Ezekiel 32:17-32

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.

21 [The] chiefs of [the] warriors will speak to him from the middle of Sheol; with his helpers they have gone down; the uncircumcised lie [still], {those slain by the sword}.

22 Assyria [is] there and all of its assembly; all around it [are] its graves, all of them killed, those fallen by the sword,

23 who will be given its graves in [the] remote areas of [the] pit, and its assembly will be all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, [those] who spread terror in [the] land of [the] living.

24 Elam [is] there and all of its hordes, all around its grave, all of them dead who fell by the sword, [those] who went down uncircumcised to [the] depths of [the] underworld, [those] who spread their terror to [the] land of [the] living, and [now] they bear their disgrace with [the people] going down [to the] grave.

25 In the midst of [the] slain they made a bed for her with all of her hordes all around its graves, all of them uncircumcised, slain by [the] sword, for their terror was spread in [the] land of [the] living, and they [now] bear their disgrace with [the people] going down to [the] grave; in the midst of [the] slain it was placed.

26 Meshech [and] Tubal [are] there and all of its hordes, all around him its graves, all of them uncircumcised [and] killed by [the] sword, for they gave their terror in [the] land of [the] living.

27 And they do not lie with warriors fallen from long ago, who went down [to] Sheol with their weapons of war, and they placed their sword under their heads, and their shields were on their bones, for [the] terror of [the] warriors [was] in [the] land of the living.

28 And you [too] in the midst of uncircumcised [people] will be broken, and you will lie with [those] slain by [the] sword.

29 There [is] Edom, its kings and all of its leaders who are laid [along] with their might with [those] killed by [the] sword; they will lie with [the] uncircumcised and with [the people] going down to the grave.

30 There are [also] the princes of [the] north, all of them, all of [the] Sidonians who have gone down, being ashamed [to lie] with [the] slain because of their terror [that they caused] from their might, and they lie uncircumcised with [those killed] by [the] sword, and they bear their disgrace [along with] [the people] going down to [the] grave.

31 Pharaoh will see them, and he will be comforted over all of his hordes killed by [the] sword, Pharaoh and all of his army," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

32 "For he spread my terror in [the] land of [the] living, and [so] he will be laid down in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by [the] sword: Pharaoh and all of his hordes,"{declares} the Lord Yahweh.

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.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "and it happened/was"
• [b] Literally "two of ten"
• [c] Literally "in the five ten of"
• [d] Literally "was"
• [e] Literally "to say"
• [f] Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
• [g] Literally "to [the] world/earth deeps/depth"
• [h] Or "pit" or "netherworld"
• [i] Literally "from whom are you lovely"
• [j] Or "she"; that is, Egypt
• [k] Or "it"
• [l] Or "its"
• [m] Literally "[the] slain of [the] sword"
• [n] That is, Assyria
• [o] Literally "land/earth/world"
• [p] Or "pit" or "sheol"
• [q] Or "pit"
• [r] Literally "with the weapons of war their"
• [s] Reading "their shields" for "their guilt"
• [t] Evidently refers to Egypt
• [u] Or "pit"
• [v] Or "in spite of" (cf. NJPS, NIV)
• [w] Or "pit"
• [x] Literally "declaration of"
• [y] Or "although"
• [z] Hebrew "I gave"
• [aa] Literally "declaration of"