Ezekiel 29:6

6 All the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 29:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 29:6

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord,
&c.] 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 ( Isaiah 36:6 ) . The Targum renders it, ``the staff of a reed broken.''

Ezekiel 29:6 In-Context

4 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 your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales.

5 I will cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers: you shall fall on the open field; you shall not be brought together, nor gathered; I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

6 All the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you did break, and did tear all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and mad all their loins to be at a stand.

8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off from you man and animal.