_In the twelfth year_ Namely, of Jehoiachin's captivity, about which time Amasis began to set up himself against the king of Egypt, concerning whom this prophecy is. _Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh_ “To the preceding funeral panegyric over Assyria, the fate of which was past, Ezekiel... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will spread out my net over thee_, &c. I will bring thine enemies upon thee, who shall encompass thee on every side, and master thee as a wild beast or monstrous fish is taken in a net. _Then will I leave thee upon the land_ That is, leave thee to certain destruction, or take away from thee all m... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when I shall put thee out_ When I shall cast thee down from thy power, and extinguish all thy glory. _I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark_ It is well known that the downfall of states and kingdoms, kings and princes, is often expressed in the Scriptures by these or such lik... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will also destroy the beasts thereof_ Their horses, in which they trusted so much, Isaiah 31:3, and other cattle, feeding in their rich pastures by the river sides. _Neither shall the foot of man, nor the hoofs of beasts_, &c. The country shall be so deserted that the waters of the river shall no... [ Continue Reading ]
_When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate_, &c. When I shall bring the fore-mentioned dreadful calamities upon it. _Then shall they know that I am the Lord_ The awful and destructive visitation shall be sanctified to those that survive: it shall yield them important instruction, and they shall g... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her_ This is the substance of the lamentation, which may be properly used to bewail the calamities which Egypt shall suffer: see note on Ezekiel 32:2. _The daughters of the nations shall lament her_ That is, the people of the neighbouring countrie... [ Continue Reading ]
_It came to pass, in the fifteenth day of the month_ Namely, of the month before mentioned, which was a few days after the time of the preceding revelation. _The word of the Lord came unto me_ Giving me further directions how to improve the fall of Egypt. _Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whom dost thou pass in beauty?_ What reason hast thou to prefer thyself before others? Art thou better than they, that thou shouldest not die and be laid in the dust as well as they? _Go down_ Namely, to the regions of the dead; _and be laid with the uncircumcised_ Among profane and loathed carcass... [ Continue Reading ]
_The strong among the mighty shall speak to him_ Namely, to the king of Egypt; _out of the midst of hell_ Or, _the pit_, as Bishop Newcome renders the word: see Ezekiel 32:23. The passage is “a poetical description of the regions of the dead; where the ghosts of deceased tyrants, with their subjects... [ Continue Reading ]
_Asshur is there and all her company_ The Assyrians, both king and people, whose destruction is represented in the foregoing chapter: though famous, warlike, and victorious, that mighty monarch fell. _His graves are about him_ The graves of his soldiers slain in the war. This expression, and that in... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is Elam and all her multitude_ Which was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar: see note on Jeremiah 49:36. The nations mentioned in this and the following verse were probably confederates with the Assyrians, and fell when they did. _Which caused terror yet have they borne their shame_ They have been s... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is Meshech, Tubal_, &c. These are some other of the Assyrian allies; some think the Cappadocians, and other nations neighbouring to them, are here meant. The Scythians also, who anciently governed Asia, may be comprehended, and their expulsion from Media by Cyaxares may here be referred to: s... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is Edom, her kings_, &c. Of whose destruction Ezekiel prophesied, Ezekiel 25:12; _laid by them that were slain by the sword_ Laid among the conquered. _With them that go down to the pit_ Among those of no renown, who are thrown into one common grave without any honour or distinction paid to t... [ Continue Reading ]