Ezekiel 32:18

18 "Son of man, mourn over the hordes of Egypt, and make her go down, [and] with her [the] daughters of mighty nations, {down to the deep underworld} with [the people] going down to [the] grave.

Ezekiel 32:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 32:18

Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt
Sing a funeral song or dirge, or compose one, to be sung by the mourning women, on account of the vast numbers of the inhabitants of Egypt that shall be slain; for the prophet himself would not mourn, but rejoice, on this occasion; but this is said to show the certainty of the destruction, and the lamentation that would be made on that account: and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations;
Egypt, and all those countries, and the inhabitants of them, that were in alliance and friendship with her; that is, declare by prophecy that they shall be cast down and destroyed, or be brought down from the height of grandeur and prosperity in which they now were: unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down to the pit;
not unto stately sepulchres built on high, such as were made for the kings of Egypt; but unto common pits or graves, dug in the lower parts of the earth, where the meaner and common sort of people were buried; there should be no distinction between them and others, they should have one common burial. The Targum is,

``son of man, prophesy concerning the multitude of Egypt, and break her, even her, and the villages of the mighty people; prophesy that they shall be delivered unto the lowest earth, with those that go down to the pit of the house of perdition.''

Ezekiel 32:18 In-Context

16 {This is} a lament, and they will chant it as a lament; the daughters [of] the nations will chant it as a lament over Egypt, and over all of its hordes they will chant it as a lament," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

17 {And then} in the {twelfth} year, {on the fifteenth} [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},

18 "Son of man, mourn over the hordes of Egypt, and make her go down, [and] with her [the] daughters of mighty nations, {down to the deep underworld} with [the people] going down to [the] grave.

19 {You are more lovely than whom}? Go down and be laid in rest with [the] uncircumcised.

20 In the midst of [the] people slain by [the] sword it is given they will fall [to] a sword; they carried her off and all of her hordes.

Footnotes

• [a] Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
• [b] Literally "to [the] world/earth deeps/depth"
• [c] Or "pit" or "netherworld"