Ezekiel 32:17-32

17 ¹In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month,^[a] on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:

18 ²"Son of man, ³wail over ⁴the multitude of Egypt, and ⁵send them down, her and the daughters of majestic nations, ⁶to the world below, to those who have gone down to the pit:

19 ⁷'Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and ⁸be laid to rest with the uncircumcised.'

20 They shall fall amid those ⁹who are slain by the sword. Egypt^[b] is delivered to the sword; drag her away, and ¹⁰all her multitudes.

21 The mighty chiefs ¹¹shall speak of them, ¹²with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: 'They have come down, they lie still, ¹³the uncircumcised, ¹⁴slain by the sword.'

22 ¹⁵"Assyria is there, and all her company, ¹⁶its graves all around it, all of them slain, fallen by the sword,

23 whose graves are set in ¹⁷the uttermost parts of the pit; and her company is all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, ¹⁸who spread terror ¹⁹in the land of the living.

24 ²⁰"Elam is ²¹there, and all her multitude around her grave; all of them ²²slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into ²³the world below, who spread their terror in the land of the living; and ²⁴they bear their shame ²⁵with those who go down to the pit.

25 ²⁶They have made her a bed among the slain with all her multitude, ²⁷her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are placed among the slain.

26 ²⁸"Meshech-Tubal is ²⁹there, and all her multitude, ³⁰her graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they spread their terror in the land of the living.

27 And ³¹they do not lie with the mighty, the fallen from among the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose iniquities are upon their bones; for the terror of the mighty men was in the land of the living.

28 But as for you, you shall be broken ³²and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.

29 ³³"Edom is ³⁴there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

30 "The princes ³⁵of the north are there, all of them, and all the ³⁶Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, ³⁷for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and ³⁸bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

31 "When Pharaoh sees them, he ³⁹will be comforted for ⁴⁰all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.

32 ⁴¹For I spread terror ⁴²in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among ⁴³the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD."

Ezekiel 32:17-32 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 32

This chapter contains two more prophecies concerning the destruction of Egypt. The date of the first is given, Eze 22:1, in which the king of Egypt is compared to a large fish taken in a net, and brought to land, and left on it, to be the prey of the fowls of the air and beasts of the field, Eze 32:2-4, and the ruin of that kingdom is further amplified by the casting of it on the mountains and valleys; by the land flowing with its blood; by the darkness of the heavens; by the vexation in the hearts of many people; and by the amazement of kings and nations, Eze 32:5-10, the means and instruments of all which will be the king of Babylon and his army, Eze 32:11,12, the devastation made by him, which would be such as would cause lamentation in other nations, is described, Eze 32:13-16, then follows the other prophecy, whose date is given, Eze 32:17, the prophet is bid to lament the fall of Egypt, which is represented under the funeral of a corpse, Eze 32:18-20, saluted by those gone down to the grave before, or were become desolate; which are mentioned, to assure Egypt of its destruction, Eze 32:21 as the Assyrian empire, and all its provinces, Eze 32:22,23, the Persians and Medes, with all their dominions, Eze 32:24,25, the posterity of Meshech and Tubal, or the Scythians, those warlike people, Eze 32:26-28, the Edomites, the princes of the north, and all the Zidonians, Eze 32:29,30 which would be a comfort, though a poor one to the king of Egypt and his subjects, to have such company with them, Eze 32:31,32.

Cross References

• 1. See Ezekiel 20:1
• 2. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 3. [ver. 2]
• 4. [See ver. 16 above]
• 5. [Ezekiel 26:20; Ezekiel 31:16]
• 6. See Ezekiel 31:14
• 7. [Ezekiel 31:2, 18]
• 8. ver. 32; See ver. 28-30
• 9. Ezekiel 31:17, 18
• 10. See Ezekiel 31:2
• 11. Isaiah 14:9, 10
• 12. [Ezekiel 30:6, 8]
• 13. Ezekiel 28:10; Ezekiel 31:18
• 14. [See ver. 20 above]
• 15. [ver. 24, 26, 29, 30]
• 16. ver. 25, 26
• 17. Isaiah 14:15
• 18. ver. 24, 25, 26, 27; [Ezekiel 26:17]
• 19. Psalms 27:13
• 20. Isaiah 11:11; See Jeremiah 49:34-39
• 21. [ver. 22]
• 22. ver. 20
• 23. ver. 18; See Ezekiel 31:14
• 24. ver. 25, 30; Ezekiel 16:52, 54; Ezekiel 36:7; Ezekiel 44:13; [Ezekiel 34:29; Ezekiel 36:6; Ezekiel 39:26]
• 25. ver. 18; See Ezekiel 31:14
• 26. [Isaiah 30:33]
• 27. [ver. 22]
• 28. See Ezekiel 27:13
• 29. [See ver. 25 above]
• 30. [See ver. 25 above]
• 31. [Isaiah 14:18, 19]
• 32. Ezekiel 28:10; Ezekiel 31:18
• 33. See Ezekiel 25:12-14
• 34. [ver. 22]
• 35. [Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 39:2]
• 36. Ezekiel 28:21; See Isaiah 23:2
• 37. ver. 23
• 38. See ver. 24
• 39. [Ezekiel 31:16]
• 40. See Ezekiel 31:2
• 41. [ver. 10]
• 42. ver. 23
• 43. ver. 21, 27

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew lacks in the twelfth month
• [b]. Hebrew She