Ezekiel 32:19

19 Say to them: "Do you think you are more beautiful than anyone else? You will go down to the world of the dead and lie there among the ungodly.

Ezekiel 32:19 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 32:19

Whom dost thou pass in beauty?
&c.] This question the prophet is bid to put to Egypt; what nation is there, or has been, that thou excellest in wisdom, in riches, or in strength, in the multitude of subjects, or extent of dominions, that thou thinkest thyself secure from destruction? look over other kingdoms and states mightier than thou, or at least equal to thee, and see how they are brought to ruin, and expect that this will quickly be thy case: go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised;
go down to the grave, and take thy place, and lie there among the wicked and most profligate of mankind, and such as might be most despised by the Egyptians, since they used circumcision. The Targum is,

``go down and sleep with sinners.''

Ezekiel 32:19 In-Context

17 On the fifteenth day of the first month of the twelfth year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

18 "Mortal man," he said, "mourn for all the many people of Egypt. Send them down with the other powerful nations to the world of the dead.

19 Say to them: "Do you think you are more beautiful than anyone else? You will go down to the world of the dead and lie there among the ungodly.

20 "The people of Egypt will fall with those who are killed in battle. A sword is ready to kill them all.

21 The greatest heroes and those who fought on the Egyptian side welcome the Egyptians to the world of the dead. They shout: "The ungodly who were killed in battle have come down here, and here they lie!'