Chapter XXIX
Ver. 1-21. The Judgment on Egypt by Nebttchad-
nkk/.ait; though about to be be.st0bed after forty
Y:;a]i.s, it was still to he in a State of Degradation.
Tliis is the last of the world-kingdoms against which Ezekiel s prophecies are directed, and occupies the largest space in tlieiii, viz., the next four chapters. Though
farther off than Tyre, it exercised a more powerful influence on Israel. 3. Ptmraoli—a common name of all the kings of Egypt, meaning t/iesun; or, as others saj', a croc-
reft of the support wliich they looked for from tliee. s. a sword—Nebuchadnezzar's army {v. 19). Also Amasis and the Egyptian revolters who after Phai'aoh-hoplira's discomfiture in Cyrene dethroned and strangled him, Iiaving defeated him in a battle fought at Memphis. [Junius.] 9. I am the Lord—in antithesis to the lilnspliemous bo;ist repeated here from d. 3, "The river is mine, and I havemadeit." 10. from the tower of Syeiie.—iTHOTius translate.'i, " from Migdol (a fortress near Pelusium on the nortli of Suez) to Syene" (iii the farthest south); ?. e., from one end of Egypt to the other. So in cli. 30. R, M<ir-
odile., which was worshipped in parts of Egypt (cf. v. 3). Hophra or Apries was on the throne at this time. His
reign began prosperously. He took Gaza (Jeremiah 17. 1) and Zidou, and made himself master of Phoenicia and
Palestine, recovering much that was lost to Egypt by the victory of Nebucliadnezzar at Carchemish (2 Kings 21. 7; Jeremiah 16. 2), in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. [Wilkinson's Ancient Efjypt, 1. 109.] So proudly secure because
of his successes for twenty-five years did he feel, that he
Bald not even a god could deprive him of his kingdom. [Heuopotus, 2. 1G9.] Hence the appropriateness of tlie description of him in v. 3. No mere human sagacity could have enr.bled Ezekiel to foresee Egypt's downfall in the height of its prosperity. There are four divisions of these prophecies; the first in the tenth year of Ezekiel's cap-
ffin. However, Enrjlish Version rightly reH-rs Syene to Seveneh, i. e., S ^bennytus, in the east 'ru i1:>Km dT the Nile, the capital of the Lower Egyptian kin;,'s. The Selieanyto Pharaohs, with the help of the Canaaniles, wlio, as shep-
lierd^ or merch.ants, ranged the desert of Suez, extended their borders beyond the narrow province east of thedelta,
tivity; the last in the twelfth. Between the first and second comes one of much later date, not having been given till the twenty-seventh year (ch. 29. 17; 30. 19), but placed there as appropriate to the subject-matter. I'haraoh-hophra or Apries was dethroned and strangled, and Amasis substituted as king, by Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Jeremiah 44. 30). The Egyptian priests, from national vanity, made no mention to Herodotus of the Egyptian
to which they had been confined by the Pharaohs of Upper Egypt. The defeated party, in derision, named the Sebennyte or Lower Egyptians foreigners and shej>herd kings (a shepherd being an abomination in Egypt, Genesis
46. 31). They were really a native dynasty. Thus, in Eng-
lish Version, "Ethiopia" in tlie extreme south is rightly contrasted with Sebennytus or Syene in the north. 11. forty years—answering to the forty years in which the
Israelites, their former bondsmen, wandered in " the wilderness" {cf. Note, v.S). Jerome remarks the number
loss of territory in Syria through Nebuchadnezzar, of
v.'liich JoSEPHUS tells us, but attributed the change in the succession from Apries to Amasis solely to the Egyptian
forty \s. one often connected with afiSIiction and judgment. The rains of the flood in forty days brought destruction on the world. Moses, Ellas and the Saviour fasted forty days. The interval between Egypt's overthrow by Nebuchadnezzar, and the deliverance by Cyrus, was about forty years. The ideal forty years' wilderness state of so-
Boldiery. The civil war between the two rivals no doubt lasted several years, affording an opportunity to Nebuchadnezzar of interfering and of elevating the usurper Amasis, on condition of his becoming tributary to Baby-
lon. [Wilkinson.] Cf. Jeremiah 43. 10-12, and my note,
cial and political degradation, rather than a literal nonpassing of man or beast for that term, is mainlj' intended
V. 13, for another view of the grounds of interference of Nebuchadnezzar. 3. drngoii Hebrew, tanim, any large
a(iuatic animal, here the crocodile, which on Roman coins
(so ch. 4. 6; Isaiah 19. 2, 11). 13. As Israel passed through a term of wilderness discipline (cf. ch. 20. 35, &c.). wliich was in its essential features to be repeated again, so it was to be with Egypt. [Fairbaikn.] Some Egyptians were to be carried to Babylon, also many "scattered" in Arabia and Ethiopia through fear; but mainly the "scattering" was to be the dissipation of their poiver, even though the people still remained in their own land. 13. (Jeremiah 46. 26.) 14. Pathros—the Thebaid, or Upper Egypt, which had been especially harassed b.v Nebuchadnezzar (Nahum 3. 8, 10). The oldest part of Egypt as to civilization and art. The Thebaid was anciently called " Egypt" [Arlstotle]. Therefore it is called the " land of the Egyp-
is the emblem of Egypt. lletU—restest proudly secure, his rivers—the mouths, branches, and canals of the Nile,
to which Egypt owed its fertility. 3. hooks In thy jaws —^Isaiah 37. 29; cf. Job 41. 1, 2.) Amasis was the "hook." In tlie .Assyrian sculptures prisoners are represented with
a hook in the under lip, and a cord from it held by the king, cause . . . fish . . . stick unto . . . scales— Pharaoh, presuming on his power as if he were God (v. 3, "I have made it"), wished to stand in the stead of God as defender of the covenant people, his motive being, not love to them, but rivalry with Babylon. He raised the Biege of Jerusalem, but it was only for a time (ct.v. 6; Jeremiah 37. .5, 7-10); ruin overtook not only them, but him-
tians' birth" {Margin, tor "habitation"), base kiugtlom under Amasis it was made dependent on Babylon ; huiabled still more under Cambyses ; and though somewhat raised under the Ptolemies, never has it regained its ancient pre-eminence. 16. Egypt, when restored, shall be so circumscribed in power that it shall be no longer an
self. As the fish that clung to the horny scales of the crocodile, the lord of the Nile, when he was caught, shared his fate, so the adherents of Pharaoh, lord of Egypt, when he was overthrown by Amasis, should share his
fate. .5. wilderness—captivity beyond thy kingdom. The expression Is used perhaps to imply retribution in kind.
ol")ject of confidence to Israel, as formerly; e. g., as when, relying it, Israel broke faith with Nebuchadnezzar
A.s Egypt pursvied after Israel saying, "The wilderness hath sliut them In" (Exodus 14. 3), so herself shall be brought into a vnldervesa sinte. open^ fields—Ki., "face ni the field." not be brought together—as the crocodile
(ch. 17. 13, 1.5, 16). which brlngeth their Iniquity t4 remembrance, when they shall look after titem—r.ather, "while they (the Israelites) look to (or, turn after) them." [Henderson.] Israel's looking to Egypt, rather than to
Id cot, when caught, restored to the river, so no remnant
The Desolation of Egypt EZEKIEL XXX, XXXI. by (he A rm of Babylon.
capital of Middle Egypt, and the stronghold of "Idols." Tliough no record exists of Nebuchadnezzar's "<lcstroy-
God, causetU^their Iniquity (unfaithfulness to the cove-
u.'int) to be remembered by God. 17. Tlie departure from the chronological order occurs here only, among the prophecies as to foreign nations, in ordur to secure greater unity of sul)ject. 18. no wages . . , for the service i.e., in proj>ortion to it and the time and labour wliich lie expended on the siege of Tyre. Not tliat he actually failed in the siege (Jeiiome expressly states, from Assyrian his-
iiig" tliese, we know from Herodotus, &c., tlial Caiiibyses took PeJusium, the key of Egypt, by placing before his army dogs, cats, &c., ail held sacred in Egypt, so tliat nc Egyptian would use any weapon against ttiem. He slew Apis, tlic sacred ox, and burnt otlier idols of Egypt, no more a prince—referring to the anarcliy that prevailed in the civil wars lietween Apries and Aniasis at tlie liipe of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. Tliere shall no more be a prince of the land of Egypt, ruling the whole country;
tories, that Nebucliadnezzar succeeded); l)ut, so much of the Tyrian resources had been exliausted, or transported to her colonies in sliips, that little was left to compensate Nebuchadnezzar lor his thirteen years' siege, every head
or, no independent prince. H. Pathros—Upper Egypt,
witli "No" or Thebes its capital (famed for its stupendous buildings, of which grand ruins remain), in anlilliesis to Zoan or Tauis, a chief city in Lower Egypt, within the Delta. 15. Sin— ('. e., Pelusium, the frontier fortress on the
. . . bald . . . slioiUder . . . peeled—with carrying baskets of earth and stones for the siege-works. 19. miUtltiide—not as Faikbairn, " store ;" but, he shall take away a miUtilude of captives out of Egypt. The success of Nebuchadnezzar is implied in Tyre's receiving a king from Babylon, probably one of her captives there, Werbal. taUe tier soul . . . prey lit., "spoil her spoil, prey her prey," t. c, as she spoiled other nations, so shall she her-
iiortii-east, therefore called "the sti'engtli (i.e., tlie key) of Egypt." It stands in antithesis to No or Thebes at the opposite end of Egypt; i. e., I will afliict Egypt lri)iii one end to the other. 16. distresses daily Maurkr trans-
self be a spoil to Babylon. !J0. because they wrought for me—the Chaldeans, fulfilling my will as to Tyre (cf. Jeremiali 25. 9). !41. In the evil only, not in the good, was Egypt to be parallel to Israel. The very downfall of Egypt will be the signal for the rise of Israel, because of God's covenant with the latter. I cause tlie bom of , . . Israel to bud—(Psalm 132. 17.) J will cause its ancient glorj* to revive: an earnest of Israel's full glory under Messiali, the son of David (Luke 1. 69). Even in Babylon an earnest was given of tliis in Daniel (Daniel 6. 2) and Jeconiah (Jeremiah 52. 31). I will give thee . . . opening of
lates, " enemies during the day," i. e., open enemies wlio do not wait for the covert of night to make their attacks (cf. Jeremiah 6. 4; 15. 8). However, the Hebrew, though rarely,
is sometimes rendered (see Psalm 13. 2) as in English Ver-
sion. 17. Aven—meaning vanity or iniquity : applied, by a slight change of tiie Hebrew name, to On or Heliopolis, in allusion to its idolatry. Here stood the temple of the sun, wbence it was called in Hebrew, Beth-shernesh (Jeremiah 43.13). The Egyptian hieroglyphics call it "Be Atlioni," the sun, the father of tlie gods, being impersonate in Athorn or Adam, liie father of mankind. Pl-beseth — i. e., Bubastis, in Lower Egypt, near tiie PelUsiac brancli of the Nile: notorious for tlie worship of the goddess of the same name (Coptic, Pashl), the granite stones of whose temple still attest its former magnificence, these
. . . mouth—When thy predictions shall have come to pass, thy words henceforth shall be more heeded (cf. ch.
24. 27). CHAPTEE XXX.
cities—rather, as LXX., the women," viz., of Aven and Pi-beseth, in antitliesis to "the young men." in v.
Ver. 1-26. Continuation of the Prophecies against Egypt. Two distinct messages: (1.) From v. 1 to 19, a repetition of ch. 29. 1-16, with fuller details of lifelike distinctness. Tlie date is probably not long after that mentioned in ch. 29. 17 ; on the eve of Nebuchadnezzar's march against Egypt after subjugating Tyre. (2.) A vision relating directly to Pharaoh and the overthrow of his kingdom ; communicated at an earlier date, the seventli of the
IS, "daughters shall go into captivity." [Maurkr.] 18. Tehaplinelies—called from the queen of Egypt mentioned in 1 Kings 11. 19. Tlie same as Daphne, near Pelusium, a royal residence of the Pharaohs (Jeremiah 43. 7, 9). Called Hanes (Isaiali 30. 4). break. . . . the yokes of Egypt— i.e., the tyrannical supremacy wliich she exercised over other nations. Cf. " bands of tlieir yoke" (ch. 34. 7). a cloud
first month of the eleventh year. Not a year after the date in ch. 29. 1, and three months before the taking of Jerusalem by Nebucliadnezzar. 3. Woe worth the day !
viz., of calamity, ao. Here begins the earlier vision, not long after that in ch. 29., about three months before the taking of Jerusalem, as to Pharaoh and his kingdom, iil. broken . . . arm of Pharaoh—(Psalm 37. 17; Jeremiah 48.
i.e., Alas for the day! 3. the time of the Heathen viz., for taking vengeance on them. Tlie judgment on Egypt
2.5.) Referring to the defeat which Pharaoh-hophra sustained from the Clialdeaus, when trying to raise the siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37.5, 7); and previously to the deprivation of Pharaoli-nec^ho of all his conquests from tlie river of Egypt to the Euphrates (2 Kings 24.7; Jeremiali
Is tlie Ijeginning of a world-wide judgment on all the heathen enemies of God (Joel 1. 15; 2. 1, 2; 3. ; Obadiali 15). i. pain— lit., pang^ with trembling as of a woman in child-
bit th. 5. the mingled people—the mercenary troops of Egypt from various lands, mostly from the Interior of Africa (cf. ch. 27. 10; Jeremiah 25. 20, 21; 46. 9, 21). Chub— the people named Kiifa on the monuments [Haveknick], a people cousideralily north of Palestine [Wilkinson];
46.2); also to the Egyptian disaster in C.vrene. arms —not only the "one arm" broken already (v. 21) was not to be healed, but the other two sliould be broken. Not a corporal wound, but a breaking of the power of Pliaraoli is intended, cause . . . sword to fall out of . . . hand—deprive him of tlie resourcesof making war.
Cobo, or Cliobal, a city of Mauritania. [Maurkr.] men of the innd that is in league—too definite an expression to mean merely, men in league with Egypt; rather, "sons of the land of the covenant," i. e., the Jews who migrated to Egypt and carried Jeremiah with them (Jeremiah 42.-H). Even they shall not escape (Jeremiah 42.22; 44.14). 6. from tlie tower of Syene—(see Note, ch. 29. 10.) 7. In the midst of . . . countries . . . desolate—Egypt shall fare no belter than tliey (cli. 29. 10). 0. messengers ... in ships to . . . Kthioplans (Isaiah 18.1,2.) The cataracts interposing between tliem and Egypt should not save them. Egyptians "fleeing from before me" in my execution of judgment, as "messengers" in "skiffs" ("vessels of bulruslies," Isaiah 18. 2) shall go up the Nile as far as navigable, to announce the advance of tlie Chaldeans, as in the day of Egypt—The day of Ethiopia's " p^n" shall come shortly, as Egypt's day came. 10. the multitude the'largc population. I'i. rivers — the artificial canals made from tlie Nile for irrigation. The drying up of tliese would cause scarcity of grain, and so prepare tlie way for the invaders (Isaiah 19. 5-10). 13. Noph—Memphis, the 604