Ezekiel 29:1-16

Chapter Fourteen

THE ECLIPSE OF EGYPT
29:1-32:32

In the four Chapter s devoted to Egypt Ezekiel speaks seven words from the Lord. All but one of these words are given specific dating. Why such a large section devoted to this one heathen power? Because the affairs of tiny Judah were so intertwined with that of the superpowers of the sixth century. Egypt had been very much involved in encouraging Judah's final revolt against Babylon. The main point stressed by Ezekiel and the other Hebrew prophets is that the final destiny of Israel was in the hands of God, not the hands of human monarchs. Furthermore, the prophets dared to preach what was in their day a revolutionary doctrine: even the destiny of the superpowers was determined by God and God was Yahweh! Israel might be little; but Israel's God was great to the ends of the earth. Israel appeared to be only a pawn in the hands of political strategists; but Israel's God was powerful, and in reality those strategists were but pawns in His hand. Thus the oracles against Egypt and others like them were not merely designed to vent the frustrations and hostilities which Israel felt toward her neighbors. These oracles served to underscore vital points of theology the sovereignty, omniscience and omnipotence of Israel's God.
In Chapter s 29-32 ninety-seven verses are devoted to the fall of Egypt, more verses than are contained in I Peter, more than II Timothy and more than are in Paul's letter to the Colossians. With the exception of one paragraph these Chapter s were written during the years 587-585 B.C. The Chapter s follow a similar pattern: a general threat against Pharaoh under some allegorical designation; amplification of the general threat with regard to the instrument of punishment, the destruction of the country and the disposition of its inhabitants; a description of the effect which the fall of Egypt would have on other nations.

I. THE SINS OF EGYPT 29:1-16

TRANSLATION

(1) In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; (3) speak and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, the river is mine, and I myself made it. (4) And I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your rivers to cling to your scales; and I will bring you up from the midst of your rivers, and all the fish of your rivers will cling to your scales. (5) And I will cast you into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. Upon the face of the open field you will fall; you will not be gathered nor brought together. To the beasts of the land and the fowl of the heavens I have given you for food. (6) And all the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. (7) When anyone takes hold of you with the hand you broke and tore every shoulder;[438] and when they lean upon you, you broke and made all their loins stand up.[439] (8) Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I bring upon you a sword, and I will cut off from you man and beast. (9) And the land of Egypt shall become a desolation and a waste. Then shall they know that I am the LORD: because he has said, The river is mine, and I made it. (10) Therefore, behold I am against you and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from Migdol to Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. (11) No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, and it shall not be in habited forty years. (12) And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of lands that are desolate. And her cities in the midst of cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years; and I will scatter Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the lands. (13) For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. (14) And I will turn the fortunes of Egypt, and will cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin; and they shall be there a lowly people. (15) It shall be the lowliest of all kingdoms, and she shall not lift herself up again over the nations; and I will diminish them so that they shall no more rule over the nations. (16) And it shall never again be the confidence of the house of Israel bringing to remembrance iniquity, when they turned after them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

[438] Some manuscripts read hand

[439] NASB, quake; RSV, shake.

COMMENTS

The first word against Egypt is dated, according to the modern calendar, to January 7, 587 B.C. This was almost exactly a year after the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem began (cf. Ezekiel 24:1), and seven months earlier than the preceding oracle against Tyre (Ezekiel 29:1). This oracle emphasizes the pride of Egypt, and the desolation which God would bring on her for her arrogance.

Ezekiel was to set his face against Pharaoh[440] in a gesture of defiance (Ezekiel 29:2), and announce God's hostility toward him. Pharaoh is called the great dragon that dwells in the midst of the rivers. The reference is to the crocodile, and to the various branches of the Nile river in northern Egypt. The wealth and in fact the very existence of Egypt depended upon the Nile river. Like the prince of Tyre, Pharaoh regarded himself as more than human. He thought of himself as the creator of all the wealth and prosperity of Egypt. This is undoubtedly what he means when Pharaoh declares that he owns the river, and in fact had created it.

[440] The current Pharaoh was Hophra (Jeremiah 44:30), fourth king of the twenty-sixth dynasty who reigned 589-570 B.C

Pharaoh would fall prey to his enemies. Like a crocodile drug from the river by captors, so Pharaoh would be removed from his domain by his enemies. Along with all his people, allies and mercenaries (fish of the river which stick to your scales; Ezekiel 29:4). There on dry land the wilderness the crocodile and fish joined to it would die. No one would gather up the carcass of the crocodile for burial. The birds and beasts of prey would devour the remains (Ezekiel 29:5). In this demise of Pharaoh the Egyptians would recognize a divine judgment (Ezekiel 29:6 a).

Another metaphor for Egypt is introduced in Ezekiel 29:6. Egypt had proved itself to be a staff of reed[441] to the house of Israel. In Israel's moment of need, when Nebuchadnezzar was literally banging on the gates of Jerusalem, Egypt had failed to send effective aid. This is a clear allusion to the half-hearted assistance which Pharaoh Hophra offered in response to King Zedekiah's appeal for help (cf. Jeremiah 37:7). The Egyptian foray into Palestine brought only a temporary lull in the siege of the city. This most recent example of the unreliability of Egypt had occurred only six to eight months prior to this oracle, in the summer of 588 B.C. Once again Israel had found to be true through bitter experience what the prophets had emphasized in public exhortation. If one tried to make Egypt his crutch, he was destined for a fall. That crutch would break causing those who were dependent upon it to fall and dislocate their shoulder. They would then have to stand erect (make all their loins to stand erect), and carry their own weight (Ezekiel 29:7).

[441] Just over a century earlier an Assyrian officer gave Egypt a similar description a bruised reed.. which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it (Isaiah 36:6).

Because of Egypt's arrogance God would bring a sword upon that land, resulting in the destruction of man and beast (Ezekiel 29:8). The fertile land of Pharaoh would be left desolate and waste. Then what would become of the boast that he had made about owning and making the Nile! The gods of Egypt having been discredited, knowledgeable people would be forced to acknowledge the sovereignty of Yahweh (Ezekiel 29:9). God was about to assume an active role as the adversary of Egypt. He would lay waste the land from north to south (Migdol[442] to Syene[443]), even as far as the Ethiopian border (Ezekiel 29:10).

[442] Migdol (Tower) was a frontier fortress at the northeast border of Egypt (cf. Exodus 14:2; Jeremiah 44:1),

[443] Modern Aswan near the Ethiopian border.

The extreme desolation of Egypt as a result of the invading army is set forth in Ezekiel 29:11-12. Even animals would desert the land owing to the lack of pasture (Ezekiel 29:11). In comparison to other countries ravished by war Egypt would stand out as a most unfortunate land (desolate in the midst of countries that are desolate). Egyptian cities would be laid waste, i.e., in a ruinous condition and unpopulated for forty years. During that time the Egyptians would be scattered among the nations (Ezekiel 29:12).

The reference to the forty years of Egypt's desolation has occasioned lengthy discussion among the commentators. No evidence of mass deportation of Egyptians subsequent to the time of Ezekiel has yet come to light. However, it is known that Nebuchadnezzar made at least two invasions into Egypt. The Jewish historian Josephus tells of an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar five years after the fall of Jerusalem (582 B.C.). In this invasion the king of Egypt was killed. A fragmentary inscription from the archives of Nebuchadnezzar tells of an invasion of Egypt in the thirty-seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar (i.e., 568 B.C.). It appears that Nebuchadnezzar was aiming to cripple Egypt so as to prevent Pharaoh from ever again meddling in Syria-Palestine. Since it is known that deportations of captive peoples was a standard procedure employed by great empires of that time, one is certainly on safe ground in assuming that it was the Chaldean king who fulfilled the prediction that God would scatter the Egyptians among the nations.

Keil regards the forty years as a symbolic period the period denoted by God for punishment and penitence. However, it is best to regard the forty years as a definite historical epoch. The forty years of Egypt's desolation may be said to fall between 568 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land, and 530 B.C. In the latter year the Persians entered the land. It may have been they who initiated the policy of reconstruction in Egypt even as they encouraged reconstruction in Judaea (Ezekiel 29:13). However, positive evidence is lacking at this point.

God said through Ezekiel that He would turn the captivity of Egypt. After the forty years Egyptians would return into the land of Pathros, the southern part of the land known as Upper Egypt. This was the land of their origin, i.e., the area in which the Egyptian government first rose to prominence. But the restored Egypt would only be a shadow of the glorious kingdom which once graced the banks of the Nile (Ezekiel 29:14). No more would Egypt be able to dominate other peoples. Egypt would be inferior to all other nations (Ezekiel 29:15). No more would Egypt allure Israel into disastrous alliances. Israel would not repeat the great mistake of her past which was trusting in Egypt rather than in God, Israel in that future day would know assuredly that Yahweh is God (Ezekiel 29:16).