Ezekiel 29 commentary

EZEKIEL 29 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
A Prophecy Against Egypt
Judgment on Pharaoh
1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the
twelfth day, the word of the Lord came to me:
BARNES, "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 Jer_37:5. This was
the solitary instance of Egypt meddling with the affairs of Palestine or Syria after the
battle of Carchemish (compare 2Ki_24:7); it met with speedy punishment.
CLARKE, "In the tenth year - Of Zedekiah; and tenth of the captivity of Jeconiah.
The ten month, in the twelfth day of the month - Answering to Monday, the
first of February, A.M. 3415.
GILL, "In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the
month,.... In the tenth year Jeconiah's captivity, and Zedekiah's reign. The Septuagint
version has it, the twelfth year; and the Arabic version, the twelfth month; and the
Septuagint version again, the first day of the month; and the Vulgate Latin, the eleventh
day of it. This month was the month Tebet, and answers to part of December, and part of
January. This prophecy was delivered before that concerning Tyre, though placed after
it, because fulfilled after it, which gave Nebuchadnezzar Egypt as a reward for besieging
and taking Tyre:
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the word of the Lord came unto me, saying; as follows.
HENRY, "Here is, I. The date of this prophecy against Egypt. It was in the tenth year
of the captivity, and yet it is placed after the prophecy against Tyre, which was delivered
in the eleventh year, because, in the accomplishment of the prophecies, the destruction
of Tyre happened before the destruction of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar's gaining Egypt
was the reward of his service against Tyre; and therefore the prophecy against Tyre is
put first, that we may the better observe that. But particular notice must be taken of this,
that the first prophecy against Egypt was just at the time when the king of Egypt was
coming to relieve Jerusalem and raise the siege (Jer_37:5), but did not answer the
expectations of the Jews from them. Note, It is good to foresee the failing of all our
creature-confidences, then when we are most in temptation to depend upon them, that
we may cease from man.
JAMISON, "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.
K&D 1-5, "The Judgment upon Pharaoh and His People and Land
Because Pharaoh looks upon himself as the creator of his kingdom and of his might,
he is to be destroyed with his men of war (Eze_29:2-5). In order that Israel may no
longer put its trust in the fragile power of Egypt, the sword shall cut off from Egypt both
man and beast, the land shall be turned into a barren wilderness, and the people shall be
scattered over the lands (Eze_29:5-12). But after the expiration of the time appointed for
its punishment, both people and land shall be restored, though only to remain an
insignificant kingdom (Eze_29:13-16). - According to Eze_29:1, this prophecy belongs to
the tenth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin; and as we may see by comparing it with the
other oracles against Egypt of which the dates are given, it was the first word of God
uttered by Ezekiel concerning this imperial kingdom. The contents also harmonize with
this, inasmuch as the threat which it contains merely announces in general terms the
overthrow of the might of Egypt and its king, without naming the instrument employed
to execute the judgment, and at the same time the future condition of Egypt is also
disclosed.
Eze_29:1-12
Destruction of the might of Pharaoh, and devastation of Egypt
Eze_29:1. In the tenth year, in the tenth (month), on the twelfth of the month, the
word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze_29:2. Son of man, direct thy face against
Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. Eze_29:3.
Speak and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with thee, Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, thou great dragon which lieth in its rivers, which saith, “Mine is the
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river, and I have made it for myself.” Eze_29:4. I will put a ring into thy jaws, and
cause the fishes of thy rivers to hang upon thy scales, and draw thee out of thy rivers,
and all the fishes of thy rivers which hang upon thy scales; Eze_29:5. And will cast thee
into the desert, thee and all the fishes of thy rivers; upon the surface of the field wilt
thou fall, thou wilt not be lifted up nor gathered together; I give thee for food to the
beasts of the earth and the birds of the heaven. Eze_29:6. And all the inhabitants of
Egypt shall learn that I am Jehovah. Because it is a reed-staff to the house of Israel, -
Eze_29:7. When they grasp thee by thy branches, thou crackest and tearest open all
their shoulder; and when they lean upon thee, thou breakest and causest all their loins
to shake, - Eze_29:8. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I bring upon thee
the sword, and will cut off from thee man and beast; Eze_29:9. And the land of Egypt
will become a waste and desolation, and they shall learn that I am Jehovah. Because he
saith: “The river is mine, and I have made it,” Eze_29:10. Therefore, behold, I will deal
with thee and thy rivers, and will make the land of Egypt into barren waste desolations
from Migdol to Syene, even to the border of Cush. Eze_29:11. The foot of man will not
pass through it, and the foot of beast will not pass through it, and it will not be
inhabited for forty years. Eze_29:12. I make the land of Egypt a waste in the midst of
devastated lands, and its cities shall be waste among desolate cities forty years; and I
scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them in the lands. - The date
given, viz., “in the tenth year,” is defended even by Hitzig as more correct than the
reading of the lxx, ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ δωδεκάτω; and he supposes the Alexandrian reading to
have originated in the fact that the last date mentioned in Eze_26:1 had already brought
down the account to the eleventh year. - Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, against whom the
threat is first directed, is called “the great dragon” in Eze_29:3. ‫ים‬ִ‫נּ‬ ַ‫תּ‬ (here and Eze_
32:2) is equivalent to ‫ין‬ִ‫נּ‬ ַ‫,תּ‬ literally, the lengthened animal, the snake; here, the water-
snake, the crocodile, the standing symbol of Egypt in the prophets (cf. Isa_51:9; Isa_
27:1; Psa_74:13), which is here transferred to Pharaoh, as the ruler of Egypt and
representative of its power. By ‫ים‬ ִ‫ֹר‬‫א‬ְ‫י‬ we are to understand the arms and canals of the
Nile (vid., Isa_7:18). The predicate, “lying in the midst of his rivers,” points at once to
the proud security in his own power to which Pharaoh gave himself up. As the crocodile
lies quietly in the waters of the Nile, as though he were lord of the river; so did Pharaoh
regard himself as the omnipotent lord of Egypt. His words affirm this: “the river is mine,
I have made it for myself.” The suffix attached to ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ ִ‫ית‬ ִ‫ֲשׂ‬‫ע‬ stands in the place of ‫י‬ ְ‫,ל‬ as
Eze_29:9, where the suffix is wanting, clearly shows. There is an incorrectness in this
use of the suffix, which evidently passed into the language of literature from the popular
phraseology (cf. Ewald, §315b). The rendering of the Vulgate, ego feci memetipsum, is
false. ‫י‬ ִ‫ֹר‬‫א‬ְ‫י‬ is the expression used by him as a king who regards the land and its rivers as
his own property; in connection with which we must bear in mind that Egypt is indebted
to the Nile not only for its greatness, but for its actual existence. In this respect Pharaoh
says emphatically ‫י‬ ְ‫,ל‬ it is mine, it belongs to me, because he regards himself as the
creator. The words, “I have made it for myself,” simply explain the reason for the
expression ‫י‬ ְ‫,ל‬ and affirm more than “I have put myself in possession of this through my
own power, or have acquired its blessings for myself” (Hävernick); or, “I have put it into
its present condition by constructing canals, dams, sluices, and buildings by the river-
side” (Hitzig). Pharaoh calls himself the creator of the Nile, because he regards himself
as the creator of the greatness of Egypt. This pride, in which he forgets God and
attributes divine power to himself, is the cause of his sin, for which he will be
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overthrown by God. God will draw the crocodile Pharaoh out of his Nile with hooks, and
cast him upon the dry land, where he and the fishes that have been drawn out along with
him upon his scales will not be gathered up, but devoured by the wild beasts and birds of
prey. The figure is derived from the manner in which even in ancient times the crocodile
was caught with large hooks of a peculiar construction (compare Herod. ii. 70, and the
testimonies of travellers in Oedmann's Vermischten Sammlungen, III pp. 6ff., and
Jomard in the Déscription de l'Egypte, I p. 27). The form ‫חחיים‬ with a double Yod is a
copyist's error, probably occasioned by the double Yod occurring after ‫ח‬ in ‫ֶי‬‫י‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫ל‬ ִ‫,בּ‬
which follows. A dual form for ‫ים‬ ִ‫ח‬ ַ‫ח‬ is unsuitable, and is not used anywhere else even by
Ezekiel (cf. Eze_19:4, Eze_19:9, and more especially Eze_38:4).
The fishes which hang upon the scales of the monster, and are drawn along with it out
of the Nile, are the inhabitants of Egypt, for the Nile represents the land. The casting of
the beast into the wilderness, where it putrefies and is devoured by the beasts and birds
of prey, must not be interpreted in the insipid manner proposed by Hitzig, namely, that
Pharaoh would advance with his army into the desert of Arabia and be defeated there.
The wilderness is the dry and barren land, in which animals that inhabit the water must
perish; and the thought is simply that the monster will be cast upon the desert land,
where it will finally become the food of the beasts of prey.
COFFMAN, "FIRST OF FOUR CHAPTERS DIRECTED AGAINST EGYPT
"The first sixteen verses here are an introduction to the entire four chapters against
Egypt. They describe the fate of Egypt, cite the sins of which she was guilty and
indicate the nature of her judgment, and her future place among the nations of the
world."[1]
Ezekiel has seven oracles against Egypt, the first two of which are in this chapter:
(1) Ezekiel 29:1-16; (2) Ezekiel 29:17-21; (3) Ezekiel 30:1-19; (4) Ezekiel 30:20-26;
(5) Ezekiel 31; (6) Ezekiel 32:1-16; and (7) Ezekiel 32:17-32.
The date of this prophecy is specific. "It was a year and two days after
Nebuchadnezzar began the siege of Jerusalem, and seven months before its
destruction."[2] This was in January, 587 B.C.[3] "This was about the time when
Pharaoh Hophra's approach toward Jerusalem with an army caused
Nebuchadnezzar temporarily to lift the siege, as recorded in Jeremiah 37:5.[4]
4

The chapter naturally falls into these divisions: (1) the crocodile captured and
destroyed (Ezekiel 29:1-7); (2) the allegory applied (Ezekiel 29:8-12); (3) the
restoration of Egypt after forty years (Ezekiel 29:13-16); (4) Egypt awarded to
Nebuchadnezzar as `wages' for his ruin of Tyre (Ezekiel 29:17-20); and (5) a
glimpse of a New Age for Israel (Ezekiel 29:21).
THE CROCODILE CAPTURED AND DESTROYED
Ezekiel 29:1-7
"In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of
Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of
Egypt; speak, and say, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee,
Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that
hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. And I will put hooks
in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales: and I will
bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, with all the fish of thy rivers which stick
unto thy scales. And I will cast thee forth into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of
thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together,
nor gathered; I have given thee for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of
the heavens. And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because
they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of thee by
the hand, thou didst break, and didst rend all their shoulders; and when they leaned
upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand."
"The twelfth day of the month ..." (Ezekiel 29:1). F. F. Bruce gave this day as the
7th of January, 587 B.C.[5]
"The great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers ..." (Ezekiel 29:3). The word
here means crocodile, an appropriate symbol indeed for Pharaoh and his nation. He
was a terrible looking monster, not nearly as dangerous as he looked, lethargic and
inactive most of the time. Of course, some of our radical commentators
automatically find all kinds of mythological connections with a reference of this
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kind; but as Cooke stated, "Mythological associations are foreign to this
context."[6] Furthermore, Pearson, writing in 1962, makes the same affirmation.[7]
Despite this, May, quoting some various readings, thought he found here some
reflections of Sumerian mythology."[8]
Historically, there is no excuse whatever for seeking sources here in ancient
mythology. The crocodile was a well-known symbol of Egypt, found on Roman coins
of that vintage, and being universally understood as a symbol of Egypt and its
Pharaohs.[9]
"The fish ... which stick to thy scales ..." (Ezekiel 29:4). This represents the subjects,
dependents, and allies of Pharaoh who would inevitably share in his ruin and
downfall.
"I have given thee for food to the beasts, etc ..." (Ezekiel 29:5). The death
prophesied here for Pharaoh was especially repulsive to the Egyptian, due to the
care they usually bestowed upon their dead bodies, especially those of the Pharaohs.
Two reasons are here assigned as the prior causes of the terrible punishment God
was bringing upon them. (1) Pharaoh had arrogated unto himself divine
prerogatives, in the same manner as the prince of Tyre, even claiming to have
created the Nile River! (Ezekiel 29:3). (2) Egypt had bitterly deceived and betrayed
Israel upon those occasions when, contrary to God's warning, that had formed
military alliances with Egypt. They had proved to be a "broken reed" indeed upon
which Israel had vainly depended for help. Still another reason is cited later in
Ezekiel 29:9b-16. (3) "Egypt possessed an exaggerated sense of self-sufficiency."[10]
COKE, "The judgment of Pharaoh for his treachery to Israel. The desolation of
Egypt. The restoration thereof after forty years. Egypt the reward of
Nebuchadrezzar. Israel shall be restored.
6

Before Christ 588.
Verse 1
Ezekiel 29:1. In the tenth year, &c.— The tenth year is that from the taking of
Jerusalem: according to Usher, about the year of the world 3415. The prophesies in
this and the three following chapters respect Egypt; though they were not all
delivered at the same time. See on chap. Ezekiel 31:3.
ELLICOTT, "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
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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.
Verse 1
(1) In the tenth year, in the tenth month.—This was exactly a year and two days
after the investment of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 24:1-2; 2 Kings
25:1), and about six months before its fall, or seven before its destruction (2 Kings
25:3-8). It must have been, therefore, after the time when the siege was temporarily
raised by the approach of the Egyptians under Pharaoh-Hophra (Jeremiah 37:5;
Jeremiah 37:11), and when Jeremiah prophesied the failure of that attempt
(Jeremiah 37:6-10); and probably was just when the news of that relief reached
Chaldæa, and gave fresh hope to the exiles of the deliverance of Jerusalem.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth [month], in the twelfth [day] of
the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ver. 1. In the tenth year.] The year before Jerusalem was taken. [Ezekiel 24:1]
In the tenth month.] Called "Tebeth," [Esther 2:16] and it answereth to our
January, saith Bede. Chronology is the eye of prophecy, as well as of history.
PETT, "Verse 1-2
‘In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of
Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, king of
Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.” ’
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This prophesy took place in January 587 BC almost a year after the siege of
Jerusalem had begun. It was Egypt that had been partly responsible for Zedekiah’s
rebellion, contrary to Yahweh’s specific command (e.g. Jeremaih Ezekiel 27:6-11),
and who therefore had to bear part responsibility for it.
The Great Crocodile and The Broken Reed.
PETT, "Verses 1-16
The First Oracle Against Egypt (Ezekiel 29:1-16).
In this oracle Egypt is likened to a monster crocodile which Yahweh will hunt and
dispose of (2-5), because of Pharaoh’s pretensions (Ezekiel 29:3), and then to a staff
on which those who lean will falter (6-7). And then He prophesies the future
destruction and weakness of Egypt.
PETT, "Verses 1-32
The Oracles Against Egypt (Ezekiel 29:1 to Ezekiel 32:32).
This section of the book is composed of seven oracles issued against Egypt. The fact
that there are seven is probably deliberate in order to emphasise the divine
completeness of the condemnation, for throughout the Near East seven was the
number of divine perfection.
Egypt was the great power to the south, as Assyria, Babylon and Persia were
successively to the north. Except in very weak times, she had always seen the land of
Canaan as hers and under her administration, and had only reluctantly ceded
ground when forced to do so for a time by those great powers from the north. Her
influence had never been good and she was responsible for much of the idolatry in
Israel. This was necessarily so because Pharaoh saw himself as the manifestation of
the god Horus, becoming the great Osiris on his death. Thus the destruction of
9

Egypt’s power was necessary if ever Israel was to be free.
This denunciation of Egypt is looking at more than the current situation, although
having that in mind. For centuries Egypt had dominated Israel. Again and again she
had crushed her and exacted tribute. Now she was to receiver retribution.
Furthermore at this time Egypt was seeking to rally the peoples in and around
Canaan, encouraging them to rebel against Babylon with promises of aid. But
because of her own comparative weakness this could only lead them into deep
trouble. She was not strong enough to lean on. So if His people were to know peace
Egypt had to be dealt with, and dealt with thoroughly.
From this time on Egypt would never again rise to be the great power that she had
been. And Ezekiel reveals this as being due to the activity of Yahweh.
PULPIT, "In the tenth year, etc. The precision with which the dates of the several
portions of the prophecy against Egypt are given, here and in Ezekiel 29:17; Ezekiel
30:20; Ezekiel 31:1; Ezekiel 32:1, Ezekiel 32:7, shows that each was called forth by
the political events of the time, and has to be studied in connection with them. It will
be well, therefore, to begin with a Brief survey of the relations which existed at this
period between Judah, Egypt, and Babylon. After the great defeat of Pharaoh-
Necho by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, on which Jeremiah (46.) dwells fully, he
was succeeded in B.C. 594 by his son Psammetik II. the Psammis of Herodotus
2.160, who invaded Ethiopia, and died in B.C. 588, leaving the throne to his son
Uah-prahet, the Pharaoh Hophra of Jeremiah 44:30, the Apries of Herod; 2.161.
The Greek historian tells us that he attacked Tyre and Zidon, failed in an enterprise
against Cyrene, and was deposed by Amasis. Zedekiah and his counselors, following
in the steps of Hezekiah (Isaiah 30:1-33.) and Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 46:1-28.), had
courted his alliance against the Chaldeans. As Ezekiel had prophesied (Ezekiel
17:11-18), they found that they were once more leaning on a broken reed. We have
now come to B.C. 589, when Jerusalem was actually besieged, but was still dreaming
of being relieved by an Egyptian army.
10

POOLE, "The judgment upon Pharaoh for his treachery to Israel, Ezekiel 29:1-7.
The desolation of Egypt, and restoration of it after forty years, Ezekiel 29:8-16.
Egypt the reward of Nebuchadrezzar’s service against Tyre, Ezekiel 29:17-20. Israel
shall flourish again, Ezekiel 29:21.
The tenth year of Jeconiah’s captivity. The tenth month, which answers to part of
our December and part of January.
2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh
king of Egypt and prophesy against him and
against all Egypt.
CLARKE, "Set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt - This was Pharaoh-
hophra or Pharaoh-apries, whom we have so frequently met with in the prophecies of
Jeremiah, and much of whose history has been given in the notes.
GILL, "Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Pharaoh was
a name common to all the kings of Egypt; the name of this king was Pharaohhophra,
Jer_44:30, and who, by Herodotus (x), is called Apries:
and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt; prophesy of his destruction,
and of the destruction of the whole land that is under his dominion.
HENRY, " The scope of this prophecy. It is directed against Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and against all Egypt, Eze_29:2. The prophecy against Tyre began with the people, and
then proceeded against the prince. But this begins with the prince, because it began to
have its accomplishment in the insurrections and rebellions of the people against the
prince, not long after this.
11

JAMISON, "Pharaoh — a common name of all the kings of Egypt, meaning “the
sun”; or, as others say, a “crocodile,” which was worshipped in parts of Egypt (compare
Eze_29:3). Hophra or Apries was on the throne at this time. His reign began
prosperously. He took Gaza (Jer_47:1) and Zidon and made himself master of Phoenicia
and Palestine, recovering much that was lost to Egypt by the victory of Nebuchadnezzar
at Carchemish (2Ki_24:7; Jer_46:2), in the fourth year of Jehoiakim [Wilkinson,
Ancient Egypt, 1.169]. So proudly secure because of his successes for twenty-five years
did he feel, that he said not even a god could deprive him of his kingdom [Herodotus,
2.169]. Hence the appropriateness of the description of him in Eze_29:3. No mere
human sagacity could have enabled 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 captivity; 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 (Eze_29:17; Eze_
30:19), but placed there as appropriate to the subject matter. Pharaoh-hophra, or
Apries, was dethroned and strangled, and Amasis substituted as king, by
Nebuchadnezzar (compare Jer_44:30). The Egyptian priests, from national vanity,
made no mention to Herodotus of the Egyptian loss of territory in Syria through
Nebuchadnezzar, of which Josephus tells us, but attributed the change in the succession
from Apries to Amasis solely to the Egyptian soldiery. 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]. Compare Jer_43:10-12, and see on Jer_43:13, for another view
of the grounds of interference of Nebuchadnezzar.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 29:2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and
prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
Ver. 2. Set thy face against Pharaoh.] This was Pharaohhophra, whom Herodotus
(a) calleth Apries, and saith that he gave out that no god, how great soever, could
deprive him of his kingdom. Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, also was wont to say that
his kingdom was tied unto him with chains of adamant; but it proved otherwise.
Noli gloriari. Do not brag!
And against all Egypt.] Which held itself able to hold out against all the world, and
is therefore here threatened at large in this and the three next chapters.
POOLE, " Set thy face: see Ezekiel 20:46 21:2.
12

Pharaoh; Hophra, as the Scripture styles him, Jeremiah 44:30; the Greek authors
call him Apries, and Vaphres: most like he was grandson to Necho, who slew Josiah
in fight, 2 Chronicles 35:23,24.
Prophesy against him; in prophetic style and authority declare what shall be done to
him in his person.
All Egypt; the whole multitude of Egyptians; for it is the place for the people
dwelling in it.
3 Speak to him and say: ‘This is what the
Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
you great monster lying among your streams.
You say, “The Nile belongs to me;
I made it for myself.”
BARNES, "The king is addressed as the embodiment of the state.
13

Dragon - Here the crocodile, the great monster of the Nile, which was regarded very
differently in different parts of Egypt. By some it was worshipped and embalmed after
death, and cities were named after it (e. g., in the Arsinoite nome). Others viewed it with
the utmost abhorrence. An animal so terrible, so venerated, or so abhorred, was an apt
image of the proud Egyptian monarch - the more so, perhaps, because it was in truth
less formidable than it appeared, and often became an easy prey to such as assailed it
with skill and courage.
Lieth in the midst of his rivers - Sais, the royal city, during the twenty-sixth
dynasty was in the Delta, in the very midst of the various branches and canals of the
Nile.
My river is mine own ... - It was the common boast of Hophra (Apries), that “not
even a god could dispossess him of power.” The river was at all times the source of
fertility and wealth to Egypt, but especially so to the Saite kings, who had their royal
residence on the river, and encouraged contact with foreigners, by whose commerce the
kingdom was greatly enriched.
CLARKE, "The great dragon - ‫התנים‬ hattannim should here be translated crocodile,
as that is a real animal, and numerous in the Nile; whereas the dragon is wholly
fabulous. The original signifies any large animal.
The midst of his rivers - This refers to the several branches of the Nile, by which
this river empties itself into the Mediterranean. The ancients termed them septem ostia
Nili, “the seven mouths of the Nile.” The crocodile was the emblem of Egypt.
GILL, "Speak, and say, thus saith the Lord God,.... The one only, living, and true
God, the almighty, eternal, and unchangeable Jehovah, which the gods of Egypt were
not:
behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt; who, though so great a king,
was not a match for God, yea, nothing in his hands; nor could he stand before him, or
contend with him; or,
I am above thee (y); though the king of Egypt was so high above others, and thought
so highly of himself, as if he was a god; yet the Lord was higher than he:
the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers; the chief river of Egypt was
the Nile, which opened in seven mouths or gates into the sea, and out of which canals
were made to water the whole land; and which abounding with rivers and watery places,
hence the king of it is compared to a great fish, a dragon or whale, or rather a crocodile,
which was a fish very common, and almost peculiar to Egypt; and with which the
description here agrees, as Bochart observes; and who also remarks that Pharaoh in the
Arabic language signifies a crocodile; and to which he may be compared for his cruel,
voracious, and mischievous nature; and is here represented as lying at ease, and rolling
himself in the enjoyment of his power, riches, and pleasures:
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which hath said, my river is mine own, and I have made it for myself; alluding
to the river Nile, which his predecessors had by their wisdom cut out into canals, for the
better watering of the land; and which he might have improved, so that it stood in no
need of rain, nor of the supplies of other countries, having a sufficiency from its own
product; though he chiefly designs his kingdom, which was his own, and he had
established it, and made himself great in it; for the last clause may be rendered, either, "I
have made it", as the Syriac version, the river Nile, ascribing that to himself which
belonged to God; or, "I have made them", the rivers among whom he lay, as the
Septuagint and Arabic versions; or, "I have made myself", as the Vulgate Latin version;
that is, a great king. So the Targum,
"the kingdom is mine, and I have subdued it.''
Herodotus says of this king, that he was so lifted up with pride, and so secure of his
happy state, that he said there was no God could deprive him of his kingdom (z). This
proud tyrannical monarch was an emblem of that beast that received his power from the
dragon, and who himself spake like one; of the whore of Babylon that sits upon many
waters, and boasts of her sovereignty and power, of her wealth and riches, of her ease,
peace, pleasure, prosperity, and settled estate, Rev_13:2.
HENRY, "The prophecy itself. Pharaoh Hophrah (for so was the reigning Pharaoh
surnamed) is here represented by a great dragon, or crocodile, that lies in the midst of
his rivers, as Leviathan in the waters, to play therein, Eze_29:3. Nilus, the river of
Egypt, was famed for crocodiles. And what is the king of Egypt, in God's account, but a
great dragon, venomous and mischievous? Therefore says God, I am against thee. I am
above thee; so it may be read. How high soever the princes and potentates of the earth
are, there is a higher than they (Ecc_5:8), a God above them, that can control them,
and, if they be tyrannical and oppressive, a God against them, that will be free to reckon
with them. Observe here,
1. The pride and security of Pharaoh. He lies in the midst of his rivers, rolls himself
with a great deal of satisfaction in his wealth and pleasures; and he says, My river is my
own. He boasts that he is an absolute prince (his subjects are his vassals; Joseph bought
them long ago, Gen_47:23), - that he is a sole prince, and has neither partner in the
government nor competitor for it, - that he is out of debt (what he has is his own, and
none of his neighbours have any demands upon him), - that he is independent, neither
tributary nor accountable to any. Note, Worldly carnal minds please themselves with,
and pride themselves in, their property, forgetting that whatever we have we have only
the use of it, the property is in God. We ourselves are not our own, but his. Our tongues
are not our own, Psa_12:4. Our river is not our own, for its springs are in God. The most
potent prince cannot call what he has his own, for, though it be so against all the world,
it is not so against God. But Pharaoh's reason for his pretensions is yet more absurd: My
river is my own, for I have made it for myself. Here he usurps two of the divine
prerogatives, to be the author and the end of his own being and felicity. He only that is
the great Creator can say of this world, and of every thing in it, I have made it for myself.
He calls his river his own because he looks not unto the Maker thereof, nor has respect
unto him that fashioned it long ago, Isa_22:11. What we have we have received from
God and must use for God, so that we cannot say, We made it, much less, We made it for
ourselves; and why then do we boast? Note, Self is the great idol that all the world
15

worships, in contempt of God and his sovereignty.
JAMISON, "dragon — Hebrew, tanim, any large aquatic animal, here the crocodile,
which on Roman coins is the emblem of Egypt.
lieth — restest proudly secure.
his rivers — the mouths, branches, and canals of the Nile, to which Egypt owed its
fertility.
COKE, "Ezekiel 29:3. I am against thee, &c,— This king of Egypt was Pharaoh
Hophra, of whom Jeremiah speaks, chap. Ezekiel 44:30 and who is called Apries by
Herodotus; who informs us, agreeably to this description of our prophet, that
Apries proudly and wickedly boasted of having established his kingdom so securely,
that it was not in the power of God himself to dispossess him. Instead of, the great
dragon, we should read, the great crocodile. The next verse alludes to the manner of
taking the crocodile. See Job 41:1. It is commonly supposed, that Amasis is alluded
to in Ezekiel 29:4 who dethroned Apries. See Bishop Newton, vol. 1: and chap.
Ezekiel 32:2. Among the ancients, the crocodile was a symbol of Egypt; and appears
so on Roman coins. Michaelis. Milton has this sublime passage in view:
Thus with ten wounds The river-dragon tam'd at length submits. PAR. LOST, xii.
190.
See Addison's Spect. n. 369, D'Herbelot cites an eastern poet, who, celebrating the
prowess of a most valiant Persian prince, said, he was dreadful as a lion in the field,
and not less terrible in the water than a crocodile. Harmer, ii. 529. See chap. Ezekiel
32:2 where both these comparisons are used.
Rivers— The Nile has seven mouths. Rivers also emptied themselves into it, and
channels were cut from it.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 3
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(3) The great dragon.—This word is usually translated dragon in the English
version, but sometimes whale (Ezekiel 32:2), and (in a slightly modified form)
serpent (Exodus 7:9-10; Exodus 7:12). It unquestionably means crocodile, the
characteristic animal of Egypt, in some parts hated and destroyed, in some
worshipped as a deity, but in all alike feared, and regarded as the most powerful
and destructive creature of their country.
Lieth in the midst of his rivers.—Egypt, a creation of the Nile, and dependent
entirely upon it for its productiveness, is personified by the crocodile, its
characteristic animal, basking upon the sand-banks of its waters. The expression
“his rivers,” used of the branches of the Nile near its mouth, is peculiarly
appropriate to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, to which Pharaoh-Hophra belonged,
whose capital was Sais, in the midst of the Delta.
My river is mine own.—This is characteristic of the pride of Hophra, who,
according to Herodotus, was accustomed to say that “not even a god could
dispossess him of power.” The whole dynasty to which he belonged, beginning with
Psammeticus, improved the river and encouraged commerce with foreign nations,
thereby acquiring great wealth.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 29:3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I [am]
against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his
rivers, which hath said, My river [is] mine own, and I have made [it] for myself.
Ver. 3. The great dragon.] Or, Whale, or crocodile, the figure of Pharaoh; whose
princes also and people are fitly compared to lesser fishes, and Egypt to waters,
wherewith it aboundeth. These shall all suffer together, saith the prophet: Principis
enim calamitas, populi clades est. (a) Compare Psalms 74:13-14.
That lieth in the midst of his rivers.] That lieth at ease in the swollen waters of his
Nile, and battleth.
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Which hath said, My river is mine own.] The river Nile watereth Egypt, and maketh
it fruitful beyond credulity. They do but cast in the seed, and have four rich
harvests in less than four months, say travellers. Hence the Egyptians were
generally proud, riotous, and superstitious above measure:
“ Nequitias tellus scit dare nulla magis. ”
- Plin., Paneg.
The most poisonous flies are bred in the sweetest fruit trees. See on 1 Timothy 6:17.
And I have made it for myself,] i.e., Useful and serviceable to my country with much
pains and expense, by ditches, channels, water courses, &c. These were cleansed and
repaired by the command of Augustus Caesar, when he had subdued Egypt, and
reduced it into a province. (b) Some render it, Ego feci me ipsum, I have made
myself; a most arrogant speech!
“ Sum felix; quis enim neget hoc? felixque manebo;
Hoc quoque quis dubitet? tutum me copia fecit.
Maior sum quam cui possit fortuna nocere. ” - Ovid.
WHEDON, " 3. Great dragon — In the Chinese Book of Changes the dragon is the
symbol of the sage and the king (Edkins, Ancient Symbolism, p. 9). The dragon of
the rivers (or, Nile canals, Exodus 7:17-24) must be the crocodile, which, even to this
day is called Pharaoh by the fellaheen. (Compare Job 41:13; Isaiah 27:1.)
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My river is mine own, and I have made it — The canals of Egypt are still called
“rivers” by the Egyptians. A great canal between the Mediterranean and the Red
Sea had been projected from ancient times and had been almost completed a
generation earlier than this. (See author’s Ancient Egypt, p. 86.) This verse may
refer to some such great enterprise of Hophra’s, or it may refer to the whole
network of irrigating streams considered as a unit. Herodotus, writing of this same
king, says (ii, 169) that he “believed there was not a god who could cast him down
from his eminence,” so firmly was he established in his kingdom.
PETT, "Verse 3
“Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh. Behold I am against you Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, the great monster (tannin) who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has
said, “My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.” ’ ”
To Yahweh Pharaoh (Hophra - Jeremiah 45:30) is but the king of Egypt, but in his
own eyes Pharaoh is much more than that. He is the creator of Egypt and of the
River Nile which is itself a god and the life blood of Egypt. And he bestrides it and
its tributaries like a monstrous crocodile, challenging all who dare to approach, as
the self-begotten sun god of Egypt.
There is here a deliberate play on two views, one that Pharaoh is but earthly, a
created creature (compare Genesis 1:21), like the crocodile, while in Egypt’s view
being godlike and associated with the mythical monsters of the world of the gods
and thus undefeatable (compare Job 9:13; Job 26:11-13; Psalms 74:13-14; Psalms
89:10; Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 51:9; Amos 9:3 and note that they cannot stand against
Yahweh. But the monsters are often but synonyms for their countries e.g. Rahab
can be seen as representing Egypt). Ezekiel under Yahweh’s instruction is bringing
him down to earth.
It should be noted that while commentators rightly draw attention to this
multiplicity of gods, Scripture is regularly silent about them. It does not tend to
speak in terms of battles against the gods (compare the Exodus account where
19

mention of them is rare although commentarywise they appear everywhere). It
degrades them by not mentioning them, generally leaving them as background
knowledge in men’s minds. Yahweh is all, and His opponents but earthly and not
worthy of mention.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 29:3
The great dragon. The word is cognate with that used in Genesis 1:21 for the great
"whales," monsters of the deep. The "dragon," probably the crocodile of the Nile
(compare the description of "leviathan" in Job 41:1-34.) had come to be the received
prophetic symbol of Egypt (Psalms 74:13; Isaiah 27:1; Isaiah 51:9). The rivers are
the Nile-branches of the Delta. My river is mine own. The words probably imply
that Hophra, like his grandfather Necho, in his plan of a canal from the Nile to the
Red Sea, had given much time and labor to irrigation works in Lower Egypt. The
boast which rose to his lips reminds us of that of Nebuchadnezzar as he looked on
Babylon (Daniel 4:30). He, like the kings of Tyre and Babylon, was tempted to a
self-apotheosis, and thought of himself as the Creator of his own power. The words
of Herodotus, in which he says that Apries believed himself so firmly established in
his kingdom that there was no god that could cast him out of it, present a suggestive
parallel.
POOLE, " Thus saith the Lord God; that God that drowned one of thy predecessors
with his army, horsemen, and horses in the Red Sea, at whose name thou shouldst
tremble, who ever fulfilled his word, and is the same, it is he foretells thee by my
mouth what is to be. I am against thee: see Ezekiel 28:22. Pharaoh: see Ezekiel 29:2.
Great; it may refer either to the grandeur of this king, as if he had been Pharaoh the
Great, or to the largeness of this creature, to which he is by this hieroglyphic
compared.
Dragon: some would have it the whale, but that lies not in rivers, as in his own
place: it is surely the crocodile, of which Nilus hath many; and Ezekiel 32:2, our
prophet doth, and so Isaiah 51:9, compare the Egyptian king to that devouring
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serpent, or dragon.
That lieth; not only at rest, but waiting for a prey, which never escapes, if this
devourer lay any considerable hold of it.
In the midst of his rivers: Nilus was the chief river of Egypt; but either there were
some less rivers that run into Nilus, or some divisions of it, where it made some
islands, or the seven mouths of it, where it falls into the sea, which may give the
name of rivers to it, or those channels that were cut large and deep, to convey water
into the country; in all which these crocodiles bred, and rested, and waited for their
prey.
Which hath said; which hath thought, accounted, and boasted; by which it appears
the prophet speaks of a dragon in a figurative sense.
My river; kingdom, power, riches, and forces, signified here by a river. All the
strength and glory of Egypt are mine, saith this proud king.
Is mine own; at my dispose and will. It is probable that this king of Egypt was an
aspiring king, who aimed at absolute power, and thought he had secured it to
himself; for the river, the emblem of the kingdom, is mine, saith he. I have made it:
this seems to give some credit to the conjecture, that this king had raised the
prerogative royal, and done what others before him would, but could not, and
therefore assumes it to himself, as his own work, forgetting God, who gives
kingdoms, and whose they are.
I have made it for myself; somewhat like the proud boast,
I have built for the glory of my name, Daniel 4:30, and like to meet as sad an end.
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4
But I will put hooks in your jaws
and make the fish of your streams stick to your
scales.
I will pull you out from among your streams,
with all the fish sticking to your scales.
BARNES, "Hooks in thy jaws - Compare Job_41:2. The crocodile is thus rendered
an easy prey.
Fish of thy rivers - i. e., the allies of Egypt shall be involved in her ruin.
CLARKE, "I will put hooks in thy jaws - Amasis, one of this king’s generals,
being proclaimed king by an insurrection of the people, dethroned Apries, and seized
upon the kingdom; and Apries was obliged to flee to Upper Egypt for safety.
I will cause the fish - to stick unto thy scales - Most fish are sorely troubled with
a species of insect which bury their heads in their flesh, under their scales, and suck out
the vital juices. The allusion seems to be to this. Pharaoh was the crocodile; the fish, the
common people; and the sticking to his scales, the insurrection by which he was wasted
and despoiled of his kingdom.
GILL, "But I will put hooks in thy jaws,.... The allusion is to fishhooks, which are
taken by fishes with the bait into their mouths, and stick in their jaws, by which they are
drawn out of the river, and taken. The king of Egypt being before compared to a fish,
22

these hooks design some powerful princes and armies, which should be the ruin of
Pharaoh; one of them, according to Junius and Grotius, was Amasis, at the head of the
Cyreneans and Greeks; and another was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; see Job_41:1,
and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales; the people of his
kingdom, especially his soldiers, generals, princes, and great men, to cleave to him,
follow him, and go out with him in his expedition against Amasis. The Targum is,
"I will kill the princes of thy strength with thy mighty ones:''
and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers: alluding to the crocodile,
to which he is compared, which sometimes comes out of the river, and goes on dry land.
The king of Egypt was brought out of his kingdom by the following means: Amasis, with
the Cyreneans and Greeks, having seized upon Lybia, and drove the king of it from
thence, he applied to Pharaoh for help, who gathered a large army of Egyptians, and led
them out into the fields of Cyrene, where they were defeated by Amasis, and almost all
perished, and the king saved himself by flight; upon which the Egyptians mutinied and
rebelled against him, and Amasis became their king:
and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales; the common people of
Egypt; for the above numerous army consisted only of Egyptians, whom he gathered
from all parts, drained his rivers of them, and almost exhausted his country hereby; he
had indeed in an army, after this battle with Amasis, thirty thousand auxiliaries, Carians
and Ionians; but these were not the fish of his rivers. The Targum is,
"I will make thy kingdom to cease from thee, and all the princes of thy strength with thy
mighty ones shall be killed;''
with which the history agrees. The allusion to the crocodile is here very just and
pertinent, which is a fish full of scales. Monsieur Thevenot (a), who saw many of them,
says, that
"the body of this fish is large, and all of a size; the back is covered with high scales, like
the heads of nails in a court gate, of a greenish colour, and so hard that they are proof
against a halberd; and it has a long tail covered with scales like the body;''
and another traveller says (b) they have scales on their back musket proof, and therefore
must be wounded in the belly; but another traveller (c) says, this is a vulgar report that a
musket shot will not pierce the skins of the crocodiles, for upon trial it is found false; yet
all writers, ancient and modern, allow it to have very firm scales on its back, which
render it capable of bearing the heaviest strokes, and to be in a measure impenetrable
and invincible; so Herodotus (d) says, it has a skin full of scales, on the back infrangible;
or, as Pliny (e) expresses it, invincible against all blows and strokes it may be stricken
with; and so says Aristotle (f), with which Aelian (g) agrees, who says that the crocodile
has by nature a back and tail impenetrable; for it is covered with scales, as if it was
armed as one might say, not unlike to hard shells.
23

HENRY, " The course God will take with this proud man, to humble him. He is a
great dragon in the waters, and God will accordingly deal with him, Eze_29:4, Eze_29:5.
(1.) He will draw him out of his rivers, for he has a hook and a cord for this leviathan,
with which he can manage him, though none on earth can (Job_41:1): “I will bring thee
up out of the midst of thy rivers, will cast thee out of thy palace, out of thy kingdom, out
of all those things in which thou takest such a complacency and placest such a
confidence.” Herodotus related of this Pharaoh, who was now king of Egypt, that he had
reigned in great prosperity for twenty-five years, and was so elevated with his successes
that he said that God himself would not cast him out of his kingdom; but he shall soon
be convinced of his mistake, and what he depended on shall be no defence. God can
force men out of that in which they are most secure and easy. (2.) All his fish shall be
drawn out with him, his servants, his soldiers, and all that had a dependence on him, as
he thought, but really such as he had dependence upon. These shall stick to his scales,
adhere to their king, resolving to live and die with him. But, (3.) The king and his army,
the dragon and all the fish that stick to his scales, shall perish together, as fish cast upon
dry ground, and shall be meat to the beasts and fowls, Eze_29:5. Now this is supposed
to have had its accomplishment soon after, when this Pharaoh, in defence of Aricius king
of Libya, who had been expelled his kingdom by the Cyrenians, levied a great army, and
went out against the Cyrenians, to re-establish his friend, but was defeated in battle, and
all his forces were put to flight, which gave such disgust to his kingdom that they rose in
rebellion against him. Thus was he left thrown into the wilderness, he and all the fish of
the river with him. Thus issue men's pride, and presumption, and carnal security. Thus
men justly lose what they might call their own, under God, when they call it their own
against him.
JAMISON, "hooks in thy jaws — (Isa_37:29; compare Job_41:1, Job_41:2).
Amasis was the “hook.” In the Assyrian sculptures prisoners are represented with a hook
in the underlip, and a cord from it held by the king.
cause ... fish ... stick unto ... scales — Pharaoh, presuming on his power as if he
were God (Eze_29:3, “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 siege of Jerusalem, but it was only for a time (compare Eze_29:6; Jer_37:5,
Jer_37:7-10); ruin overtook not only them, but himself. 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.
ELLICOTT, " (4) Hooks in thy jaws.—An allusion to the ancient way of taking and
destroying the crocodile, otherwise invulnerable to their arms.
Fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.—As the crocodile, the lord of the Nile,
represents the royal power of Egypt, so the fish represent the people dependent
upon him. Pharaoh is not to fall alone, but shall drag his people with him into a
24

common ruin.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 29:4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of
thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy
rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
Ver. 4. But I will put hooks in thy jaws.] Speaking to Tyre, a sea town, sea
metaphors were made use of. Now he fetcheth them from waters and fishes, that he
may frame himself to his hearers. A good precedent for preachers.
To stick unto thy scales.] Thy subjects shall all follow thee into the field, that there
you may all fall together. Had they kept themselves in Egypt, they might have been
far safer; for that country could hardly be come at by an enemy. But they went
forth to meet their bane, as if they had been ambitions of destruction. God had a
holy hand in it.
WHEDON, "4. I will put hooks in thy jaws — So the crocodile was sometimes
caught (Herodotus, 2:70). The fish which stick to his scales represent the Egyptian
population and dependencies — such as Gaza and Jerusalem and other towns which
had foolishly trusted to the Pharaoh for help against the Assyrians.
PETT, "Verse 4
“And I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will cause the fish of your rivers, to stick
to your scales, and I will bring you up out of the midst of the rivers, with all the fish
of your rivers which stick to your scales.”
The picture is of a crocodile hunt, in which hooks were put in the crocodile’s mouth
so that he could be pulled ashore, and killed, or left high and dry to die. The fish
that stick to his scales may be foreign mercenaries, or allies, or the aristocracy and
armies of Egypt. So the great invincible Pharaoh can die like any other, along with
25

all his helpers.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 29:4, Ezekiel 29:5
I will put hooks in thy jaws. So Herodotus (2. 70) describes the way in which the
Egyptians caught the crocodile by baiting a large hook with swine's flesh. Jomard
('Description de l'Egypt,' 1.27) gives a similar account (comp. also Job 41:1, Job
41:2, though there the capture seems represented as an almost impossible
achievement; probably the process had become more familiar since the date of that
book). The fish that stick to the scales of the crocodile are, of course, in the
interpretation of the parable, either the Egyptian army itself or the nations that had
thrown themselves into alliance with Egypt, and the destruction of the two together
in the wilderness points to some great overthrow of the Egyptian army and its
auxiliaries, probably to that of the expedition against Cyrene (Herod; 2.161) which
led to the revolt of Amasis, and which would take the wilderness west of the Nile on
its line of march. The beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven (we note the
recurrence of the old Homeric phrase, as in 'Iliad,' 1.4, 5) should devour the
carcasses of the slain, the corpses of the fallen and prostrate nation.
POOLE, " Thou art secure against all, but God will draw thee out of thy river to thy
ruin.
Hooks; the allegory is continued; fish are drawn out with hooks and lines, and God
hath hooks for this proud dragon, first Areasis, and next the Babylonian king. The
expedition of Areasis at the head of the Cyreneans and Grecians, and the event of it,
is exactly represented in this hieroglyphic in the text. Amasis with those forces
mastered Libya, the king thereof applies for help to this Pharaoh, he gathers all the
power of Egypt out of Egypt with him into Cyrene, where he was defeated, lost all
but a few that fled with him, and on this occasion the Egyptians rebelled against
him: now this short history opens the parable. The first hook you see in the jaws of
this dragon, this drew him out of his river, i.e. his kingdom.
The fish; these are the people of Egypt, the subjects of this kingdom.
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To stick unto thy scales; to adhere to their king in this war.
I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers; both the king and his subjects,
which made up his army, go out of the rivers, leave Egypt, and march into Cyrene
(which was part of that kingdom now called Bares) with their king, as if they had
been little fishes on the back of a mighty one. Thus far the emblem; the rest follows.
5
I will leave you in the desert,
you and all the fish of your streams.
You will fall on the open field
and not be gathered or picked up.
I will give you as food
to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the
sky.
CLARKE, "I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness - Referring to his
being obliged to take refuge in Upper Egypt. But he was afterwards taken prisoner, and
strangled by Amasis. Herod. lib. 2 s. 169.
GILL, "And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee, and all the
27

fish of thy rivers,.... Where fish in common cannot live, but die as soon almost as out
of the water, and on dry land, excepting those that are of the amphibious kind. This
wilderness designs the deserts of Lybia and Cyrene, where the battle was fought between
Hophra and Amasis; and where the Egyptian army perished, only their king, before
compared to a crocodile, which lives on land, as well as in water, escaped. The Targum
is,
"I will cast thee into a wilderness, and all the princes of thy strength:''
thou shalt fall upon the open fields thou shalt not be brought together, nor
gathered, this is to he understood of his army; for what is proper to an army is
sometimes ascribed to the head or general of it; which fell by the sword in the fields of
Lybia and Cyrene and was so discomfited, that the remains of it could not be brought
and gathered together again: or the sense is, that those that were slain were left in the
open fields, and had no burial; they were not gathered to the grave, as Kimchi interprets
it; and so the Targum,
"upon the face of the field thy carcass shall be cast; it shall not be gathered, nor shall it
be buried:''
this was only true of the carcasses of the soldiers slain in battle, not of the king, who fled,
and afterwards in another battle was taken by Amasis, and strangled in the city of Sais,
where he was buried among his ancestors, as Herodotus (h) relates:
I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the
heaven; that is, his army; as the armies of the kings, beast, and false prophet, will be at
the battle of Armageddon, when the two latter will be taken and cast alive into the
burning lake, of which this monarch was an emblem, Rev_19:17.
JAMISON, "wilderness — captivity beyond thy kingdom. The expression is used
perhaps to imply retribution in kind. As Egypt pursued after Israel, saying, “The
wilderness hath shut them in” (Exo_14:3), so she herself shall be brought into a
wilderness state.
open fields — literally, “face of the field.”
not be brought together — As the crocodile is not, when caught, restored to the
river, so no remnant 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 rebelled against him [Junius]. But the reference is mainly to the defeat by
Nebuchadnezzar.
beasts ... fowls — hostile and savage men.
ELLICOTT, "(5) Open fields is synonymous with “wilderness” in the previous
clause. The crocodile and the fish together, drawn from the river, are to be thrown
upon the sands of the neighbouring desert, to be devoured by the birds and beasts of
prey: thus representing that Pharaoh and his people, uprooted from their power,
28

are to be given over for a spoil to various nations.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 29:5 And I will leave thee [thrown] into the wilderness, thee and
all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be
brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field
and to the fowls of the heaven.
Ver. 5. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness.] As fish when they are
caught are cast upon the dry land, and there they die: for how should a fish live out
of his own element? It may be the Chaldees fought Pharaoh and his forces in the
wilderness, killed him and cast him out unburied, which the heathens held a great
unhappiness: for they thought their ghosts could not pass the river Styx, but must
wander through hell’s waste wildernesses, unless their dead bodies were buried.
I have given thee for meat.] Whale’s flesh is no better worth.
PETT, "Verse 5
“And I will leave you stranded in the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers.
You will fall on the face of the field. You will not be brought together or gathered. I
have given you for meat to the beast of the earth and to the birds of heaven.”
The great crocodile and the fish will be left stranded out of their own environment,
in the waterless wilderness. Thus they will collapse and die, unable to rally
themselves against the enemy, and the scavengers, both beast and bird, will arrive to
tear them apart and eat them. Pharaoh and all his allies will be desolated and the
Nile god and the other gods of Egypt will not be able to help them.
A further interesting fact is that ‘the crocodile’ Hophra (588-569 B.C.) probably did
not receive a royal burial, which was considered extremely important for the
Pharaohs and all Egyptians, for history records that Ahmose II (Gr. Amasis),
29

another Egyptian leader, strangled Hophra and took his place.
POOLE, " When thus brought out, as a fish out of the water, I will leave thee. God
left this king.
The wilderness; the deserts of Libya and Cyrene.
All the fish; the whole army of Egyptians. Thou shalt fall upon the open fields; there
was this king and his army ruined.
Thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered, as usually the slain are to be
buried; these were not buried, but left in the wilderness, where they fell to be a prey
to wild beasts, and birds of prey which haunted the wilderness, and would soon
gather to their prey.
6 Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am
the Lord.
“‘You have been a staff of reed for the people of
Israel.
BARNES, "Staff of reed - The “reed” was especially appropriate to Egypt as the
natural product of its river.
30

CLARKE, "They have been a staff of reed - An inefficient and faithless ally. The
Israelites expected assistance from them when Nebuchadnezzar came against
Jerusalem; and they made a feint to help them, but retired when Nebuchadnezzar went
against them. Thus were the Jews deceived and ultimately ruined, see Eze_29:7.
GILL, "And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord,.... Who
could eject their king from his kingdom, and deliver him into the hands of his enemy;
though he thought no God could, as he boastingly said, before observed:
because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel; alluding to the
country of Egypt, which abounded with reeds that grew upon the banks of the river Nile,
and other rivers. This signifies that either the Egyptians were weak, and could not help
the people of Israel when they applied to them; or rather that they were treacherous and
deceitful, and would not assist them, according to agreement; and were even pernicious
and hurtful to them, as a broken reed; see Isa_36:6. The Targum renders it,
"the staff of a reed broken.''
HENRY 6-7, "The ground of the controversy God has with the Egyptians; it is
because they have cheated his people. They encouraged them to expect relief and
assistance from them when they were in distress, but failed them (Eze_29:6, Eze_29:7):
Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. They pretended to be a staff
for them to lean upon, but, when any stress was laid upon them, they were either weak
and could not or treacherous and would not do that for them which was expected. They
broke under them, to their great disappointment and amazement, so that they rent their
shoulder and made all their loins to be at a stand. The king of Egypt, it is probable, had
encouraged Zedekiah to break his league with the king of Babylon, with a promise that
he would stand by him, which, when he failed to do, to any purpose, it could not but put
them into a great consternation. God had told them, long since, that the Egyptians were
broken reeds, Isa_30:6, Isa_30:7. Rabshakeh had told them so, Isa_36:6. And now they
found it so. It was indeed the folly of Israel to trust them, and they were well enough
served when they were deceived in them. God was righteous in suffering them to be so.
But that is no excuse at all for the Egyptians' falsehood and treachery, nor shall it secure
them from the judgments of that God who is and will be the avenger of all such wrongs.
It is a great sin, and very provoking to God, as well as unjust, ungrateful, and very
dishonourable and unkind, to put a cheat upon those that put a confidence in us.
JAMISON, "staff of reed to ... Israel — alluding to the reeds on the banks of the
Nile, which broke if one leaned upon them (see on Eze_29:4; Isa_36:6). All Israel’s
dependence on Egypt proved hurtful instead of beneficial (Isa_30:1-5).
31

K&D 6-8, "In Eze_29:6 the construction is a subject of dispute, inasmuch as many of
the commentators follow the Hebrew division of the verse, taking the second hemistich
'‫ן‬ַ‫ַע‬‫י‬ ‫ם‬ ָ‫ת‬ ‫י‬ֱ‫ה‬ ‫וגו‬ as dependent upon the first half of the verse, for which it assigns the
reason, and then interpreting Eze_29:7 as a further development of Eze_29:6, and
commencing a new period with Eze_29:8 (Hitzig, Kliefoth, and others). But it is
decidedly wrong to connect together the two halves of the sixth verse, if only for the
simple reason that the formula ‫עוּ‬ ְ‫ָד‬‫י‬ ְ‫ו‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫כּ‬ ‫י‬ִ‫ֲנ‬‫א‬ ‫ָה‬ ‫ה‬ְ‫,י‬ which occurs so frequently elsewhere in
Ezekiel, invariably closes a train of thought, and is never followed by the addition of a
further reason. Moreover, a sentence commencing with ‫ן‬ַ‫ַע‬‫י‬ is just as invariably followed
by an apodosis introduced by ‫ן‬ֵ‫כ‬ָ‫,ל‬ of which we have an example just below in Eze_29:9
and Eze_29:10. For both these reasons it is absolutely necessary that we should regard
'ֱ‫ה‬ ‫ן‬ַ‫ַע‬‫י‬ as the beginning of a protasis, the apodosis to which commences with ‫ן‬ֵ‫כ‬ָ‫ל‬ in Eze_
29:8. The correctness of this construction is established beyond all doubt by the fact that
from Eze_29:6 onwards it is no longer Pharaoh who is spoken of, as in Eze_29:3-5, but
Egypt; so that ‫ן‬ַ‫ַע‬‫י‬ introduces a new train of thought. But Eze_29:7 is clearly shown, both
by the contents and the form, to be an explanatory intermediate clause inserted as a
parenthesis. And inasmuch as the protasis is removed in consequence to some distance
from its apodosis, Ezekiel has introduced the formula “thus saith the Lord Jehovah” at
the commencement of the apodosis, for the purpose of giving additional emphasis to the
announcement of the punishment. Eze_29:7 cannot in any case be regarded as the
protasis, the apodosis to which commences with the ‫ן‬ֵ‫כ‬ָ‫ל‬ in Eze_29:8, and Hävernick
maintains. The suffix attached to ‫ם‬ ָ‫ת‬ ‫י‬ֱ‫ה‬, to which Hitzig takes exception, because he has
misunderstood the construction, and which he would conjecture away, refers to ‫ם‬ִ‫י‬ ַ‫ר‬ ְ‫צ‬ ִ‫מ‬
as a land or kingdom. Because the kingdom of Egypt was a reed-staff to the house of
Israel (a figure drawn from the physical character of the banks of the Nile, with its thick
growth of tall, thick rushes, and recalling to mind Isa_36:6), the Lord would bring the
sword upon it and cut off from it both man and beast. But before this apodosis the figure
of the reed-staff is more clearly defined: “when they (the Israelites) take thee by thy
branches, thou breakest,” etc. This explanation is not to be taken as referring to any
particular facts either of the past or future, but indicates the deceptive nature of Egypt as
the standing characteristic of that kingdom. At the same time, to give greater vivacity to
the description, the words concerning Egypt are changed into a direct address to the
Egyptians, i.e., not to Pharaoh, but to the Egyptian people regarded as a single
individual. The expression ‫בכפך‬ causes some difficulty, since the ordinary meaning of
‫ף‬ַ‫כּ‬ (hand) is apparently unsuitable, inasmuch as the verb ‫ץ‬ ‫ר‬ ֵ‫,תּ‬ from ‫ץ‬ַ‫צ‬ ָ‫,ר‬ to break or
crack (not to break in pieces, i.e., to break quite through), clearly shows that the figure if
the reed is still continued. The Keri ‫ף‬ַ‫כּ‬ ַ‫בּ‬ is a bad emendation, based upon the rendering
“to grasp with the hand,” which is grammatically inadmissible. ‫שׂ‬ַ‫פ‬ ָ‫תּ‬ with ‫ב‬ does not
mean to grasp with something, but to seize upon something, to take hold of a person
(Isa_3:6; Deu_9:17), so that ‫בכפך‬ can only be an explanatory apposition to ְ‫.בּ‬ The
meaning grip, or grasp of the hand, is also unsuitable and cannot be sustained, as the
plural ‫ת‬ ‫פּ‬ַ‫כּ‬ alone is used in this sense in Son_5:5. The only meaning appropriate to the
figure is that of branches, which is sustained, so far as the language is concerned, by the
use of the plural ‫ת‬ ‫פּ‬ַ‫כּ‬ for palm-branches in Lev_23:40, and of the singular ‫ה‬ָ‫פּ‬ ִ‫כּ‬ for the
collection of branches in Job_15:32, and Isa_9:13; Isa_19:15; and this is apparently in
32

perfect harmony with natural facts, since the tall reed of the Nile, more especially the
papyrus, is furnished with hollow, sword-shaped leaves at the lower part of the talk.
When it cracks, the reed-staff pierces the shoulder of the man who has grasped it, and
tears it; and if a man lean upon it, it breaks in pieces and causes all the loins to tremble.
‫יד‬ ִ‫ֱמ‬‫ע‬ ֶ‫ה‬ cannot mean to cause to stand, or to set upright, still less render stiff and rigid.
The latter meaning cannot be established from the usage of the language, and would be
unsuitable here. For if a stick on which a man leans should break and penetrate his loins,
it would inflict such injury upon them as to cause him to fall, and not to remain stiff and
rigid. ‫העמד‬ cannot have any other meaning than that of ‫ד‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ ִ‫,ה‬ to cause to tremble or
relax, as in Psa_69:24, to shake the firmness of the loins, so that the power to stand is
impaired.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 6
(6) A staff of reed.—In Isaiah 36:6 the dependence of Judah upon Egypt is
described as trust “in the staff of this broken reed;” but notwithstanding all
warnings, they still trusted, especially at the time of this prophecy, and proved in
their experience the truth of the Divine word. The figure is taken from the reeds,
which grew abundantly on the banks of the Nile, and the statement is historically
amplified in the following verse, where the reference is to be understood not of any
single fact so much as of a continual, often repeated result. There should be a period
in the middle of Ezekiel 29:6, the first half forming the conclusion of the previous
denunciation, and the second half being closely connected with Ezekiel 29:7-9.
Ezekiel 29:7 is parenthetical.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 29:6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I [am] the
LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
Ver. 6. And all the inhabitants, &c.] Shall feel my power in their just destruction,
though they think themselves insuperable.
Because they have been a staff of reed.] See this fully expounded in the next words;
see also on Isaiah 36:6, Jeremiah 37:7-8. Egypt was a reedy country; as Pliny (a)
telleth us, Arando autem ipsa per se fluctuat, et in necessitate eludit.
33

PETT, "Verse 6-7
“And the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been
a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of you by the hand, you
broke and badly tore their shoulders, and when they leaned on you, you broke, and
made all their loins quiver.”
This is the final act which brought down Yahweh’s wrath on them, that Egypt had
promised to be a strong staff on which Israel could lean, but had turned out to be a
mere reed which broke when it was leant on, bringing great harm to Israel. Egypt
was in fact a land of reeds, which grew along the Nile and its tributaries, and God
says that they were symbolic of what Egypt really was. Thus they must be taught the
lesson that they have let down Yahweh’s people, and are therefore accountable to
Yahweh. God takes constant account of what is done to His people.
PULPIT, "A staff of reed unto the house of Israel. Ezekiel reproduces the familiar
image of 2 Kings 18:21; Isaiah 36:6. The proverb had not ceased to be true, though
the rulers were different. Here, again, the imagery is strictly local. The reeds were as
characteristic of the Nile as the crocodiles (Exodus 1:3; Job 40:21). The image of the
reed is continued in Isaiah 36:7, and the effect of trusting to its support is described
in detail.
POOLE, " This mighty overthrow shall be known through all Egypt, and as it shall
fill them with fears and troubles, so it should be a convincing argument to them that
God had done this, and punished them, and their proud king, who used to say, as
Herodotus reports, that God could not turn him out of his kingdom. Because they,
both king, princes, counsellors, and people of Egypt,
have been a staff of reed; treacherously, as next verse, dealt with the Jews, whom
they seduced to trust and depend on them, and then perfidiously broke promise
with them. It was the sin of the Jews to trust Egypt; it was Egypt’s great sin to
34

falsify promise with the Jews, and for this God now punisheth Egypt.
7 When they grasped you with their hands, you
splintered and you tore open their shoulders;
when they leaned on you, you broke and their
backs were wrenched.[a]
BARNES, "(Eze 29:7) When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and
rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all
their loins to be at a stand.
GILL, "When they took hold of thee by thy hand,.... When the Israelites entered
into an alliance and confederacy with the Egyptians, called for their assistance according
to treaty, and put their confidence in them:
thou didst break and rend all their shoulder; as a reed which a man puts under
his armhole, and leans upon, and it breaks under him, the splinters run into the flesh up
to the very shoulder, and tear the flesh to pieces; so, through Zedekiah's trusting to the
king of Egypt, he rebelled against the king of Babylon, which brought on his ruin, and
the destruction of his kingdom:
and when they leaned upon thee thou brakest, and madest all their loins to
be at a stand; when they put their confidence in the king of Egypt, and sent to him for
help when besieged by the king of Babylon, and he failed them, they were obliged to raise
up themselves, as a man is forced to do when his staff breaks under him, whose loins
before were bowed, but now erects himself, and stands and walks as well as he can
without it; so the Jews were forced to stand upon their own legs, and exert all the force
they had, and make all the efforts they could against the king of Babylon, being left in the
lurch by the king of Egypt; in which, though they were rightly served for their vain
35

confidence and not trusting in the Lord, yet the treachery of the Egyptians was resented
by him, as follows:
JAMISON, "hand — or handle of the reed.
rend ... shoulder — by the splinters on which the shoulder or arm would fall, on the
support failing the hand.
madest ... loins ... at a stand — that is, made them to be disabled. Maurer
somewhat similarly (referring to a kindred Arabic form), “Thou hast stricken both their
loins.” Fairbairn, not so well, “Thou lettest all their loins stand,” that is, by themselves,
bereft of the support which they looked for from thee.
K&D 7-12, "In the apodosis the thought of the land gives place to that of the people;
hence the use of the feminine suffixes ִ‫י‬ַ‫ל‬ָ‫ע‬ and ֵ‫מּ‬ ִ‫מ‬ in the place of the masculine
suffixes ְ‫בּ‬ and ‫י‬ֶ‫ל‬ָ‫ע‬ in Eze_29:7. Man and beast shall be cut off, and the land made
into a desert waste by the sword, i.e., by war. This is carried out still further in Eze_
29:9-12; and once again in the protasis 9b (cf. Eze_29:3) the inordinate pride of the king
is placed in the foreground as the reason for the devastation of his land and kingdom.
The Lord will make of Egypt the most desolate wilderness. ‫ת‬ ‫ב‬ ְ‫ר‬ ָ‫ח‬ is intensified into a
superlative by the double genitive ‫ב‬ ֶ‫ר‬ֹ‫ח‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫,שׁ‬ desolation of the wilderness. Throughout
its whole extent from Migdol, i.e., Magdolo, according to the Itiner. Anton. p. 171 (ed.
Wessel), twelve Roman miles from Pelusium; in the Coptic Meshtol, Egyptian Màktr
(Brugsch, Geogr. Inschr. I pp. 261f.), the most northerly place in Egypt. ‫ֶה‬‫נ‬ֵ‫ו‬ ְ‫,ס‬ to Syene
(for the construction see Eze_30:6 and Eze_21:3), Συήνη, Sun in the inscriptions,
according to Brugsch (Geogr. Inschr. I. p. 155), probably the profane designation of the
place (Coptic Souan), the most southerly border town of Egypt in the direction of Cush,
i.e., Ethiopia, on the eastern bank of the Nile, some ruins of which are still to be seen in
the modern Assvan (Assuan, Arab. aswa=n), which is situated to the north-east of them
(vid., Brugsch, Reiseber. aus. Aegypten, p. 247, and Leyrer in Herzog's Encyclopaedia).
The additional clause, “and to the border of Cush,” does not give a fresh terminal point,
still further advanced, but simply defines with still greater clearness the boundary
toward the south, viz., to Syene, where Egypt terminates and Ethiopia beings. In Eze_
29:11 the desolation is more fully depicted. ‫ֹא‬‫ל‬ ‫ב‬ֵ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫,ת‬ it will not dwell, poetical for “be
inhabited,” as in Joel 4 (3):20, Isa_13:20, etc. This devastation shall last for forty years,
and so long shall the people of Egypt be scattered among the nations. But after the
expiration of that time they shall be gathered together again (Eze_29:13). The number
forty is neither a round number (Hitzig) nor a very long time (Ewald), but is a symbolical
term denoting a period appointed by God for punishment and penitence (see the comm.
on Eze_4:6), which is not to be understood in a chronological sense, or capable of being
calculated.
COKE, "Ezekiel 29:7. When they took hold of thee, &c.— For when they took hold
of thee, thou wast broken in their hand, and didst rend the hand of each of them.
36

When they leaned upon thee thou breakest, and didst loose or put out of joint all
their shoulders. Houbigant. Instead of, By thy hand, some read, With their hands;
and instead of, All their loins to be at a stand;—All their loins shake, or to be
pierced.
ELLICOTT, " (7) All their loins to be at a stand.—The expression is a difficult one,
but the more probable sense is, all their loins to shake. The reed breaks under the
weight of the man who leans upon it, and pierces his shoulder as he falls, while in his
consternation his loins tremble.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 29:7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break,
and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and
madest all their loins to be at a stand.
Ver. 7. When they took hold of thee by thy hand,] i.e., Made a covenant with thee,
and hoped for help from thee. See Job 8:20. The Holy Scripture is its own best
interpreter.
Thou didst break.] So unfaithful are many friends, so uncertain are all human
helps.
And madest all their loins to be at a stand.] Thou leftest them in the lurch, as we say,
to shift for themselves as they could.
WHEDON, " 7. Took, etc. — All verbs in present tense.
By thy — Rather, with thee.
Shoulder — LXX., hand (Isaiah 26:6).
37

To be at a stand — Rather, R.V., margin, “to shake.” (Compare Ezekiel 21:6.) The
thing which they grasp for help, tears the hand which clasps it, and when they try to
lean upon it it breaks and makes their hips to totter (Kautzsch).
POOLE, " When they, the Jews, unable to stand on their own legs, as men ready to
fall, took hold of thee by thy hand; caught thine hand to lean on, as when besieged
by the Chaldeans.
Thou didst break: it includes a designed and voluntary failure; Egypt would not
support.
And rend all their shoulder; didst tear, and pierce, and wound arm and shoulder,
didst them much mischief instead of benefiting them, as thou hadst promised,
Jeremiah 37:7 42:17.
When they leaned, & c.; the same thing in words little different.
The loins are the strength of a man: thou hast put them to use all their strength to
repel the enemy, thou hast been chief occasion of their engaging against.
8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord
says: I will bring a sword against you and kill
both man and beast.
38

GILL, "Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Because of the pride of the king of
Egypt, asserting the river to be his own, and made by him for himself; and because of his
perfidy to the house of Israel:
behold, I will bring a sword upon thee; or those that kill with the sword, as the
Targum; first a cival war, occasioned by the murmurs of the people, on account of the
defeat of their army at Cyrene; which issued in the dethroning and strangling of this
king, as before observed and setting up another; which cival commotions
Nebuchadnezzar took the advantage of, and came against Egypt with a large army:
and cut off man and beast out of thee; for what with the civil wars among
themselves, and what with the devastations of the king of Babylon's army, putting men
to the sword, and seizing upon the beasts for their food, to support such an army in a
foreign land, it was pretty well stripped of both.
JAMISON, "a sword — Nebuchadnezzar’s army (Eze_29:19). Also Amasis and the
Egyptian revolters who after Pharaoh-hophra’s discomfiture in Cyrene dethroned and
strangled him, having defeated him in a battle fought at Memphis [Junius].
COFFMAN, "Verse 8
"Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: behold, I will bring a sword upon thee,
and will cut off from thee man and beast. And the land of Egypt shall be a
desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. Because he hath
said the river is mine, and I have made it; therefore, behold, I am against thee, and
against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation,
from the tower of Seveneh, even unto the border of Ethiopia. No foot of man shall
pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited
forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the
countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall
be a desolation for forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations,
and will disperse them through the countries."
THE ALLEGORY APPLIED
39

"I will bring a sword upon thee ..." (Ezekiel 29:8). This was the sword of
Nebuchadnezzar, identified in Ezekiel 29:17, below.
"A desolation for forty years ..." (Ezekiel 29:11,12). This is the big problem in this
prophecy, because nearly all of the scholars seem very sure that there was never
such a long period of desolation in the whole history of Egypt. However, there is too
much that men do not know about the history of those times to allow very much
dependence to be put in such opinions. Nebuchadnezzar did indeed capture Egypt,
following the fall of Tyre; and if what that ruthless ruler did to Jerusalem is any
gauge of what he probably did to Egypt, we may be very sure that Ezekiel's
prophecy was no exaggeration. Our inability to prove just exactly what all that
desolation was cannot in any manner detract from the most circumstantial and
accurate fulfillment of that later promise in this same prophecy regarding the
perpetual place of Egypt throughout following history, in which the perpetual
mediocrity of the nation was foretold. Our argument is that this portion of the
prophecy alone proves the divine inspiration of the whole prophecy, and the believer
should have no problem with trusting God for the fulfillment of the rest of it,
whether or not, modern commentators know all about it.
TRAPP. "Ezekiel 29:8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD Behold, I will bring a
sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
Ver. 8. And cut off man and beast.] With both which thou aboundest exceedingly, as
being a very fruitful country; populosa et pecorosa.
PETT, "Verse 8-9
“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold I will bring a sword on you, and will
cut off from you man and beast. And the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a
waste, and they will know that I am Yahweh, because he has said, ‘The River (Nile)
is mine, and I have made it’.”
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We come back here to the major reason for Egypt’s judgment, because of its
overweening pride (compare Tyre - chapter 28) and its claim not to owe anything to
the hand of Yahweh. It proclaims its own divine self-sufficiency. So Yahweh will
bring against it His sword of judgment (Ezekiel 21:3-17) which at this time is the
sword of Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 21:20; see Jeremiah 46:13-26), but is not limited
to that. Nebuchadnezzar did later invade Egypt in 568/7 BC, which would certainly
result in devastation and is referred to in a damaged Babylonian tablet, (see also
Ezekiel 29:19), but full details are not known and they eventually came to a
compromise and became allies. This was later followed by Persian subjugation.
God’s Future Judgment on Egypt.
PULPIT, "Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee. The words are probably
addressed to the nation personified rather than to the king. The sentence of doom is
now pronounced, no longer figuratively. And the special guilt for which it was
inflicted, a guilt which the nation shared with its ruler, is emphatically repeated in
Ezekiel 29:9.
POOLE, " Therefore, for thy atheistical pride, and thy perfidious mischief to the
house of Israel, and other thy sins,
I will bring a sword upon thee; war, and the effects of it. First, a civil war arose
against this king Hophra, who, weak and contemned, and fallen under the jealousies
and disgusts of his subjects after his overthrow in the deserts of Libya and Cyrene,
was again overthrown by his rebel subjects in a bloody battle at Memphis, was
taken in his flight towards Sain, his royal seat, and some time after strangled by the
enraged rout. The next sword, brought on Hophra’s successor, and on the land of
Egypt, was the sword of Nebuchadnezzar, in the same year after the overthrow of
Tyre; the civil war of Egypt inviting him to take the occasion, and some few
requests, it is likely, from the rebellious to assist them.
Cut off man, by the sword in battle and sieges, and by famine.
And beast; eaten up by a numerous army invading and prevailing, and which will
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drive away what they eat not. The same phrase you have Ezekiel 14:13,17.
9 Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then
they will know that I am the Lord.
“‘Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,”
GILL, "And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste,.... Men few or none
being left in it, to till it, nor cattle found upon it:
and they shall know that I am the Lord; by these judgments executed upon them,
now foretold; and which when come to pass, they will be obliged to acknowledge the
omniscience and omnipotence of Jehovah:
because thou hast said, the river is mine, and I have made it; See Gill on Eze_
29:3; this insolent expression was highly resented by the Lord, as appears by the
repetition of it. The Targum is here, as before,
"the kingdom is mine, and I have subdued it;''
but, notwithstanding this vaunt, he could not keep it.
HENRY, "This explains the foregoing prediction, which was figurative, and looks
something further. Here is a prophecy,
I. Of the ruin of Egypt. The threatening of this is very full and particular; and the sin
for which this ruin shall be brought upon them is their pride, Eze_29:9. They said, The
river is mine and I have made it; therefore their land shall spue them out. 1. God is
against them, both against the king and against the people, against thee and against thy
rivers. Waters signify people and multitudes, Rev_17:15. 2. Multitudes of them shall be
cut off by the sword of war, a sword which God will bring upon them to destroy both
man and beast, the sword of civil war. 3. The country shall be depopulated. The land of
Egypt shall be desolate and waste (Eze_29:9), the country not cultivated, the cities not
inhabited. The wealth of both was their pride, and that God will take away. It shall be
utterly waste (wastes of waste, so the margin reads it), and desolate (Eze_29:10);
42

neither men nor beasts shall pass through it, nor shall it be inhabited (Eze_29:11); it
shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are so, Eze_29:12. This was the effect
not so much of those wars spoken of before, which were made by them, but of the war
which the king of Babylon made upon them. It shall be desolate from one end of the land
to the other, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. The sin of pride
is enough to ruin a whole nation. 4. The people shall be dispersed and scattered among
the nations (Eze_29:12), so that those who thought the balance of power was in their
hand should now become a contemptible people. Such a fall does a haughty spirit go
before.
JAMISON, "I am the Lord — in antithesis to the blasphemous boast repeated here
from Eze_29:3, “The river is mine, and I have made it.”
ELLICOTT, " (9) Because he hath said.—Again, as in Ezekiel 29:6, the division of
the verses is very unfortunate. The expression “shall know that I am the Lord,” so
common in Ezekiel, always closes a train of thought. The new sentence begins with
the reason for the judgment upon Egypt—because of its pride.
TRAPP, "Verse 9
Ezekiel 29:9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know
that I [am] the LORD: because he hath said, The river [is] mine, and I have made
[it].
Ver. 9. Because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.] With this proud
speech he is twice twitted. {see Ezekiel 29:3} The Egyptians so trusted in their river
Nile, as if they needed no help from heaven.
“ Aegyptus sine nube ferax, ”
saith Claudian. (a) And Lucan to like purpose:
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“ Terra suis contenta bonis, non indiga mercis
Aut Iovis; in solo tanta est fiducia Nile. ”
How much better might God have said to these Egyptians, than Vespasian did,
Haurite a me tanquam a Nile, Come ye to me, "the fountain of living waters," and
"hew not out thus to yourselves broken cisterns that can hold no water!" But they
used in mockery to tell the Grecians, that if God should forget to rain, they might
chance to starve for it; they thought the rain was of God, but not the river:
“ Te propter nullos tellus tua postulat imbres:
Arida nee pluvio supplicat herba Iovi. ”
- Tibul. de Nilo.
God therefore threateneth here to dry it up, and so he did; ingratitude forfeiteth all.
In the reign of Cleopatra, Nile overflowed not the banks for two years together,
saith Seneca. He brings in Callimachus, telling of a time wherein it had not done so
for nine years’ time. Hence Ovid: (b)
“ Creditur Aegyptus caruisse iuvantibus arva
Imbribus, atque annis sicca fuisse novem. ”
Thus their gold flowing {c} and fruit giving (d) river failed them, because they
attributed too much to it. In Joseph’s time they had seven years’ famine.
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POOLE, "Verse 9
The land of Egypt; that part here intended, say some, and in the 10th verse,
bounded from Syene to the borders of Ethiopia; nor is this inconsistent with that
Ezekiel 29:2, against all Egypt, for all Egypt suffered much, though all were not
equally wasted, and turned into a desolation, as these parts shall be. Desolate; a
desolation, i.e. most desolate, and wasteness by the sword of the enemy, and by
drought, as the word imports both: and this latter part of the judgment was
executed by the folly of the twelve Egyptian roitelets, who made a mighty lake,
Morris, to fill which they much drained and weakened Nilus, that it could not, as
before it did, water and fertilize the land; suitable to Isaiah 19:5.
He hath said, & c.: see Ezekiel 29:3.
10 therefore I am against you and against your
streams, and I will make the land of Egypt a ruin
and a desolate waste from Migdol to Aswan, as far
as the border of Cush.[b]
BARNES 10-12, "From the tower of Syene - Or, as in the margin, “Migdol”
(“tower”) was about two miles from Suez. “Syene” was the most southern town in Egypt,
on the borders of Ethiopia, in the Thebaid, on the eastern bank of the Nile. The modern
Assvan lies a little to the northeast of the ancient Syene.
We have no record of the circumstances of the Chaldsaean invasion of Egypt, but it is
possible that it did not take place until after the fall of Tyre. We gather of what nature it
45

must have been by comparing the description of the results of Assyrian conquest (Isa_
37:25 ff). Minute fulfillment of every detail of prophecy is not to be insisted upon, but
only the general fact that Egypt would for a time, described as 40 years, be in a state of
collapse. No great stress is to be laid on the exact number of years. The number of years
passed in the wilderness became to the Hebrews a significant period of chastisement.
Nebuchadnezzars occupation of Egypt was of no long duration, and his ravages,
though severe, must have been partial. Peace with Babylon was favorable to the
development of home-works, but since the peace was in truth subjugation, it was hollow
and in fact ruinous. Further, it is to be remembered that God fulfils His decree by a
gradual rather than an immediate process. The ravages of Nebuchadnezzar were the
beginning of the end, and all the desolation which followed may be looked upon as a
continuous fulfillment of God’s decree. The savage fury with which Cambyses swept over
Egypt amply realized all that Ezekiel foretold. Many places recovered some wealth and
prosperity, but from the time of Herodotus the kingdom never again became really
independent. Egyptian rulers gave place to Persian, Persian to the successors of
Alexander the Great, who gave place in turn to Rome. So thoroughly was the prophecy of
Ezekiel fulfilled Eze_29:14-15.
CLARKE, "From the tower of Syene - ‫מונה‬ ‫ממגדל‬ mimmigdol seveneh, “from
Migdol to Syene.” Syene, now called Essuan, was the last city in Egypt, going towards
Ethiopia. It was famous for a well into which the rays of the sun fell perpendicularly at
midday.
GILL, "Behold, therefore, I am against thee, and against thy rivers,.... Against
the king of Egypt, and against his subjects, the many people he ruled over; as the Lord is
against spiritual Egypt, and the head of it, and the antichristian states, signified by many
waters, rivers, and fountains; see Rev_11:8,
and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate; partly by a civil
war, and partly by a foreign enemy; especially those parts of it which were the seat of
war:
from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia; or the tower of
Seveneh; according to Herodotus (i), Syene was a city of Thebais, where he was told were
two mountains, which gave rise to the Nile. Pliny (k) says it was six hundred twenty five
miles from Alexandria; and it is by him, as well as Strabo (l), placed under the tropic of
Cancer; who both say, in the summer solstice, at noon, no shadow is cast there; to which
the poet Lucan (m) refers, It is now called Essuaen; which city, as Mr. Norden (n) says,
who lately travelled in those parts, is situated on the eastern shore of the Nile; and he
relates that there remain still some marks of the place where the ancient city stood; as to
the rest, it is so covered with earth, that there is nothing but rubbish, from which, in
some places, one would judge that there were formerly magnificent buildings here. The
utter destruction of which, with the rest of Egypt prophesied of, appears to have been
fulfilled. This place is famous for being the place of the banishment of Juvenal the poet,
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Ezekiel 29 commentary