Deeper Commentary
Ezekiel 29:2 Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and
prophesy against him and against all Egypt-
Ezekiel 29:3 Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am
against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the
midst of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is My own, and I have made
it for Myself’- The dragon or crocodile was also a symbol of Egypt in
Is. 27:1; 51:9; ps. 74:13. The "rivers" refer to the various branches of
the Nile at the Nile delta. As with the prince of Tyre, the king of Egypt
considered himself God and the creator of the Nile. It was this arrogance
and playing God which was so offensive to God. For He values humility
above all.
Ezekiel 29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of
your rivers stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the midst
of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your
scales- This describes how a crocodile would be captured (the
"monster" of :3). The fish stuck to its scales refer to the various
smaller peoples confederate with Egypt.
Ezekiel 29:5 I’ll cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish
of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be bound
together, nor gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the
earth and to the birds of the sky- This may refer to the destruction
of the Egyptian army in the wilderness whilst attacking Cyrene. This meant
they were unable to help Judah as Judah hoped.
Ezekiel 29:6 All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh,
because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel- The
crocodile lived amongst reeds in the Nile marshlands, so the reed is an
appropriate symbol to use. Egypt had been a staff of reed to Judah during
the earlier Assyrian invasion 100 years earlier (Is. 36:6); but they
failed to learn the lesson, and were desperately trusting them again.
Circumstances repeat in our lives, in order to test us and develop our
learning in the life of faith. Judah should have learnt from the failure
of Egypt to stop the Assyrians; but they didn't. The situation repeated
quite accurately, in that the Egyptians appeared to give some support
against Assyria, leading to a withdrawal from Jerusalem for a short while;
just as happened during the Babylonian siege (Jer. 37:5).
Ezekiel 29:7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore
all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and paralyzed
all of their thighs- To take by the hand speaks of entering a
covenant. The idea seems to be that the covenant was mutually destructive
to both Judah and Egypt. The wrath of Babylon was upon both parties,
seeing they had also made agreements with them. It was God who broke the
arm of Egypt (Ez. 30:21 s.w. "you broke..."). God worked through these
dishonest covenants in order to break both parties.
Ezekiel 29:8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will bring a
sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you- As with the
prophecies against Tyre in Ez. 26-28, these prophecies about Egypt didn't
come totally true; man and animal were not cut off from Egypt in totality.
Perhaps some repented and so the full brunt of the destruction was
averted. Or more likely, these prophecies are part of the wider potential
scenario, whereby the remnant of Judah would repent along with the nations
judged by Babylon, and together they would reestablish Yahweh's kingdom in
Israel. This didn't happen, because God will not force human freewill
decisions. And so the essence of the prophecies will come true in the last
days.
Ezekiel 29:9 The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste-
This along with many phrases used in this condemnation of Egypt were in
fact descriptions of what God had threatened to do to Judah at the hands
of the Babylonians (e.g. Ez. 12:20). But instead of Egypt averting the
fulfilment of those prophecies, as Judah hoped, Egypt would itself suffer
them as well.
Ezekiel 29:10 Therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers,
and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the
tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia- "Syene" as the
modern Asswan. The idea is from the northern border to the southern border
of Egypt. This never completely happened; see on :8.
Ezekiel 29:11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal
shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years-
Throughout Ez. 26-28 I have noted that the promised judgments upon Tyre
didn't come about exactly as predicted. There was the possibility of
transference of the prophetic words from one context to another; e.g. the
destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar was delayed and transferred to
Alexander the Great. But the final fulfilment will be in the last days.
But that fulfilment will be in essence and not necessarily to the letter.
There will be reapplication as well as rescheduling and transference.
These forty years of desolation would have come true within the wider
possible prophetic vision, of Judah and the judged nations all repenting
and turning to Yahweh, and His Kingdom being reestablished in Israel. But
this was not to be because the human freewill preconditions didn't come
about- e.g. Judah didn't repent and many of the exiles preferred to stay
in Babylon. And so likewise this forty years desolation unto repentance of
Egypt didn't happen. Although the essence of it will come true in the last
days.
Ezekiel 29:12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of
the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are
laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the
Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries-
As noted on :11, this is not recorded as having happened. The nations
around Egypt were likewise not completely desolated. There was no invading
army which systematically destroyed all the cities of Egypt as required
here. And so we look to a latter fulfilment.
Ezekiel 29:13 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: At the end of forty years
will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered-
As explained on :11, this is all part of a potential scenario which
could have come about if Judah had repented and allowed themselves to be
restored. Had they done so, then the Egyptians and others would also have
been restored. Had Egypt accepted unity with God's people and with Yahweh,
then the restoration of Judah would have been theirs; for the language of
restoration, just like the language of their judgments (see on :9), is
identical to that used about Judah's restoration.
Ezekiel 29:14 And I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause
them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and
they shall be there a base kingdom- To 'bring back the captivity'
means to 'restore the fortunes', to lift up or exalt. And this is the
phrase used about the restoration of Israel, in which Egypt potentially
could have had a part. And yet this idea is apparently juxtaposed with
that of her being "a base kingdom". But there is no contradiction, once we
appreciate that the word for "base" is often used of how a person or
nation must be abased, brought down, so that they may be exalted.
Ezekiel has used the term exactly in this sense, to describe how Judah
shall be base or abased, so that she may be exalted (Ez. 17:24; 21:26).
And it is the teaching of other scriptures too; the abased Jewish remnant
were to be exalted (s.w. Is. 57:15), the abased ["humble"] in spirit are
to be lifted up (Prov. 29:23; Job 5:11). This is why the idea of Egypt
being an abased kingdom is mentioned in the same breath, as it were, as
the promise of her revival. But this would happen only if she identified
with the restoration of Israel, accepted Yahweh as her God, and repented.
Ezekiel 29:15 It shall be the most base of the kingdoms; neither shall it
any more lift itself up above the nations; and I will diminish them, that
they shall no more rule over the nations- As with the permanent
destruction of Tyre never to rise again, this didn't happen. The Seleucid
kingdom was powerful in Egypt, it became "the king of the South", and has
at times been a powerful nation. So the final fulfilment is to be in the
last days. But as explained on :14, the idea was that Egypt would be "most
base" so that she might be exalted, in God's sight. She would no
longer be "above the nations" because in the new system envisaged, God
would be the king and if any particular nation was to be lifted up above
other nations, it would be Israel. The same Hebrew term translated here
"lift itself up above the nations" is used in Is. 2:2; 11:12 of how in the
Messianic kingdom, Zion [and therefore, not Egypt] would be exalted /
lifted up above the nations.
Ezekiel 29:16 It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel,
bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they turn to look after them-
So often Yahweh is portrayed as the only "confidence" or trust of His
people. Judah's confidence in nations like Egypt was therefore a betrayal
of their relationship with Yahweh. This rejection of trust / hope in
foreign alliances was behind Jeremiah's comment that the man who hoped /
had confidence in Yahweh alone would be blessed (Jer. 17:7 s.w.). The
immediate context referred to having Egypt and other nations as their hope
/ confidence.
Ezekiel 29:17 It came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first
month, in the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me
saying- This was 17 years after the prophecies given either side of
it. it is inserted here to make the powerful point that years later,
Ezekiel reminded God's people that the help they had expected from Egypt
at the time, 17 years before, hadn't come. Only Yahweh would be their
help, even 17 years later.
Ezekiel 29:18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army
to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every
shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyre, for the
service that he had served against it- Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre
for 13 years, and as noted on Ez. 26-28, he didn't achieve all that was
prophesied, and much of it was transferred to Alexander the Great to
fulfill; indeed much of it will only have a total fulfilment in the last
days. Babylon didn't even plunder Tyre, and so was not as it were paid any
wages for her efforts. But all the same, God noticed the efforts and
wanted to reward him. The reference to the suffering of the heads and
shoulders would refer to the unsuccessful efforts of the Babylonians to
build a causeway out to the island Tyre using the rubble of the destroyed
city.
Ezekiel 29:19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the
land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off
her multitude and take her a spoil and take her a prey; and it shall be
the wages for his army- We note God's sensitivity to even pagan
Gentiles. The 13 year unsuccessful siege of Tyre by Babylon had not even
yielded the Babylonians any plunder from Tyre. And so God wanted to
recompense them somehow, so He would give them Egypt. But how much more
eager to recompense is God when it comes to the feeble attempts of us His
servants to please Him!
Ezekiel 29:20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for
which he served, because they worked for Me, says the Lord Yahweh-
This happened only to a limited extent; it was to be at the time when a
Messiah figure would appear in Judah, and the Egyptians would know Yahweh,
i.e. enter relationship with Him (:21). This scenario didn't work out at
the time of the restoration, which could potentially have occurred at the
same time Babylon took Egypt (:21 "in that day"). In some form, the
essence of these things must therefore come true in the last days.
Ezekiel 29:21 In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of
Israel- This budding forth of a shoot or horn speaks of the
possibility of a Messiah figure arising (Ps. 132:17) in the likes of
Zerubbabel. Again, this was the scenario which could have happened at the
restoration, but it didn't. The final fulfilment will be in the Lord Jesus
in the last days.
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