Ezekiel 32:27

27 But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old,^[a] who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shields^[b] resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.

Ezekiel 32:27 in Other Translations

27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

27 And they 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.

27 They are not buried in honor like their fallen heroes, who went down to the grave with their weapons—their shields covering their bodies and their swords beneath their heads. Their guilt rests upon them because they brought terror to everyone while they were still alive.

27 They're segregated from the heroes, the old-time giants who entered the grave in full battle dress, their swords placed under their heads and their shields covering their bones, those heroes who spread terror through the land of the living.

27 They do not lie down with the fallen warriors of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads. The punishment for their sins rested on their bones, although the terror of [these] warriors was [once] in 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 A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.

26 “Meshek and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living.

27 But they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to the realm of the dead with their weapons of war—their swords placed under their heads and their shields resting on their bones—though these warriors also had terrorized the land of the living.

28 “You too, Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.

29 “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 28:10

Footnotes

• [a]. Septuagint; Hebrew "warriors who were uncircumcised"
• [b]. Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text "punishment"