Yehezkiel 29:1-21
Konteks29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, 1 the word of the Lord came to me: 29:2 “Son of man, turn toward 2 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 29:3 Tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘Look, I am against 3 you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great monster 4 lying in the midst of its waterways,
who has said, “My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.” 5
29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws
and stick the fish of your waterways to your scales.
I will haul you up from the midst of your waterways,
and all the fish of your waterways will stick to your scales.
29:5 I will leave you in the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your waterways;
you will fall in the open field and will not be gathered up or collected. 6
I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.
29:6 Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord
because they were a reed staff 7 for the house of Israel;
29:7 when they grasped you with their hand, 8 you broke and tore 9 their shoulders,
and when they leaned on you, you splintered and caused their legs to be unsteady. 10
29:8 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will kill 11 every person and every animal. 29:9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Because he said, “The Nile is mine and I made it,” 29:10 I am against 12 you and your waterways. I will turn the land of Egypt into an utter desolate ruin from Migdol 13 to Syene, 14 as far as the border with Ethiopia. 29:11 No human foot will pass through it, and no animal’s foot will pass through it; it will be uninhabited for forty years. 29:12 I will turn the land of Egypt into a desolation in the midst of desolate lands; for forty years her cities will lie desolate in the midst of ruined cities. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them among foreign countries.
29:13 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years 15 I will gather Egypt from the peoples where they were scattered. 29:14 I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and will bring them back 16 to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin; there they will be an insignificant kingdom. 29:15 It will be the most insignificant of the kingdoms; it will never again exalt itself over the nations. I will make them so small that they will not rule over the nations. 29:16 It will never again be Israel’s source of confidence, but a reminder of how they sinned by turning to Egypt for help. 17 Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.’”
29:17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, 18 the word of the Lord came to me: 29:18 “Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar 19 of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. 20 Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it. 29:19 Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army’s wages. 29:20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his compensation for attacking Tyre 21 , because they did it for me, declares the sovereign Lord. 29:21 On that day I will make Israel powerful, 22 and I will give you the right to be heard 23 among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Yehezkiel 32:1-32
Konteks32:1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, 24 the word of the Lord came to me: 32:2 “Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
“‘You were like a lion 25 among the nations,
but you are a monster in the seas;
you thrash about in your streams,
stir up the water with your feet,
and muddy your 26 streams.
32:3 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will throw my net over you 27 in the assembly of many peoples;
and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
32:4 I will leave you on the ground,
I will fling you on the open field,
I will allow 28 all the birds of the sky to settle 29 on you,
and I will permit 30 all the wild animals 31 to gorge themselves on you.
32:5 I will put your flesh on the mountains,
and fill the valleys with your maggot-infested carcass. 32
32:6 I will drench the land with the flow
of your blood up to the mountains,
and the ravines will be full of your blood. 33
32:7 When I extinguish you, I will cover the sky;
I will darken its stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon will not shine. 34
32:8 I will darken all the lights in the sky over you,
and I will darken your land,
declares the sovereign Lord.
32:9 I will disturb 35 many peoples,
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
among countries you do not know.
32:10 I will shock many peoples with you,
and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.
When I brandish my sword before them,
every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.
32:11 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘The sword of the king of Babylon 36 will attack 37 you.
32:12 By the swords of the mighty warriors I will cause your hordes to fall –
all of them are the most terrifying among the nations.
They will devastate the pride of Egypt,
and all its hordes will be destroyed.
32:13 I will destroy all its cattle beside the plentiful waters;
and no human foot will disturb 38 the waters 39 again,
nor will the hooves of cattle disturb them.
32:14 Then I will make their waters calm, 40
and will make their streams flow like olive oil, declares the sovereign Lord.
32:15 When I turn the land of Egypt into desolation
and the land is destitute of everything that fills it,
when I strike all those who live in it,
then they will know that I am the Lord.’
32:16 This is a lament; they will chant it.
The daughters of the nations will chant it.
They will chant it over Egypt and over all her hordes,
declares the sovereign Lord.”
32:17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, 41 the word of the Lord came to me: 32:18 “Son of man, wail 42 over the horde of Egypt. Bring it down; 43 bring 44 her 45 and the daughters of powerful nations down to the lower parts of the earth, along with those who descend to the pit. 32:19 Say to them, 46 ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? 47 Go down and be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!’ 32:20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; they carry her and all her hordes away. 32:21 The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’
32:22 “Assyria is there with all her assembly around her grave, 48 all of them struck down by the sword. 49 32:23 Their 50 graves are located in the remote slopes of the pit. 51 Her assembly is around her grave, all of them struck down by the sword, those who spread terror in the land of the living.
32:24 “Elam is there with all her hordes around her grave; all of them struck down by the sword. They went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, those who spread terror in the land of the living. Now they will bear their shame with those who descend to the pit. 32:25 Among the dead they have made a bed for her, along with all her hordes around her grave. 52 All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for their terror had spread in the land of the living. They bear their shame along with those who descend to the pit; they are placed among the dead.
32:26 “Meshech-Tubal is there, along with all her hordes around her grave. 53 All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword, for they spread their terror in the land of the living. 32:27 They do not lie with the fallen warriors of ancient times, 54 who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, having their swords placed under their heads and their shields on their bones, 55 when the terror of these warriors was in the land of the living.
32:28 “But as for you, in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken, and you will lie with those killed by the sword.
32:29 “Edom is there with her kings and all her princes. Despite their might they are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and those who descend to the pit.
32:30 “All the leaders of the north are there, along with all the Sidonians; despite their might they have gone down in shameful terror with the dead. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and bear their shame with those who descend to the pit.
32:31 “Pharaoh will see them and be consoled over all his hordes who were killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, declares the sovereign Lord. 32:32 Indeed, I terrified him in the land of the living, yet he will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the sovereign Lord.”
[29:1] 1 tn January 7, 587
[29:2] 2 tn Heb “set your face against.”
[29:3] 3 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
[29:3] 4 tn Heb “jackals,” but many medieval Hebrew
[29:3] 5 sn In Egyptian theology Pharaoh owned and controlled the Nile. See J. D. Currid, Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament, 240-44.
[29:5] 6 tc Some Hebrew
[29:7] 8 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] 9 tn Or perhaps “dislocated.”
[29:7] 10 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).
[29:8] 11 tn Heb “I will cut off from you.”
[29:10] 12 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
[29:10] 13 sn This may refer to a site in the Egyptian Delta which served as a refuge for Jews (Jer 44:1; 46:14).
[29:10] 14 sn Syene is known today as Aswan.
[29:13] 15 sn In Ezek 4:4-8 it was said that the house of Judah would suffer forty years.
[29:14] 16 tc Thus the Masoretic Text. The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate translate as though the Hebrew read “cause to inhabit.”
[29:16] 17 tn Heb “reminding of iniquity when they turned after them.”
[29:17] 18 sn April 26, 571
[29:18] 19 tn Heb “Nebuchadrezzar” is a variant and more correct spelling of Nebuchadnezzar, as the Babylonian name Nabu-kudurri-usur has an “r” rather than an “n” (so also in v. 19).
[29:18] 20 sn Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre from 585 to 571
[29:18] map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[29:20] 21 tn Heb “for which he worked,” referring to the assault on Tyre (v. 18).
[29:21] 22 tn Heb “I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel.” The horn is used as a figure for military power in the OT (Ps 92:10). A similar expression is made about the Davidic dynasty in Ps 132:17.
[29:21] 23 tn Heb “I will grant you an open mouth.”
[32:1] 24 sn This would be March 3, 585
[32:2] 25 tn The lion was a figure of royalty (Ezek 19:1-9).
[32:2] 26 tc The Hebrew reads “their streams”; the LXX reads “your streams.”
[32:3] 27 tn The expression “throw my net” is common in Ezekiel (12:13; 17:20; 19:8).
[32:4] 31 tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.
[32:5] 32 tc The Hebrew text is difficult here, apparently meaning “your height.” Following Symmachus and the Syriac, it is preferable to emend the text to read “your maggots.” See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:203.
[32:7] 34 tn Heb “will not shine its light.” For similar features of cosmic eschatology, see Joel 2:10; 4:15; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph 1:5.
[32:9] 35 tn Heb “I will provoke the heart of.”
[32:11] 36 sn The king of Babylon referred to here was Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek 21:19).
[32:13] 39 tn Heb “them,” that is, the waters mentioned in the previous line. The translation clarifies the referent.
[32:14] 40 tn Heb “sink,” that is, to settle and become clear, not muddied.
[32:17] 41 tn March 17, 585
[32:18] 42 tn The Hebrew verb is used as a response to death (Jer 9:17-19; Amos 5:16).
[32:18] 43 sn Through this prophetic lament given by God himself, the prophet activates the judgment described therein. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:217, and L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:136-37.
[32:18] 44 tn Heb “Bring him down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the earth below.” The verb “bring down” appears in the Hebrew text only once. Because the verb takes several objects here, the repetition of the verb in the translation improves the English style.
[32:18] 45 tn This apparently refers to personified Egypt.
[32:19] 46 tc The LXX places this verse after v. 21.
[32:19] tn The words “say to them” are added in the translation for clarity to indicate the shift in addressee from the prophet to Egypt.
[32:19] 47 tn Heb “pleasantness.”
[32:22] 48 tn Heb “around him his graves.” The masculine pronominal suffixes are problematic; the expression is best emended to correspond to the phrase “around her grave” in v. 23. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:219.
[32:22] 49 tn Heb “all of them slain, the ones felled by the sword.” See as well vv. 23-24.
[32:23] 51 tn The only other occurrence of the phrase “remote slopes of the pit” is in Isa 14:15.
[32:25] 52 tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
[32:26] 53 tn Heb “around him her graves,” but the expression is best emended to read “around her grave” (see vv. 23-24).
[32:27] 54 tc Heb “of the uncircumcised.” The LXX reads, probably correctly, “from of old” rather than “of the uncircumcised.” The phrases are very similar in spelling. The warriors of Meshech-Tubal are described as uncircumcised, so it would be odd for them to not be buried with the uncircumcised. Verse 28 specifically says that they would lie with the uncircumcised.
[32:27] 55 tn Heb “and their iniquities were over their bones.” The meaning of this statement is unclear; in light of the parallelism (see “swords”) it is preferable to emend “their iniquities” to “their swords.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:135.
