Ezekiel 32:17-32

Dirge sung at the interment of Egypt and its multitude

Several things are observable in this remarkable passage:

1. It is a funeral dirge primarily over the multitude or nation of Egypt; and so in the case of the other nations referred to, Asshur, Elam and the rest. These peoples are all gone down to Sheòl, uncircumcised, slain with the sword. There in the world of the dead each people has an abode to itself. Around one chief grave the graves of the general mass are gathered. The chief grave is probably that of the prince, though the prince is considered the genius, the embodiment of the spirit and being of the nation. The prophet regards the nations, even when no more existing on earth, as still having a subsistence in the world of the dead (cf. on Sodom, ch. 14). They are beings, who, having once lived, continue throughout all time. Though passed from the stage of history they still subsist in Sheòl. This idea of the continued existence, not of individuals only but of nationalities, suggests a conception of the meaning of history upon the earth which is not only weird but almost disturbing.

2. The prophet uses two words for the world of the dead, "the pit" and Sheòl. The former name seems suggested by the grave, which is regarded as the entrance to Sheòl, and indicates what kind of place Sheòl is. It is a vast burying-place, deep in the earth, and full of graves. The nationalities spoken of have, like Egypt, all fallen by the sword, and the scene on earth is transferred to the world below. The nation and its prince are represented as slain on the battle-field, and the graves that crowd the field, the prince or genius of the nation in the midst, and those of the multitude around, are let down so to speak into Sheòl beneath, where they abide. This scene of overthrow, the final experience of the nation on earth, expresses the meaning of the nation's history and the verdict of God upon it, and it is consequently transferred to the world of the dead and made eternal. In this respect the idea of the prophet in regard to nations coincides with the general view of the Old Testament regarding individuals; the judgment of God regarding a man's life becomes manifest at the close of it on earth, and the state of death but perpetuates the manner of the end of life.

3. For, of course, the prophet desires to express by his representation a moral truth. The nations which he mentions are those that have come into conflict with Israel, although their sin is regarded as more general than this. They are chiefly the contemporary peoples whom Nebuchadnezzar, under commission from Jehovah, was to destroy, though Asshur belongs to an earlier time. Although, therefore, the nations can hardly be supposed to fall under a common judgment, the day of the Lord, the effect is the same. Their fate is the judgment of Jehovah upon them, his verdict in regard to their life as nations. Their common sin is violence: they put their terror in the land of the living. And their fate is but the nemesis of their conduct: taking the sword they perish by it. The history of nations is the judgment of nations. But the nations like individuals continue to subsist, they bear their shame in Sheòl for ever.

4. The text of the passage is in considerable disorder. The LXX. offers a briefer and smoother text, though it is also marked by singular blunders (cf. Ezekiel 32:29). It can hardly be doubted that the Hebrew is to some extent overgrown with glosses. The meaning too is in some parts obscure. The passage has affinities with Isaiah 14, but the representations there are in some respects different, and care must be taken to allow each passage to speak for itself. It is doubtful if any ideas to be called specially Babylonian be found in either of the prophets. There are two points in the interpretation of some difficulty: 1. There are two names for the world of the dead, "the pit" and Sheòl; are they different in meaning? or, do they indicate, if not strictly a different locality in the underworld, a different condition? The usage of other passages appears decidedly against any distinction. The term "pit" is used of what we so call, e.g. of the pit into which Joseph was cast (Genesis 37:24), of the "dungeon" into which Jeremiah was thrown (Jeremiah 38:6 seq.), and the like (Jeremiah 41:7). The ideas of the people regarding the world of the dead were formed by looking into the grave and from the condition of the body in death. The world of the dead was created by the shuddering imagination out of these things. Apparently the name "pit" was given to the underworld because the grave was the mouth of it. The "pit" is used in parallelism with Sheòl, and in the same sense, e.g. Psalms 30:3; Psalms 88:3; Psalms 4:2. Another question closely connected is this. Certain persons called the mighty ones (Ezekiel 32:21; Ezekiel 32:27) are referred to and spoken of as being in Sheòl (A.V. hell), and the question is, are these persons, though in Sheòl, in a condition in some measure different from those like Pharaoh and his multitude, slain by the sword? Unfortunately in both verses the Heb. and Greek disagree. In Ezekiel 32:27 Heb. reads: they (Meshech and Tubal) shall not liewith the mighty ones, while LXX. omits the not, making their destiny the same.