This chapter contains two more prophecies concerning the destruction of Egypt. The date of the first is given, Ezek. 22:1, in which the king of Egypt is compared to a large fish taken in a net, and brought to land, and left on it, to be the prey of the fowls of the air and beasts of the field,…

And it came to pass in the twelfth year Of Jeconiah’s captivity, above a year and a half after the taking of Jerusalem; the Syriac version reads in the eleventh year: in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month; the month Adar, which answers to part of our February, and part of March; the…

Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, &c.] Pharaohhophra, or Apries; say a funeral dirge for him; this is ordered, not out of honour and respect to him, or in compassion for his misery and ruin, but to assure him of it: and say unto him, thou art like a young lion of the…

Thus saith the Lord God The Lord God Almighty, who is able to manage this fierce and turbulent creature, this mighty monarch and disturber of the nations: I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; meaning the Chaldean army, which the Lord would instigate, and by…

Then will I leave thee upon the land Like a fish that is drawn out of the waters with a net or hook, and laid on dry land, and left gasping and expiring, where it cannot long live: I will cast thee forth on the open field; the same in different words, signifying that his army should fall in battle…

And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains The remainder of it, left by the birds and beasts of prey, and who might carry it thither; or it intends such of the Egyptians who should flee to the mountains for safety, but should fall by the hands of the enemy there.

And I will also water with thy blood the land wherewith thou swimmest Where he resided, over which he ruled; alluding to his being compared to a fish, a whale, or a crocodile; and which land abounded with all good things, and he with them; instead of being watered with the waters of the Nile, by…

And when I shall put thee out As a candle is put out, or some great light or blazing torch is extinguished; such was the king of Egypt in his splendour and glory; but now should be like a lamp put out in obscure darkness, and all his brightness and glory removed from him, : I will cover the heaven,…

All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, &c.] Or, “all the lights of the light” [[0]]; the rest of the luminaries of heaven; the other five planets, as Kimchi, besides the sun and moon: and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God; as there must needs be, the sun, moon, and…

I will also vex the hearts of many people With anger and grief, with fear and dread, with consternation and amazement: when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations; or, “thy breach” [[1]]; the news of it, the tidings of their destruction; which by one means or another should come to their…

Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee That so potent a state, and such a flourishing kingdom, should at once be so easily subdued and conquered: and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee; because of her destruction, lest their turn should be next; so the kings of the earth will be…

For thus saith the Lord God, the sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. ] Upon Pharaoh and his kingdom; having a commission and a direction from the Lord, and which would be the instrument of the destruction before threatened.

By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall Pharaoh’s numerous subjects; or his army, as the Targum; the vast number of soldiers in it, whose carcasses should fall in battle by the sword of the Chaldeans, the mighty men of Nebuchadnezzar’s army: the terrible of the nations all of…

I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters Which used to graze beside the river Nile, and the canal, of it, in the plains and meadows, valley, and hills, which these ran by; meaning both horses, which Egypt abounded with, and would be good booty for the Chaldeans, and…

Then will l make their waters deep Either the water, of Egypt literally, the waters of the Nile: no canals being cut from it, to carry the water to the several parts of the land, the land being depopulated, and no business done: or, figuratively, other nations, compared to waters for their numbers,…

When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate The cities being demolished, the inhabitants destroyed with the sword, or carried captive: and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full; men and cattle, corn and other fruits of the earth, wealth and riches, pomp and grandeur: when I…

This is the lamentation with which they shall lament her The Egyptians themselves, or rather they that are after mentioned. The Targum is, “the prophet said, a lamentation is this prophecy, and it shall be for a lamentation;” he was bid at the beginning of it to take up a lamentation, and now at…

It came to pass also the twelfth year Another prophecy of the like kind was delivered out the same year as before: in the fifteenth day of the month; of the twelfth month, the month Adar, which is not here expressed, because mentioned before, , it was about a fortnight after the other prophecy.

Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt Sing a funeral song or dirge, or compose one, to be sung by the mourning women, on account of the vast numbers of the inhabitants of Egypt that shall be slain; for the prophet himself would not mourn, but rejoice, on this occasion; but this is said to…

Whom dost thou pass in beauty? &c.] This question the prophet is bid to put to Egypt; what nation is there, or has been, that thou excellest in wisdom, in riches, or in strength, in the multitude of subjects, or extent of dominions, that thou thinkest thyself secure from destruction? look over…

They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword The Egyptians shall fall in battle by the sword of the Chaldeans: she is delivered to the sword; Egypt is given to the sword, to perish by it, for her sins, according to the just appointment of God: draw her and all her multitudes; to…

The strong among the mighty shall speak to him The strongest of them, such who have excelled others in strength and courage, famous for military exploits, who have been generals of armies, great warriors, and conquerors; and yet with all their might and strength could not withstand death, but were…

Ashur is there, and all her company In the state of the dead, or in a most desolate and ruinous condition; the great Assyrian monarchy, the kings of it, the princes, nobles, generals, soldiers, and the vast number of subjects in all the dominions of it; all his army, as the Targum; this, with what…

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…

There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, &c.] The kingdom of the Medes and Persians lying in ruin, and the potent kings thereof in the state of the dead; with their army, as the Arabic version, slain and destroyed, and placed round about the grave of the king of Persia; for of him…

They have set her bed in the midst of the slain, with all her multitude The grave is called a bed, , whereon is put the sepulchral chest or coffin, in which the body is laid, and rests as on a bed.

There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude The Scythians, a powerful and warlike people; and all their armies, as the Targum; with their leaders, generals, and commanders, as lying in their graves next to the Assyrians and Elamites, or her graves are round about him; not the king of Egypt, nor…

And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised That is, shall not lie in such state, or be buried with such pomp and magnificence, and have such sepulchral monuments erected to their memory, as other heroes among the Heathens have had; such as the mighty kings of…

Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, &c.] Kimchi, and so others, think this is said to Pharaoh king of Egypt; but rather it respects the prince of the Scythians, who should fall into the hands of Heathens, and be destroyed by them: and shalt lie with them that are slain with…

There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes In the next place, near the graves of the above mentioned, and in the same ruinous and desolate condition, lie the famous kingdom of Idumea, and the several kings and dukes of it, from the first setting of it up, to its last destruction prophesied of, ,…

There be the princes of the north . The kings of Babylon, according to Kimchi, which lay north of Judea; or the princes of Syria, Damascus, and Tyre, especially the latter, which commonly goes along with Zidon, being near it, as follows: and all the Zidonians.

Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over his multitude That is, when Pharaoh is brought to the grave, and into the state of the dead, he shall look about him, and see who lie by him; and he shall behold the above mentioned kings of Assyria, Persia, Idumea, and the princes of Tyre and…

For I have caused my terror in the land of the living Or, “his terror” [[5]]; there is a double reading. The Keri or marginal reading, which we follow has it “my terror” [[6]]; but the Cetib or writing is his terror; and so read the Septuagint.