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Ezekiel Chapter
Thirty
Ezekiel 30
Chapter Contents
A prophecy against Egypt. (1-19) Another. (20-26)
Commentary on Ezekiel 30:1-19
(Read Ezekiel 30:1-19)
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.
Commentary on Ezekiel 30:20-26
(Read Ezekiel 30:20-26)
Egypt shall grow weaker and weaker. If lesser judgments
do not prevail to humble and reform sinners, God will send greater. God justly
breaks that power which is abused, either to put wrongs upon people, or to put
cheats upon them. Babylon shall grow stronger. In vain do men endeavour to bind
up the arm the Lord is pleased to break, and to strengthen those whom he will
bring down. Those who disregard the discoveries of his truth and mercy, shall
know his power and justice, in the punishment for their sins.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezekiel》
Ezekiel 30
Verse 2
[2] Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
Ye — Inhabitants of Egypt.
Verse 3
[3] For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a
cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.
A cloudy day — So times of trouble are called.
Of the heathen — The time when God will reckon
with the Heathens.
Verse 4
[4] And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain
shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take
away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
Ethiopia — The neighbour and ally to Egypt.
Take away — Into miserable captivity.
Her foundations — Their government, laws, and
strong holds.
Verse 5
[5] Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled
people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with
them by the sword.
Lydia — Not the Asiatic, but the Africans placed between some
part of Cyrene and Egypt.
The mingled people — The hired soldiers
from all parts, a confused mixture of nations.
And Chub — The inhabitants of the inmost Libya; perhaps they may
be the Nubians at this day.
The men — All the allies of Egypt.
With them — With the Egyptians.
Verse 6
[6] Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall
fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall
they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.
Upheld — Those that favour and help her.
The pride — The glory of all her strength.
Verse 7
[7] And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries
that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are
wasted.
They — All those before mentioned.
Verse 8
[8] And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have set
a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed.
Destroyed — The fire that consumes nations is
of God's kindling: and when he sets fire to a kingdom, all they that go about
to quench the fire, shall be consumed by it.
Verse 9
[9] In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships
to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as
in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.
Messengers — Such as having escaped the sword,
shall tell the news.
From me — By my permission and providence.
In ship's — Messengers by ships might carry
the news to both the Ethiopian, Asian, and African, by the Red-sea.
As in the day — During the mighty havock made by
the Chaldeans.
It — A like storm.
Verse 11
[11] He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations,
shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against
Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.
His people — His own subjects, not hired
soldiers.
Verse 12
[12] And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into
the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is
therein, by the hand of strangers: I the LORD have spoken it.
The rivers dry — Probably the Chaldeans diverted
them, and so their fortified towns wanted one great defence.
Sell — Give it up entirely.
Verse 13
[13] Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the idols,
and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more
a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
Noph — Memphis, now Grand Cairo, the chief city of the
country.
A prince — Either an Egyptian born, or independent, and over all
Egypt.
A fear — Consternation and cowardice.
Verse 14
[14] And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in
Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.
In Zoan — Zoan shall be burnt down to ashes.
In No — A great and populous city situate on one of the mouths
of the Nile.
Verse 15
[15] And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt;
and I will cut off the multitude of No.
Sin — Pelusium, which was the key of Egypt, and therefore
always well fortified, and strongly garrisoned.
Verse 16
[16] And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain,
and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.
Shall be rent — Her walls, and towers, and
fortresses broken through by the violence of engines, and by the assaults of
the soldiers.
Verse 17
[17] The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the
sword: and these cities shall go into captivity.
Young men — 'Tis probable these might be a
body of valiant youths, collected out of these ten cities.
Aven — Bethshemesh, or Heliopolis, an idolatrous city, in
which was a stately temple of the sun: an hundred and fifty furlongs, that is
six miles and three quarters in compass.
Phibeseth — Bubastus, sometimes called
Hoephestus, not far from Aven.
Verse 18
[18] At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I
shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease
in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into
captivity.
Tehaphnehes — A great and goodly city of Egypt;
Tachapanes, Tachpanes, Tahapanes, Tahpanes, Chanes, and Hanes, are names given
it, and this from a queen of Egypt of that name in Solomon's time. It stood not
far from Sin, or Pelusium.
Darkened — A night shall come upon it.
Break — I shall break the kingdom of Egypt, that it no more
oppress with yokes, that is, burdens.
Her daughters — Her towns and villages.
Verse 20
[20] And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first
month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
The eleventh year — Of Jeconiah's
captivity, three months and two days before Jerusalem was taken, about the time
that the Egyptians attempted to raise the siege of Jerusalem.
Verse 21
[21] Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of
Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind
it, to make it strong to hold the sword.
Have broken — Partly by the victory of the
Chaldeans over Pharaoh-necho, partly by the victory of the Cyreneans over
Pharaoh-hophra.
The sword — None can heal the wounds that God
gives but himself. They whom he disables, cannot again hold the sword.
Verse 22
[22] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was
broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
His arms — Both his arms.
The strong — That part of his kingdom which
remains entire.
Broken — That which was shattered before.
Verse 25
[25] But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon,
and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the
LORD, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he
shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.
Will strengthen — As judges on the bench like
Pilate, so generals in the field, like Nebuchadrezzar, have no power but what
is given them from above.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ezekiel》
30 Chapter 30
Verses 1-26
──《The Biblical Illustrator》
30 Chapter 30
INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 30
This
chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Egypt, both against the
country and the king of it. It is introduced with expressions of lamentation,
because of the destruction coming on, Ezekiel 30:1, and not only Egypt, and the
cities thereof, should be destroyed, but all her friends, associates, and
allies; the Ethiopians, Lydians, Lybians, and others, Ezekiel 30:4. Nebuchadnezzar and his army
were to be the instruments of her ruin, Ezekiel 30:10, particular cities are
mentioned by name, which should suffer much, and become desolate, Ezekiel 30:13 and then Pharaoh king of
Egypt himself is threatened with broken arms, and his people to be scattered
among the nations, Ezekiel 30:20, and the king of Babylon is
again mentioned, whose arms should be strengthened to do all this, Ezekiel 30:24.
Verse 1
The word of the Lord came again unto me,.... Whether
this prophecy was delivered about the time of that in the former part of the
preceding chapter, namely, in the tenth year, tenth month, and twelfth day of
it; or whether about the time that was which is recorded in the latter part of
the chapter, in the seven and twentieth year of Jehoiachin's captivity, is not
easy to say; I am inclined to think it was about the time of the latter, since
the time of the fulfilment of it is said to be near, Ezekiel 30:3,
saying: as follows:
Verse 2
Son of man, prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord God,.... Prophesy
against Egypt's king and inhabitants, and in the name of the Lord thus speak
against them:
howl ye; ye Egyptians, and also ye Ethiopians, and all others after
named, which should share in the destruction of Egypt; this is said to give
them notice of it, and prepare them for it:
woe worth the day! or, "alas for the day!"F4הה ליום "bah diei",
Munster, Vatablus; "heu diei", Cocceius, Starckius. O the unhappy
day! what a sad dismal day is this! O that we should ever live to see such
wretched times!
Verse 3
For the day is near,.... The day of Egypt's
destruction, the time fixed for it:
even the day of the Lord is near; the day appointed by
him, and in which he would make himself known by the judgments he executed:
Kimchi observes, that, the same year this prophecy was delivered, Egypt was
given into the hands of the king of Babylon:
a cloudy day; or; "a day of cloud"F5יום ענן "dies nubis",
V. L. Pagniaus, Montanus, Cocceius, Starckius. ; which was seldom seen in Egypt
in a literal sense, rarely having any rain, their country being watered by the
Nile; but now, in a figurative sense, the clouds would gather thick and black,
and threaten with a horrible tempest of divine wrath, and of ruin and
destruction:
it shall be the time of the Heathen: both when the Heathen
nation of the Chaldeans should distress and conquer others; and when Heathen
nations, as the Egyptians, Ethiopians, and others, should be destroyed by them.
The Targum is,
"it
shall be the time of the breaking or destruction of the people.'
Verse 4
And the sword shall come upon Egypt,.... The sword of the
Chaldeans shall come upon the Egyptians, by which they should be cut off; it
having a commission from the Lord for that purpose:
and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in
Egypt; Ethiopia being a neighbouring nation to Egypt, shall be in a
panic when it shall hear of the sword of the Chaldeans being in Egypt, and of
the ravages made by it, of the multitudes slain with it; fearing it will be
their turn next to fall into the same hands, and in the same manner; and the
rather, not only as they were neighbours, but allies:
and they shall take away her multitude; that is, the
Chaldeans shall carry captive vast numbers of the Egyptians; such as fell not
by the sword should not escape the hand of the enemy, but be taken and carried
into other lands. Egypt was a very populous country; according to Agrippa's
speech in JosephusF6De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 4. , there were
in it 7,500,000 persons from Ethiopia to Alexandria, besides the inhabitants of
the latter, as might be gathered from the tribute each person paid; hence they
are compared to the trees of a forest that cannot be searched, and to
grasshoppers innumerable, Jeremiah 46:23, but now their numbers
should be lesser:
and her foundations shall be broken down; either in a
literal sense, the foundations of the cities, towers, and fortified places in
Egypt, should be undermined and destroyed, and consequently the buildings on
them must sink and fall; or in a figurative sense, her king, princes,
magistrates, laws, and government, which are the support of a state, should be
removed, and be of no more service.
Verse 5
Ethiopia, Lybia, and Lydia,.... Or, "Cush,
Phut, and Lud". Cush and Phut were both sons of Ham, from whom Egypt is
sometimes called the land of Ham; and Lud or Ludim was the son of Mizraim, the
son of Ham, the common name of Egypt in Scripture, Genesis 10:6. Cush is by us rendered
Ethiopia; and is thought by some to be a part of Arabia, which lay near to
Egypt. Phut and Lud are properly enough rendered Lybia and Lydia; and both
these, with Ethiopia, are represented as the allies and confederates of Egypt, Jeremiah 46:9.
And all the mingled people; the Syriac version
renders it, "all Arabia": and so Symmachus, according to Jerom;
though others think they are the Carians, Ionians, and other Greeks, which
Pharaohapries got together to fight with AmasisF7See Prideaux's
Connexion, part 1. p. 93. : and "Chub"; or "Cub"; the
inhabitants of this piece are thought to be the Cobii of PtolemyF8Geograph.
l. 4. c. 5. , who dwelt in Mareotis, a country of Egypt; though some, by a
change of a letter, would have them to be the Nubians, a people in Africa; and
so the Arabic version here reads it. Of these StraboF9Geograph. l.
17. p. 541, 563. says, on the left of the stream of the Nile dwell the Nubians,
a large nation in Lybia; and which he afterwards mentions along with the
Troglodytes, Blemmyes, Megabarians, and Ethiopians, that dwell above Syene: and
so PtolemyF11Geograph. l. 5. c. 8. speaks of them along with the
Megabarians, and as inhabiting to the west of the Avalites: and PlinyF12Nat.
Hist. l. 6. c. 30. calls them Nubian Ethiopians, whom he places near the Nile:
and a late travellerF13Norden's Travels in Egypt and Nubia, vol. 2.
p. 131, 132. in those parts informs us that the confines of Egypt and Nubia are
about eight miles above the first cataract (of the Nile); Nubia begins at the
villages of Ellkalabsche, and of Teffa; the first is to the east of the Nile,
and the second to the west.
And the men of the land that is in league shall fall with them by
the sword; all the nations above mentioned, with whomsoever should be found
that were confederates with Egypt, should share the same fate with them. The
Septuagint render it, "and those of the children of my covenant"; as
if the Jews were meant that were in Egypt, who are sometimes called "the
children of the covenant", and of "the promise", Acts 3:25, and so some interpret the place;
but it takes in all the allies of Egypt, and does not design the Jews, at least
not them only.
Verse 6
Thus saith the Lord, they also that uphold Egypt shall fall,.... That is,
by the sword; either their allies and auxiliaries without, that supported the
Egyptians with men and money; or their principal people within, their nobles
that supported their state with their estates, their counsellors with their
wisdom, their soldiers with their valour and courage:
and the pride of her power shall come down; or the power
they were proud of, the dominion and grandeur they boasted of; the greatness of
their king, and the largeness of their empire, with the wealth and riches of
it:
from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith
the Lord God; or rather, from "Migdol to Syene"; so the Septuagint
and Arabic versions, from one end of Egypt to the other; the sword would
ravage, and multitudes fall by it, in all cities and towns, between the one and
the other; which denotes the general slaughter that should be made; See Gill on
Ezekiel 29:10.
Verse 7
And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are
desolate,.... Or among them, shall be ranked with them, and be as desolate
as they are; as Judea and other countries, ravaged by the same enemy:
and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted; undergo the
same fate as they have done, as Jerusalem and others. The cities of Egypt were
very numerous; Diodorus SiculusF14Bibl. l. 1. p. 19. says, that in
ancient times Egypt had cities and villages of note, more than 18,000.
HerodotusF15Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 177. writes, that it was said,
that under King Amasis there were 20,000 cities in it; and the first mentioned
writerF16Bibl. l. 1. p. 19. says, under Ptolemy Lagus they were
reckoned more than 30,000; and, according to TheocritusF17Idyll. 17.
v. 82. , under Ptolemy Philadelphus they were 33,339.
Verse 8
And they shall know that I am the Lord,.... The
Egyptians shall know the Lord to be the true God, and acknowledge him to be
omniscient and omnipotent, that should so exactly foretell their destruction,
and accomplish it:
when I have set a fire in Egypt: a war there; the heat of
battle, very devouring and consuming, as well as very grievous and terrible, as
fire is. The Targum is,
"when
I shall give (or set) people that are strong as fire against Egypt;'
the
army of the Chaldeans:
and when all her helpers shall be destroyed; her
auxiliaries, the neighbouring nations in alliance with them, before mentioned.
Verse 9
In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships,.... Either by
the river Nile, or by the Red sea, to Arabia Felix, which some think is meant
by Ethiopia. Cush or Ethiopia was encompassed about with water, so that there
was no coming to it but by ships; see Genesis 2:13, compare with this Isaiah 18:1, the messengers here were
either such who under a divine impulse, or however by the providence of God,
were directed to go to Ethiopia, and tell them the news of the destruction of
Egypt; or these were messengers sent by the king of Babylon, to demand a
surrender of their country to him; or it may design him himself, and his army,
who marched thither to subdue that country also, after the conquest of Egypt.
So the Targum,
"at
that time messengers shall go forth from before me with legions;'
and
because all this was by the appointment and providence of God, they are
represented as messengers sent by him:
to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; with the news
of the fall of Egypt their confederate, and of a mighty army coming against
them; who had dwelt securely and confidently, at ease and unconcerned, without
any sense of danger, or fear of any enemy:
and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt; either as of
old, when the plagues were on Egypt, and especially when they were drowning in
the Red sea; or as of late, when the sword was in Egypt, and ravaging there:
for, lo, it cometh; the same day was coming on them as came on
Egypt, the day of the Lord, a cloudy one, and the time of the Heathen; it was
certain, just at hand, and there was no escaping it; see Ezekiel 30:3.
Verse 10
Thus saith the Lord God, I will make the multitude of Egypt to
cease,.... The vast numbers of people that inhabited Egypt; some of its
cities were very populous, especially the city No, after mentioned; but now the
numbers should be greatly lessened, and the whole land sadly depopulated: or
the "noise"F18את המון "strepitum", Vatablus, Cocceius. ,
"tumult", and hurry of it; which is very great where there are large
numbers of people, and which ceases when they are cut off. The Syriac version
renders it, the riches of Egypt. Now the instrument God would make use of to do
all this is mentioned by name, as follows,
by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; the then
greatest monarch in the world.
Verse 11
He and his people with him,.... He and his army,
consisting chiefly of Chaldeans; though there were of other nations among them,
as were in his army when he besieged Jerusalem, as seems to be suggested in the
next clause:
the terrible of the nations shall be brought to destroy the land; the
Chaldeans, the most fierce, cruel, and terrible of all people, and others the
most terrible that could be collected out of all nations under the yoke of the
king of Babylon; and all of them terrible to the nations against whom they
came, as now against Egypt to destroy it; see Habakkuk 1:6,
and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land
with the slain; go through the land with their drawn swords, and kill all they
meet; and not put them up till they have quite depopulated the land, and filled
it with dead carcasses.
Verse 12
And I will make the rivers dry,.... Egypt was a country
that abounded with rivers; however, with canals cut from the river Nile; its
wealth and riches very much depended here on, partly on account of the
multitude of fishes taken out of them, and the paper reeds that grew upon their
banks; but chiefly because the whole land, was watered by them, and made
exceeding fruitful, rain being not so common in it; so that to dry up the riven
was in effect to take away their substance and dependence; besides, hereby the
way was made easy and passable for the enemy; there was nothing to obstruct
him, he could overrun and ravage the land at pleasure:
and sell the land into the hand of the wicked; the Chaldeans
under Nebuchadnezzar, who were wicked idolaters, men of flagitious lives, and
of merciless and cruel dispositions; who would show no favour to the
inhabitants of the land, when delivered up to them, which is called a selling
it; for, as things sold are delivered to the buyer, so should this land be to
them; which though they had no right to it before, yet by the event of war, and
disposal of divine Providence, came to have a property in it, given them by him
who is the proprietor of all lands; and after them into the hands of the
Persians, under Cambyses, and Ochus; who were very wicked and cruel princes,
and may be reckoned among the terrible or violent ones of the nations in the
preceding verse; and then into the hands of the Grecian, Romans, Saracen,
Mamaluck, and now the Turks, all very wicked people:
and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the
hand of strangers; the Babylonians, people of another country and distant, of
another language, and with whom they had no commerce, alliance, and friendship,
and so would not spare them, and their land, when in their possession; and so
all the rest above mentioned, into whose hands they successively fell:
I the Lord have spoken it; determined it,
prophesied of it; and it shall come to pass, as it did accordingly.
Verse 13
Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols,.... With
which Egypt abounded, making an idol of all sorts of creatures, rational and
irrational, animate and inanimate, and in which they trusted; wherefore these
being destroyed, they had nothing to put their confidence in:
I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; called Moph, Hosea 9:6 and which we there rightly render
Memphis, as many versions do here, and was very famous for idolatry: here stood
the temple of Serapis, and the temple of other idols; here Isis and Osiris were
worshipped; and it was in Jerom's time, as he says, the metropolis of the
Egyptian superstition. It was built by MenesF19Herodot, Euterpe,
sive l. 2. c. 99. , the Mizraim of the Scriptures, the first king of Egypt;
though Diodorus SiculusF20Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 46. makes Uchoreus to
be the founder of it. Some interpreters take this city to be the same with what
is now called Alkair, or Grand Cairo; or, however, that this is built upon the
same spot, or near the same place that was, in which I have followed them on Isaiah 19:13 whereas Cairo stands right
over against old Memphis, the Nile being between them, on the east side of it,
and Memphis on the west; as is clear from HerodotusF21Euterpe, sive
l. 2. c. 99. , and from the charts of Dr. Shaw, and Mr. Norden; and who
observe, that some take the place of it to have been where a village now
stands, Dr. Shaw calls Geza, and Mr. Norden Gize:
and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt; that is, a
native of that country; or that should rule over the whole of it, and in that
grandeur the kings of Egypt had before; or, however, not dwell in Memphis,
which was the seat of the kings of Egypt, but now should be so no more: when
Egypt was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, it was under the Babylonians; and then
under the Persians; and then under the Greeks; and afterwards under the Romans;
since under the Saracens and Mamalucks; and now in the hands of the Turks; so
that it never recovered its former glory; and indeed, after Nectanebus was
driven out of it by Ochus, king of Persia, it never after had a king:
and I will put a fear in all the land of Egypt; a panic in
all the inhabitants of it; as soon as they shall hear of the king of Babylon
entering into it, their courage, bravery, and fortitude, shall at once leave
them, and they shall be dispirited, and have no heart to defend themselves, and
oppose the enemy.
Verse 14
And I will make Pathros desolate,.... A country in Egypt;
See Gill on Ezekiel 29:14, perhaps it was the first
place that Nebuchadnezzar entered, and so went from place to place in the order
hereafter mentioned:
and I will set fire in Zoan; or Tunis, a famous city
in Egypt in the times of Moses, Numbers 13:22. The Targum and Septuagint
version call it Tanis here; and from hence a nome in Egypt was called the
Tanitic nome. This city was burnt down by the king of Babylon: the place now
built on the spot is called Mansourah, as Dr. ShawF23Travels, p.
304. Ed. 2. says:
and I will execute judgment in No. The Vulgate Latin
version renders it Alexandria; and so does the Targum; of which place Jarchi,
Kimchi, and Ben Melech interpret it; and so does Jerom; which, though built
after these times by Alexander, and called so after his name, yet is supposed
to be built on or near the place where ancient No stood. The city is now called
Scanderoon, or Scanderea; the Turks calling Alexander Scander: here the
judgments of God were executed in the destruction of it by the Chaldean army;
and great devastations have been made in it since it was rebuilt by Alexander,
by the Saracens, who destroyed all places where they came; so that, as Dr. ShawF24Ib.
p. 292. observes, it is somewhat extraordinary that the greatest part of the
ancient walls, together with their respective turrets, should have continued
entire quite down to this time. The Septuagint version calls it Diospolis, or
the city of Jupiter, as does the Arabic version, that is, of Jupiter Hammon;
the city of Thebes, where he was worshipped; as it is in a following verse
called Hammon No; though HillerusF25Onomastic. Sacr. p. 571, &c.
thinks neither of these places are meant, neither Alexandria nor Diospolis; but
Memphis, as it is rendered by the Septuagint in the next verse; See Gill on Nahum 3:8.
Verse 15
And I will pour out my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt,.... Either
the city Sais, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; or rather Pelusium, as
the Vulgate Latin version, so called from "pelos" which signifies
"clay" in the Greek language; and the same "Sin" signifies
in the Chaldee, Psalm 18:43, and as now called Tineh, from טין, "clay": it had a very fine haven, and may be
called the strength of Egypt, it lying at the entrance of it; and having a
strong fortified tower, it was difficult to enter into it; but could not stand
before the wrath and fury of the Lord of hosts, when he sent the Chaldeans to
it. It is thought by some to be the same with Pithom, built by the first of the
pastor kings of Egypt, and fortified by him, Exodus 1:11, according to ManethoF26Apud
Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 14. , he put into it a garrison of two hundred
and forty thousand men; and the same writer says it contained ten thousand
acres of land; according to AdrichomiusF1Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p.
122, 123. , it was two and a half miles in compass, and near it was a vast
hollow, which extended to Mount Cassius, and which made the way into Egypt on
that side difficult; and is now, as he says, called "campus de
Gallo"; in which he is mistaken, as well as Thevenot, and others, who take
it to be the same with Damieta:
and I will cut off the multitude of No; the numerous
inhabitants of it; hence called "populous No", Nahum 3:8, or "Hamon No"; See
Gill on Ezekiel 30:14; here, as before observed,
the Septuagint version renders it Memphis; as does also the Arabic version.
Some take it, as before, to be the Egyptian Thebes, where was a temple
dedicated to Jupiter Hammon; and which city, PausaniasF2Arcadica,
sive l. 8. p. 509. Vid. Juvenal. Satyr. 15. ver. 6. says, was reduced to
nothing in his time.
Verse 16
And I will set fire in Egypt,.... Kindle a war there,
which shall consume it; see Ezekiel 30:8,
Sin shall have great pain; as a woman in travail,
seeing its destruction is just at hand; the same with Pelusium, as before:
and No shall be rent asunder, the walls of it shall be
broken down by the enemy, or a breach shall be made in it, like the breach of
waters which were about it; see Nahum 3:8,
and Noph shall have distresses daily: that is, Memphis,
as before; enemies shall surround it daily, as the Targum; shall besiege and
distress it, until it is taken: or, "in the daytime"; their enemies
should not come as thieves in the night, openly in the day. Abendana interprets
it of their unfortunate day, their star being unlucky.
Verse 17
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; see Gill on 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 PtolemyF3Geograph. l. 4. c. 5. , and others. In this was a temple
built to the honour of Diana, where she was worshipped and HerodotusF4Euterpe,
sive l. 2. c. 59, 138, 156. says, that Bubastis, in the Greek tongue, is Diana;
here she was worshipped in the form of a cat; and StephanusF5De
Urbibus. observes, that the Egyptians call a cat Bubastus; and it is also said
that dead cats salted were buried in this city, as being sacred: according to
Diodorus SiculusF6Bibliothec l. 1. p. 24. , it was built for the
sake of Isis; and HillerusF7Onomastic. Sacr. p. 672. says, that in
the Abyssine language it was called "Phy' mly' sith"; that is, the
portion of the wife, namely of Isis married to Osiris, by whom this city was
built to the honour of her; as appears by the pillar of Isis, on which these
words are inscribed,
"for
me the city of Bubastia is built; be glad, be glad, O Egypt, which brought me
up.'
This
place is now called Bishbesh, according to Dr. ShawF8Travels, p.
306. Ed. 2. : now the young men of both these places, though they might exert
themselves in the defence of them, yet should fail therein, and fall by the
sword of the Chaldeans:
and these cities shall go into captivity; the rest of
the inhabitants of the cities of Aven and Pibeseth, that shall not fall by the
sword, shall be carried captive into other lands. Joseph Kimchi supplies
"women" instead of "cities"; and thinks, that as the males
are mentioned before, the females are understood here. The Targum is,
"they
that served them shall go into captivity;'
that
served the idols worshipped in these cities.
Verse 18
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened,.... The same
with Hanes in Isaiah 30:4 and Tahapanes in Jeremiah 2:16 and Tahpanhes, Jeremiah 43:7, it was a royal seat of the
kings of Egypt: there was in Solomon's time a queen of Egypt of this name, and
perhaps it might be so called from her, 1 Kings 11:19. It is generally thought to
be the Daphne of Pelusium, it being near that city; though Junius takes it to
be a place in another part of Egypt, at a great distance, which HerodotusF9Euterpe,
sive l. 2. c. 29. calls Tahcompso, an island encompassed by the Nile; and by
PtolemyF11Geograph. l. 4. c. 5. called Metacompso: now at this place
the day should be darkened; or should "restrain"F12חשך "prohibuit", Montanus; "vitavit",
Munster; "cohibuit", Cocceius; "probibebit, arcebit",
Vatablus; so Ben Melech. , as it may be rendered; that is, its light; it should
be a calamitous and mournful time with the inhabitants of it:
when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt; the yokes
they put upon the necks of others, who now should be freed from them: or,
"the sceptres of Egypt", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; the
regalia of their kings, which might lie in this place; it being a royal seat
where Pharaoh had a house, as appears from Jeremiah 43:9,
and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her; all that
grandeur and magnificence which appeared in the courts of the kings of Egypt in
this place:
as for her, a cloud shall cover her; as for this city, a
cloud of calamity shall cover it, so as its glory shall not be seen. The Targum
is,
"a
king with his army shall cover her as a cloud ascends and covers the earth:'
and her daughters shall go into captivity; which may be
taken either in a literal sense for the daughters of the inhabitants of this
place, which must be a great affliction to their tender parents, to have them
forced away by rude soldiers, and carried captive into distant lands; or in a
figurative sense, for the villages and the inhabitants of them round about this
city; it being usual to represent a city as a mother, and its villages as
daughters; and so the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi interpret it.
Verse 19
Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt,.... In the
several provinces, and in the several cities of it before mentioned, and in all
other places; even the judgments of fire, famine, sword, and captivity:
and they shall know that I am the Lord; God
omniscient and omnipotent, by the, judgments executed; and own the same: this
more especially they did, when the Gospel was preached among them, and many
were converted by it in the times of the apostles.
Verse 20
And it came to pass in the eleventh year,.... Of
Zedekiah's reign, and Jehoiachin's captivity; some little time after the
prophecy in Ezekiel 19:1, here the prophecies come into
their order again, being interrupted by those of a much later date, at the end
of the preceding chapter, and the former part of this:
in the first month, in the seventh day of the month; the month
Nisan, which answers to part of March, and part of April; the seventh day must
be about the twenty ninth of March; but, according to Bishop UsherF13Annales
Vet. Test. A. M. 3416. , it was on the twenty sixth of April, on the third day
of the week (Tuesday), in 3416 A.M. or before Christ 588: this was given out
three months and two days before Jerusalem was taken:
that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying; as follows:
Verse 21
Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Not
Pharaohnecho, king of Egypt, whose army was overthrown at Carchemish by the
king of Babylon, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; when the latter took from the
former all that belonged to him between the river of Egypt and the river
Euphrates; by which he was so weakened and dispirited, that he could not stir
any more out of his own land, Jeremiah 46:2 and of him Jarchi and Kimchi
interpret it; but Pharaohhophra, or Apries, who was defeated by the Cyreneans,
and saved himself by flight; See Gill on Ezekiel 29:4,
and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to
bind it; a metaphor taken from chirurgeons, who, having set broken bones,
put on a bandage or rollers of linen, or such like stuff, to keep them tight;
but nothing of this kind should be done; hereby suggesting that Egypt should
receive such a blow or wound as would be incurable; see Jeremiah 46:11,
to make it strong to hold the sword; which it should not be
able to do, or to make war any more, at least with success, or to defend
itself.
Verse 22
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against Pharaoh
king of Egypt,.... The then present king of Egypt, whose name was Hophra or
Apries, Jeremiah 44:30,
and I will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken: both his
arms, the sound and the broken one, his whole power, strength, and dominion;
meaning that that part of his kingdom which lay between the two rivers of Egypt
and Euphrates, that had been taken away by the king of Babylon, should remain
so; and the other part of his kingdom should fall a prey to him also:
and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand; so that he
should be so far from being so able to make use of the sword, that he should
not be able to hold it; it should drop out of his hand; nor should he be able
to take it up again, and make war, either offensive or defensive.
Verse 23
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations,.... Among the
several provinces of Babylon, and other places, where the Chaldeans should
carry or send them:
and will disperse them through the countries: the same
thing repeated in different words for the confirmation of it.
Verse 24
And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon,.... Give him
a commission to make war; direct his councils; supply him with all necessaries;
animate and encourage his soldiers; and give him success in all his enterprises:
and put my sword in his hand; which confirms the above
sense, that he should have power and authority from the Lord to attack the king
of Egypt, and should gain a victory over him; since it was not his own sword he
drew, but the sword of the Lord of hosts; which coming from him, and having his
commission, cannot fail of doing execution;
but will break Pharaoh's arms; as before in Ezekiel 30:21,
and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly
wounded man; that is, before the king of Babylon; by whom, as an instrument,
his arms shall be broken, and his power destroyed; and he be like a man in the
agonies of death, just expiring, not able to speak, but groaning out his life
under the inexpressible anguish of broken bones, and none to set them.
Verse 25
But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon,.... Which is
repeated for the sake of confirmation:
and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down: as when a
man's arms are broken; and he shall not be able to lift them up and defend
himself:
and they shall know that I am the Lord; namely, the
Egyptians, as in Ezekiel 30:19,
when I shall have put my sword into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt; that is, when
he shall have a commission to carry the war into Egypt; and he shall spread
desolation over all the land, cutting off the inhabitants of it everywhere, as
before described in this chapter.
Verse 26
And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse
them among the countries,.... Of which they might assure themselves, since the Lord had
before spoken it, and here again repeats it:
and they shall know that I am the Lord; whose name
alone is Jehovah, and does whatsoever he pleases; sets up kings, and puts them
down; strengthens and weakens kingdoms just as seems good in his sight; none having
any power but what is given by him, and which he can take away when he thinks
fit.
── John Gill