Bibelkommentare

Three chapters we had concerning Tyre and its king; next follow four chapters concerning Egypt and its king. This is the first of them. Egypt had formerly been a house of bondage to God's people; of late they had had but too friendly a correspondence with it, and had depended too much upon it; and therefore, whether the prediction reached Egypt or no, it would be of use to Israel, to take them off from their confidence in their alliance with it. The prophecies against Egypt, which are all laid together in these four chapters, were of five several dates; the first in the 10th year of the captivity (Eze 29:1), the second in the 27th (Eze 29:17), the third in the 11th year and the first month (Eze 30:20), the fourth in the 11th year and the third month (Eze 31:1), the fifth in the 12th year (Eze 32:1), and another in the same year, Eze 29:17. In this chapter we have, I. The destruction of Pharaoh foretold, for his dealing deceitfully with Israel, Eze 29:1-7. II. The desolation of the land of Egypt foretold, Eze 29:8-12. III. A promise of the restoration thereof, in part, after forty years, Eze 29:13-16. IV. The possession that should be given to Nebuchadnezzar of the land of Egypt, Eze 29:17-20. V. A promise of mercy to Israel, Eze 29:21.

In Ezekiel 29-32 we read prophecies against Egypt which, uttered (with the exception of Ezekiel 29:17 to the end) in regular succession, predict the downfall of Pharaoh Hophra and the desolation of Egypt.

Ezekiel 29:1-16: the first prophecy against Egypt delivered some months before the preceding prophecies against Tyre (see Ezekiel 26:1), the prophecies against the nations being given, not in their chronological, but in their geographical order, according to their nearness to Jerusalem.

This and the three following chapters foretell the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, which he accomplished in the twenty-seventh year of Jehoiachin's captivity. The same event is foretold by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 46:13, etc. The prophecy opens with God's charging the king of Egypt (Pharaoh-hophra) with the same extravagant pride and profanity which were in the preceding chapter laid to the charge of the prince of Tyre. He appears, like him, to have affected Divine honors; and boasted so much of the strength of his kingdom, that, as an ancient historian (Herodotus) tells us, he impiously declared that God himself could not dispossess him. Wherefore the prophet, with great majesty, addresses him under the image of one of those crocodiles or monsters which inhabited that river, of whose riches and revenue he vaunted; and assures him that, with as much ease as a fisherman drags the fish he has hooked, God would drag him and his people into captivity, and that their carcasses should fall a prey to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of heaven, Ezekiel 29:1-7. The figure is then dropped; and God is introduced denouncing, in plain terns, the most awful judgments against him and his nation, and declaring that the Egyptians should be subjected to the Babylonians till the fall of the Chaldean empire, Ezekiel 29:8-12. The prophet then foretells that Egypt, which was about to be devastated by the Babylonians, and many of the people carried into captivity, should again become a kingdom; but that it should never regain its ancient political importance; for, in the lapse of time, it should be even the Basest of the kingdoms, a circumstance in the prophecy most literally fulfilled, especially under the Christian dispensation, in its government by the Mameluke slaves, Ezekiel 29:13-16. The prophecy, beginning at the seventeenth verse, is connected with the foregoing, as it relates to the same subject, though delivered about seventeen years later. Nebuchadnezzar and his army, after the long siege of Tyre, which made every head bald by constantly wearing their helmets, and wore the skin of off every shoulder by carrying burdens to raise the fortifications, were disappointed of the spoil which they expected, by the retiring of the inhabitants to Carthage. God, therefore, promises him Egypt for his reward, Ezekiel 29:17-20. The chapter concludes with a prediction of the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, Ezekiel 29:21.

INTRODUCTION TO Ezekiel 29

This chapter contains a prophecy against Pharaoh king of Egypt; and of the destruction of the land of Egypt; and of the restoration of it after a certain time. The time of prophecy is noted, Ezekiel 29:1, the order to prophesy against Pharaoh, who is described as a large fish, lying in his rivers, and boasting of them, Ezekiel 29:2, his destruction and the manner of it, Ezekiel 29:4, the reason of it, his treachery to the Jews, Ezekiel 29:6, hence the whole land of Egypt is threatened with desolation, from one end to the other, so as to be uninhabited by man or beast for the space of forty years, Ezekiel 29:8, but shall not arrive to their former glory as a kingdom, nor be any more the confidence of the house of Israel, Ezekiel 29:15, then follows a prophecy seventeen years after this, showing the reason why Egypt was given to the king of Babylon, Ezekiel 29:17, and the chapter is closed with a promise of happiness to Israel, Ezekiel 29:21.

XXIX.

The series of prophecies against Egypt, occupying the four following chapters, and containing seven separate prophecies, were all delivered in regular order, except the short one at the close of this chapter (Ezekiel 29:17-21), which was much later. The prophecy of Ezekiel 30:1-19 is indeed undated, but there is no reason to suppose it is out of its chronological place. Ezekiel 29-31, with the exception just mentioned, were uttered before the fall of Jerusalem, and consequently before the series of prophecies against other foreign nations just considered, the principle of arrangement here being geographical rather than chronological, and the immediate neighbours of Israel being taken up before the more distant Egypt. In the detail this series is arranged substantially on the same plan as that against Tyre: first, a prophecy against Egypt (Ezekiel 29, 30); then a picture of her greatness and fall (Ezekiel 31); and finally a dirge over her (Ezekiel 32).

At the time when the first of these prophecies was uttered the Jews still looked upon Egypt as the great power opposed to the Chaldæans, and still hoped for aid from this source. Hence the teaching of this prophecy was very necessary for them. And even afterwards it was important for them to understand that they were not to rely on any earthly aid, and especially that Egypt, to which they had been disposed to look during so many generations, could never help them.

The monarch now upon the throne of Egypt was Pharaoh-Hophra, the Apries of the Greeks. On the question of his death and the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, see Excursus at the end of this book. It is certain that the period was one of a temporary revival of Egyptian power amid its general course of decadence. Egypt had been conquered by Assyria, and again and again subdued after its revolts. On the fall of Assyria it had thrown off all foreign yoke, and Hophra himself had made a successful attack upon the Phœnicians, and had attempted to raise the siege of Jerusalem, in which he momentarily succeeded, but was driven off by Nebuchadnezzar. Not many years afterwards Egypt was finally subdued by the Medo-Persian power, which succeeded the Chaldæan at Babylon, and never regained its independence for any length of time. It continued a Persian satrapy until it fell successively under the Greek, the Roman, and the Mameluke sway.

Ch. 29–32 Prophecy against Egypt

With the exception of the passage ch. Ezekiel 29:17-21 the prophecies against Egypt belong to a time shortly anterior to the fall of Jerusalem or shortly after it. Ch. 29 is dated about seven months before the capture of the city; ch. Ezekiel 30:20 seq. about four months, and ch. 31 about two months before that event, while ch. 32 falls somewhat more than a year and a half later than the destruction. The active participation of Egypt in the affairs of Israel all this time, the hopes reposed in her by the people (Lamentations 4:17), and the disappointments caused by her, explain the large space devoted by the prophet to her character and her destinies in the purposes of Jehovah.

The general thought prevailing in the prophecy is the same as that in other parts of Ezekiel’s book, viz. that Jehovah, God of Israel, is the one true God, and that all the movements among the nations, the overthrow of some and the triumphs of others, are his operations, and that they are but parts of a general rule and direction of the world, the design of which is to make himself known to all the nations as the one living and true God. The two sins for which Egypt, represented by Pharaoh, is chastised are, first, pride of heart which recognizes no God above it, which says, My River is mine, I have made it (Ezekiel 29:3); and second, the deceptive fascination which the imposing and pretentious power of the Nile valley exerted on the people of God, seducing them away from trust in Jehovah alone (cf. Isaiah 30:1-5; Isaiah 31:1-3), and proving always a delusive support (Ezekiel 29:6-7). This reed which, so far from supporting, pierced the hand that leant on it, must be broken for ever, that in the future (the new age about to dawn) the people of Jehovah may no more be tempted to trust in it.

Egypt, however, is a different kind of power both from the petty peoples like Edom and Moab, and from Tyre the great commercial mart of the nations. The smaller nations suffer because of their despite against Israel, and in suffering they learn what Jehovah is. Tyre did not affect to be a conqueror. She was the lady at whose feet the nations laid their tribute of precious ores and jewels, rich cloths and sweet perfumes. The prince of Tyre prided himself upon his wisdom, his skill in seamanship and commerce, his brilliant ingenuity in the arts, and on his beauty and splendour. The sin of Tyre was this ungodly pride of mind, and this wholly secular devotion to trade. But Egypt is a world power. It rules nations (Ezekiel 29:15). It is a great cedar, envied by the trees in the garden of God (Ezekiel 31:9), in the branches of which all the fowls of heaven nest, and under the shadow of which all the beasts of the field bring forth (Ezekiel 31:6). It aspires to universal dominion. Hence in treating of it the prophet’s mind takes a wider sweep. He thinks of Jehovah as God over all, and of his operations as embracing the world. The judgment of Egypt is the day of the Lord (Ezekiel 30:3); it is the time of the Gentiles. Hence its overthrow is felt over the world (Ezekiel 32:10). Creation shudders; the waters stand motionless (Ezekiel 31:15). Jehovah is known to the ends of the earth (Ezekiel 30:19; Ezekiel 30:26).

Each of the four chapters is formed in the main upon the same model, containing first, a general threat of destruction upon Egypt, represented by the Pharaoh, under some allegorical designation (e.g. the crocodile); secondly, a more particular detail of the instrument whom Jehovah shall use (the king of Babylon), the destruction of the country and the dispersion of its inhabitants; to which, thirdly, in several of the chapters a description is added of the effect on the nations and all creation which these terrible convulsions shall produce. These events shall be done on the stage of the world, with mankind as spectators; Jehovah shall brandish his sword in the eyes of the nations, and nature and men will shudder (Ezekiel 32:10). Ch. 32 ends with a dirge chanted over the interment of Pharaoh, which is one of the most weird passages in literature.

Ch. 29 General threat of Judgment on Pharaoh and his people

(1) Ezekiel 29:1-7. Pharaoh is presented under the allegory of a great crocodile inhabiting the waters of the land, and the population as fishes. Jehovah with his hook shall draw him out of his waters, with his fishes cleaving to his scales, and shall cast his carcase upon the desert, where the fowls and the beasts shall batten on him. The causes of this judgment on Pharaoh and his people are, his ungodly pride (Ezekiel 29:3), and the fact that he has always proved a delusive confidence to Israel, seducing them from their single trust in Jehovah (Ezekiel 29:6-7).

(2) Ezekiel 29:8-12. Explanation of the allegory. A great conqueror, stirred up by Jehovah, will overthrow Pharaoh, destroy his people and desolate his land. The inhabitants shall be scattered into all countries, and Egypt shall remain utterly desolate, trodden by the foot neither of man nor beast, for the space of forty years.

(3) Ezekiel 29:13-16. At the end of forty years Egypt shall be restored, but only to attain the rank of a mean power, meaner than all the kingdoms of the earth. It shall no more rule over nations, and no more from its imposing greatness be a temptation to the people of Jehovah to put their trust in it. The term of forty years is considered by the prophet the time of Chaldean supremacy. At the end of this period the world shall be revolutionised.

(4) Ezekiel 29:17-21. A passage of date 570 b.c., probably inserted after the prophecies against Egypt had been reduced to writing—hardly after the book had been published—and suggested by the termination of Nebuchadnezzar’s thirteen years’ siege of Tyre. It consists of a promise to Nebuchadnezzar that Egypt shall be given him as a recompense for the service which he served in Jehovah’s behalf against Tyre, for which service he failed at Tyre to obtain the adequate reward.

Eze 29:1-21.

THE JUDGMENT ON EGYPT BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR; THOUGH ABOUT TO BE RESTORED AFTER FORTY YEARS, IT WAS STILL TO BE IN A STATE OF DEGRADATION.

This is the last of the world kingdoms against which Ezekiel's prophecies are directed, and occupies the largest space in them, namely, the next four chapters. Though farther off than Tyre, it exercised a more powerful influence on Israel.

The tenth year - Jerusalem had been besieged, but not taken. Jeremiah delivered his prophecy against Egypt, about the time when the approach of Pharaoh Hophra's army caused the Chaldaeans for the time to raise the siege Jeremiah 37:5. This was the solitary instance of Egypt meddling with the affairs of Palestine or Syria after the battle of Carchemish (compare 2 Kings 24:7); it met with speedy punishment.