INTRODUCTION TO Ezekiel 30 This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Egypt, both against the country and the king of it. It is introduced with expressions of lamentation, because of the destruction coming on, Ezekiel 30:1, and not only Egypt, and the cities thereof, should be destroyed, but all her friends, associates, and allies; the...
The word of the Lord came again unto me,.... Whether this prophecy was delivered about the time of that in the former part of the preceding chapter, namely, in the tenth year, tenth month, and twelfth day of it; or whether about the time that was which is recorded in the latter part of the chapter, in the seven and twentieth year of Jehoiachin's...
In this chapter we have, I. A continuation of the prophecy against Egypt, which we had in the latter part of the foregoing chapter, just before the desolation of that once flourishing kingdom was completed by Nebuchadnezzar, in which is foretold the destruction of all her allies and confederates, all her interests and concerns, and the several...
Son of man, prophesy and say, thus saith the Lord God,.... Prophesy against Egypt's king and inhabitants, and in the name of the Lord thus speak against them: howl ye; ye Egyptians, and also ye Ethiopians, and all others after named, which should share in the destruction of Egypt; this is said to give them notice of it, and prepare them for it:...
For the day is near,.... The day of Egypt's destruction, the time fixed for it: even the day of the Lord is near; the day appointed by him, and in which he would make himself known by the judgments he executed: Kimchi observes, that, the same year this prophecy was delivered, Egypt was given into the hands of the king of Babylon: a cloudy day; or;...
And the sword shall come upon Egypt,.... The sword of the Chaldeans shall come upon the Egyptians, by which they should be cut off; it having a commission from the Lord for that purpose: and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; Ethiopia being a neighbouring nation to Egypt, shall be in a panic when it shall hear of...
Ethiopia, Lybia, and Lydia,.... Or, "Cush, Phut, and Lud". Cush and Phut were both sons of Ham, from whom Egypt is sometimes called the land of Ham; and Lud or Ludim was the son of Mizraim, the son of Ham, the common name of Egypt in Scripture, Genesis 10:6. Cush is by us rendered Ethiopia; and is thought by some to be a part of Arabia, which lay...
Thus saith the Lord, they also that uphold Egypt shall fall,.... That is, by the sword; either their allies and auxiliaries without, that supported the Egyptians with men and money; or their principal people within, their nobles that supported their state with their estates, their counsellors with their wisdom, their soldiers with their valour and...
And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate,.... Or among them, shall be ranked with them, and be as desolate as they are; as Judea and other countries, ravaged by the same enemy: and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted; undergo the same fate as they have done, as Jerusalem and others. The...
And they shall know that I am the Lord,.... The Egyptians shall know the Lord to be the true God, and acknowledge him to be omniscient and omnipotent, that should so exactly foretell their destruction, and accomplish it: when I have set a fire in Egypt: a war there; the heat of battle, very devouring and consuming, as well as very grievous and...
In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships,.... Either by the river Nile, or by the Red sea, to Arabia Felix, which some think is meant by Ethiopia. Cush or Ethiopia was encompassed about with water, so that there was no coming to it but by ships; see Genesis 2:13, compare with this Isaiah 18:1, the messengers here were either such who...
Thus saith the Lord God, I will make the multitude of Egypt to cease,.... The vast numbers of people that inhabited Egypt; some of its cities were very populous, especially the city No, after mentioned; but now the numbers should be greatly lessened, and the whole land sadly depopulated: or the "noise" (r), "tumult", and hurry of it; which is very...
He and his people with him,.... He and his army, consisting chiefly of Chaldeans; though there were of other nations among them, as were in his army when he besieged Jerusalem, as seems to be suggested in the next clause: the terrible of the nations shall be brought to destroy the land; the Chaldeans, the most fierce, cruel, and terrible of all...
And I will make the rivers dry,.... Egypt was a country that abounded with rivers; however, with canals cut from the river Nile; its wealth and riches very much depended here on, partly on account of the multitude of fishes taken out of them, and the paper reeds that grew upon their banks; but chiefly because the whole land, was watered by them,...
Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols,.... With which Egypt abounded, making an idol of all sorts of creatures, rational and irrational, animate and inanimate, and in which they trusted; wherefore these being destroyed, they had nothing to put their confidence in: I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; called Moph, Hosea...
And I will make Pathros desolate,.... A country in Egypt; [See comments on Ezekiel 29:14], perhaps it was the first place that Nebuchadnezzar entered, and so went from place to place in the order hereafter mentioned: and I will set fire in Zoan; or Tunis, a famous city in Egypt in the times of Moses, Numbers 13:22. The Targum and Septuagint...
And I will pour out my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt,.... Either the city Sais, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; or rather Pelusium, as the Vulgate Latin version, so called from "pelos" which signifies "clay" in the Greek language; and the same "Sin" signifies in the Chaldee, Psalms 18:43, and as now called Tineh, from טין, "clay": it...
And I will set fire in Egypt,.... Kindle a war there, which shall consume it; see Ezekiel 30:8: Sin shall have great pain; as a woman in travail, seeing its destruction is just at hand; the same with Pelusium, as before: and No shall be rent asunder, the walls of it shall be broken down by the enemy, or a breach shall be made in it, like the...
The young men of Aven and of Phibeseth shall fall by the sword,.... Aven is the same with On, of which Potipherah was priest in Joseph's time and whose daughter he married, Genesis 41:45, the same with Heliopolis, or Bethshemesh, the city of the sun, see Jeremiah 43:13, [See comments on Jeremiah 43:13]; where was the temple of the sun, and where...
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened,.... The same with Hanes in Isaiah 30:4 and Tahapanes in Jeremiah 2:16 and Tahpanhes, Jeremiah 43:7, it was a royal seat of the kings of Egypt: there was in Solomon's time a queen of Egypt of this name, and perhaps it might be so called from her, 1 Kings 11:19. It is generally thought to be the Daphne...