Ezekiel 30:14

14 I will make 1Pathros a desolation and will set fire to 2Zoan 3and will execute judgments on 4Thebes.

Ezekiel 30:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 30:14

And I will make Pathros desolate
A country in Egypt; (See Gill 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 ) ( Psalms 78:12 Psalms 78:43 ) . The Targum and Septuagint version call it Tanis here; and from hence a nome in Egypt was called the Tanitic nome. This city was burnt down by the king of Babylon: the place now built on the spot is called Mansourah, as Dr. Shaw F23 says: and I will execute judgment in No.
The Vulgate Latin version renders it Alexandria; and so does the Targum; of which place Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech interpret it; and so does Jerom; which, though built after these times by Alexander, and called so after his name, yet is supposed to be built on or near the place where ancient No stood. The city is now called Scanderoon, or Scanderea; the Turks calling Alexander Scander: here the judgments of God were executed in the destruction of it by the Chaldean army; and great devastations have been made in it since it was rebuilt by Alexander, by the Saracens, who destroyed all places where they came; so that, as Dr. Shaw F24 observes, it is somewhat extraordinary that the greatest part of the ancient walls, together with their respective turrets, should have continued entire quite down to this time. The Septuagint version calls it Diospolis, or the city of Jupiter, as does the Arabic version, that is, of Jupiter Hammon; the city of Thebes, where he was worshipped; as it is in a following verse called Hammon No; though Hillerus F25 thinks neither of these places are meant, neither Alexandria nor Diospolis; but Memphis, as it is rendered by the Septuagint in the next verse; (See Gill on Nahum 3:8).


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Travels, p. 304. Ed. 2.
F24 Ib. p. 292.
F25 Onomastic. Sacr. p. 571

Ezekiel 30:14 In-Context

12 And I will dry up the Nile and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it, by the hand of foreigners; I am the LORD; I have spoken.
13 "Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make Pathros a desolation and will set fire to Zoan and will execute judgments on Thebes.
15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of Thebes.
16 And I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and Memphis shall face enemies by day.

Cross References 4

  • 1. Ezekiel 29:14; See Isaiah 11:11
  • 2. See Numbers 13:22
  • 3. ver. 19
  • 4. Jeremiah 46:25
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.