Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Go(r& Judgment on the King of Tyre, EZEKIEL XXVIII. Judgment of Zldon, and Israel Reslored.
custom dues levied on the wares. 34. In tlie time -wlieii
The nine precious stones here mentioned answer to nlnu of the twelve (representing the twelve tril)es) in the liigh priest's breastplate (Exodus 31). 10-13; Revelation 21. li, 19-. . . sSkalt . .» sliall—iVoio tliat thou a?< broken (wrecked),
&('., t.liy merchandise, &c.,are fallen. [Mauker.] 35. Isles —sea-coasts. 36. Uiss—with astonishment; as in 1 Kings
21). Of the four rows of three in ea(-h, the third is omitted in the Jfcbrcw, but is supplied in the LXX. In this, too, tdcre is an ulterior reference to Antichrist, who is blasphemously Lo arrogate the office of our Divine High J'riest (Zechariah 0. 13). tabrets—tambourines, pipea—lit., lioltB in musical j)ipes or flutes, created i. c., in the auy of tfune accession to tlie tlirone. Tanibournies and all tjia marks of j{iy w re ready prepared lor thee ("in thee,'' i. p. with and tor 'hee). Tliou hadst not, like others, to worU thy way to the throne through arduous sti uggles. No sooner created than, like Adam, thou wast surrounded with tlie gratifications of Eden. Fairbairn, for "pipes," translates, "females" (having reference to Genesis 1. 27.),
9. 8. CHAPTER XXVIII.
Vcr. 1-26. I'KOl'HETICAL DiKGE ON THE KiNQ OF TYRE, AS vuE Culmination and Embodiment op the Spirit
OS' CaHNAL Pr) UE and HELF-SUrFICIENCY OF THE WHOI.E Statu. The Fall of Zidon, the Mother-city. The Bestoration of Israel in contrast with Tyre and Zidon. 2. Ilecanse, &c.—Repeated resumptively in v. 6; the apodosis begins at d. 7. "The prince of Tyrus" at the time was Ithobiil, or Xtlibaal II.; the name implying his close couuection with Baal, the Phcenician supreme god, whose representative he was. I am . . . god, I sit in . . .
f. e., musician-women. Mauukr explains the Jlebrew not as to mu.sic, but as to the setting and mounting of the genvs previously mentioned. 14. anointed clterub—Gi-SKNiL'S translates from an Aramaic root, "extended cherub." English W'Tsion, from a Hebrew root, is better. "The cherub consecrated to the Lord by the anointing oil." [F'airbairn.] covtrctli — Tlie imagery employed by Ezekiel as a priest is from the Jewish temple, wherein the cherubim overshadowed the mercy-seat, as the king of Tj-re, a demi-god in his own esteen, extended hir. protection over tlie interests of Tyre. The cherub—an ideal compound of the higliest kinds of animal existence, and the type of redeemed man in liis ultimate state of perfection—is made tlie image of the king of Tyre, as if the beau ideal of humanity. The pretensions of Antichrist are the ulterior reference, of whom the king of Tyre is a type. Of. "As God ... in the temple of God" (2 Thessalonians 2. 4). I Have set tliee—not tliou set thj-self (Proverbs 8. 16; Romans 13. I), upon tlie Jioly mountain of God—Zion; following up the image, in . . . midst of stones of fire—in ambitious imagination he stood in the place of God, "under whose feet was as it were a pavement of sapphire," whilst His glory was like "devouring
Beail of (Jod . . . the seas—As God sits enthroned in His heavenly citadel exempt from all injury, so I sit secure in my i)npregnat)le stronghold amidst the stormiest elemi nts, able to control them at will, and make tliem subserve my interests. Tlie language, though primarily here apjilied to tlie king of Tyre, as similar language is to the king of Babylon (Isaiah II. 13, 14), yet has an ulterior and lnll( r a;'co)np Iish)nent in Satan and his embodiment in Antichrist (Daniel 7. 2.5; 11. 36, 37; 2 Thessalonians 2. 4; Revi laiion 13. 6). This feeling of superhuman elevation in the king ol Tyre was fostered by the fact that the island on wi'.icli Tyre stood was called "the holy island" [Banco xia'iiion], being sacred to Hercules, so much so that the colonii-s looked up to Tyre as tlie mother-city of their religion, as well as of their political existence. The Hebrew for "God" is El, i. e., the Mighty One. yet, Ac.—keen irony, set tliiiie Jieart as . . . Iteart of Go«l—Thou tliinlcfst of thyself as if thou wert God. 3. Ezekiel iro\ii'-any alludi s to Ithbaal's overweening opinion of tlie wisdom of himself and the Tyrians, as though superior to that of Daniel, whose fame had reached even Tyre as eclipsing tlie Chaldean sages. "Thou art wiser," vt2., in thy own opinion (Zechariah 9. 2). no secret—i'i2., forgetting riches (,r. 4). tliat tUey can Itlde i. e., that can be hidden. 5. 'Psalm 02. 10.) 6. Because, &c.—resumptive of v. 2. 7. tlieiefore—apodosis. strangers . . . terrible of tUe nations— the Chaldean foreigners noted for their ferocity (ch.
fire" (Exodus 24. 10, 17). 15. perfect—prosperous [GroTius], and having no defect. So Hiram was a sample of the Tyrian monarch in his early days of wisdom and prosperity (1 Kings 5. 7, iSc). till ini<nuity ... in tliee like the primeval man thou hast fallen by abusing God's
30. il; ol. 12). against the beanty of tliy wisdom—j. p., against thy beautiful possessions acquired by tliy wisdom on which thou so pridest thyself (u. 3-5). defile tUy briglitness—obscure the briglitness of thy kingdom. 8. tine i>it gifts, and so hast provoked God's wratli. IG. filled tlie midst of thee—». c., they have filled the midst of tlie city he as the head of the state being involved in the guilt of tlie state, w'liich he did not check, but fostered, cast tliee as profane-no longer treated as sacred, but driven out of the place of sanctity (see v. 14) which thou hast occupied i.e., the bottom of the sea; the image being that of one conquered in a sea-fight, tlie deaths—piura?, as varioiis kinds of dentils are meant (Jeremiah 16. 4). of titein
(cf. Psalm 89. 39). IT. Iirlglituess—thy splendour, lay tiiee before Ulngs—as an example of God's wrath against presumptuous pride. 18. tliy sanctuaries—t. e., the holy places, attributed to the king of Tyre in v. 14, as his ideal position. As he "profaned" it, so God will "profane" him (u. 10). fire . . . devour—as he abused his supposed elevation amidst " the stones of fire" (?;. 16), so God will make His "fire" to "devour" him. ai. Zidon—famous for its fishery (from a root, Zud, " to fish") ; and afterwards for its wide-extended commerce; its artistic elegance was proverbial. P'ounded by Canaan's first-born (Genesis 10,. . . slain lit., pierced through. Such deaths as those, pierced with many wounds die. 9. yet say i. e., still saj-; referring to v. 2. but, &c.—but thy blasphemous boastings shall be falsified, and thou shalt be shown to be but man, and not God, in the hand (at the mercy) of Him, Ac. 10. deitt Jis of . . . uncircnmcised i. e., such a death as the uncircumcised or godless heathen deserve; and perhaps, also, such as the uncircumci.sed inflict, a great ignominy in the eyes of a Jew (1 Samuel 31. 4) ; a fit retribution on him who had scoffed at the circumcised Jews. 13. eenlest up tl»e snm—lit., "Thou art the one sealing the sum of perfection." A thing is sealed when completed (Daniel i). 21). "The sum" implies the full measure of
I.)). Tyre was an offshoot from it, so that it was involved in the same overthrow by the Chaldeans as Tyre. It is mentioned separately, because its idolatry (Aslitaroth, Tamniuz or Adonis) infected Israel more than that of Tyre did (ch. 8. ; Judges 10. 6 ; 1 Kings II. 3A). The notorious Jezebel w;is a daughter of the Zidonian king, sliail be sanvtilied in lier—when all nations shall see that I am the Holy .fudge in the vengeance that I will inflict on her bciiiilj/, from a Hebrew root, "to measure." The normal man—one formed after accurate rule. 13. in £den—the king of Tyre is represented in his former high state (contrasted with his subsequent downfall), under images drawn from the primeval man in Eden, the type of liuuianity in its most God-like form, garden of God the model of ideal loveliness (ch. 31. 8, 9; 30. 35). In the person of the king of Tyre a new trial was made of humanity with the greatest earthly advantages. But as in the case of Adam the good gifts of God were only turned Into ministers to pride and self, every precious stone so in Eden (Genesis 2. 12), "gold, bdellium, and the onyx tone." So the king of Tyre was arrayed In jcwel-beipauglcd robes after the fashion of Oriental monarchs.
for sin. no more . . . brier . . . luito . . . Israel— as tlie idolatrous nations left in Canaan (among which Zidon is expressly specified in the limits of Asher, Judges
I. 31) had been (Numbers 33. 53; Joshua 23. 13). "A brier," first ensnaring the Israelites in sin, and then l)eing made the instrument of punishing them, pricking—W., "causing bitlerness." The same Hebrew is translated, "fretting" (Leviticus 13. 51, 52). The wicked are often called " thorns" (2 Samuel 23. U). 85, :40. Fullilled in yart
G02
The Judijinent of Pharaoh. EZEKIEL XXIX. Tlie Rtsloration of Egypt.
of thy routed army shall be brought together, and rallied, after its defeat in the wilderness. Pharaoh* led an army against Cyrene in Africa, in support of Aricranes, who had been stripped of his kingdom by the Cyrenians. The army perished and Egypt relielled against hiui. [Junius.] But the reference is m.ainly to the defeat by Nel_)uchadnezzar. beasts . . . fowls—hostile and savage men. 6. stair of reed to . . , Israel—alluding to the reeds on the banks of the Nile, on which if one leaned they broke (Note,v.i\ Isaiah 36. 6). All Israel's dependence on Egj'pt proved hurtful instead of beneficial (Isaiali 30. 1-5). 7. Itand—or /lojidie of the reed, rend . . . sliouidi-i'—Ijy the splinters on which the shoulder or arm would fall, on the support failing the hand, madest . . . l4>i»3 ... at a stand i. e., made them to be disabled. Maurrr somewhat similarly (referring to a kindred Arabic form ), " TI)i)U hast stricken both their loins." Faiubaiun, not so Avcll, "Thou lettest all their loins stand," /. e., b;; thcin:<elvc>s, beal tlio restoration from Babylon, when Judaism, so far from being merged in heathenism, made Inroads by conversions on the idolatry of surrounding nations. The full accomplishment Is yet future, when Israel, under
Christ, shall be the centre of Christendom; of which an titrnest was given in the woman from the coasts of Tyre
Buii ,Si:lon who sought the Saviour (Matthew lo. 21, 21, 26-
28; cf. Isaiah 11. 12). dwell safely—(Jeremiah 23. 6.)
CHAPTER XXIX.
Ver. 1-21. The Judgment on Egypt by Nebttchadnkk/.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 crocreft 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<irodile., 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 capffin. 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 sheplierd 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 English 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 Babylon. [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 Egypis 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 himtians' 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, causet Utheir Iniquity (unfaithfulness to the coveu.'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 hisiiig" 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 . . . slioi Uder . . . peeled—with carrying baskets of earth and stones for the siege-works. 19. mi Utltiide—not as Faikbairn, " store ;" but, he shall take away a mi Utilude 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 heriiortii-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 transself 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 Version. 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-necho 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 childbit 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 " pn" 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
CHAPTER XXXI.
Ver. 1-18. The Overthrow of Egypt Illustrated by THAT OF Assyria. Not that Egypt was, like Assyria, utterly to cease to be, but it was, like Assyria, to lose its prominence in the empire of tlie world. 1. third month —two months later than the prophecy delivered in ch. 30.
21,. !4. Wliom art thou like—the answer is, Thou art like the haughty king of Assyria; as he was overtlirown by tlie Chaldeans, so shalt thou be by the same. 3. He Illustrates the pride and the consequent overthrow of the Assyrian, that Egypt may the better know what slie must expect, cedar In Lebanon—often eighty feet liigb, and the diameter of the space covered by its boughs still greater: the symmetry perfect. Cf. the similar imai;e (<-h.
17. 3; Daniel 4. 20-22). with a shadowing shroud— with ail overshadowing tliicket. top . . . among . . . thick boughs—rather [Hengstknberg], "among tlie clouds."
XXXII. A Lamentation J or the Fall of Egypt.
r/i« Greatness and Fall of Assyria. EZEKIEL
Pharaoh—Phaiaoh's end shall be the same humiliating one as I have depicted the Assyrian's to - have been. "This" is demonstrative, as if he were pointing with the finger to Pharaoh lying prostrate, a spectacle to all, as on the shore of the Red Sea (Exodus 14. 30, 31).
But English Version agrees better with the Hebrew. The top, or topmnst shoot, represents the king; the thick boughs, the large resources of the empire. 4. waters . . . little rivers—the Tigris with its branches and rivulets, or conauil.': for Irrigation, the source of Assyria's fertility. " The deep" is the ever-flowing water, never dry. Metaphori-
CHAPTER XXXII.
cally, for Assyria's resources, as the "conduits" are her colonies. 5. when lie shot forth—because of the abundant moisture which nourished him in shooting forth. But see Margin. 6. fowls . . . made . . . nests In . . . bonghs—so ch. 17. 23; Daniel 4. 12. The gospel-kingdom
Ver. 1-32. Two Ei/EOies over Pharaoh, one Delivered ON THE First Day (v. 1), the other on the Fifteenth Day of the same Month, the Twelfth of the Twelfth Year. 1. The twelfth year from the carrying away of Jehoiachln; Jerusalem was by this time overthrown, and Amasis was beginning his revolt against Pharaoh-hophra. 3. Pharaoh 2^hra in Burmah, signishall gather all under its covert, for their good and for the glory of God, which the world-kingdoms did for evil and for self-aggrandizement (Matthew 13.32). 8. cedars . . . conld not hide him—could not outtop him. No other king eclipsed him. garden of God—as in the case of Tyre (ch. 28. 13), the imagery, that is applied to the Assyrian king, is taken from Eden ; peculiarly appropriate, fies the king, high priest, and idol, wliale—rather, any monster of the waters; here, the crocodile of the Niles. Pharaoh is as a lion on dry land, a crocodile in the waters; i.
e., an object of terror everywhere, camest forth with thy rivers—"breakest forth." [Fairbairn.] The antithesis of "seas" and "rivers" favours Grotius' renderas Eden was watered by rivers that afterwards watered Assyria (Genesis 2. 10-14). This cedar seemed to revive in
Itself all the glories of paradise, so that no tree there outtopped it. were not like—were not comparable to. 9.1 made him—It was all due to my free grace. 10. thou . . . he—the change of persons is because the language refers partly to the cedar, partly to the person signified by the cedar. 11. Here the literal supersedes the figurative, shall surely deal with him-according to his own pleasure, and according to the Assyrian's (Sardanapalus) ing, " Thou camest forth from the sea into the rivers ;" i. e., from thy own empire into other states. However, E7iglish Version is favoured by the "tliy:" thou camest forth with thy rivers (t. e., with thy forces) and with tliy leet didst fall Irrecoverably; so Israel, once desolate, trouble the waters (t. e., neighbouring states). 3. with a company of many people mz., the Chaldeans (ch. 29. 3, 4
Hosea 7. 12). my net—for they are my instrument. leave thee upon the land—as a fish drawn out of the water loses all its strength, so Pharaoh (in v. 3, compared to a water monster) shall be (ch. 29. 5). 5. tiny Iieight thy hugeness. [Fairbairn.] The great heap of corpses of thy forces, on which thou pridest thyself. " Height" may refer to mental elevation, as well as bodily. [VatabLUS.] 6. land wherein thou swimmest—Egypt: the land watered by the Nile, the source of its fertility, w?ie)-ein thou swimmest (carrying on the image of the crocodile, i.
desert. Nebuchadnezzar is called " The mighty one" (El, a name of God), because he was God's representative and Instrument of judgment (Daniel 2. 37, 38). 13. from his shadow under which they had formerly dwelt as their covert (v. 6). 13. Birds and beasts shall Insult over his fallen trunk. 14. trees hy the waters i. e., that are plentifully supplied by the waters : nations abounding in resources, stand up In their height i. e., trust in their height: stand upon it as their ground of confidence. Fairbairn points the Hebrew difl Terently.so as for "their e., wherein thou dost exercise thy wanton power at will). Irony. The land shall still af Tord seas to swim in, but they shall be seas of blood. Alluding to the plague (Exodus trees," to translate, "(And that none that drink water may stand) on themselves, (because of their greatness)." But the usual reading is better, as Assyria and the confederate states throughout are compared to strong trees. The clause, "All that drink water," marks the gi-ound of the trees' confidence " in their height," viz., that they have ample sources of supply. Maurer, retaining the same Helrrew, translates, " that neither their terebinth trees may stand up in tlieir height, nor all (the other trees) that drink water." to . . . nether . . . earth . . . pit— (Ch. 32. 18; Psalm 82. 7.) 15. covered the deep—as mourners cover their heads in token of mourning, "I made the deep that watered the cedar" to wrap itself in mourning
7. 19 ; Revelation 8. 8). Havbbnick translates, " I will water the land with what flows from thee, even thy blood, reaching to the mountains:" "with thy blood overflowing even to the mountains." Perhaps this is better. 7. put thee out—extinguish thy light (Job 18. 5). Pharaoh is represented as a bright star, at the extinguishing of whose light in the political sky the whole heavenly host are shrouded in sympathetic darkness. Here, too, as in v. 6, there is an allusion to the supernatural darkness sent formerly (Exodus 10. 21-23). The heavenly bodies are often made Images of earthly dynasties (Isaiah 13. 10 ; Matthew 24. 29). 9. thy destruction i. e., tidings of thy destruction (lit., thy breakage) carried by captive and dispersed Egyptians "among the nations" [Grotius]; or, thy broken people, resembling one great fracture, the ruins of what they had been. [Fairbairn.] %10. brandish . . . sword before them—it«., in their faces, or sight. 13. (See Note on ch. 29.
for him. The waters of the deep are the tributary peoples of Assyria (Revelation 17. 15). fainted lit., were faintness
(itself); more forcible than the verb. 16. hell—Sheol or Hades, the unseen world: equivalent to, "I cast him into oblivion" (cf. Isaiah 14. 9-11). shall be comforted—because so great a king as the Assyrian is brought down to a level with them. It is a kind of consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery. 17. his arm, that dwelt under his shadow—those who were the helpers or tool of his tyranny, and therefort; enjoyed his protection (e. g., Syria and her neighbours). These were sure to share her
11.) The picture is ideally true, not to be interpreted by the letter. The political ascendency of Egypt was to cease with the Chaldean conquest. [Fairbaikn.J Henceforth Pharaoh must figuratively uo longer trouble the waters by man or beast, i. e., no longer was he to flood other peoples with his overwhelming.forces. 14:. make their waters deep—rather, "make ... to subside;" lit., sink. [Fairbairn.] like oil—emblem of quietness. No long«'r shall they descend violently as the overflowing Nile on other countries, but shall be still and sluggish in political action. 16. As in ch. 19. 14. This Is a prophetical lamentation ; yet so It shall come to pass. [Grotius.] 17. The second lamentation for Pharaoh. This funeral dirge in imagination accompanies him to the unseen world. Egypt personified la Us political head Is ideally represented as undergoing tlie change by'death to "which man is liable. Expressing that Egypt's supremacy is nomore, a thingof the past, never to be again, the month—the twelfth month {v. 1) ; fourteen days after the former vision. 18. cast them down—f. e., predict that they shall be costdoivji (so Jeiemiah 1. 10). The fate. Cf. the same phrase as to the Jews living under the protection of their king (Lamentations 4. 20); both alike "making flesh their arm, and in heart departing from the Lord" (Jeremiah 17. 5). 18. Application of the parabolic description of Assyria to the parallel case of Egypt. "All that has been said of the Assyrian consider as said to thyself. To wliom art thou so like, as thou art to the Assyrian 7 To none." The lesson on a gigantic scale of Edenllbe privileges abused to pride and sin by the Assyrian, B8 lu the ciise of the first man in Eden, ending in ruin, was to be repeated in Egypt's case. For the unchangeable God governs the world on the same unchangeable principles, thou Shalt lie In . . . unclrcumclscd—As circumcision was an object of mocking to thee, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, slain by their sword.
[OHO(rii;s.I Retribution in kind (ch. 28. 10.) This Is
Jiabylon shall Destroy Egypt. EZEKIEL XXXIII. The Duty of Ezehiel as Walchmom.
e. g., under Pharaoh-necho on Judea. As " the land of th« living" was the scene of "their terror," so it sliall be God's; especially in Judea He will display Ills glory to the terror of Israel's foes (ch. 26. 20). In Israel's case the judgment is temporary, ending in their future restoration prophet's word was God's, and carried with it Its own ful-
daugliters of . . . i»i«tlons i. e., the nations with tfieir peoples. Egypt's to share the fate of oilier ancient nations once famous, now consigned to oblivion : Elain
(V. 21). Meshech, &c. (v. 20), Edoni (v. 29), Zidon (v. 30). 19. AVlioiii dost tlliou pass in beauty 1—Beautiful as thou under Messiah. In the case of the world-kingdoms wliich flourished for a time, they fail to rise no more.
art, thou art not more so than other nations, which nevertheless have perislied. go down, &c. — to the nether world, where all " beauty'" is speedily marred. 30. slie is delivered to tlic sword viz., by God. draw Uer—as if addressing her e.xecutiouers : drag her forth to death. 21.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Ver. 1-33. Renewai, of Ezekiel's Commission, now THAT HE IS again TO ADDRESS MIS COUNTRYMEN, AND IN A NEW Tone. Heretofore his functions had been chiefly threatening; from this point, after the evil had got to its worst in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the consolatory element preponderates. 3. to the children of thy people— whom he iiad been forbidden to address from ch. 24. 26,27, till Jerusalem was overthrown, and llie "escaped" came with tidings of the judgment being completed. So now, in v.
((,'h. 10.) Ezekiel has before his eyes Isaiah 14.9, &c.
Kliall speak to Iiim—with "liim" join, "with them that hilp him ;" sfiall speak to tiim and his helpers with a taunting welcome, as now one of themselves. 23. her . . . liis —the abrupt change of gender is, because Ezekiel has In view at one time the kingdom (feminine), at another the monarch " Asshur," or Assyria, is placed first in punishment, aa oeing first in guilt. 33. in tlie sides of tlie i)it K>'palchies in the East were caves hollowed out of the
21, the tidings of the fact having arrived, he opens his heretofore closed lips to the Jews. In the interval he had prophesied as to foreign nations. The former part of the chapter, from v. 2 to 20, seems to have been imparled to Ezekiel on the evening previous {v. 22), being a preparation for the latter part (v. 23-.'J3) imparted after the tiiiing-s had come. This accounts for the (irst part standing without intimation of the date, whicIi was properly reserved for the latter part, to wliich the forme:' was tlie anticipatory introduction. [Fairbairn.] watchman—tlie first nine verses exhibit Ezekiel's office as a spiritual watchman ; so inch. 3. 16-21; only liere the duties of the earthly watchman (cf. 2 Samuel 18.21,25; 2 Kings 9. 17) are detailed
and the bodies were laid in niches formed at the
(;ides. Madubr needlessly departs from the ordinary meaning, and translates, "extremities'' (cf. Isaiah 14. 13,
15). wiiicli caused terror—they who alive were a terror
Ui others, are now, in the nether world, themselves a terrible olfjecl to behold. 34. Elam—placed next, as having been an auxiliary to Assyria. Its territory lay in Persia. In Abraham's time an independent kingdom (Genesis If.
I). Famous for its bowmen (Isaiah 22. 6). borne tUeir 8haiiLe—the just retribution of their lawless pride. Destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 49. 34-38). 35. a bed —a sepulchral niche, all . . . slain by . . . sword, &c.
first, and then the application is made to the spiritual Wiitcliman's duty (cf. Isaiah 21. 0-10; Hosea 9.8; Habakkuk 2. 1). "A man of their coasts" is a man specially chosen for the otlice oi/i o/ their luhole number. Ho Judges
(v. 21, 23, 24). The very monotony of the phraseology gives to the dirge an awe-inspiring effect. 36. Mesliecli, Tubal —nortliern nations: tlie Moschi and Tiljareni, between the Black and Caspian Seas. Herodotus, 3. 94, mentions them as a subjugated people, tributaries to Darius HystHrtpes (see ch. 27. 13). 37. tUey sliall not lie with the inig Uty— i. e., they shall not have separate tombs such as mighty conquerors have: but shall all be heaped together in one pit, as is the case with the vanquished. [Grotius.] Haveknick reads it interrogatively, "Shall they not lie witli the mighty that are fallen?" But English Version is Kupi)orted l)y the jjarallel (Isaiah 14. 18, 19), to which Ezekiel refers, and which represents them as not lying as mighty kings lie in a grave, but cast out of one, as a carcass trodden under foot, with . . . weapons of war ft Uuding to the custom of burying warriors with their arms {1 Maccabees 13. 29). Though lionoured by tlie laying of " their swords under their heads," yet l?ie punishment of " their iniquities shall be upon their bones." Their swords shall thus attest their shame, not their glory (Matthew 26.
18. 2, "five men from their coasts;" also the Hebrew of Genesis 47. 2; implying the care needed in the olioict! of the watchman, the spiritual as well as the temporal (Acts
I. 21, 22, 24-26; 1 Timothy 5. 22). 3. the sword—invaders, An appropriate illustration at the time of the invasion cf Judea by Neliuchadnezzar. l. blood . . . upon his own head—metaphor from sacrificial victims, on tlie lieads of wliich they used to lay their hands, praying that their guilt should be upon the victims. 6. his iniquity-his negligence in not maintaining constant watehlulness, as they ouglit to do who are in warfare. The thing signified here appears from under the image. 7. I have set thee a watcliman—application of the image. Ezekiel's appointment to be a watchman spiritually is far more solemn, aa
It is derived from God, not from tlie people. 8. tiiou shalt surely die—by a violent death, the earnest of everlasting death ; the qualification being su]iposed, " if thou dost not repent." 9. Blood had by this time been slied (u. 21), but Ezekiel was clear. 10. be upon us— ('. e., their guilt reinaia on us. pine away in them— i f we suffer the penal ty 1 iii eatened for thein in ch. 24. 23, according to the law (Leviticus
62), being the instruments of their violence, the penalty of which they are paying. 38. Yea, thou — Thou, too, Egypt, like them, shaltlieasouevanquislied. 39. princes —Edoni was not only governed by Jiings, but by subordinate "princes" or "dukes" (Genesis SC. 40). with their might. notwithstanding their might, they shall be brought down (Isaiah 34. 5, 10-17; Jeremiah 49. 7, 13-18). lie witli tlicunoircujucised—though Edom was circumcised, bei ng descended from Isaac, he shall lie with the unoircumcised, much more shall Egypt, who had no hereditary right to circumcision. 30. princes of tlic norUi—Sijria, which is still called by the Arabs the north; or the Tyrians, north of Palestine, conquered by Nebuchadnezzar (chs.
20. 39). how should we . . . live !—as thou dost promise in i>. 5 (of. cli. 37. 11; Isaiah 49. 14). 11. To "meet the Jews' cry of despair in v. 10, Ezekiel here cheers them by the assurance tliat God has no pleasure in their death, but that they should repent and live (2 Peter 3. 9). A yearning tenderness manifests itself here, notwithstanding all their past sins; .yet with it a holiness that abates nothing of its demands for the honour of God's authority. God's righteousness is vindicated as in ch. 3. 18-21; and IS., by the statement that each should be treated with the closest adaptation of God's justice to his particular case. 13. itot fall ... in the day that he turnetk—(2 Chronicles 7. 14 ; see ch. 3. 20; 18. 24). 15. give again that lie had robbed —(Luke 19. 8). statutes of life—in tlie obeying of wliich
27., 28). [GuoTiua.] Zidonians—who shared tiie fate of Tyre (ch. 28. 21). with their terror they are ashamed of tlieir mlf.fht— i.e., notwithstanding the terror whicli tliey inspired in their contemporaries. "Might" is connected by Maureb thus, "Notwithstanding the terror which resulted from their might." 31. comforted— with tlie melancholy satisfaction of not being alone, but of having other kingdoms companions In his downlall. This Bhall be his only comfort—a very poor one! 33. my terror—the reading of the Margin or Keri. The Hebrew text or Chetib is " liis terror," which gives good sense (ti. 'l'>, 30). "My terror" implies that God puts His terror on Pharaoh's multitude, as they put "their terror" on others, life is promised (Leviticus 18. 5). If the law h u tailed to give lite to man, it has not been the fault of t;ie law, but of man's sinful inability to keep it (Romans 7. Ill, 12; (Ja latians 3. 21). It hecnnws life-giving through Christ's righteous obedience to it (2 Corintliians 3. 6). 17. Tiie way of tlie Lord—The Lord's way of dealing in His moral gov ernmeut. 31. twelfth year . . . tenth month—a yeai