Ezekiel 32:17-32

17 In the ¹twelfth * year, on the ²fifteenth * of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,

18 "Son of man, ³wail for the hordes of Egypt and ⁴bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the ⁵nether world, with those who go down to the pit;

19 'Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and make your bed with the ⁶uncircumcised.'

20 "They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. She is given over to the sword; they have ⁷drawn her and all her hordes away.

21 "The ⁸strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, 'They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'

22 "⁹Assyria is there and all her company; her graves are round about her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword,

23 whose ¹⁰graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.

24 "¹¹Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the ¹²lower parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the ¹³land of the living and ¹⁴bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit.

25 "They have made a ¹⁵bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was instilled in the land of the living ), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were put in the midst of the slain.

26 "¹⁶Meshech, ¹⁷Tubal and all their hordes are there; their graves surround them. All of them were slain by the sword ¹⁸uncircumcised, though they instilled their terror in the land of the living.

27 "¹⁹Nor do they lie beside the fallen ²⁰heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads; but the punishment for their ²¹iniquity rested on their bones, though the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living.

28 "But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword.

29 "There also is ²²Edom, its kings and all its princes, who for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

30 "There also are the chiefs of the ²³north, all of them, and all the ²⁴Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

31 "These Pharaoh will see, and he will be ²⁵comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army," declares the Lord GOD.

32 "Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes," declares the Lord GOD.

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.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 31:1; Ezekiel 32:1; Ezekiel 33:21
• 2. Ezekiel 31:1; Ezekiel 32:1; Ezekiel 33:21
• 3. Isaiah 16:9; Ezekiel 21:6; Ezekiel 32:2, 16; Micah 1:8
• 4. Jeremiah 1:10; Ezekiel 43:3; Hosea 6:5
• 5. Ezek 31:14, 16, 18; Ezekiel 32:24
• 6. Jeremiah 9:25, 26; Ezekiel 31:18; Ezekiel 32:21, 24, 29, 30
• 7. Psalms 28:3
• 8. Isaiah 14:9-12; Ezekiel 32:27
• 9. Ezekiel 27:23; Ezekiel 31:3, 16
• 10. Isaiah 14:15
• 11. Genesis 10:22; Genesis 14:1; Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 25:25; Jeremiah 49:34-39
• 12. Ezekiel 26:20; Ezekiel 31:14, 18; Ezekiel 32:18
• 13. Job 28:13; Psalms 27:13; Psalms 52:5; Psalms 142:5; Isaiah 38:11; Jeremiah 11:19
• 14. Ezekiel 16:52, 54; Ezekiel 32:25, 30
• 15. Psalms 139:8
• 16. Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 27:13; Ezekiel 38:2, 3; Ezekiel 39:1
• 17. Genesis 10:2; Isaiah 66:19; Ezekiel 27:13; Ezekiel 38:2, 3; Ezekiel 39:1
• 18. Ezekiel 32:19
• 19. Isaiah 14:18, 19
• 20. Job 3:13-15; Ezekiel 32:21
• 21. Job 20:11; Psalms 109:18
• 22. Isaiah 34:5-15; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Ezekiel 25:13; Ezekiel 35:9, 15
• 23. Jeremiah 1:15; Jeremiah 25:26; Ezekiel 38:6, 15; Ezekiel 39:2
• 24. Jeremiah 25:22; Ezekiel 28:21-23
• 25. Ezekiel 14:22; Ezekiel 31:16

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "The sword is given"
• [b]. Lit "his"
• [c]. Lit "him"
• [d]. Lit "gave," and so throughout the ch
• [e]. Lit "given"
• [f]. So with ancient versions; M.T. reads "he was"
• [g]. Lit "are around him"
• [h]. Or "mighty ones"
• [i]. Or "mighty ones"
• [j]. Or "leaders"
• [k]. Or "in"
• [l]. Or "princes"