Ezekiel 32:1-16

VI. DIRGE OVER PHARAOH 32:1-16

TRANSLATION

(1) And it Came to Pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, lift up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, You likened yourself to a young lion of the nations, but you are like a crocodile in the seas, and you burst forth in your rivers, and you troubled the waters with your feet and you polluted their rivers. (3) Thus says the Lord GOD: I will spread out over you My net with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in My net. (4) And I will leave you in the land, upon the field I will cast you forth, and I will cause all the birds of the heaven to remain upon you, and I will fill the beasts of all the earth with you. (5) And I will put your flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height. (6) And I will water the land where you swim with your blood even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of you. (7) When you are extinguished I will cover the heavens, and I will make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. (8) All the light bearing bodies in the heavens I will make dark over you, and set darkness over your land (oracle of the Lord GOD. (9) And I will provoke the heart of many people, when I bring your destruction among the nations, unto countries which you have not known. (10) And I will make many people astonished concerning you, and their kings shall be horrified on account of you when I shall unsheath My sword before them; and they shall tremble al every moment, each man for his life, in the day of your fall. (11) For thus says the Lord GOD: the sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. (12) By the swords of the mighty I will cause your multitude to fall: the most ruthless of the nations are all of them: and they shall spoil the pride of Egypt. and all her multitude shall be destroyed. (13) And I will destroy all her cattle from beside many waters; and the foot of man shall not trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of cattle trouble them. (14) Then I will make their waters to settle, and their rivers I will cause to go as oil (oracle of the Lord GOD). (15) When I make the land of Egypt a desolation and waste, a land devoid of fullness, when I smite all the inhabitants in it, then shall they know that I am the LORD. (16) With this lamentation shall they lament over it; the daughters of the nations shall lament over her; on account of Egypt and all her multitude they shall lament her (oracle of the Lord GOD).

COMMENTS

The last oracle against Egypt is dated about a year and a half after the fall of Jerusalem. The date, according to the modern calendar would be March 4, 585 B.C.12 (Ezekiel 32:1). The prophet is told to take up a lamentation a prophetic doom-song over Pharaoh.

Pharaoh fancied himself to be like a lion roaming among the nations striking fear into all who saw him. In reality Pharaoh was more like a crocodile (see on Ezekiel 29:3) whose movement was restricted to the waters. Occasionally Egypt's army would burst forth from his waters, i.e., venture forth beyond the national frontiers. Moving into yet other rivers the Egyptian crocodile would thrash about, churning up the waters and befouling them (Ezekiel 32:2).

God had decreed the end of the disruptive crocodile. He would spread out His net to capture and immobilize the vicious beast. A company of many people Babylon and her allies would assist in drawing up that divine net (Ezekiel 32:3). The crocodile would be cast upon dry land out of his natural habitat. Thus his doom would be sealed. The birds of prey and beasts of the field would take their fill of him (Ezekiel 32:4). The mountains and valleys would be filled with the long carcass of the crocodile

12. Some confusion exists in the ancient versions on the date Of this oracle. Some ancient scribes, determined to keep the oracles in Ezekiel in chronological order, amended the Hebrew text to read eleventh year and twelfth month. Others retained the reading twelfth year but altered the month to read tenth month. The reading of the standard Hebrew text is not to be surrendered. (Ezekiel 32:5). The blood of the beast would saturate the land and fill the rivlets (Ezekiel 32:6).

A second figure depicts the demise of Egypt. The once bright star (Egypt) would be extinguished. This day of divine judgment is depicted as a day of darkness. The sun, moon and stars would refuse to give their light (Ezekiel 32:7-8). Such passages are not to be interpreted literally, but rather are the traditional way of depicting the fall of a great nation.[449]

[449] See Isaiah 13:10; Joel 2:10: Amos 8:9

Many other nations including some unknown to Egypt would be terrified by the news of the destruction of that empire (Ezekiel 32:9). Other kings would tremble before the sword of God the agent of God's judgment upon the world (Ezekiel 32:10).

The agent of God's judgment on the sixth century world was Babylon (Ezekiel 32:11). The Babylonians are called the mighty, the ruthless of the nations (cf. Ezekiel 28:7). The pride of Egypt, all the multitude of her population, would be spoiled by the northern invaders (Ezekiel 32:12). Even the cattle that fed along the banks of the Nile and its canals would be destroyed. Neither man nor beast would befoul the waters of the land anymore, for the land would be temporarily desolate (Ezekiel 32:13). The undisturbed waters would flow as smoothly as a river of oil (Ezekiel 32:14). The desolation with which God would smite Egypt would cause men to recognize His sovereignty (Ezekiel 32:15). This section closes as it began, with emphasis being placed on the nature of the oracle. It is a lament which the daughter of the nations the professional mourners would take up over Egypt (Ezekiel 32:16).