Ezekiel 29:3-5

3 "Speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great ¹monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, That ²has said, 'My Nile is mine, and I myself have made it.'

4 "I will put ³hooks in your jaws And make the fish of your rivers cling to your scales. And I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, And all the fish of your rivers will cling to your scales.

5 "I will ⁴abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers; You will fall on the open field; you will not be brought together or ⁵gathered. I have given you for ⁶food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

Ezekiel 29:3-5 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 29

This chapter contains a prophecy against Pharaoh king of Egypt; and of the destruction of the land of Egypt; and of the restoration of it after a certain time. The time of prophecy is noted, Eze 29:1, the order to prophesy against Pharaoh, who is described as a large fish, lying in his rivers, and boasting of them, Eze 29:2,3, his destruction and the manner of it, Eze 29:4,5, the reason of it, his treachery to the Jews, Eze 29:6,7, hence the whole land of Egypt is threatened with desolation, from one end to the other, so as to be uninhabited by man or beast for the space of forty years, Eze 29:8-14, but shall not arrive to their former glory as a kingdom, nor be any more the confidence of the house of Israel, Eze 29:15,16, then follows a prophecy seventeen years after this, showing the reason why Egypt was given to the king of Babylon, Eze 29:17-20, and the chapter is closed with a promise of happiness to Israel, Eze 29:21.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 27:1; Ezekiel 32:2
• 2. Ezekiel 29:9; Ezekiel 30:12
• 3. 2 Kings 19:28; Ezekiel 38:4
• 4. Ezekiel 32:4-6
• 5. Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 25:33
• 6. Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 34:20; Ezekiel 39:4

Footnotes

• [a] Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
• [b] Lit "tannim"
• [c] Or "Nile"
• [d] Or "Nile"
• [e] Or "Nile"
• [f] Or "Nile"
• [g] Or "Nile"
• [h] Lit "faces of the field"
• [i] Or with several mss and Targum, "buried"