where all fowls and beasts feed on him. His carcase fills the land and his blood the water-courses.

(2) Ezekiel 32:7-10. Shock of nature and commotion among the nations, even the most distant and unknown to Egypt, over his fall.

(3) Ezekiel 32:11-16. The instrument of his destruction is the king of Babylon. The overthrow of Pharaoh and his people shall be complete. The land shall be desolate and life shall cease in it; no foot of living creature, man or beast, shall trouble its waters, which shall run smooth and dead.

2. art like a young lion] Perhaps: wast likened to, though the construction is exceedingly hard (cf. Ezekiel 31:18). So far as the form of words goes the meaning might rather be: O lion of the nations thou art undone (Isaiah 6:5; Hosea 10:15), the root being another. The prophet has a fondness, however, for using the Niph. (Cf. Ezekiel 14:4; Ezekiel 14:7, Ezekiel 19:5, Ezekiel 33:30, Ezekiel 36:3.) The words can hardly mean: thou thoughtest thyself a young lion. Cf. Ezekiel 38:13.

and thou art] whereas thou wast as a dragon (monster) in the rivers, lit. seas; cf. Isaiah 19:5; Isaiah 27:1; Job 41:23. The construction seems to imply an antithesis between this clause and the previous one.

camest forth with] didst break forth in thy rivers. The term “break forth” is used of coming forth out of the womb (Psalm 22:9; cf. Job 38:8), and also of those in ambush breaking out of their hiding-place (Jdg 20:33). The term describes not the origin of the monster but his activity; cf. “didst foul.” Ew. conjectured for “in thy rivers,” with thy nostrils—thou didst spout (cause spray) with thy nostrils; cf. Job 41:18-20. The object of the verb is wanting here, however, and the verb though used of Jordan (Job 40:23) is employed intransitively. Cf. however, Micah 4:10.

their rivers] Or, streams—those of the waters. The vitality of the monster and his violent activity are suggested by his troubling the waters and fouling the streams. Cf. the opposite idea, Ezekiel 32:13-14.

3. Jehovah shall drag him out with his net by means of many peoples (Ezekiel 32:11-12). On figure, cf. Ezekiel 12:13, Ezekiel 17:20; Hosea 7:12. For people read peoples.

4. will leave thee] Will cast thee down; cf. Ezekiel 29:5. See Ezekiel 31:13, Ezekiel 39:17 seq.

5. Cf. Ezekiel 31:12 Other suggestions for “height” have little probability.

6. land wherein thou swimmest] Probably: and I will water the earth with the outflow of thy blood, lit, with thy outflow from thy blood. It is possible that “from thy blood” is an explanatory gloss to “with thy outflow.” Cf. Isaiah 34:3.

7. put thee out] i.e. extinguish thee. Pharaoh is regarded as a brilliant luminary; cf. Isaiah 14:12, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O shining one, morning star!” It is doubtful if there is any ref. to the constellation of the dragon. The dragon (Job 3:8; Job 9:13; Job 26:12) is not a constellation but a purely ideal representation of the eclipse or the storm-cloud which swallows up the lights of heaven. The phenomena in the verse are those usually characteristic of the dissolution of nature on the day of the Lord (Isaiah 13:10; Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15; Amos 8:9); but here they express rather the shock which creation receives when one so great meets with destruction.

8. bright lights] Lit. luminaries of light.

upon thy land] Possibly with LXX.: upon the earth. The extinction of the lights in heaven referred to in the previous clause suggests a more general darkness than one over Pharaoh’s own land.

9. vex the hearts] Or, trouble. The precise feeling is not grief, and certainly not anger (A. V. marg.); in Ezekiel 32:10 it is dismay, and then terror for themselves. For people peoples.

bring thy destruction among] Hardly means “bring the news” of thy destruction; the destruction itself occurs among the nations, they observe it; cf. “brandish my sword before them,” Ezekiel 32:10.

into the countries] unto countries. The effect of Pharaoh’s fall shall be felt by nations lying beyond the horizon of his knowledge; cf. Isaiah 55:5.

10. Read peoples, as always. Cf. Ezekiel 26:16, Ezekiel 27:35.

11. It is the king of Babylon who shall execute the Lord’s judgment upon Egypt.

12. terrible of the nations] Cf. on Ezekiel 28:7, Ezekiel 29:19.

13. The desolation of Egypt shall be complete, man and beast swept away; cf. Zephaniah 1:3. These pictures both of desolation and felicity are always ideal; cf. Ezekiel 29:11.

14. The waters of Egypt, no more troubled by the foot of man or beast, shall run smooth like oil.

make their waters deep] Rather: make to settle, become clear; cf. noun, Ezekiel 34:18. No more trampled they shall settle and run smooth.

15. The end of this desolating judgment shall be that Jehovah shall be known. This is the purpose and the effect of all his interpositions among the nations. Exodus 7:5; Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:18.

16. Lit. It is a lamentation and they shall chant it (LXX. thou shalt chant it); the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt and over all her multitude shall they chant it. The daughters of the nations, in Ezekiel 32:18 the daughters of the famous nations, chant the dirge because professional wailers were chiefly women; cf. Jeremiah 9:17, “call for the mourning women … and let them take up a wailing for us.”

17. The month is not specified, but presumably the same month as that named in Ezekiel 32:1 is intended, the twelfth. The present passage would in that case date a fortnight later than Ezekiel 32:1-16. LXX. reads first month of twelfth year; if this reading were followed the year in Ezekiel 32:1 must be read eleventh (with Syr.).

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 Sheòl, 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 Sheòl. 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 Sheòl. The former name seems suggested by the grave, which is regarded as the entrance to Sheòl, and indicates what kind of place Sheòl 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 Sheòl 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 Sheòl 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. Ezekiel 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 Sheòl; 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 (Genesis 37:24), of the “dungeon” into which Jeremiah was thrown (Jeremiah 38:6 seq.), and the like (Jeremiah 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 Sheòl, and in the same sense, e.g. Psalm 30:3; Psalm 88:3; Psalm 4:2. Another question closely connected is this. Certain persons called the mighty ones (Ezekiel 32:21; Ezekiel 32:27) are referred to and spoken of as being in Sheòl (A.V. hell), and the question is, are these persons, though in Sheòl, 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 Ezekiel 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.

18. The lament is primarily over the multitude or nationality of Egypt.

cast them down, even her] Probably: and sink them down, thou and the daughters of famous nations. In Ezekiel 32:16 the daughters of the nations were spoken of as chanting the dirge over Pharaoh and his multitude. The prophet (LXX. Ezekiel 32:16) and these daughters together chant the lament. They are said to “sink the multitude down” because in their lament they describe their sinking down. The reading “thou” for “her” implies no change in the consonantal text, and the “daughters of famous nations” cannot be those that are interred, but those who inter. It is Pharaoh and his multitude who are let down into the pit (cf. Ezekiel 32:31).

them that go down] that are gone down, Ezekiel 26:20, Ezekiel 31:16.

19. Whom … pass in beauty] i.e. surpass; Ew., pass in fortune. Probably the meaning is very much, To whom art (wast) thou superior? The multitude of Egypt or the Pharaoh as the genius of the nation is addressed, hardly his dead body (Sm.).

go down] i.e. to the grave, or pit. “Uncircumcised” has in all the passage the sense of dishonoured, profaned in death, and differs little from slain with the sword, Ezekiel 32:21; Ezekiel 32:24. The pass. imper. “be thou laid” is very rare, Jeremiah 49:8.

20. she is delivered to the sword] Rather: the sword is put forth, lit. given, a peculiar phrase and wanting in LXX.

draw her] i. e. Egypt down into the pit. The simple “draw” leaves rather much to be understood, and LXX. reads the clause differently: and all his multitude shall lie.

21. The Pharaoh and his multitude are supposed here to have descended into Sheòl, and the “mighty ones” already there address them (Isaiah 14:8; Isaiah 14:10) or speak of them.

The strong among the mighty] lit. the strong of the mighty, where “strong” is not a class among the mighty, but identical with them—the strong mighty ones (gen. of appos.). In LXX. “strong” is wanting as in Ezekiel 32:27. The word “strong” is that rendered mighty one of the nations, Ezekiel 31:11. It is probably entirely different (though the same in spelling) from the word God, Ezekiel 28:2, and from the phrase “mighty God,” Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 10:21.

speak to him] Or, of him. The words that follow seem spoken in regard to Pharaoh—though such a meaning is rather flat.

that help him] his helpers, auxiliary nations. The meaning must be that the mighty speak to (of) Pharaoh and his helpers, hardly that Pharaoh’s helpers already gone down join the mighty in mocking Pharaoh.

In LXX. these three verses stand in a different order, viz. Ezekiel 32:20 a, 20 b (read differently), 21 a, 19, and the first three words of Ezekiel 32:20 again, “They shall fall with him in the midst of them that are slain with the sword, and all his multitude (strength) shall lie down. And the mighty (lit. giants, Ezekiel 32:27) shall say unto thee: Be thou in the depth of the pit; to whom art thou superior? go down, and lie with the uncircumcised, in the midst of them that are slain with the sword.” Probably neither text presents the original, though the general meaning of both is the same. It is in favour of Heb. that it begins with the interrogation, and rather against the LXX. that it makes the address rather prolix. The “mighty” who speak are in any case those already in Sheòl, and not persons upon the earth such as the Babylonians (Hitz.).

22, 23. Asshur.

her company] In ref. to the other peoples “multitude” is used. The term “company” may be used of the many nationalities in the Assyrian empire, cf. Ezekiel 23:24.

his graves … him] The gender varies as the country (fem.) or king, as representative of the people, is thought of. The ref. here is to the king. LXX. uses the mas. pron. throughout. The text here is shorter in LXX., but no difference of sense arises.

23. sides of the pit] i.e. the depths or bottom of the pit.

caused terror] Cf. Ezekiel 26:17; Ezekiel 26:20. This phrase must mean that Asshur inspired terror into the nations by his might; to suppose that the meaning is that the fate of Asshur by the judgment of God caused terror (Hitz.) is altogether false, cf. Ezekiel 32:24-27; Ezekiel 32:32.

24, 25. Elam.

Elam, said to mean Highlands, lay E. of the Tigris, and touched Assyria and Media on the N., Media and Persia on the E., and on the S. the Persian Gulf. An early expedition of Elam into the land of the Jordan is referred to Genesis 14:1 seq. The country was incorporated into the Assyrian empire, in the armies of which it served (Isaiah 22:6; cf. Isaiah 11:11), and on the fall of this empire it probably asserted its independence. It appears independent in the time of Jeremiah, who threatens it with destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 49:34; Jeremiah 49:39).

yet have they borne] and have borne. Their shame is that which adheres to them as slain with the sword and unhonoured. The consequences of their life shewed themselves in the manner of their death, and abode upon them. Cf. Ezekiel 36:6-7.

them that go down] that are gone down.

25. though their terror] for their terror … and they have borne, &c. The verse is greatly a repetition of Ezekiel 32:24, and is wanting in LXX., except the words “in the midst of the slain,” which are attached to Ezekiel 32:24. The words “that are gone down to the pit” usually close the verse, Ezekiel 32:18; Ezekiel 32:24; Ezekiel 32:29-30; and if the verse be retained the last clause should probably be omitted as an accidental repetition of the first clause, due to the copyist’s eye straying from “pit” in 25 to “pit” in 24. The three words retained in LXX. cannot stand by themselves.

26. Meshech and Tubal. See on Ezekiel 27:13; cf. Ezekiel 38:2.

her graves … him] On genders cf. Ezekiel 32:22.

though they caused] for they caused.

27. they shall not lie] LXX. Syr. omit the neg.: and they are laid with the giants. Ew. would retain the neg., reading as an interrogation with an affirmative sense: and shall they not lie with …?, which is not very natural.

fallen of the uncircumcised] LXX. fallen of old. This reading has considerable probability, although the other reading might stand. Some scholars would also alter “fallen” (nophelim) into Nephilim (cf. R. V. Genesis 6:4); an unnecessary change. For “hell” read Sheòl.

they have laid their swords] they laid (indeterminate subj.)—equivalent to the passive: and their swords were laid.

but their … shall be] and their iniquities were. The reference is still to the “mighty;” to change the subject spoken of, making the clause refer to Meshech and Tubal, is most unnatural.

though they were the terror] because the terror of the mighty was in the land. The clause explains the preceding, as for ex. why their iniquities were upon their bones, and would certainly be easier if the reading had been: because the terror of their might was, as the Syr. reads, precisely as in Ezekiel 32:29-30. So Hitz. Corn. (Possibly geburam should be read; cf. Hosea 13:2, and often with fem. nouns.)

Ezekiel 32:27 is difficult. The reading “they shall not lie with the mighty” suggests the idea that the mighty who fell of old, and went down to Sheòl in full armour, and had their swords laid under their heads, occupy a more honourable place in Sheòl than such a rout as Meshech and Tubal, who are counted unworthy to lie beside them. This idea is not probable in itself, and cannot be reconciled with other parts of the verse. The last clause “because the terror of the mighty (or, of their might) was in the land of the living” ascribes the same sin to these mighty as is charged against Asshur and the rest (Ezekiel 32:23-24, &c.), and for which they bear their shame. Again, the phrase “their iniquities were upon their bones” can have no other meaning than that their evil and violence were interred with their bones, and continued to cleave to them—that they went down unhouselled, disappointed, unaneled, cut off in the blossom of their sin. The conjecture of Corn. “their shields were upon their bones” is altogether destitute of probability. LXX. renders “giants,” as it does Genesis 6:4, and possibly it thought of the antediluvian race. The prophet may have had this race in his mind, but more probably his reference is a wider one (cf. Ezekiel 32:12, Ezekiel 39:18; Ezekiel 39:20). Even if he referred to the giants before the Flood, it is anything but likely, with Genesis 6 before him and with his moral temper, that he would assign an honourable place in Sheòl to those violent desperadoes. The weird touch “went down to Sheòl in their weapons of war, and had their swords laid under their heads,” probably means that the manner of their death and burial was in keeping with the violence and bloodshed which was the occupation of their life. The usages and sentiments of chivalry were not yet known to Ezekiel. The clause should, therefore, probably be read positively.

28. Yea, thou shalt] thou also shalt. The Pharaoh is addressed. The phrase “shalt be broken” is wanting in LXX.—“thou also shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that have been slain with the sword.”

29. Edom. Cf. Ezekiel 25:12.

with their might] Possibly, because of—the words might and mighty being used in a bad sense. Otherwise the words might signify: notwithstanding their might.

are laid by them] i.e. with, or, beside them. The term “laid,” lit. given, means rather put, consigned.

them that go down] that are gone down.

30. The princes of the North and the Sidonians. The former are probably those of the Syrian states, and the Sidonians represent the Phœnician principalities in general.

with their terror] Rather, in close connexion with the preceding, gone down with the slain, because of (notwithstanding) their terror (coming) from their might (they are) ashamed. The term “ashamed” is wanting in LXX., and it occurs only here.

31. comforted over all his multitude] The Heb. order is: over all his multitude, slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army, saith, &c. The words “slain with … his army” are wanting in LXX. On “comforted,” cf. Ezekiel 14:22, Ezekiel 31:16. Pharaoh will be “comforted” by the sight of all these nations in the pit, suffering the same humiliation as himself and his multitude.

32. I have caused my terror] So Heb. marg., Heb. text, his terror, as all the versions except Vulg. Throughout the passage “to cause terror” is uniformly employed of the conduct of the various nations when on the stage of history. If used of Jehovah here it would be intended to express a vivid contrast—it is he who ultimately puts his terror on the world when he interposes to overthrow these tyrannical and violent nations; cf. Isaiah 8:13. This somewhat sensational antithesis is not natural, and does not harmonise with the next clause. If his terror be read, the power of Pharaoh and the terror he caused would be attributed to Jehovah. But this is an idea out of harmony with the whole representation, which ascribes the supremacy of the peoples named to their own violence or to the gifts of nature. It is just the point insisted on in all these chapters on the nations that their power was a self-exaltation and rebellion against Jehovah, and for this they perish by the sword and are doomed to eternal dishonour. It seems almost imperative to retain his terror, and alter the verb to the 3rd pers.—for he caused his terror … therefore he shall be laid, &c. So probably Targ., which paraphrases as in Ezekiel 32:23-26. Similarly Jer. in his Comm. on Ezek.; and so in copies of the Lat.