Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 32

Verse 1

CHAPTER XXXII

The prophet goes on to predict the fall of the king of Egypt,

under the figure of an animal of prey, such as a lion or

crocodile, caught, slain, and his carcass left a prey to the

fowls and wild beasts, 1-6.

The figure is then changed; and the greatness of his fall

(described by the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars)

strikes terror into all the surrounding nations, 7-10.

The prophet adds, that the overthrow of the then reigning

Egyptian dynasty was to be effected by the instrumentality of

the king of Babylon, who should leave Egypt so desolate, that

its waters, (alluding to the metaphor used in the second

verse,) should run as pure and smooth as oil, without the foot

of man or the hoof of a beast to disturb them, 11-16.

A beautiful, nervous, and concise description of a land ruined

and left utterly desolate. In the remaining part of the chapter

the same event is pourtrayed by one of the boldest figures ever

attempted in any composition, and which at the same time is

executed with astonishing perspicuity and force. God is

introduced ordering a place in the lower regions for the king

of Egypt and his host, 17, 18.

The prophet delivers his messsage, pronounces their fate, and

commands those who buried the slain to drag him and his

multitudes to the subterraneous mansions, 19, 20.

At the tumult and commotion which this mighty work occasions,

the infernal shades are represented as roused from their

couches to learn the cause. They see and congratulate the king

of Egypt, on his arrival among them, 21.

Pharaoh being now introduced into this immense subterraneous

cavern, (see the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, where a similar

imagery is employed,) the prophet leads him all around the

sides of the pit; shows him the gloomy mansions of former

tyrants, tells their names as he goes along; beautifully

contrasts their former pomp and destructive ambition, when they

were a terror to the surrounding states, with their present

most abject and helpless condition; declares that all these

oppressors of mankind have not only been cut off out of the

land of the living, but have gone down into the grave

uncircumcised, that is, they have died in their sins, and

therefore shall have no resurrection to eternal life; and

concludes with showing Pharaoh the place destined for him in

the midst of the uncircumcised, and of them that have been

slain by the sword, 22-32.

This prophetic ode may be considered as a finished model in

that species of writing which is appropriated to the exciting

of terror. The imagery throughout is sublime and terrible; and

no reader of sensibility and taste can accompany the prophet in

this funeral procession, and visit the mansions of Hades,

without being impressed with a degree of awe nearly approaching

to horror.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXXII

Verse Ezekiel 32:1. In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month — On Wednesday, March 22, the twelfth year of the captivity of Jeconiah, A.M. 3417.

Instead of the twelfth year, five of Kennicott's MSS., and eight of De Rossi's, read בעשתי עשרה in the eleventh year. This reading is supported by the Syriac; and is confirmed by an excellent MS. of my own, about four hundred years old.

Verse 2

Verse Ezekiel 32:2. Thou art like a young lion - and thou art as a whale in the seas — Thou mayest be likened to two of the fiercest animals in the creation; to a lion, the fiercest on the land; to a crocodile, תנים tannin, (see Ezekiel 29:3,) the fiercest in the waters. It may, however, point out the hippopotamus, as there seems to be a reference to his mode of feeding. He walks deliberately into the water over head, and pursues his way in the same manner; still keeping on his feet, and feeding on the plants, &c., that grow at the bottom. Thus he fouls the water with his feet.

Verse 5

Verse Ezekiel 32:5. And fill the valleys with thy height. — Some translate, with the worms, which should proceed from the putrefaction of his flesh.

Verse 6

Verse Ezekiel 32:6. The land wherein thou swimmest — Egypt; so called, because intersected with canals, and overflowed annually by the Nile.

Verse 7

Verse Ezekiel 32:7. I will cover the heaven — Destroy the empire.

Make the stars thereof dark — Overwhelm all the dependent states.

I will cover the sun — The king himself.

And the moon shall not give her light. — The queen may be meant, or some state less than the kingdom.

Verse 8

Verse Ezekiel 32:8. And set darkness upon thy land — As I did when a former king refused to let my people go to the wilderness to worship me. I will involve thee, and thy house, and thy people, and the whole land, in desolation and wo.

Verse 9

Verse Ezekiel 32:9. I will also vex the hearts — Even the remote nations, who had no connexion with thee, shall be amazed at the judgments which have fallen upon thee.

Verse 14

Verse Ezekiel 32:14. Cause their rivers to run like oil — Bring the whole state into quietness, there being no longer a political hippopotamus to foul the waters-to disturb the peace of the country.

Verse 15

Verse Ezekiel 32:15. Shall be destitute of that whereof it was full — Of corn, and all other necessaries of life.

Verse 17

Verse Ezekiel 32:17. In the twelfth year — Two of Kennicott's MSS., one of De Rossi's, and one of my own, (that mentioned Ezekiel 32:1,) have, in the ELEVENTH year; and so has the Syriac, as before. This prophecy concerns the people of Egypt.

Verse 18

Verse Ezekiel 32:18. Cast them down — Show them that they shall be cast down. Proclaim to them a casting down prophecy.

Verse 19

Verse Ezekiel 32:19. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? — How little does it signify, whether a mummy be well embalmed, wrapped round with rich stuff, and beautifully painted on the outside, or not. Go down into the tombs, examine the niches, and see whether one dead carcass be preferable to another.

Verse 21

Verse Ezekiel 32:21. Out of the midst of hell — שאול sheol, the catacombs, the place of burial. There is something here similar to Isaiah 14:9, where the descent of the king of Babylon to the state of the dead is described.

Verse 22

Verse Ezekiel 32:22. Asshur is there — The mightiest conquerors of the earth have gone down to the grave before thee; there they and their soldiers lie together, all slain by the sword.

Verse 23

Verse Ezekiel 32:23. Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit — Alluding to the niches in the sides of the subterranean caves or burying-places, where the bodies are laid. These are numerous in Egypt.

Verse 24

Verse Ezekiel 32:24. There is Elam — The Elamites, not far from the Assyrians; others think that Persia is meant. It was invaded by the joint forces of Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 26

Verse Ezekiel 32:26. There is Meshech, Tubal — See on Ezekiel 27:13.

Verse 27

Verse Ezekiel 32:27. Gone down to hell with their weapons of war — Are buried in their armour and with their weapons lying by their sides. It was a very ancient practice, in different nations, to bury a warrior's weapons in the same grave with himself.

Verse 29

Verse Ezekiel 32:29. There is Edom] All the glory and pomp of the Idumean kings, who also helped to oppress the Israelites, are gone down into the grave. Their kings, princes, and all their mighty men lie mingled with the uncircumcised, not distinguished from the common dead:

"Where they an equal honour share,

Who buried or unburied are.

Where Agamemnon knows no more

Than Irus, he condemned before.

Where fair Achilles and Thersites lie,

Equally naked, poor, and dry."

Verse 30

Verse Ezekiel 32:30. There be the princes of the north — The kings of Media and Assyria, and all the Zidonians-the kings of Tyre, Sidon, and Damascus. See Calmet.

Verse 31

Verse Ezekiel 32:31. Pharaoh shall see them — Pharaoh also, who said he was a god, shall be found among the vulgar dead.

And shalt be comforted — Shall console himself, on finding that all other proud boasters are in the same circumstances with himself. Here is a reference to a consciousness after death.

Verse 32

Verse Ezekiel 32:32. I have caused my terror in the land of the living — I have spread dismay through Judea, the land of the living God, where the living oracles were delivered, and where the upright live by faith. When Pharaoh-necho came against Josiah, defeated, and slew him at Megiddo, fear and terror were spread through all the land of Judea; and the allusion here is probably to that circumstance. But even he is now laid with the uncircumcised, and is no more to be distinguished from the common dead.

Much of the phraseology of this chapter may be illustrated by comparing it with Isaiah 14:1 &c., where see the notes, which the intelligent reader will do well to consult.