Ezekiel 29:1-16

1 On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year, the word of ADONAI came to me:

2 "Human being, turn your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt; prophesy against him and against all Egypt;

3 speak out; and say that Adonai ELOHIM says: 'I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you big crocodile lying in the streams of the Nile! You say, "My Nile is mine; I made it for myself."

4 But I will put hooks in your jaws and make your Nile fish stick to your scales. Yes, I will bring you up from your Nile, with all your Nile fish sticking to your scales,

5 and leave you in the desert, you and all your Nile fish. You will fall in the open field and not be gathered or buried; but I will give you as food to wild animals and birds.

6 Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am ADONAI, because they have been a support made of straw for the house of Isra'el.

7 When they grasped you in hand, you splintered and threw all their shoulders out of joint; when they leaned on you, you broke and made them all wrench their backs.'

8 "Therefore Adonai ELOHIM says, 'I will bring the sword against you and eliminate both your people and your animals.

9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate waste, and they will know that I am ADONAI; because he said, "The Nile is mine; I made it."

10 So I am against you and your Nile; and I will make the land of Egypt a totally desolate waste from Migdol to S'venah, all the way to the border of Ethiopia.

11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal foot will pass through it; it will be uninhabited for forty years.

12 Yes, I will make the land of Egypt desolate, even when compared with other desolate countries, likewise her cities in comparison with other ruined cities; they will be desolate forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries.'

13 "For this is what Adonai ELOHIM says: 'At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered -

14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of their origin, Patros. But there they will be a humble kingdom,

15 the humblest of kingdoms. It will never again dominate other nations; I will reduce them, so that they never again rule other nations.

16 Moreover, they will no longer be a source of confidence for Isra'el to turn to; rather, it will only bring to mind their guilt in having turned to them before. Then they will know that I am Adonai ELOHIM.'"

Ezekiel 29:1-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 29

This chapter contains a prophecy against Pharaoh king of Egypt; and of the destruction of the land of Egypt; and of the restoration of it after a certain time. The time of prophecy is noted, Eze 29:1, the order to prophesy against Pharaoh, who is described as a large fish, lying in his rivers, and boasting of them, Eze 29:2,3, his destruction and the manner of it, Eze 29:4,5, the reason of it, his treachery to the Jews, Eze 29:6,7, hence the whole land of Egypt is threatened with desolation, from one end to the other, so as to be uninhabited by man or beast for the space of forty years, Eze 29:8-14, but shall not arrive to their former glory as a kingdom, nor be any more the confidence of the house of Israel, Eze 29:15,16, then follows a prophecy seventeen years after this, showing the reason why Egypt was given to the king of Babylon, Eze 29:17-20, and the chapter is closed with a promise of happiness to Israel, Eze 29:21.