Ezekiel 30

Lament over Egypt

1 The word of the LORD came again to me saying,

2 "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "¹Wail, 'Alas for the day!'

3 "For the day is near, Even ²the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of ³clouds, A time of doom for the nations.

4 "A sword will come upon Egypt, And anguish will be in Ethiopia; When the slain fall in Egypt, They ⁴take away her wealth, And her foundations are torn down.

5 "Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all ⁵Arabia, Libya and the people of the land that is in league will fall with them by the sword."

6 'Thus says the LORD, "Indeed, those who support ⁶Egypt will fall And the pride of her power will come down; From Migdol to Syene They will fall within her by the sword," Declares the Lord GOD.

7 "They will be desolate In the ⁷midst of the desolated lands; And her cities will be In the midst of the devastated cities.

8 "And they will ⁸know that I am the LORD, When I set a ⁹fire in Egypt And all her helpers are broken.

9 "On that day ¹⁰messengers will go forth from Me in ships to frighten ¹¹secure Ethiopia; and ¹²anguish will be on them as on the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes!"

10 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "¹³I will also make the hordes of Egypt cease By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

11 "He and his people with him, ¹⁴The most ruthless of the nations, Will be brought in to destroy the land; And they will draw their swords against Egypt And fill the land with the slain.

12 "Moreover, I will make the ¹⁵Nile canals dry And ¹⁶sell the land into the hands of evil men. And I will make the land desolate And all that is in it, By the hand of strangers; I the LORD have spoken."

13 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also ¹⁷destroy the idols And make the images cease from ¹⁸Memphis. And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

14 "I will make ¹⁹Pathros desolate, Set a fire in ²⁰Zoan And execute judgments on ²¹Thebes.

15 "I will pour out My wrath on Sin, The stronghold of Egypt; I will also cut off the hordes of Thebes.

16 "I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin will writhe in anguish, Thebes will be breached And Memphis will have distresses daily.

17 "The young men of ²²On and of Pi-beseth Will fall by the sword, And the women will go into captivity.

18 "In ²³Tehaphnehes the day will be ²⁴dark When I ²⁵break there the yoke bars of Egypt. Then the pride of her power will cease in her; A cloud will cover her, And her daughters will go into captivity.

19 "Thus I will ²⁶execute judgments on Egypt, And they will know that I am the LORD.""'

Victory for Babylon

20 In the ²⁷eleventh * year, in the first month, on the seventh of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,

21 "Son of man, I have ²⁸broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it has not been ²⁹bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, that it may be strong to hold the sword.

22 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I am ³⁰against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong and the ³¹broken; and I will make the sword ³²fall from his hand.

23 'I will ³³scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.

24 'For I will ³⁴strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put ³⁵My sword in his hand; and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he will groan before him with the groanings of a wounded man.

25 'Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he ³⁶stretches it out against the land of Egypt.

26 'When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands, then they will know that I am the LORD.' "

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Ezekiel 30 Commentary

Chapter 30

A prophecy against Egypt. (1-19) Another. (20-26)

Verses 1-19 The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is very full. Those who take their lot with God's enemies, shall be with them in punishment. The king of Babylon and his army shall be instruments of this destruction. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another. No place in the land of Egypt shall escape the fury of the Chaldeans. The Lord is known by the judgments he executes. Yet these are only present effects of the Divine displeasure, not worthy of our fear, compared with the wrath to come, from which Jesus delivers his people.

Verses 20-26 Egypt shall grow weaker and weaker. If lesser judgments do not prevail to humble and reform sinners, God will send greater. God justly breaks that power which is abused, either to put wrongs upon people, or to put cheats upon them. Babylon shall grow stronger. In vain do men endeavour to bind up the arm the Lord is pleased to break, and to strengthen those whom he will bring down. Those who disregard the discoveries of his truth and mercy, shall know his power and justice, in the punishment for their sins.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 36

1. Isaiah 13:6; Isaiah 15:2; Ezekiel 21:12; Joel 1:5, 11, 13
2. Ezekiel 7:19; Ezekiel 13:5; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1; Obadiah 15
3. Ezekiel 30:18; Ezekiel 32:7; Ezekiel 34:12
4. Ezekiel 29:19
5. Jeremiah 25:20, 24
6. Isaiah 20:3-6
7. Jeremiah 25:18-26; Ezekiel 29:12
8. Psalms 58:11; Ezek 29:6, 9, 16
9. Ezekiel 22:31; Ezekiel 30:14, 16; Amos 1:4, 7, 10, 12, 14
10. Isaiah 18:1, 2
11. Isaiah 47:8; Ezekiel 38:11; Ezekiel 39:6
12. Isaiah 19:17; Isaiah 23:5; Ezekiel 32:9, 10
13. Ezekiel 29:19
14. Ezekiel 28:7
15. Ezekiel 29:3, 9
16. Isaiah 19:4
17. Isaiah 2:18
18. Isaiah 19:13; Jeremiah 2:16; Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14; Ezekiel 30:16
19. Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 44:1, 15; Ezekiel 29:14
20. Psalms 78:12, 43; Isaiah 19:11, 13
21. Jeremiah 46:25; Ezekiel 30:15, 16; Nahum 3:8
22. Genesis 41:45; Genesis 46:20
23. Jeremiah 43:8-13
24. Ezekiel 30:3
25. Leviticus 26:13; Isaiah 10:27; Jeremiah 27:2; Jeremiah 28:10, 13; Jeremiah 30:8; Ezekiel 34:27
26. Psalms 9:16; Ezekiel 5:8, 15; Ezekiel 25:11; Ezekiel 30:14
27. Ezekiel 26:1; Ezekiel 29:1, 17; Ezekiel 31:1
28. Psalms 10:15; Psalms 37:17; Ezekiel 30:24
29. Jeremiah 30:13; Jeremiah 46:11
30. Jeremiah 46:25; Ezekiel 29:3
31. 2 Kings 24:7; Jeremiah 37:7
32. Jeremiah 46:21
33. Ezekiel 29:12; Ezekiel 30:17, 18, 26
34. Nehemiah 6:9; Isaiah 45:1, 5; Ezekiel 30:10, 25; Zechariah 10:12
35. Ezekiel 30:11, 25; Zephaniah 2:12
36. Joshua 8:18; 1 Chronicles 21:16; Isaiah 5:25

Footnotes 25

[a]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
[b]. Lit "Cush"
[c]. Or "multitude"
[d]. Lit "Cush"
[e]. Or "the mixed people"
[f]. Or "Cub"
[g]. Lit "sons"
[h]. Lit "of the covenant"
[i]. Lit "Cush"
[j]. Or "people;" lit "crowd," and so throughout the ch
[k]. Lit "her fullness"
[l]. Or "futile ones"
[m]. Or "Noph"
[n]. Or "No"
[o]. Or "Pelusium"
[p]. Or "No"
[q]. Or "Pelusium"
[r]. Or "No"
[s]. Or "Noph"
[t]. Or "adversaries"
[u]. Or "Aven"
[v]. Lit "they"
[w]. So with many mss and ancient versions; M.T. "restrain"
[x]. Lit "to give healing"
[y]. Lit "to put a bandage, to wrap it"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 30

This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy against Egypt, both against the country and the king of it. It is introduced with expressions of lamentation, because of the destruction coming on, Eze 30:1-3, and not only Egypt, and the cities thereof, should be destroyed, but all her friends, associates, and allies; the Ethiopians, Lydians, Lybians, and others, Eze 30:4-9. Nebuchadnezzar and his army were to be the instruments of her ruin, Eze 30:10-12, particular cities are mentioned by name, which should suffer much, and become desolate, Eze 30:13-19 and then Pharaoh king of Egypt himself is threatened with broken arms, and his people to be scattered among the nations, Eze 30:20-23, and the king of Babylon is again mentioned, whose arms should be strengthened to do all this, Eze 30:24-26.