Ezekiel 30:17

The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity. AVEN - meaning vanity or iniquity; applied by a slight change of the Hebrew name, to On or Heliopolis, in allusion to its idolatry. Here stood the temple of the sun, whence it was called in Hebrew Beth-shemesh - i.e., 'the house of the sun' (). The Egyptian hieroglyphics call it 'Re Athom,' the sun, the father of the gods, being impersonate in Athom or Adam, the father of mankind. PHI-BESETH - i:e., Bubastis, in Lower Egypt, near the Pelusiac branch of the Nile: notorious for the worship of the goddess of the same name (Coptic, Pasht), the granite stones of whose temple still attest its former magnificence. The young men of ... shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity...

1-19 The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is very full. Those who take their lot with God's enemies, shall be with them in punishment. The king of Babylon and his army shall be instruments of this destruction. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another. No place in the land of Egypt shall escape the fury of the Chaldeans. The Lord is known by the judgments he executes. Yet these are only present effects of the Divine displeasure, not worthy of our fear, compared with the wrath to come, from which Jesus delivers his people....

Verse Ezekiel 30:17. _AVEN_] Or _On, the famous Heliopolis_, or city of the sun. _PIBESETH_] _Bubastum_ or _Bubaste_, by a slight alteration of the letters. It is situated on the eastern branch of the Nile, towards Arabia....

AVEN - The same as “On” Genesis 41:45, or “Heliopolis.” The word “Aven” means also “transgression” (compare Hosea 10:8). Some have thought that here too Ezekiel substituted the word “Aven” for “On” to mark the “sin” of idolatry there in full vogue. PI-BESETH - The Bubastis of Herodotus. The hieroglyphic name is “Pe-bast,” the house of Bast (the Egyptian Artemis, the cat-headed goddess). Bubastis was situated on the easternmost, the Pelusian, branch of the Delta. The road from Pelusium to Memphis lay through Bubastis and On. In the days of Herodotus Bubastis was the seat of one of the chief annual festivals of the Egyptians. The Persians took the town and razed the walls. The ruins bear the modern name Tel-Basta....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 30:1 THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME AGAIN, etc. The section that follows, ending with Ezekiel 30:18, is exceptional as standing without a date. It may be either (1) a continuation of the prophecy in Ezekiel 29:17, and so belong to the latest years of Ezekiel's work; or (2) that prophecy may be regarded as standing by itself—a parenthesis inserted at a later date, so that we go back to the earlier word of the Lord in Ezekiel 29:1. Jerome, Havernick, Hitzig, Rosenmüller, Kliefoth, and others are in favor of the former

THE YOUNG MEN OF AVEN AND OF PHIBESETH SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD,.... Aven is the same with On, of which Potipherah was priest in Joseph's time and whose daughter he married, Genesis 41:45, the same with Heliopolis, or Bethshemesh, the city of the sun, see Jeremiah 43:13, Jeremiah 43:13; where was the temple of the sun, and where it was worshipped; and so it is rendered by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions. It is called here "Aven", or "vanity", because of the vain and idolatrous worship here performed. Phibeseth is the Bubastis of Herodotus, and called by other writers Bubastus; hence there was a nome or province in Egypt called the Bubastic nome, mentioned by Ptolemy c, and others. In

Ezekiel 29-30. First Egypt's desolation is announced (Ezekiel 29:1). The king of Egypt addressed in this prophecy was Pharaoh-Hophra, called in Greek, Apries. He was the grandson of Pharaoh-Necho, who defeated King Josiah at Meggido 2 Chronicles 35:20. King Zedekiah of Judah expected help and relief from Pharaoh-Hophra, when Jerusalem was besieged. The Egyptian army under Hophra advanced through Phoenicia and forced the Chaldeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem Jeremiah 37:5. But the relief was only temporary, for the Egyptian army had to retire. The prophet Jeremiah announced also the doom of Hophra, associating it with Zedekiah's doom: “Thus saith the LORD, Behold I will give Pharaoh-Hophra, King of Egypt,

EZEKIEL 30. THE DESOLATION OF EGYPT. The interrupted denunciation of Egypt is resumed. The neighbours and allies will be involved in her ruin, which is to be effected by Nebuchadrezzar and his terrible army (Ezekiel 30:1). (In Ezekiel 30:5, for Put and Lud see Ezekiel 27:10: for mingled people read Arabians. For Cub, read Lub = Lybians; and for the next clause read the Cretans.) The collapse of Egypt is then described in detail, the towns which are singled out for special mention being all of religious, political, or military importance (Ezekiel 30:13). (In...

AVEN. On, or Heliopolis (Beth. shemesh, city or house of the Sun), north of Memphis. PI-BESETH. In some codices written as one word; in others as two words: _Pi_ being "the" in Coptic, and _Pasht_. the Egyptian goddess _Artemis_. Now _Tel Basta_, in the Delta, north of Memphis....

AVEN—PHIBESETH.— _Heliopolis—Bubastum._...