Ezekiel 29:6

6 Then everyone who lives in Egypt will know that I am the Lord. " ' "You have been like a walking stick made out of a papyrus stem. The people of Israel tried to lean on you.

Ezekiel 29:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 29:6

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord,
&c.] Who could eject their king from his kingdom, and deliver him into the hands of his enemy; though he thought no God could, as he boastingly said, before observed: because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel;
alluding to the country of Egypt, which abounded with reeds that grew upon the banks of the river Nile, and other rivers. This signifies that either the Egyptians were weak, and could not help the people of Israel when they applied to them; or rather that they were treacherous and deceitful, and would not assist them, according to agreement; and were even pernicious and hurtful to them, as a broken reed; see ( Isaiah 36:6 ) . The Targum renders it, ``the staff of a reed broken.''

Ezekiel 29:6 In-Context

4 But I will put hooks in your jaws. I will make the fish in your streams stick to your scales. I will pull you out from among your streams. All of the fish will stick to your scales.

5 I will leave you out in the desert. All of the fish in your streams will be there with you. You will fall down in an open field. You will not be picked up. I will feed you to the wild animals and to the birds of the air.

6 Then everyone who lives in Egypt will know that I am the Lord. " ' "You have been like a walking stick made out of a papyrus stem. The people of Israel tried to lean on you.

7 They took hold of you. But you broke under their weight. You tore their shoulders open. They leaned on you. But you snapped in two. And their backs were broken." ' "

8 So the LORD and King says, "I will send Nebuchadnezzar's sword against you. He will kill your people and their animals.