Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezekiel 32:23

Clarke's Commentary

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.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The end of Egypt (32:1-32)

Again Pharaoh (or Egypt) is likened to the mythological monster of the Nile who will be caught, dragged out of the river and left to rot in the sun. His blood will flow over the land and his carcass will be meat for birds and wild animals (32:1-6; cf. 29:3-5). A terrifying darkness throughout the country will impress upon people that this judgment is the work of the sovereign God (7-8).
Neighbouring nations will tremble when they see multitudes of Egyptian people killed by the invaders or taken into foreign captivity (9-12). With people and animals wiped out, the land will be left desolate. The waters of Egypt will be clear and its rivers will flow smoothly, unpolluted and undisturbed by any form of life (13-16).
Ezekiel returns to his picture of Egypt’s sinking into Sheol, the dark silent world of the dead. With mocking words, the dead welcome the formerly proud nation to join them in the place of shame and uncleanness (17-21; cf. 31:15-18).
Already in the world of the dead are certain cruel nations of the past, such as Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal. These nations formerly terrified others, but now they lie useless and dishonoured (22-27). Egypt will now join them (28). Other nations that Ezekiel has already denounced, such as Edom and Sidon, will finish in the same place (29-30). The only comfort for Egypt will be to learn that it is not the only nation to suffer such a humiliating end (31-32).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of the slain, fallen by the sword; whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave, all of the slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with them that go down to the pit."

EGYPT WAS SENTENCED TO THE UNDERWORLD (Ezekiel 32:16-32)

"Twelfth year, fifteenth day of the month" "This date is April 27,586 B.C."F. F. Bruce in the New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 888. Bruce supplemented the data given here by accepting the "twelfth month" indication from the LXX. "This was only about two weeks later than the oracle in the first half of the chapter."Anton T. Pearson in Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 749.

The thought presented here is doleful indeed. Just as all the other mighty nations of human history have enjoyed their brief glory and then gone down in the oblivion of the grave, just so it was to be with Egypt. The picture that emerges here should not deceive us into thinking that Sheol is a place either of intelligence or activity of any kind. The intimations of such things are only designed to stimulate our estimation of the place as totally undesirable. The purpose is to contrast the arrogance and conceit of those powers which "in the land of the living" produced so much terror, sorrow, and human misery, with their peaceful harmlessness after they have gone down into Shed! God's perfect answer to all of that is Sheol, the Pit, the grave I This lament is to remind Egypt that she too shall also receive the treatment that came to other evil powers, several of whom are mentioned here as a kind of "reception committee" for Pharaoh!

"The strong among the mighty shall speak to him" Yes indeed, there shall really be some of the `Big Shots' of history on hand in Sheol to welcome Pharaoh who is scheduled to arrive soon!

"Asshur is there" Look! Even the wicked and ruthless Assyrians are there! How peaceful they are; no one is afraid of them now! Their reign of terror had ended in 612 B.C., on that very night when the king was having a big banquet to celebrate his victory! An unexpected flood destroyed a section of the city wall; and the whole Babylonian army came in and destroyed Nineveh. (See our Commentary on Nahum).

"Elam is there" They had been there ever since they were conquered by the Assyrians in 643 B.C.F. F. Bruce in the New Layman's Bible Commentary. p. 888. The Elamites were a nation of terrorists living east of the Tigris River and north of the Persian Gulf. At one time, they had been the scourge of Mesopotamia. Behold, how quiet and harmless they are now! Note also that the text states that they took their shame with them. They never got rid of it merely by descending into Sheol. A further word on Elam is given in Ezekiel 32:25.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 32

Now in chapter 32, because this is his sad destiny, he takes up this lamentation. A lamentation is a wailing or a crying for the Pharaoh. You lament, or you wail.

And it came to pass in the twelfth year ( Ezekiel 32:1 ),

So this was a year later from the previous prophecy. Actually, a year and six months later, eighteen months later.

It came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a ( Ezekiel 32:1-2 )

A whale is a poor translation. You are really like a

[crocodile] in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and you troubled the waters with thy feet, and you fouled the rivers ( Ezekiel 32:2 ).

A crocodile or a dragon.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net ( Ezekiel 32:3 )

You're like a crocodile. You've muddied the waters; you've stirred things up, but I'm going to spread out a net.

over you with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. Then will I leave thee upon the land, and I will cast thee forth on the open field, and will cause all the fowls of heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the earth with thee. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. And I will also water with thy blood the land wherein you swim, even the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; and I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light ( Ezekiel 32:3-7 ).

Now as we get into this part of the prophecy where God speaks of the day when He puts her out, the heavens being covered, the stars dark, the sun will be covered with a cloud, and the moon will not give her light, brings into mind the prophecy of Joel concerning the time of the Great Tribulation, when the moon would be... the sun would be darkened, the moon would be turned to blood, and the stars would not shine. Jesus, of course, quoted this in Matthew 24 , as again, a part of the Great Tribulation of those days. And we find it recorded also in the book of Revelation, in the cataclysmic judgments that take place in the sixth seal. So, it is possible that this prophecy against the Pharaoh is one of those prophecies with a dual fulfillment. That he was talking about what would happen when Nebuchadnezzar conquered him, but also the going out and the judgment against Egypt in the day of the Great Tribulation. So there is that real possibility of a dual aspect to the fulfillment of this particular prophecy, and it not only spoke of the condition of the Pharaoh then, but as history repeats itself, when the Lord judges the earth these same conditions do take place in the time of the Great Tribulation.

All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD. I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. Yes, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall. For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. And by the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, and the terrible of nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. And I will destroy all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD. When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, then I shall smite all of them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD ( Ezekiel 32:8-15 ).

And again in all of these prophecies, the Lord declares when they are fulfilled then they shall know that I am the Lord. One of the purposes of prophecy, speaking of things in advance, is to give proof that God indeed has spoken. Jesus said, "I have told you these things before they come to pass so that when they come to pass you might believe." And so one of the strong apologetics of scripture is prophecy and the fulfillment of prophecy. And so over and over again as the prophecies are made, the Lord said, "And then shall ye know that I am the Lord." And, of course, when we get into Ezekiel our study next week, as it speaks of Russia's invasion with this massive army from all of her allies, including Libya and Ethiopia and all, Iraq, Iran and all, when they are all defeated in Israel, he said, "Then shall the nations of the world know that I am God. I will be sanctified before the nations of the world."

I was talking with a very wealthy Jewish friend about the Bible and about the Lord, and I was asking him what it was going to take to make him a believer. Because his whole thing was, "Where was God when my parents were gassed in Germany?" For his parents, both of them, killed by the Germans during the war. And I said, "But what will it take to make you a believer?" I said, "Here God said that He was going to make Israel a nation once again, and Israel is now a nation. Doesn't that say something to you?" He said, "No." He said, "It's very obvious we have had that in our heart from the beginning. You know, one day it was gonna be a nation again. We were going to take it again." He said, "We're tough people." I said, "Well, it says when Israel becomes a nation again that they will become a troublesome stone to all of those that are round about them, and if any nation tries to come against them, that they are really going to be hurt." And this was right after the '67 war. And I said, "Doesn't... look what's happened how Israel struck out against Jordan, Egypt and Syria, all at the same time and defeated all three. Took the Sinai, took the West Bank, and the Golan Heights, doesn't that cause you to believe?" He said, "No, I told you we were tough people." I said, "Well, the Bible says that Russia then will head an invasion against Israel, and will come with all of her allies to destroy this new nation. And that Russia is going to be totally defeated." He said, "When that happens, I'll become a believer." I said, "Paul, you might be just a little bit too late to escape the Great Tribulation that will follow." But we'll be getting into that more next week as we move on in this exciting prophecy of Ezekiel, as he gets into these... the re-gathering of the nation of Israel and the events of these last days.

Now as we get into verse Ezekiel 32:17 , we have a whole new prophecy. The lamentation against the Pharaoh is over with verse Ezekiel 32:16 . This is the lamentation. He is told to take up a lamentation for the Pharaoh.

And this is the lamentation wherewith they shall all lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and all of her multitude. It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month ( Ezekiel 32:16-17 ),

This first prophecy came in the first day of the month, so fifteen days later he had another word from the Lord for Egypt.

saying, Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down to the pit. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? Go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all of her multitudes. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Asshur is already there and all of her company: his graves are about him: all of the slain, fallen by the sword ( Ezekiel 32:17-22 ):

Egypt is going to fall and go into hell where Asshur has already been slain.

Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror for the land of the living. Elam is there and all of her multitude ( Ezekiel 32:23-24 )

And verse Ezekiel 32:25 :

They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all of her multitude: her graves are round about ( Ezekiel 32:25 ):

And so Egypt is to be cast down with these other nations. Meshech and Tubal, those nations from the north, along with Sidon, and then Edom is also there, verse Ezekiel 32:29 , and her kings and princes. And then verse Ezekiel 32:30 , the Zidonians.

And Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD. For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all of the multitude, saith the Lord GOD ( Ezekiel 32:31-32 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

7. A summary lament over Egypt 32:17-32

The last of the seven oracles against Egypt fittingly pictures the nation in its final resting place, the grave or Sheol, surrounded by other dead nations that had preceded it in judgment.

"The language is highly poetical and the details must not be taken too literally. This is not the chapter to turn to if one wishes to understand the Bible’s teaching about the after-life. It does, however, illustrate something of the concept of death which was common to Near Eastern thought and from which the Old Testament was constantly striving to break free." [Note: Taylor, p. 210.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Assyria and her allies were already in the grave having perished in war. Even though the Assyrians had struck terror into the hearts of other peoples in their day, they now lay in the grave while others viewed them and marveled.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit,.... Or vault, where lay the king of Assyria, and those who fell by the sword with him, who are represented as lying in graves all around him; the nearest to him those who were in the highest posts, and most valiant and courageous, and next the common soldiers, as follows:

and her company is round about her grave not Pharaoh's company round about the grave of the Assyrian monarch; but the company of the king of Assyria, or his army, as the Targum, round about grave; or lying about in the ruins of his kingdom:

all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living; even they who now are in the state of the dead, and can no more disturb and distress any, while they were alive, or in the world, struck terror in all neighbouring states and kingdoms; threatening destruction to them, and obliging them to submit to their tyranny and exactions. Jarchi interprets this of the land of Israel; and the Jewish writers commonly understand by the land of the living the land of Canaan wherever they meet with it; because here men worshipped the living God, and lived before him; and the inhabitants of this land were often terrified by the king of Assyria. So the Targum,

"because they ruled in the land of Israel.''

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,   18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.   19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.   20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.   21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.   22 Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:   23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.   24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.   25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.   26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.   27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.   28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.   29 There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.   30 There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.   31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.   32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

      This prophecy concludes and completes the burden of Egypt, and leaves it and all its multitude in the pit of destruction.

      I. We are here invited to attend the funeral of that once flourishing kingdom, to lament its fall, and to take a view of those who attend it to the grave and accompany it in the grave.

      1. This dead corpse of a kingdom is here brought to the grave. The prophet is ordered to cast them down to the pit (Ezekiel 32:18; Ezekiel 32:18), to foretel their destruction as one that had authority, as Jeremiah was set over the kingdoms, Jeremiah 1:10. He must speak in God's name, and as from him who will cast them down. Yet he must foretel it as one that had an affectionate concern for them; he must wail for the multitude of Egypt, even when he casts them down. When Egypt is slain, let her have an honourable funeral, befitting her quality; let her be buried with the daughters of the famous nations, in their burying-places and with the same ceremony. It is but a poor allay to the reproach and terror of death to be buried with those that were famous; yet this is all that is allowed to Egypt. Shall Egypt think to exempt herself from the common fate of proud and imperious nations? No; she must take her lot with them (Ezekiel 32:19; Ezekiel 32:19): "Whom dost thou surpass in beauty? Art thou so much fairer than any other nation that thou shouldst expect therefore to be excused? No; others as fair as thou have sunk into the pit; go down therefore, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. Thou art like them and art likely to lie among them. The multitude of Egypt shall all fall in the midst of those that are slain with the sword, now that there is a general slaughter made among the nations." Egypt with the rest must drink of the bloody cup, and therefore she is delivered to the sword, to the sword of war (but, in God's hand, the sword of justice), is delivered to be publicly executed. Draw her and all her multitude; draw them either as the dead bodies of great men are drawn in honour to the grave, in a hearse, or as malefactors are drawn in disgrace to the place of execution, on a sledge; draw them to the pit, and let them be made a spectacle to the world.

      2. This corpse of a kingdom is bid welcome to the grave, and Pharaoh is made free of the congregation of the dead, and admitted into their regions, not without some pomp and ceremony. As the surprising fall of the king of Babylon is thus illustrated, Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming, and to introduce thee into those mansions of darkness (Isaiah 14:9, c.), so here (Ezekiel 32:21; Ezekiel 32:21), They shall speak to him out of the midst of hell, as it were congratulating his arrival and calling him to join with them in acknowledging that which neither he nor they would be brought to own when they were in their pomp and pride, that it is in vain to think of contesting with God, and none ever hardened their hearts against him and prospered. They shall say to him, and to those that pretended to help him, Where are you now? What have you brought your attempts to at last? Divers nations are here mentioned as gone down to the grave before Egypt that are ready to give her a scornful reception and upbraid her with coming to them at last. These nations here spoken of were probably such as had been of late years ruined and wasted by the king of Babylon, and their princes cut off; let Egypt know that she has neighbour's fare. When she goes to the grave she does but migrare ad plures--migrate to the majority; there are innumerable before her. But it is observable that though Judah and Jerusalem were just about this time, or a little before, utterly ruined and laid waste, yet they are not mentioned here among the nations that welcome Egypt to the pit; for though they suffered the same things that these nations suffered, and by the same hand, yet the kind intentions of their affliction, and its happy issue at last, and the mercy God had yet in reserve for them, altered the property of it; it was not to them a going down to the pit, as it was to the heathen; they were not smitten as others were, nor slain according to the slaughter of other nations,Isaiah 27:7. But let us see who those are that have gone to the grave before Egypt, that lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword, with whom she must now take up her lodging. (1.) There lie the Assyrian empire, and all the princes and mighty men of that monarchy (Ezekiel 32:22; Ezekiel 32:22): Asshur is there and all her company, all the countries that were tributaries to and had dependence upon that crown. That mighty potentate who used to lie in state, with his guards and grandees about him, now lies in obscurity, with his graves about him and his soldiers in them, unable any longer to do him service or honour; they are all of them slain, fallen by the sword. The number of their months was cut off in the midst, and, being bloody and deceitful men, they were not suffered to live out half their days. Their braves were set in the sides of the pit, all in a row, like beds in a common chamber, Ezekiel 32:23; Ezekiel 32:23. All their company is such as were slain, fallen by the sword; a vast congregation there is of such, who had caused terror in the land of the living. But as the death of those to whom they were a terror put an end to their fears (in the grave the prisoners rest together and hear not the voice of the oppressor,Job 3:18), so the death of these mighty men puts an end to their terrors. Who is afraid of a dead lion? Note, Death will be a king of terrors to those who, instead of making themselves blessings, make themselves terrors, in their generation. (2.) There lies the kingdom of Persia, which perhaps within the memory of man at that time had been wasted and brought down: There is Elam and all her multitude, the king of Elam and his numerous armies, Ezekiel 32:24; Ezekiel 32:25. They also had caused their terror in the land of the living, had made a fearful noise and bluster among the nations in their day. But Elam has now a grave by herself, and the graves of the common people round about her, fallen by the sword; she has her bed in the midst of the slain that went down uncircumcised, unsanctified, unholy, and not in covenant with God. They have borne their shame with those that go down to the pit; they have fallen under the common disgrace and mortification of mankind, that they die and are buried; nay, they die under particular marks of ignominy, which God and man put upon them. Note, Those who cause their terror shall, sooner or later, bear their shame, and be made a terror to themselves. The king of Elam is put in the midst of those that are slain. All the honour he can now pretend to is to be buried in the chief sepulchre. (3.) There lies the Scythian power, which, about this time, was busy in the world. Meshech and Tubal, those barbarous northern nations, had lately made a descent upon the Medes, and caused their terror among them, lived among them upon free quarter for some years, making every thing their own that they could lay their hands on; but at length Cyaxares, king of the Medes, drew them by a wile into his power, but off abundance of them, and obliged them to quit his country, Ezekiel 32:26; Ezekiel 32:26. There lie Meshech and Tubal, and all their multitude; there is a burying place for them, with their chief commander in the midst of them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword. These Scythians, dying ingloriously as they lived, are not laid, as the other nations spoken of before, in the bed of honour (Ezekiel 32:27; Ezekiel 32:27): They shall not lie with the mighty, shall not be buried in state, as those are, even by consent of the enemy, that are slain in the field of battle, that go down to their graves with their weapons of war carried before the hearse, or trailed after it, that have particularly their swords laid under their heads, as if they could sleep the sweeter in the grave when they laid their heads on such a pillow. These Scythians are not buried with these marks of honour, but their iniquities shall be upon their sons; they shall, for their iniquity, be left unburied, though they were the terror even of the mighty in the land of the living. (4.) There lies the kingdom of Edom, which had flourished long, but about this time, at least before the destruction of Egypt, was made quite desolate, as was foretold, Ezekiel 25:13; Ezekiel 25:13. Among the sepulchres of the nations there is Edom,Ezekiel 32:29; Ezekiel 32:29. There lie, not dignified with monuments or inscriptions, but mingled with common dust, her kings and all her princes, her wise statesmen (which Edom was famous for), and her brave soldiers. These with their might are laid by those that were slain by the sword; their might could not prevent it, nay, their might helped to procure it, for that both encouraged them to engage in war and incensed their neighbours against them, who thought it necessary to curb their growing greatness. A great deal of pains they took to ruin themselves, as many do, who with their might, with all their might, are laid by those that were slain with the sword. The Edomites retained circumcision, being of the seed of Abraham. But that shall stand them in no stead; they shall lie with the uncircumcised. (5.) There lie the princes of the north, and all the Zidonians. These were as well acquainted with maritime affairs as the Egyptians were, who relied much upon that part of their strength, but they have gone down with the slain (Ezekiel 32:30; Ezekiel 32:30), down to the pit. Now they are ashamed of their might, ashamed to think how much they boasted of it and trusted to it; and, as the Edomites with their might, so these with their terror, are laid with those that are slain by the sword and are forced to take their lot with them. They bear their shame with those that go down to the pit, die in as much disgrace as those that are cut off by the hand of public justice. (6.) All this is applied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who have no reason to flatter themselves with hopes of tranquillity when they see how the wisest, and wealthiest, and strongest, of their neighbours have been laid waste (Ezekiel 32:28; Ezekiel 32:28): "Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised; when God is pulling down the unhumbled and unreformed nations thou must expect to come down with them." [1.] It will be some extenuation of the miseries of Egypt to observe that it has been the case of so many great and mighty nations before (Ezekiel 32:31; Ezekiel 32:31): Pharaoh shall see them and be comforted; it will be some ease to his mind that he is not the first king that has been slain in battle--his not the first army that has been routed, his not the first kingdom that has been made desolate. Mr. Greenhill observes here, "The comfort which wicked ones have after death is poor comfort, not real, but imaginary." They will find little satisfaction in having so many fellow-sufferers; the rich man in hell dreaded it. It is only in point of honour that Pharaoh can see and be comforted. [2.] But nothing will be an exemption from these miseries; for (Ezekiel 32:32; Ezekiel 32:32) I have caused my terror in the land of the living. Great men have caused their terror, have studied how to make every body fear them. Oderint dum metuant--Let them hate, so that they do but fear. But now the great God has caused his terror in the land of the living; and therefore he laughs at theirs, because he sees that his day is coming,Psalms 37:13. In this day of terror Pharaoh and all his multitude shall be laid with those that are slain by the sword.

      II. The view which this prophecy gives us of ruined states may show us something, 1. Of this present world, and the empire of death in it. Come, and see the calamitous state of human life; see what a dying world this is. The strong die, the mighty die, Pharaoh and all his multitude. See what a killing world this is. They are all slain with the sword. As if men did not die fast enough of themselves, men are ingenious at finding out ways to destroy one another. It is not only a great pit, but a great cock-pit. 2. Of the other world. Though it is the destruction of nations as such that perhaps is principally intended here, yet here is a plain allusion to the final and everlasting ruin of impenitent sinners, of those that are uncircumcised in heart; they are slain by the sword of divine justice; their iniquity is upon them, and with it they bear their shame. Those, Christ's enemies, that would not have him to reign over them, shall be brought forth and slain before him, though they be as pompous, though they be as numerous, as Pharaoh and all his multitude.