Ezekiel 32:27

27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised who descended to Sh'ol with their weapons of war, their swords laid under their heads, and their crimes upon their bones; because these warriors terrorized the land of the living.

Ezekiel 32:27 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 32:27

And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the
uncircumcised
That is, shall not lie in such state, or be buried with such pomp and magnificence, and have such sepulchral monuments erected to their memory, as other heroes among the Heathens have had; such as the mighty kings of Assyria and Persia before mentioned: which are gone down to hell,
or "the grave", with their weapons of war;
which were never taken from them, and which they held in their hands to the last, being never conquered, and died at last a natural death, and not by the sword; or which were carried in state before their hearse at the time of interment, as is the custom to this day so to do at the funeral of great warriors, generals, and officers: and they have laid their swords under their heads;
as a sign and token, as Jarchi says, that the sword did not rule over them, that they did not fall by it; either their statues and sepulchral monuments were adorned with these, and other instruments of war, as was the grave of Misenus by Aeneas F4; and as is still the custom where the heads of such mighty ones are laid, to engrave them on them: or, literally, their swords and other weapons of war were put in their graves under their heads; as it was usual, in former times, in some places to put swords, shields, and other armour, in the graves of military men, as were in the grave of Theseus, on the bier of Alexander the great, and others, as reported by Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, and Sophocles F5: now the Scythians were not buried: after this grand and pompous manner: but their iniquities shall be upon their bones;
or the punishment of their sin should be, that their bones should lie unburied and scattered about, or be dug up and broke to pieces, and treated with inhumanity and contempt, as a just reward for their savageness, and cruelty: though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living:
not only the terror of the common people, but even of the most powerful kings and mighty warriors.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Vid. Virgil. Aeneid. l. 6. & Seneca, l. 4. controvers. 4.
F5 Vid. Lydium de Re Militari, l. 6. c. 7. p. 250, 251. & Kirchman, de Funer. Roman. l. 3. c. 18.

Ezekiel 32:27 In-Context

25 They have given her a bed among the slain with her hordes; her graves are all around them, all of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword, because they terrorized the land of the living; they bear their shame with those who descended to the pit; they are put among those who were slain.
26 "Meshekh and Tuval with her horde is there, her graves are all around them, all of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword, because they terrorized the land of the living.
27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised who descended to Sh'ol with their weapons of war, their swords laid under their heads, and their crimes upon their bones; because these warriors terrorized the land of the living.
28 But you will lie broken among the uncircumcised, with those who were killed by the sword.
29 "There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who, despite all their power, are laid with those who were killed by the sword, with the uncircumcised, with those who descended to the pit.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.