Ezekiel 30:1-19

III THE IMMINENT FALL OF EGYPT 30:1-19

TRANSLATION

(1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Wail, woe be the day! (3) For the day is near, yes the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day, it shall be the time of the nations. (4) And a sword shall come upon Egypt, and consternation shall be in Cush, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take away her abundance, and her foundations shall be broken down. (5) Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the mingled peoples, Cub, and the children of the land that are in league, shall fall with them by the sword. (6) Thus says the LORD: those who uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her strength shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall in her by the sword (oracle of the Lord GOD. (7) And they shall be desolate in the midst of lands that are desolate, and her cities in the midst of cities that lie in ruins. (8) And they shall know that I am the LORD when I place a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are shattered. (9) In that day messengers shall go from before Me in ships to terrify the secure Ethiopians; and confusion shall come on them in the day of Egypt; for behold, it comes. (10) Thus says the Lord GOD: I will cause the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. (11) He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations shall be brought in to destroy the land, and they shall empty their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. (12) And I will make the rivers dry, and I will deliver the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land and all that is in it desolate by the hand of strangers; I the LORD have spoken. (13) Thus says the Lord GOD: I will destroy the idols, and cause the non-entities to cease from Noph; and there shall no longer be a prince out of the land of Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. (14) And I will make Pathros desolate, and set a fire in Zion; and I will execute judgments in No. (15) And I will pour out My wrath upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No. (16) And I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall be in great upheaval, and No shall be torn asunder; and against Noph adversaries shall come by day. (17) The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fail by the sword; and these (cities) shall go into captivity. (18) At Tehaphnehes the day will withdraw itself, when I break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her strength shall cease in her; as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. (19) Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

COMMENTS

This prophecy against Egypt is likely to be dated the same as the previous one (see Ezekiel 29:1). The section consists of four carefully constructed oracles. In the first oracle the Egyptians are directly addressed and urged rhetorically to wail over their fate. Egypt's day of reckoning looms on the horizon (Ezekiel 30:2). The day of the Lord divine judgment day will be a cloudy, gloomy day for the Gentile nations (Ezekiel 30:3). Egypt will be invaded in that day. Her satellite state Ethiopia will fear for her own safety when she sees what transpires across the border in Egypt. The foundations of Egypt the allies and mercenaries upon whom the Egyptian state rested would be broken down (Ezekiel 30:4). Ethiopia (Cush), Put, Lud (see on Ezekiel 27:10) and Cub, a people not as yet identified, had alliances with Egypt. The multi-racial character of the Egyptian army is indicated by the expression all the mingled people. However, those helpers would fall by the sword of the invaders (Ezekiel 30:5).

Throughout the land of Egypt, from Migdol to Syene (see on Ezekiel 29:10) the slaughter would occur. Egypt's pride was in her military and economic power. However, this pride would be humbled (Ezekiel 30:6). Desolation would follow invasion (Ezekiel 30:7; cf. Ezekiel 29:12). The desolation caused by war here, as frequently in the Bible, is likened to fire. The fulfillment of this prediction to bring conflagration to Egypt would be a demonstration of the sovereignty of the true God (Ezekiel 30:8). In the day of Egypt's downfall messengers would be dispatched as though by God Himself. Traveling the waterways to every part of the land of Ethiopia, the messengers would spread the alarming news of Egypt's fall. Consternation and confusion would fill their land as they contemplated the possibility that their own country might be invaded.

In the third oracle Ezekiel emphasizes that the native population (multitude of Egypt) as well as the mercenary forces would perish in the overthrow of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar is specifically named as the conqueror (cf. Ezekiel 29:19). He and his ruthless warriors (cf. Ezekiel 28:7) would leave a trail of corpses wherever they went (Ezekiel 30:11). The much heralded Egyptian irrigation system would be destroyed by the evil men, i.e., the pitiless and lawless troops, who comprised Nebuchadnezzar's army. Without irrigation the land would become (temporarily) desolate (Ezekiel 30:12).

In the fourth oracle (Ezekiel 30:13-19) Ezekiel employs a typical prophetic technique of emphasis by enumeration. The complete collapse of Egypt is underscored by reference to the fate of the leading cities of the land. These verses reveal an amazing knowledge of Egyptian geography.[446]

[446] For other examples of geographical enumeration in a judgment context see Isaiah 10:27-32; Micah 1:10-15; Zephaniah 2:4

A new theme emerges in Ezekiel 30:13. The gods of Egypt would prove worthless in the face of the mighty conqueror raised up by the Lord. Noph (Memphis) was famous for its numerous gods and elaborate temples, especially those of Ptah and Apis. But the worthless (lit., things of naught) images would be made to cease from Noph. So it has happened. An enormous, albeit prostrate, figure of Pharaoh Ramases is the only image of note to mark the spot where once stood the magnificent capital of Egypt. Wilbur Smith summarizes the situation well when he writes

The temples of Egypt and the elaborate carvings and drawings of her gods and goddesses are still the wonder of modern students; but her gods are gone. No temple to an Egyptian god or goddess has a priest in attendance today; no offering is presented to any of these once powerful deities representing the sun, the stellar bodies, the river Nile, and the underworld; no one bows the knee to any of these ancient images.[447]

[447] Wilbur Smith, EBP, p. 115

Following her destruction, Egypt would never again be ruled by a native prince. So it has been. Persians, Greeks, Ptolemies, and Remans ruled Egypt in olden times. Today Egypt is ruled by Moslems who invaded the land in A. D. 638.
The other place-names in these verses deserve brief comment. Pathros is southern or Upper Egypt extending as far south as Aswan. Zoan, classical Tanis, was an important city in the eastern Nile delta. No (or No-Amon) is classical Thebes (RSV), modern Karnak and Luxor, located about five hundred miles south of Cairo. No was capital of Egypt during much of Egyptian history, and worship center for the sun-god Amen (Ezekiel 30:14). Three prophecies are made about this proud city (1) God will execute judgments there (Ezekiel 30:14); (2) multitudes of No would be cut off, i.e., the place would be uninhabited (Ezekiel 30:15); and No would be rent asunder, i.e., breached and penetrated by an invading army.

Sin (Ezekiel 30:15-16) is probably Pelusium (RSV) on the Mediterranean coast. This stronghold guarded Egypt from attack from the north. Aven (Ezekiel 30:17) is also called On in the Old Testament. In Greek times it was known as Heliopolis, the city of the sun god. The ruins are found in the outskirts of modern Cairo. Pibeseth (Ezekiel 30:17) is the modern Basta about forty miles northeast of Cairo. Like the other cities mentioned in Ezekiel 30:13-18, Pi-beseth was a cultic center. The cat was particularly sacred here. Tehaphnehes (Ezekiel 30:18), spelled Tahpanhes in Jeremiah, was known to the Greeks as Daphni. The modern Tel Defenneh on the Suez canal is the spot to which Ezekiel refers. Jeremiah was taken here after the assassination of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 43:7).

What a dark day that would be for Egypt! A great cloud of despair would hover over that land. The yokes of Egypt the tyranny which Egypt inflicted on other nations would be broken. The daughters of Egypt, i.e., her various cities, would go into captivity (Ezekiel 30:18). The ultimate purpose of these judgments was the vindication of the sovereignty of Israel's God (Ezekiel 30:19).