Ezekiel 29:1-16

Ezekiel 29-32. Oracle against Egypt. Next and last to be denounced is Egypt, the great rival of Babylon, and consequently the opponent of Yahweh's purpose. The separate oracles were written either not long before (Ezekiel 29:1) or not long after (Ezekiel 32:1) the fall of Jerusalem. An Egyptian army marched to the relief of the city during the siege (Jeremiah 37:5); probably Ezekiel 29:6 is a warning of the futility of this attempt, while Ezekiel 30:21 may definitely refer to its repulse by the Babylonians.

Ezekiel 29:1. The Fall and Restoration of Egypt. Pharaoh (who incarnates the genius of Egypt, cf. Ezekiel 28), Lord of the Nile, is compared to a crocodile (no unapt symbol of the clumsy strength of Egypt) caught and flung upon the wilderness (= the battlefield) to be devoured. This is the doom of his blasphemous pride (Ezekiel 29:3); Israel will have good reason to learn the folly of trusting Egypt (Ezekiel 29:1). (In Ezekiel 29:7 for shoulder read hand with LXX, and for to be at a stand read to shake.) The real meaning of the allegory is at once made plain in Ezekiel 29:8. A sword (Nebuchadrezzar's: cf. Ezekiel 30:10) will work havoc and desolation throughout the length of the land, from Migdol (which should be read instead of tower in Ezekiel 29:10) in the north-east, to Seveneh (now Assouan) in the extreme south. Egypt's desolation and exile are to last, like Judah's (Ezekiel 4:6) forty years: then she will be restored, but to a position of no political importance, so that Israel will be no more tempted to commit the sin of trusting her (Ezekiel 29:13). (Pathros in Ezekiel 29:14 = Upper Egypt.)