Ezekiel
Ezekiel 29
1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3Speak and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says:
6“ ‘ “All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke, and paralyzed all of their thighs.”
8“ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you. 9The land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.
“ ‘ “Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it;’ 10therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers. I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia. 11No foot of man will pass through it, nor will any animal foot pass through it. It won’t be inhabited for forty years. 12I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities among the cities that are laid waste will be a desolation forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.”
13“ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered. 14I will reverse the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth. They will be a lowly kingdom, there. 15It will be the lowest of the kingdoms. It won’t lift itself up above the nations any more. I will diminish them, so that they will no longer rule over the nations. 16It will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.” ’ ”
17It came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 18“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. 19Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off her multitude, take her plunder, and take her prey. That will be the wages for his army. 20I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he served, because they worked for me,’ says the Lord Yahweh.
21“In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”
Commentary
No commentary on this chapter yet.
What others are saying
5 commentators · 58 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry3
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
Here is, I. The date of this prophecy against Egypt. It was in the tenth year of the captivity, and yet it is placed after the prophecy against Tyre, which was delivered in the eleventh year, because, in the accomplishment of the prophecies, the destruction…
This explains the foregoing prediction, which was figurative, and looks something further. Here is a prophecy, I. Of the ruin of Egypt. The threatening of this is very full and particular; and the sin for which this ruin shall be brought upon them is their…
The date of this prophecy is observable; it was in the twenty-seventh year of Ezekiel's captivity, sixteen years after the prophecy in the former part of the chapter, and almost as long after those which follow in the next chapters; but it comes in here for…
John Gill21
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month,.... In the tenth year Jeconiah's captivity, and Zedekiah's reign. The Septuagint version has it, the twelfth year; and the Arabic version, the twelfth month; and the Septuagint version…
Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Pharaoh was a name common to all the kings of Egypt; the name of this king was Pharaohhophra, Jeremiah 44:30, and who, by Herodotus (x), is called Apries: and prophesy against him, and against all…
Speak, and say, thus saith the Lord God,.... The one only, living, and true God, the almighty, eternal, and unchangeable Jehovah, which the gods of Egypt were not: behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt; who, though so great a king, was not a match…
Adam Clarke14
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
In the tenth year - Of Zedekiah; and tenth of the captivity of Jeconiah. The ten month, in the twelfth day of the month - Answering to Monday, the first of February, A.M. 3415.
Set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt - This was Pharaoh-hophra or Pharaoh-apries, whom we have so frequently met with in the prophecies of Jeremiah, and much of whose history has been given in the notes.
The great dragon - התנים hattannim should here be translated crocodile, as that is a real animal, and numerous in the Nile; whereas the dragon is wholly fabulous. The original signifies any large animal. The midst of his rivers - This refers to the several…
Keil & Delitzsch2
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The Judgment upon Pharaoh and His People and Land Because Pharaoh looks upon himself as the creator of his kingdom and of his might, he is to be destroyed with his men of war (Eze 29:2-5). In order that Israel may no longer put its trust in the fragile power…
Conquest and Plundering of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar Eze 29:17. In the seven and twentieth year, in the first (moon), on the first of the moon, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 29:18. Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has made his army…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown18
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
dragon--Hebrew, tanim, any large aquatic animal, here the crocodile, which on Roman coins is the emblem of Egypt. lieth--restest proudly secure. his rivers--the mouths, branches, and canals of the Nile, to which Egypt owed its fertility.
hooks in thy jaws-- (Isa 37:29; compare Job 41:1-2). Amasis was the "hook." In the Assyrian sculptures prisoners are represented with a hook in the underlip, and a cord from it held by the king. cause . . . fish . . . stick unto . . . scales--Pharaoh…
wilderness--captivity beyond thy kingdom. The expression is used perhaps to imply retribution in kind. As Egypt pursued after Israel, saying, "The wilderness hath shut them in" (Exo 14:3), so she herself shall be brought into a wilderness state. open…
World English Bible — Public domain