Yehezkiel 29:6-7

29:6 Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord

because they were a reed staff ¹  for the house of Israel;

29:7 when they grasped you with their hand, ²  you broke and tore ³  their shoulders,

and when they leaned on you, you splintered and caused their legs to be unsteady. ⁴ 

Yehezkiel 17:15-17

17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family ⁵  rebelled against the king of Babylon ⁶  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

17:16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ⁷  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die! 17:17 Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help ⁸  him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people.

[29:6]  ¹ sn Compare Isa 36:6.

[29:7]  ² tn The Hebrew consonantal text (Kethib) has “by your hand,” but the marginal reading (Qere) has simply “by the hand.” The LXX reads “with their hand.”

[29:7]  ³ tn Or perhaps “dislocated.”

[29:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “you caused to stand for them all their hips.” An emendation which switches two letters but is supported by the LXX yields the reading “you caused all their hips to shake.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:103. In 2 Kgs 18:21 and Isa 36:6 trusting in the Pharaoh is compared to leaning on a staff. The oracle may reflect Hophra’s attempt to aid Jerusalem (Jer 37:5-8).

[17:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “place.”

[17:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “deal with” or “work with.”