In this chapter, we read about the lament for Pharaoh
This message against Pharaoh was delivered in March 585 B.C, Ezekiel 32:1. It was delivered a year and nine months after the message of Ezekiel 31:1. This prophecy is specifically against Pharaoh Hophra, Ezekiel 32:2.
He made himself fierce like a lion, and like a great monster, Ezekiel 32:2, possibly a reference to a whale or a crocodile among the nations. He is depicted as thrashing about in their streams, churning the water with their feet and muddying the streams, Ezekiel 32:2.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Pharaoh is here compared to a crocodile, which stirs up the streams, muddying and fouling them, doing so with his mouth and his feet, rendering turbid all that was pure.’
No matter how fierce and large Pharaoh presumed himself to be, he would be caught and entangled in the net of God, Ezekiel 32:3 / Ezekiel 29:3-5. Pharaoh would be brought out of his protective waters and laid out on the ground, Ezekiel 32:4.
The wild birds and beasts would then come and devour him, Ezekiel 32:4 / Ezekiel 29:5 / Matthew 24:28 / Revelation 19:17-18. These animals would then carry his flesh and blood to distant mountains, Ezekiel 32:5 / Exodus 7:19 / Revelation 8:8, signifying that Egypt would be taken from their land and scattered everywhere.
Pearson, in his commentary, says the following.
‘He would be taken in a great net, dragged out of his river retreat and left to die, out of his element, on the dry land, and his dead carcass would be left to provide food for the birds of the heavens and the wild beasts of the earth.’
Poole, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It was literally fulfilled in the deserts of Libya, where the slain of Hophra’s army were left to be devoured by fowls and beasts. Metaphorically, it is gathering a mixture of people, soldiers, like ravenous birds and beasts from all parts to spoil Egypt.’
He would not be allowed the honourable burial that was traditionally given to Pharaohs, Ezekiel 32:5. When Pharaoh fell, all his governors, princes and leaders of the land fell with him, Ezekiel 31:6 / Exodus 7:19.
Block, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The prophet has painted a disgusting, if vivid, picture of the earth drinking the excrement, blood, and other body fluids that are discharged when an animal is slain. One can scarcely imagine a more ignominious death.’
Their influence was darkened, Ezekiel 32:7 / Joel 2:10 / Joel 2:31 / Revelation 8:12-13. They were like stars and the moon that no longer gave their light, Ezekiel 32:7 / Exodus 10:21-29. When Pharaoh, the sun, Ezekiel 32:7, was covered, the Egyptian leaders, the moon, could no longer reflect the influence of the Pharaoh throughout the land.
When Pharaoh was brought down, all those nations that depended on Egypt were troubled, Ezekiel 32:9 / Ezekiel 26:16 / Ezekiel 27:35. They would tremble when they saw that if Egypt could not stand against the invasion of the Babylonians, then surely, they could not stand, Ezekiel 32:10.
Death and destruction would not stop with Pharaoh because the Babylonians would strike the population of Egypt, Ezekiel 32:11. Since God meant for the Babylonian army to be replenished with the spoil, they would take from Egypt, the treasures of the country would be taken, they would kill many Egyptians and devastate the land, Ezekiel 32:12.
The animals and crops would be taken for food, Ezekiel 11:13. The country would be plundered of its goods, and thus the people would be left with nothing to eat, and those who fled into the desert would starve. God would make the waters of Egypt settle once again, and make the streams flow like oil, Ezekiel 32:14 / Ezekiel 32:2 / Job 29:6 / Deuteronomy 32:13.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The rivers of oil here are not rivers that flow quietly like oil, but rivers which contain oil and not water; they are symbolical of the rich blessings of God.’
Block, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In biblical and Jewish tradition, the motif of streams running with oil usually speaks of paradisiacal peace and prosperity, Genesis 27:28 / Job 29:6 / Job 2 / Enoch 8:5.’
When all of this devastation happened to the land, then they would know that He is the LORD, Ezekiel 32:15. God is going to humble them, Joel 2:30-31 / Joel 3:15 / Amos 8:9. Notice all of Egypt and the other nations will lament, that is mourn, and chant for their loss, Ezekiel 32:16 / Jeremiah 9:17-20.
This part of the prophecy was delivered two weeks after the previous one, on March 18, 585 B.C. Ezekiel 32:17.
Taylor, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The language is highly poetical, and the details must not be taken too literally. This is not the chapter to turn to if one wishes to understand the Bible’s teaching about the afterlife. It does, however, illustrate something of the concept of death which was common to Near Eastern thought and from which the Old Testament was constantly striving to break free.’
Ezekiel is now told to wail for Egypt and the other nations who would fall with them, Ezekiel 32:18. Though the Egyptians considered themselves a distinct people from the rest of the Gentile nations, they would go down to death and join all the uncircumcised in the pit, Ezekiel 32:18 / Ezekiel 31:14-17.
All the spirits of the dead would go to the realm of departed spirits, the pit, Ezekiel 32:18. This is not the eternal punishment, but the abode of the dead, that is, the grave. Pharaoh, and all his people, would be laid in the grave among all the other uncircumcised Gentiles, Ezekiel 32:19. Egypt will die by the sword, and her hordes will be dragged off, Ezekiel 32:20.
From with the realm of dead the might warriors, that is, those who have already died, would speak about what has happened, Ezekiel 32:21. Assyria and her army are already dead because they died by the sword, Ezekiel 32:22.
The once mighty Assyrians are depicted as being in their graves, along with all those who spread terror, Ezekiel 32:23. Elam is also in the grave, Ezekiel 32:24 / Jeremiah 49:34-38.
They were conquered by the Assyrians in 643 B.C. All the nations that were mentioned in this context were formidable military states. They all fell to succeeding nations, and thus Egypt would be no different, Ezekiel 32:25.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘How appropriate that those who have caused so many to die and descend into Sheol are, in fact, themselves to inherit a grave among those very peoples whom they have destroyed! Elam will get a bed in the midst of the slain! His shame shall go with him even into the grave.’
Meshech and Tubal, Ezekiel 32:26 / Ezekiel 27:13, were remnants of the Hittites who dwelt north of Palestine. Notice that they do not lie with the fallen warriors of old, Ezekiel 32:27, but that doesn’t mean they escape what God had planned for them.
Their burial would be with their swords placed under their heads and their shields resting on their bones, Ezekiel 32:27, which was the custom of these countries, 1 Maccabees 13:29.
Though all these nations were a terror to the populations of the Near East, Ezekiel 32:27, they were all gone, buried with their populations. The grave silenced their terror, and the world continued on to a better place without them. Pharaoh would suffer the same disgrace, Ezekiel 32:28, and the world would carry on.
The next example of a mighty nation is Edom, Isaiah 34; they too died and joined those in the grave, Ezekiel 32:29. The rulers of the north and all the Sidonians, despite terrorising everyone, are also in the grave, Ezekiel 32:30.
When the time came for Pharaoh to die, he would see that he was not alone, which would console him, Ezekiel 32:31. Although God had him spread terror in the land of the living, he too would die and would be buried in a grave, just as the other nations did before him, Ezekiel 32:32.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Pharaoh also, who said he was a god, shall be found among the vulgar dead.’
Skinner, in his commentary, says the following about the discovery of a cuneiform fragment.
‘A cuneiform fragment reporting a battle between Nebuchadnezzar and the king of Egypt in the ‘thirty-seventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, which was in the year 568 B.C.’