Ezekiel 30 commentary

The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is very full. Those who take their lot with God's enemies, shall be with them in punishment. The king of Babylon and his army shall be instruments of this destruction. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another. No place in the land of Egypt shall escape the fury of the Chaldeans. The Lord is known by the judgments he executes. Yet these are only present effects of the Divine displeasure, not worthy of our fear, compared with the wrath to come, from which Jesus delivers his people.

Egypt shall grow weaker and weaker. If lesser judgments do not prevail to humble and reform sinners, God will send greater. God justly breaks that power which is abused, either to put wrongs upon people, or to put cheats upon them. Babylon shall grow stronger. In vain do men endeavour to bind up the arm the Lord is pleased to break, and to strengthen those whom he will bring down. Those who disregard the discoveries of his truth and mercy, shall know his power and justice, in the punishment for their sins.

CHAPTER 30

Eze 30:1-26. Continuation of the Prophecies against Egypt.

Two distinct messages: (1) At Eze 30:1-19, a repetition of Eze 29:1-16, with fuller details of lifelike distinctness. The date is probably not long after that mentioned in Eze 29:17, on the eve of Nebuchadnezzar's march against Egypt after subjugating Tyre. (2) A vision relating directly to Pharaoh and the overthrow of his kingdom; communicated at an earlier date, the seventh of the first month of the eleventh year. Not a year after the date in Eze 29:1, and three months before the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.

2. Woe worth the day!--that is, Alas for the day!

3. the time of the heathen--namely, for taking vengeance on them. The judgment on Egypt is the beginning of a world-wide judgment on all the heathen enemies of God (Joe 1:15; 2:1, 2; 3:1-21; Ob 15).

4. pain--literally, "pangs with trembling as of a woman in childbirth."

5. the mingled people--the mercenary troops of Egypt from various lands, mostly from the interior of Africa (compare Eze 27:10; Jr 25:20, 24; 46:9, 21).

Chub--the people named Kufa on the monuments [Havernick], a people considerably north of Palestine [Wilkinson]; Coba or Chobat, a city of Mauritania [Maurer].

men of the land that is in league--too definite an expression to mean merely, "men in league" with Egypt; rather, "sons of the land of the covenant," that is, the Jews who migrated to Egypt and carried Jeremiah with them (Jr 42:1-44:30). Even they shall not escape (Jr 42:22; 44:14).

6. from the tower of Syene--(see on Eze 29:10).

7. in the midst of ... countries ... desolate--Egypt shall fare no better than they (Eze 29:10).

9. messengers ... in ships to ... Ethiopians--(Is 18:1, 2). The cataracts interposing between them and Egypt should not save them. Egyptians "fleeing from before Me" in My execution of judgment, as "messengers" in "skiffs" ("vessels of bulrushes," Is 18:2) shall go up the Nile as far as navigable, to announce the advance of the Chaldeans.

as in the day of Egypt--The day of Ethiopia's "pain" shall come shortly, as Egypt's day came.

10. the multitude--the large population.

12. rivers--the artificial canals made from the Nile for irrigation. The drying up of these would cause scarcity of grain, and so prepare the way for the invaders (Is 19:5-10).

13. Noph--Memphis, the capital of Middle Egypt, and the stronghold of "idols." Though no record exists of Nebuchadnezzar's "destroying" these, we know from Herodotus and others, that Cambyses took Pelusium, the key of Egypt, by placing before his army dogs, cats, &c., all held sacred in Egypt, so that no Egyptian would use any weapon against them. He slew Apis, the sacred ox, and burnt other idols of Egypt.

no more a prince--referring to the anarchy that prevailed in the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. There shall no more be a prince of the land of Egypt, ruling the whole country; or, no independent prince.

14. Pathros--Upper Egypt, with "No" or Thebes its capital (famed for its stupendous buildings, of which grand ruins remain), in antithesis to Zoan or Tanis, a chief city in Lower Egypt, within the Delta.

15. Sin--that is, Pelusium, the frontier fortress on the northeast, therefore called "the strength (that is, the key) of Egypt." It stands in antithesis to No or Thebes at the opposite end of Egypt; that is, I will afflict Egypt from one end to the other.

16. distresses daily--Maurer translates, "enemies during the day," that is, open enemies who do not wait for the covert of night to make their attacks (compare Jr 6:4; 15:8). However, the Hebrew, though rarely, is sometimes rendered (see Psa 13:2) as in English Version.

17. Aven--meaning "vanity" or "iniquity": applied, by a slight change of the Hebrew name, to On or Heliopolis, in allusion to its idolatry. Here stood the temple of the sun, whence it was called in Hebrew, Beth-shemesh (Jr 43:13). The Egyptian hieroglyphics call it, Re Athom, the sun, the father of the gods, being impersonate in Athom or Adam, the father of mankind.

Pi-beseth--that is, Bubastis, in Lower Egypt, near the Pelusiac branch of the Nile: notorious for the worship of the goddess of the same name (Coptic, Pasht), the granite stones of whose temple still attest its former magnificence.

these cities--rather, as the Septuagint, "the women," namely, of Aven and Pi-beseth, in antithesis to "the young men." So in Eze 30:18, "daughters shall go into captivity" [Maurer].

18. Tehaphnehes--called from the queen of Egypt mentioned in 1Ki 11:19. The same as Daphne, near Pelusium, a royal residence of the Pharaohs (Jr 43:7, 9). Called Hanes (Is 30:4).

break ... the yokes of Egypt--that is, the tyrannical supremacy which she exercised over other nations. Compare "bands of their yoke" (Eze 34:7).

a cloud--namely, of calamity.

20. Here begins the earlier vision, not long after that in the twenty-ninth chapter, about three months before the taking of Jerusalem, as to Pharaoh and his kingdom.

21. broken ... arm of Pharaoh--(Psa 37:17; Jr 48:25). Referring to the defeat which Pharaoh-hophra sustained from the Chaldeans, when trying to raise the siege of Jerusalem (Jr 37:5, 7); and previous to the deprivation of Pharaoh-necho of all his conquests from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates (2Ki 24:7; Jr 46:2); also to the Egyptian disaster in Cyrene.

22. arms--Not only the "one arm" broken already (Eze 30:21) was not to be healed, but the other two should be broken. Not a corporal wound, but a breaking of the power of Pharaoh is intended.

cause ... sword to fall out of ... hand--deprive him of the resources of making war.

Howl ye, Wo worth the day! - My Old MS. Bible, - Soule gee, woo woo to the day! הילילו הה ליום heylilu, hah laiyom! "Howl ye, Alas for the day!" The reading in our present text is taken from Coverdale's Bible, 1536. The expressions signify that a most dreadful calamity was about to fall on Egypt and the neighboring countries, called here the "time of the heathen," or of the nations; the day of calamity to them. They are afterwards specified, Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, and Chub, and the mingled people, probably persons from different nations, who had followed the ill fortune of Pharaoh-hophra or Pharaoh-apries, when he fled from Amasis, and settled in Upper Egypt.

Lydia - This place is not well known. The Ludim were contiguous to Egypt, Gen 11:13.

Chub - The Cubians, placed by Ptolemy in the Mareotis. But probably instead of וכוב vechub, "and Chub," we should read וכל vechol, "and All the men of the land," etc. The Septuagint adds "the Persians and the Cretans."

Shall be desolate - All these countries shall be desolated, and the places named shall be chief in these desolations.

Messengers go forth from me in ships - Ships can ascend the Nile up to Syene or Essuan, by the cataracts; and when Nebuchadnezzar's vessels went up, they struck terror into the Ethiopians. They are represented here as the "messengers of God."

I will make the rivers dry - As the overflowing of the Nile was the grand cause of fertility to Egypt, the drying it up, or preventing that annual inundation, must be the cause of dearth, famine, etc. By rivers, we may understand the various canals cut from the Nile to carry water into the different parts of the land. When the Nile did not rise to its usual height these canals were quite dry.

Their images to cease out of Noph - Afterwards Memphis, and now Cairo or Kahira. This was the seat of Egyptian idolatry; the place where Apis was particularly worshipped.

No more a prince of the land of Egypt - Not one, from that time to the present day. See the note on Eze 29:14.

I will make Pathros desolate - See Eze 29:14.

Zoan - Tanis, the ancient capital of Egypt.

No - Diospolis, or Thebes, the city of Jupiter.

My fury upon Sin - Pelusium, a strong city of Egypt, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Noph - Cairo or Kahira; see Eze 30:13.

Aven - Or On, the famous Heliopolis, or city of the sun.

Pibeseth - Bubastum or Bubaste, by a slight alteration of the letters. It is situated on the eastern branch of the Nile, towards Arabia.

Tehaphnehes - Called also Tahapanes, Jer 2:16. This is the Pelusian Daphne.

Break there the yokes - The sceptres. Nebuchadnezzar broke the scepter of Egypt when he confirmed the kingdom to Amasis, who had rebelled against Apries.

In the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day - This was the eleventh year of the captivity of Jeconiah, and the date here answers to April 26, A.M. 3416; a prophecy anterior by several years to that already delivered. In collecting the writings of Ezekiel, more care was taken to put all that related to one subject together, than to attend to chronological arrangement.

I have broken the arm of Pharaoh - Perhaps this may refer to his defeat by Nebuchadnezzar, when he was coming with the Egyptian army to succor Jerusalem.

I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand - When the arm is broken, the sword will naturally fall. But these expressions show that the Egyptians would be rendered wholly useless to Zedekiah, and should never more recover their political strength. This was the case from the time of the rebellion of Amasis.

I will scatter the Egyptians - Several fled with Apries to Upper Egypt; and when Nebuchadnezzar wasted the country, he carried many of them to Babylon. See on Eze 29:12 (note).

Ye - Inhabitants of Egypt.

A cloudy day - So times of trouble are called. Of the heathen - The time when God will reckon with the Heathens.

Ethiopia - The neighbour and ally to Egypt. Take away - Into miserable captivity. Her foundations - Their government, laws, and strong holds.

Lydia - Not the Asiatic, but the Africans placed between some part of Cyrene and Egypt. The mingled people - The hired soldiers from all parts, a confused mixture of nations. And Chub - The inhabitants of the inmost Libya; perhaps they may be the Nubians at this day. The men - All the allies of Egypt. With them - With the Egyptians.

Upheld - Those that favour and help her. The pride - The glory of all her strength.

They - All those before mentioned.

Destroyed - The fire that consumes nations is of God's kindling: and when he sets fire to a kingdom, all they that go about to quench the fire, shall be consumed by it.

Messengers - Such as having escaped the sword, shall tell the news. From me - By my permission and providence. In ship's - Messengers by ships might carry the news to both the Ethiopian, Asian, and African, by the Red - sea. As in the day - During the mighty havock made by the Chaldeans. It - A like storm.

His people - His own subjects, not hired soldiers.

The rivers dry - Probably the Chaldeans diverted them, and so their fortified towns wanted one great defence. Sell - Give it up entirely.

Noph - Memphis, now Grand Cairo, the chief city of the country. A prince - Either an Egyptian born, or independent, and over all Egypt. A fear - Consternation and cowardice.

In Zoan - Zoan shall be burnt down to ashes. In No - A great and populous city situate on one of the mouths of the Nile.

Sin - Pelusium, which was the key of Egypt, and therefore always well fortified, and strongly garrisoned.

Shall be rent - Her walls, and towers, and fortresses broken through by the violence of engines, and by the assaults of the soldiers.

Young men - 'Tis probable these might be a body of valiant youths, collected out of these ten cities. Aven - Bethshemesh, or Heliopolis, an idolatrous city, in which was a stately temple of the sun: an hundred and fifty furlongs, that is six miles and three quarters in compass. Phibeseth - Bubastus, sometimes called Hoephestus, not far from Aven.

Tehaphnehes - A great and goodly city of Egypt; Tachapanes, Tachpanes, Tahapanes, Tahpanes, Chanes, and Hanes, are names given it, and this from a queen of Egypt of that name in Solomon's time. It stood not far from Sin, or Pelusium. Darkened - A night shall come upon it. Break - I shall break the kingdom of Egypt, that it no more oppress with yokes, that is, burdens. Her daughters - Her towns and villages.

The eleventh year - Of Jeconiah's captivity, three months and two days before Jerusalem was taken, about the time that the Egyptians attempted to raise the siege of Jerusalem.

Have broken - Partly by the victory of the Chaldeans over Pharaoh - necho, partly by the victory of the Cyreneans over Pharaoh - hophra. The sword - None can heal the wounds that God gives but himself. They whom he disables, cannot again hold the sword.

His arms - Both his arms. The strong - That part of his kingdom which remains entire. Broken - That which was shattered before.

Will strengthen - As judges on the bench like Pilate, so generals in the field, like Nebuchadrezzar, have no power but what is given them from above.

2 Son of man, prophesie and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye , wo worth the day.

Inhabitants of Egypt, and who so are near enough in Friendship and Alliances to fall under the like calamities.

Ah the day! Oh sad and miserable times.

3 For the day is near , even the day of the LORD is near , a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen .

The time of such distresses, as never the like known by you.

It will begin in your overthrow in the Cyreniac, and Libyc deserts in very little time, next 'twill continue in your Civil war, and finally end in the Babylonish Conquest some two years, and you shall be miserably routed in the deserts of Libya, immediately after the Civil War for eleven years together shall waste you, and then Nebuchadnezzar's Forces will be upon you, so that, whereas there may be about 16 or 18 years between the Prophesie, and its fulfilling, here is 13 or 14 of them taken up with sorrows, and afflictions, fore-runners of the last.

Of the Lords sore displeasure against Egypt, and its Allies.

Within two years, as is said.

A dark day, so times of trouble are called, whereas prosperity is a day of light. Troubles like storms, violent storms are black.

Of the Egyptians to be wasted, and of the Babylonians to waste them, the day of the pride, cruelty, and revenges to the one, the day of falling, spoil, and destruction to the other.

4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Aethiopia , when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.

See chap. 29. ver. 8. let. p.

Next Neighbour, and Allie to Egypt, they shall tremble at so great danger, so near, and they uncertain whether 'twill come on them, but very certain to be ruin'd, if it does come, and as certain, that they have cause to suspect it will come on them.

When the Egyptians, under the eye of the Aethiopians shall fall in Battle, and at the taking of their Towns.

In miserable Captivity carry them to Babylon, by whole droves,

Their Government, Laws, Councellors, strong holds, which are to a Nation, as Foundations to a house, are destroyed.

Marginal references: Or, fear.

5 Aethiopia , and Libya , and Lydia , and all the mingled people, and Chub , and the men of the land that is in league , shall fall with them by the sword .

Heb. Cusch, which are commonly thought to be the Aethiopians in Africa, but some more inquisitive Geographers have found them originally, and chiefly in Arabia, which was either Subject, or Allie to Egypt in its prosperity; and these were as ver. 4. in a panick fear, least the Babylonian should pass the Sea, and take them in his way home.

Heb. Phut hence the Puteans or Phutaans, who afterwards were better known by Libyans, a part of whose Country was near to Egypt.

Lydians, not the Asiatick, but the Africans placed between some part of Cyrene, and Egypt.

The hired Souldiers from all parts, a confused mixture of Nations, such as the Libyans had got together; or all Arabia, so the word 2 Chr. 9.14. Isai. 13.20. or all that ravenous sort of people, that like Crows fly to slaughters, so Souldiers of Fortune follow the Wars, and the word Heb. is Crow, Lev. 11.15. Deut. 14.14. Ps. 147.9. as well as mixt.

Aethiopians beyond Egypt south, the Inhabitants of the inmost Libya ▪ which reached to the Nigritae Negro's; perhaps they may be the Nubians at this day, a Letter easily changed.

The Sons of the Land of the Covenant; some refer to the Iews Children of the Covenant, but this is forced, 'tis all the people of Egypts League; all the Allies of the Egyptian Kingdom.

With the Egyptians.

In War by the Sword of Babylon.

Marginal references: Heb. Phut.; Heb. children.

6 Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down : from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.

Either the Princes, Councellors, and Martial men in Egypt, or those abroad, that favour her▪ and help her.

The Glory of all her strength, of which she was proud.

Be trodden under foot.

From Magdalum in the North-East part of Egypt toward the Red Sea, to Syene in the most South-west part of Egypt. See chap. 29. ver. 10. let. a. b. c.

7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countreys that are desolate, and her Cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.

All those before mentioned.

As much wasted, as any of them, that are most wasted,

Of Egypt equally wasted with other Cities, that have been sack't, as Ierusalem, Tyre, Sidon, Rabbath. &c.

Marginal references: chap. 2[illegible: 1 letter] ▪

8 And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed .

All that Act, and all that suffer in this Tragedy, shall by the evidence of the things be enforced to own God's hand, and ascribe Justice, and Truth, and Glory to him.

That War, which like increasing fire, consumeth all.

The destruction of so many, and powerful aides shall prove, that 'twas God's hand did it.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 span]

9 In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Aethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for lo it cometh.

The day of Gods severe, but just Judgments, and Egypts fatal Desolation.

Such, as having seen, and scaped the Sword, shall tell the dismal news.

By my permission, and providence they shall go, as if sent by me.

Ships, that either carried them over into Pentapolis crossing the River Nilus, or rather going down the River into the Mediterranean, and so to any part of those North parts of Africa, and others by Ship through the Red Sea to Arabia Faelix, which is that Aethiopia, which is here meant, though 'tis possible, in those dayes the African Aethiopia might, as once it did, extend quite to the mouth of the Red Sea, on whose shore their Ancestors must needs first land out of Arabia, whence the Habessines, who are our present Aethiopians, do own their descent. So Messengers by Ships might carry the news to both the Aethiopian, Asian, and African, by the Red Sea.

In much security they had hitherto lived, the most potent, and formidable Neighbour having been their Antient Allie, till the news of so mighty an Enemy at their very Doors.

Apprehensions of Danger, that puzzles their Wisdom, weakens their Courage, makes them in perplexity, both sick, and astonished.

Either like that, which, when their Host was drowned in the Red Sea, seiz'd all Egypt, or rather like this latter fear, which arose from the Mighty havock made by the Chaldaean.

A storm like that certainly cometh against you.

10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

The numerous Families, and Tribes.

To dwindle, and decrease.

By the Army, Power, and Conduct of Nebuchadnezzar.

11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain.

Nebuchadnezzar.

His own Subjects, not hired Souldiers.

This is the description of them. Hab. 1.7. a fierce, and cruel people, as Psal. 147.8, 9.

By the hand of God using means for that end, as before noted, chap. 29. ver. 4.

Readily, and with Resolution not to sheath them, till Egypt be filled with slain.

Marginal references: chap. 28.5.

12 And I will make the rivers dry , and sell the land into the hand of the wicked ; and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers : I the LORD have spoken it.

Either by some extraordinary drought, or rather, by means of that mighty Lake, that, which drew so much water from Nilus, that all their Canals were ever after shallow, and the Lake, as the Oracle foretold, helpt their Enemy, and hurt their Friends: or the Chaldaeans might divert them, and so their Fortified Towns would want one great defence.

God gave it, here he sells; the one is proper, the other a borrowed expression, indeed God seems to pay wages with it. chap. 29. ver. 19, 20. but hereby is intimated, that as Sellers deliver into the hand of the Buyer, so God would deliver Egypt into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar as surely, as if he had bought it, and we may conclude, the Chaldaean as a Buyer, will make the most of all he buyes.

Not of just, and compassionate, but of injurious, and merciless men.

Who leave nothing, they can carry away, eat up, or spoil.

'Tis the Decree, and Edict of Heaven, which can't be broken.

Marginal references: Isa. 19.9▪; Heb. [illegible: 1 word].; Heb. the f[illegible: 2 letters] ness thereof.

13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the Idols , and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph ; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

God did it by the Babylonians; those proud, and impious Nations did triumph over the Gods of the conquered, and out of contempt of them, burnt them, or broke them, as is well known, so Sennacherib threatned, 2 Chr. 32.19. Isaiah. 37.19, 24. against the true God, as he did to Idol Gods.

Dunghil Gods, as the words, fitter to be trod under foot, then to be deck't, and respected.

These nothings, as the word imports, whoever destroyed the Image, destroyed the God, for 'twas nothing but an Image.

Memphis now grand Cair, the chief City of the Country, the seat of their Kings first, of their Priests by consequence, and of all their several Gods too; But the Chaldeans destroyed the nest, and birds too.

Either an Egyptian born, or, independent, or over all Egypt, or that shall have the Power, Wealth, or Honour like a former brave Egyptian King.

Of consternation, and cowardise that should disable them for counsel, and action in their most urgent Affairs.

Marginal references: Jer. 43.12. [illegible: 1 word] 46.25. [illegible: 1 letter]ech. 13.2.

14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No .

See cap. 29. ver. 14. let. m.

It may be literally understood that Zoan, Tanis, for that is its name, should be burnt down to Ashes; or Metaphorically of War, and civil Dissensions.

A very great and populous City, scituate on one of the mouths of Nilus, and on the Sea, Nahum. 3.8. Now Alexandria stands, where that did, but 'twas greater in sin than in people, and it was visited with very great, and dreadful judgments. Nahum. 3.8, 9, 10, 11. which see.

Marginal references: Or, Tanis.

15 And I will pour my fury upon Sin , the strength of Egypt, and I will cut off the multitude of No ,

See chap. 21. ver. 31. let. d.

Either Sain, or more likely Pelusium, which was a Frontier, and secured the entrance of Egypt fromward the Desert of Sin, was the key of Egypt, and therefore alwaies well fortified, and strongly garrisoned, it was called Damiata.

One of the principal munitions of Egypt; for 'twas a good, and large Haven, and was strengthned with all needful Fortifications.

Or the Riches, and Tumultuous noise, which the multitudes thereof made.

If we read, as the Margin, 'tis plain, God does threaten Pel[illegible: 1 letter]sium after No is cut off; if we retain our own Translation, we must think of another City of that name, which God threatens with Sin: Now this may be Thebae Egyptiacae, or this City may be Hamon No called Diospolis, the City of Iupiter, possibly it may be the same mentioned already, and the threat repeated to confirm it.

Marginal references: Or, Pelusium.; [illegible: 1 word] when I have [illegible: 1 word] off.

16 And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain , and No shall be rent asunder , and Noph shall have distresses daily.

See ver. 14. let. o. and chap. 20. ver. 47. l. u. x. and v. 8. let. y.

Ver. 15. let. r.

See ver. 9. let. o.

See ver. 14. let. p. and ver. 15. let. x.

Her Walls, and Towers, and Fortresses battered, torn, and broken through by the continued violence of Engines, and by the assaults of the Souldiers.

See ver. 13. let. k.

Being the chief City where King and Councels sate, whence Orders should be given, whither all intelligences were brought, all should be so bad abroad, that nothing, but fears, and distresses fill their Ears, Mouths, and Hearts, beside the wants, that would increase dayly on them.

17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity .

'Tis probable these might be a select Army of valiant youths in one body, collected out of these two Cities, that resolved to break the Chaldaean Army, or fall in the Enterprise, or else that they did to the utmost, defend the Walls, and were put to the Sword when the City was taken by assault.

Bethshemesh, and Heliopolis an Idolatrous City, that Worshipt the Sun, and in which was a stately Temple built to the Sun; Its greatness was 150 Furlongs, 6 miles, and 3 quarters in compass, a very vain and sinful City, as its name Aven intimates.

Bubastus, and sometime called Haephestus, no inconsiderable place, and, I believe not far from Aven, it should seem to be some convenient pass, as I conjecture.

The Citizens, Cities put for Citizens.

Some of the first, it may be the very first, which put Memphis, at report of it into a sick fit, with great pain; this being the first fruits of the sad coming harvest.

Marginal references: Or, Heliopolis.; Or, Bubastum.

18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkned , when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her : as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

A great, and goodly City of Egypt, Tachapanes, Tachpanes, Tahapanes, Tahpanes, Chanes, and Hanes, Isai. 30.4. are Name[illegible: 1 letter] given it, and this from a Queen of Egypt of that name in Solomon's time, 1 King. 11.19, 20. it stood not far from Sin or Pelusium, and by the Greeks a little softening the Name, call'd Daphne Pelusiaca. 'twas a Royal City, in it Pharaoh had a house, to it many Iews fled, when forbidden of the Lord by the Prophet Ieremy, chap. 44. 'twas one of the first Cities you come to out of the Desert of Sin, and was one of the keys of Egypt.

A night shall come upon it, and such a night of sorrow, as shall grow darker, and darker, till the day, i. e. their day be darkness, or else word for word, Darkness shall be the day, and may bear this sense, shall be more welcome, more useful, more desired, then the day, whose light would discover their flight, which the night concealed.

As into shivers.

The Scepters; for there was one of Pharaoh's houses, and probably, some Scepter, and other Regal Ornaments; or the Bars, which kept Enemies out, and secured the Citizens, and Country, such was this Frontier Town, or, when by giving this strong place into Nebuchadnezzars hand, I shall break the Kingdom of Egypt, that it no more oppress with yokes, i. e. burthens▪

The Beauty, and Goodliness, with which the strength of this City was set out in her Buildings, Towers, Forts.

Shall be buried in her own ruines.

Sorrow by the success of the Chaldaeans against her, compared often to a cloud.

Either Metaphorically, i. e. the Towns, and Villages about her, or literally, her Children, her Daughters only mentioned, because her Sons were destroyed, and slain.

Marginal references: Or, darkness[illegible: 1 letter] the day. Or, restrained.

20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year , in the first moneth , in the seventh day of the moneth, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Of Ieconiah's Captivity three Moneths, and two Days before Ier[illegible: 1 letter]salem was taken, Ier. 52.4.

The fourth day of our April.

21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.

I have often told thee, I would break, now I tell thee I have broken, partly by the victory of the Chaldaean over Pharaoh Necho, partly by the victory the Cyrenaeans got over Pharaoh Hophra, to raise the siege, from which attempt he fell with shame and loss, but more by Civil Wars.

Hophra or Apries.

And this wound is incurable, it shall never be bound up to be healed, his Arm shall never be strong and fit to encounter a potent Enemy, as once it was.

Marginal references: Jer. 46.1[illegible: 1 letter].

22 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms , the strong , and that which was broken : and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

In the former verse God had broken the arm, in this he will break the Arms of Pharaoh, he will shew, he is still against Pharaoh, and will break him more, and more.

That part of his Kingdom which remains intire.

That, which was shattered before, That part of his Kingdom in Syria, taken from him from Euphrates, to the River of Egypt, that once was a strong arm, but now broken, and useless to him: And Egypt, whatever strength it now hath, shall be as weak, and useless too, thus all his power, and strength shall be destroyed.

23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countreys.

Vid. chap. 29. ver. 12. let. g. and chap. 20. ver. 23. let. o. where the same expressions are.

24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaohs arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.

Give the first strength, and continue it with new supplys, so that with strength from God, he shall proceed.

His strength shall have a weapon suited, and proportion'd to it, and what will be hard, where God's Sword and his strength are engaged to effect it?

Hophra.

Not only, as the stoutest must, when nature breaks, but cry out, and sigh, or howl not becoming a brave man.

King of Babylon.

Who hath given him his deadly wound, under which he roars, while he hath any strength, and groans, when his voice sails him. It speaks sore griefs, and deep sense of them; as Exod. 2.24. Iudg. 2.18. Iob 24.12.

25 But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down, and they shall know, that I am the LORD, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.

These two forgoing verses are a repetition of God's threats against Pharaoh, and of his promises to assist Nebuchadnezzar in the War, and every thing plain in them.

26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countreys; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Vide ver. 23.

The Day of Judgment upon Egypt - Ezekiel 30:1-19

Commencing with a call to lamentation, the prophet announces that the Lord’s day of judgment upon the nations is near at hand, and will burst upon Egypt, and the nations in alliance with it (Eze 30:2-5). He then depicts in three strophes, with the introductory words 'כּה אמר , the execution for this judgment, namely: (a) the destruction of the might of Egypt and the devastation of the land (Eze 30:6-9); (b) the enemy by whom the judgment will be accomplished (Eze 30:10-12); and (c) the extermination of the idols of Egypt, the conquest and demolition of its fortresses, the slaughter of its male population, and the captivity of the daughters of the land (Eze 30:13-19).

The heading does not contain any chronological information; and the contents furnish no definite criteria for determining with precision the date of the prophecy. Jerome assigns this oracle to the same period as the prophecy in Ezekiel 29:1-16, whilst others connect it more closely with Eze 29:17-21, and regard it as the latest of all Ezekiel’s prophecies. The latter is the conclusion adopted by Rosenmüller, Hävernick, Hitzig, Kliefoth, and some others. The principal argument adduced for linking it on to Eze 29:17. is, that in Eze 30:3 the day of judgment upon Egypt is threatened as near at hand, and this did not apply to the tenth year (Eze 29:1), though it was perfectly applicable to the twenty-seventh (Eze 29:17), when the siege of Tyre was ended, and Nebuchadnezzar was on the point of attacking Egypt. But the expression, “the day of the Lord is near at hand,” is so relative a chronological phrase, that nothing definite can be gathered from it as to the date at which an oracle was composed. Nor does the fact that our prophecy stands after the prophecy in Eze 29:17-21, which is furnished with a date, prove anything; for the other prophecies which follow, and are furnished with dates, all belong to a much earlier period. It is very evident from this that Eze 29:17-21 is inserted without regard to chronological sequence, and consequently Ezekiel 30:1-19 may just as well belong to the period between the tenth month of the tenth year (Eze 29:1) and the first month of the eleventh year (Eze 30:20), as to the twenty-seventh year (Eze 29:17), since all the reasons assigned for the closer connection of our prophecy with the one immediately preceding (Eze 29:17-21), which is supposed to indicate similarity of date, are invalid; whilst, on the other hand, the resemblance of Eze 30:6 and Eze 30:17 to Eze 29:10 and Eze 29:12 is not sufficient to warrant the assumption of a contemporaneous origin.

Eze 30:1-5

Announcement of the judgment upon Egypt and its allies. - Eze 30:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 30:2. Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Howl ye! Woe to the day! Eze 30:3. For the day is near, the day of Jehovah near, a day of cloud, the time of the heathen will it be. Eze 30:4. And the sword will come upon Egypt, and there will be pangs in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and they take her possessions, and her foundations are destroyed. Eze 30:5. Ethiopians and Libyans and Lydians, and all the rabble, and Chub, and the sons of the covenant land, will fall by the sword with them. - In the announcement of the judgment in Eze 30:2 and Eze 30:3, Ezekiel rests upon Joe 1:13, Joe 1:15, and Joe 2:2, where the designation already applied to the judgment upon the heathen world by Obadiah, viz., “the day of Jehovah” (Oba 1:15), is followed by such a picture of the nearness and terrible nature of that day, that even Isaiah (Isa 13:6, Isa 13:9) and Zephaniah (Zep 1:7, Zep 1:14) appropriate the words of Joel. Ezekiel also does the same, with this exception, that he uses ההּ instead of אההּ, and adds to the force of the expression by the repetition of קרוב יום. In Eze 30:3, the words from יום ענן to יהיה are not to be taken together as forming one sentence, “a day of cloud will the time of the nations be” (De Wette), because the idea of a “time of the nations” has not been mentioned before, so as to prepare the way for a description of its real nature here. יום ענן and עת גּוים contain two co-ordinate affirmations concerning the day of Jehovah. It will be a day of cloud, i.e., of great calamity (as in Joe 2:2), and a time of the heathen, i.e., when heathen (גּוים without the article) are judged, when their might is to be shattered (cf. Isa 13:22). This day is coming upon Egypt, which is to succumb to the sword. Ethiopia will be so terrified at this, that it will writhe convulsively with anguish (חלחלה, as in Nah 2:11 and Isa 21:3). לקח המנהּ signifies the plundering and removal of the possessions of the land, like נשׂא המנהּ in Eze 29:19. The subject to לקחוּ is indefinite, “they,” i.e., the enemy. The foundations of Egypt, which are to be destroyed, are not the foundations of its buildings, but may be understood in a figurative sense as relating to persons, after the analogy of Isa 19:10; but the notion that Cush, Phut, etc. (Eze 30:9), i.e., the mercenary troops obtained from those places, which are called the props of Egypt in Eze 30:6, are intended, as Hitzig assumes, is not only extremely improbable, but decidedly erroneous. The announcement in Eze 30:6, that Cush, Phut, etc., are to fall by the sword along with the Egyptians (אתּם), is sufficient of itself to show that these tribes, even if they were auxiliaries or mercenaries of Egypt, did not constitute the foundations of the Egyptian state and kingdom; but that, on the contrary, Egypt possessed a military force composed of native troops, which was simply strengthened by auxiliaries and allies. We there interpret יסדותיה, after the analogy of Psa 11:3 and Psa 82:5, as referring to the real foundations of the state, the regulations and institutions on which the stability and prosperity of the kingdom rest.

The neighbouring, friendly, and allied peoples will also be smitten by the judgment together with the Egyptians. Cush, i.e., the Ethiopians, Phut and Lud, i.e., the Libyans and African Lydians (see the comm. on Eze 27:10), are mentioned here primarily as auxiliaries of Egypt, because, according to Jer 46:9, they served in Necho’s army. By כּל־הערב, the whole of the mixed crowd (see the comm. on 1Ki 10:15 - πάντες οἱ ἐπίμικτοι, lxx), we are then to understand the mercenary soldiers in the Egyptian army, which were obtained from different nations (chiefly Greeks, Ionians, and Carians, οἱ επίκουροι, as they are called by Herodotus, iii. 4, etc.). In addition to these, כּוּב ,eseht  (ἁπ λεγ.) is also mentioned. Hävernick connects this name with the people of Kufa, so frequently met with on the Egyptian monuments. But, according to Wilkinson (Manners, etc., I 1, pp. 361ff.), they inhabited a portion of Asia farther north even than Palestine; and he ranks them (p. 379) among the enemies of Egypt. Hitzig therefore imagines that Kufa is probably to be found in Kohistan, a district of Media, from which, however, the Egyptians can hardly have obtained mercenary troops. And so long as nothing certain can be gathered from the advancing Egyptological researches with regard to the name Cub, the conjecture that כּוּב is a mis-spelling for לוּב is not to be absolutely set aside, the more especially as this conjecture is naturally suggested by the לוּבים of Nah 3:9 and 2Ch 16:8, and the form לוּב by the side of לוּבים is analogous to לוּד by the side of לוּדים in Jer 46:9, whilst the Liby-Aegyptii of the ancients, who are to be understood by the term לוּבים (see the comm. on Gen 10:13), would be quite in keeping here. On the other hand, the conjecture offered by Gesenius (Thes. p. 664), viz., נוּב, Nubia, has but a very weak support in the Arabic translator; and the supposition that לוּב may have been the earlier Hebrew form for Nubia (Hitzig), is destitute of any solid foundation. Maurer suggests Cob, a city (municipium) of Mauretania, in the Itiner. Anton. p. 17, ed. Wessel. - The following expression, “sons of the covenant land,” is also obscure. Hitzig has correctly observed, that it cannot be synonymous with בּעלי , their allies. But we certainly cannot admit that the covenant land (made definite by the article) is Canaan, the Holy Land (Hitzig and Kliefoth); although Jerome writes without reserve, de filiis terrae foederis, i.e., de populo Judaeorum; and the lxx in their translation, καὶ τῶν υιῶν τῆς διαθήκης μου, undoubtedly thought of the Jews, who fled to Egypt, according to Theodoret’s exposition, along with Jeremiah after the destruction of Jerusalem and the murder of the governor Gedaliah, for fear of the vengeance of the Chaldeans (Jer 42-43, and 44). For the application of the expression “land of the covenant” to the Holy Land is never met with either in the Old or New Testament, and cannot be inferred, as Hitzig supposes, from Psa 74:20 and Dan 11:28, or supported in any way from either the epithet “the land of promise” in Heb 11:9, or from Act 3:25, where Peter calls the Jews “the children of the prophets and of the covenant.” We therefore agree with Schmieder in regarding ארץ as signifying a definite region, though one unknown to us, in the vicinity of Egypt, which was inhabited by a tribe that was independent of the Egyptians, yet bound to render help in time of war.

Eze 30:6-9

All the supports and helpers of Egypt will fall, and the whole land with its cities will be laid waste. - Eze 30:6. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Those who support Egypt will fall, and its proud might will sink; from Migdol to Syene will they fall by the sword therein, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 30:7. And they will lie waste in the midst of waste lands, and its cities be in the midst of desolate cities. Eze 30:8. They shall learn that I am Jehovah, when I bring fire into Egypt, and all its helpers are shattered. Eze 30:9. In that day will messengers go forth from me in ships to terrify the confident Ethiopia, and there will be writing among them as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it cometh. - ”Those who support Egypt” are not the auxiliary tribes and allies, for they are included in the term עזריה in Eze 30:8, but the idols and princes (Eze 30:13), the fortified cities (Eze 30:15), and the warriors (Eze 30:17), who formed the foundation of the might of the kingdom. גּאון , “the pride of its might,” which is an expression applied in Eze 24:21 to the temple at Jerusalem, is to be taken here in a general sense, and understood not merely of the temples and idols of Egypt, but as the sum total of all the things on which the Egyptians rested the might of their kingdom, and on the ground of which they regarded it as indestructible. For 'ממּגדּל וגו, see the comm. on Eze 29:10. The subject to יפּלוּ בהּ is the 'סמכי מצר. Eze 30:7 is almost a literal repetition of Eze 29:12; and the subject to נשׁמּוּ is מצרים regarded as a country, though the number and gender of the verb have both been regulated by the form of the noun. The fire which God will bring into Egypt (Eze 30:8) is the fire of war. Eze 30:9. The tidings of this judgment of God will be carried by messengers to Ethiopia, and there awaken the most terrible dread of a similar fate. In the first hemistich, the prophet has Isa 18:2 floating before his mind. The messengers, who carry the tidings thither, are not the warlike forces of Chaldea, who are sent thither by God; for they would not be content with performing the service of messengers alone. We have rather to think of Egyptians, who flee by ship to Ethiopia. The messengers go, מלפני, from before Jehovah, who is regarded as being present in Egypt, while executing judgment there (cf. Isa 19:1). צים, as in Num 24:24 = ציּים (Dan 11:30), ships, trieres, according to the Rabbins, in Hieron. Symm. on Isa 33:21, and the Targum on Num. (cf. Ges. Thes. p. 1156). בּטח is attached to כּוּשׁ, Cush secure or confident, equivalent to the confident Cush (Ewald, §287 c). 'והיתה חלח, repeated from Eze 30:4. בּהם, among the Ethiopians. 'כּיום מצר, as in the day of Egypt, i.e., not the present day of Egypt’s punishment, for the Ethiopians have only just heard of this from the messengers; but the ancient, well-known day of judgment upon Egypt (Exo 15:12.). Ewald and Hitzig follow the lxx in taking כּיום for בּיום; but this is both incorrect and unsuitable, and reduces 'בּיום מצר into a tame repetition of בּיּום החוּא. The subject to הנּה באה is to be taken from the context, viz., that which is predicted in the preceding verses (Eze 30:6-8).

Eze 30:10-12

The executors of the judgment. - Eze 30:10. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, And I will put an end to the tumult of Egypt through Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Eze 30:11. He and his people with him, violent of the nations, will be brought to destroy the land; they will draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with slain. Eze 30:12. And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of wicked men, and lay waste the land and its fulness by the hand of foreigners; I Jehovah have spoken it. - המון cannot be understood as signifying either the multitude of people only, or the abundance of possessions alone; for השׁבּית is not really applicable to either of these meanings. They are evidently both included in the המון, which signifies the tumult of the people in the possession and enjoyment of their property (cf. Eze 26:13). The expression is thus specifically explained in Eze 30:11 and Eze 30:12. Nebuchadnezzar will destroy the land with his men of war, slaying the people with its possessions. עריצי, as in Eze 28:7. מוּבאים, as in Eze 23:42. 'הריק וגו, cf. Eze 12:14, Eze 12:28; 7. חלל...מלאוּ, as in Eze 11:6. יארים, the arms and canals of the Nile, by which the land was watered, and on which the fertility and prosperity of Egypt depended. The drying up of the arms of the Nile must not be restricted, therefore, to the fact that God would clear away the hindrances to the entrance of the Chaldeans into the land, but embraces also the removal of the natural resources on which the country depended. מכר, to sell a land or people into the hand of any one, i.e., to deliver it into his power (cf. Deu 32:30; Jdg 2:14, etc.). For the fact itself, see Isa 19:4-6. For 'השׁמּתי וגו, see Eze 19:7.

Eze 30:13-19

Further Description of the Judgment

Eze 30:13. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will exterminate the idols and cut off the deities from Noph, and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt; and I put terror upon the land of Egypt. Eze 30:14. And I lay Pathros waste, and bring fire into Zoan, and execute judgments upon No; Eze 30:15. And I pour out my fury upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the multitude of No; Eze 30:16. And I put fire in Egypt; Sin will writhe in pain, and No will be broken open, and Noph - enemies by day. Eze 30:17. The men of On and Bubastus will fall by the sword, and they themselves will go into captivity. Eze 30:18. At Tachpanches the day will be darkened when I shatter the yokes of Egypt there, and an end will be put to its proud haughtiness; cloud will cover it, and its daughters till go into captivity. Eze 30:19. And thus I execute judgments upon Egypt, that they may know that I am Jehovah. - Egypt will lose its idols and its princes (cf. Jer 46:25). גּלּוּלים and אלילים are synonymous, signifying not the images, but the deities; the former being the ordinary epithet applied to false deities by Ezekiel (see the comm. on Eze 6:4), the latter traceable to the reading of Isa 19:1. נף, contracted from מנף, Manoph or Menoph = מף in Hos 9:6, is Memphis, the ancient capital of Lower Egypt, with the celebrated temple of Ptah, one of the principal seats of Egyptian idolatry (see the comm. on Hos 9:6 and Isa 19:13). In Eze 30:13 מארץ מצר' belongs to נשׂיא, there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt, i.e., a native prince. נתן יראה, to put fear upon (cf. Eze 26:17). From Lower Egypt Ezekiel passes in Eze 30:14 to Upper Egypt (Pathros, see the comm. on Eze 29:14), which is also to be laid waste, and then names several more of the principal cities of Lower Egypt along with the chief city of Upper Egypt. צען, Egypt. Zane, Copt. Jane, is the Τανίς, Tanis, of the Greeks and Romans, on the Tanitic arm of the Nile, an ancient city of Lower Egypt; see the comm. on Num 13:22 and Isa 19:11. נא =  נא אמון in Nah 3:8, probably “abode of Amon,” Egypt. P - amen, i.e., house of Amon, the sacred name of Thebes, the celebrated royal city of Upper Egypt, the Διὸς πόλις ἡ μεγάλη of the Greeks (see the comm. on Nah 3:8). סין (literally, mire; compare the Aram. סין) is Πηλούσιον, Pelusium, which derives its name from πηλός (ὠνόμασται ἀπὸ τοῦ πηλοῦ πηλός, Strab. xvii. p. 802), because there were swamps all round. It was situated on the eastern arm of the Nile, to which it gave its name, at a distance of twenty stadia from the sea. The Egyptian name Pehromi also signifies dirty, or muddy. From this the Arabs have made Elfarama; and in the vicinity of the few ruins of the ancient Pelusium there is still a castle called Arab. t, Tineh (compare the Chaldee טינא, clay, in Dan 2:41). Ezekiel calls it the “fortress or bulwark of Egypt,” because, as Strabo (l.c.) observes, “Egypt is difficult of access here from places in the East;” for which reason Hirtius (de bell. Al. c. 27) calls it “the key of Egypt,” and Suidas (s.v.) “the key both of the entrance and exit of Egypt.” On the history of this city, see Leyrer in Herzog’s Encyclopaedia. In המון נא many of the commentators find a play upon the name of the god אמון (Jer 46:25), the chief deity of Thebes, which is possible, but not very probable, as we should not expect to find a god mentioned again here after Eze 30:13; and הכרתּי would be inappropriate. - In Eze 30:16 Sin (= Pelusium) is mentioned again as the border fortress, No (= Memphis) as the capital of Upper Egypt, as all falling within the range of the judgment. The expression נף צרי יומם has caused some difficulty and given occasion to various conjectures, none of which, however, commend themselves as either simple or natural explanations.Ewald proposes to alter צרי into צדי (after the Aramaean), “rust,” and renders it: “Memphis will be eternal rust.” But to this Hitzig has very properly objected that in Eze 24:6, Eze 24:11, rust is called חלאה; and that even in Psa 6:3 יומם does not mean perpetual or eternal. Hävernick proposes to explain צרים, from the Aramaean zerâ', to rend or tear in pieces, “Memphis shall become perpetual rents.” To this also it may be objected, that צרים in Hebrew has the standing meaning of oppressors; and that יומם, interdiu, is not equivalent to perpetual; and still further, that the preposition ל could not be omitted before צרי.

As Hitzig has correctly observed, צרי יומם is the same as שׁדד בּצּהרים in Jer 15:8, and is the opposite of שׁדדי לילה in Oba 1:5. The enemy who comes by day, not in the night, is the enemy who does not shun open attack. The connection with נף is to be explained by the same rule as Jer 24:2, “the one basket - very good figs.” Memphis will have enemies in broad daylight, i.e., will be filled with them. און =  און, אן, in Gen 41:45, Gen 41:50 (Egyptian An, or Anu), is the popular name of Heliopolis in Lower Egypt (see the comm. on Gen 41:45); and the form און (a vain thing, or idol) is probably selected intentionally in the sense of an idol-city (see the comm. on Hos 4:15), because On-Heliopolis (בּית־שׁמשׁ in Jer 43:13) was from time immemorial one of the principal seats of the Egyptian worship of the sun, and possessed a celebrated temple of the sun, with a numerous and learned priesthood (see the comm. on Gen 41:45, ed. 2). פּי־בסת, i.e., βουβαστός (lxx), or βουβαστίν (Herod. ii. 59), Egyptian Pi - Pasht, i.e., the place of Pasht, so called from the cat-headed Bubastis or Pasht, the Egyptian Diana, which was worshipped there in a splendid temple. It was situated on the royal canal leading to Suez, which was begun by Necho and finished under Ptolemy II, not far from its junction with the Pelusiac arm of the Nile. It was the chief seat of the Nomos Bubastites, was destroyed by the Persians, who demolished its walls (Diod. Sic. xvi. 51), and has entirely disappeared, with the exception of some heaps of ruins which still bear the name of Tel Bastah, about seven hours’ journey from the Nile (compare Ges. Thes. pp. 1101ff., and Leyrer in Herzog’s Encyclopaedia, s.v.). The Nomos of Bubastis, according to Herod. ii. 166, was assigned to the warrior-caste of Calasirians. The בּחוּרים, the young military men, will fall by the sword; and הנּה, not αἱ γυναῖκες (lxx and others), but the cities themselves, i.e., their civil population as distinguished from the military garrison, shall go into exile. This explanation of הנּה is commended by בּנותיה in Eze 30:18. תּחפנחס or תּחפּנחס (Jer 43:7., Eze 44:1; Eze 46:14), and תּחפנס in Jer 2:16 (Chetib), is Τάφναι, Τάφνη (lxx), or Δάφναι (Herod. ii. 30. 107), a frontier city of Egypt in the vicinity of Pelusium, after the time of Psammetichus a fortification with a strong garrison, where a palace of Pharaoh was also to be found, according to Jer 43:9. After the destruction of Jerusalem, a portion of the Jews took refuge there, and to them Jeremiah predicted the punishment of God on the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 43:7., Eze 44:1.). In the case of השך the reading varies; the printed Masora at Gen 39:3 giving חשׂך as the reading to be found in all the codices examined by the author of the Masora; whereas many of the codices and printed editions have חשׁך, and this is adopted in all the ancient versions. This is evidently the correct reading, as חשׂך does not furnish an appropriate meaning, and the parallel passages, Eze 32:8; Isa 13:10; Joe 3:4; Amo 8:9, all favour חשׁך. The darkening of the day is the phenomenal prognostic of the dawning of the great day of judgment upon the nations (cf. Joe 2:10; Joe 3:4, Joe 3:15; Isa 13:10, etc.). This day is to dawn upon Egypt at Tachpanches, the border fortress of the land towards Syria and Palestine, when the Lord will break the yokes of Egypt. These words point back to Lev 26:13, where the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt is called the breaking in pieces of its yokes (see also Eze 34:27). That which took place then is to be repeated here. The yokes which Egypt put upon the nations are to be broken; and all the proud might of that kingdom is to be brought to an end (גּאון עזּהּ, as in Eze 30:6). In Eze 30:18, היא, which stands at the head in an absolute form, points back to בּתּחפנחס. The city (Daphne) will be covered with cloud, i.e., will be overthrown by the judgment; and her daughters, i.e., the smaller cities and hamlets dependent upon her (cf. Eze 16:46 and Eze 26:6), will go into captivity in the persons of their inhabitants. It follows from this that Daphne was the chief city of a Nomos in Lower Egypt; and this is confirmed by the circumstance that there was a royal palace there. If we compare the threat in this verse, that in Tachpanches an end is to be put to the proud might of Pharaoh, with the threatening words of Jer 43:9., to the effect that Nebuchadnezzar would set up his throne at Tachpanches and smite Egypt, it is evident that the situation of Daphne must at that time have been such that the war between Egypt and Babylonia would necessarily be decided in or near this city. These prophetic utterances cannot be explained, as Kliefoth supposes, from the fact that many Jews had settled in Daphne; nor do the contents of this verse furnish any proof that Ezekiel did not utter this prophecy of his till after the Jews had settled there (Jer 43:1-13 and 44). Eze 30:19 serves to round off the prophecy.

Eze 30:20

Destruction of the Might of Pharaoh by Nebuchadnezzar

According to the heading in Eze 30:20, “In the eleventh year, in the first (month), on the seventh of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,” this short word of threatening against Egypt falls in the second year of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and, as Eze 30:21 clearly shows, after the army of Pharaoh Hophra, which marched to the relief of Jerusalem, had been defeated by the Chaldeans who turned to meet it (Jer 37:5, Jer 37:7). If we compare with this the date of the first prophecy against Egypt in Eze 29:1, the prophecy before us was separated from the former by an interval of three months. But as there is no allusion whatever in Ezekiel 29 to Pharaoh’s attempt to come to the relief of the besieged city of Jerusalem, or to his repulse, the arrival of the Egyptian army in Palestine, its defeat, and its repulse by the Chaldeans, seems to have occurred in the interval between these two prophecies, towards the close of the tenth year.

Eze 30:21-26

Eze 30:21. son of man, the arm of Pharaoh the king of Egypt have I broken; and, behold, it will no more be bound up, to apply remedies, to put on a bandage to bind it up, that it may grow strong to grasp the sword. Eze 30:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and will break both his arms, the strong one and the broken one, and will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. Eze 30:23. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them in the lands, Eze 30:24. And will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and give my sword into his hand, and will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he shall groan the groanings of a pierced one before him. Eze 30:25. I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I give my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, that he may stretch it against the land of Egypt. Eze 30:26. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them in the lands; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. - The perfect שׁברתּי in Eze 30:21 is not a prophetic utterance of the certainty of the future, but a pure preterite. This may be seen “both from the allusion in Eze 30:21 to the condition resulting from the shbr שׁבר, and also to the obviously antithetical relation of Eze 30:22, in which future events are predicted” (Hitzig). The arm is a figurative expression for power, here for military power, as it wields the sword. God broke the arm of Pharaoh by the defeat which the Chaldeans inflicted upon Pharaoh Hophra, when he was marching to the relief of besieged Jerusalem. חבּשׁה is a present, as is apparent from the infinitive clauses ('לתת וגו) which follow, altogether apart from הנּה; and חבשׁ signifies to bind up, for the purpose of healing a broken limb, that remedies may be applied and a bandage put on. לחזקהּ, that it may become strong or sound, is subordinate to the preceding clause, and governs the infinitive which follows. The fact that the further judgment which is to fall upon Pharaoh is introduced with לכן (therefore) here (Eze 30:22), notwithstanding the fact that it has not been preceded by any enumeration of the guilt which occasioned it, may be accounted for on the ground that the causal לכן forms a link with the concluding clause of Eze 30:21 : the arm shall not be healed, so as to be able to grasp or hold the sword. Because Pharaoh is not to attain any more to victorious power, therefore God will shatter both of his arms, the strong, i.e., the sound one and the broken one, that is to say, will smite it so completely, that the sword will fall from his hand. The Egyptians are to be scattered among the nations, as is repeated in Eze 30:23 verbatim from Eze 29:12. God will give the sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and equip and strengthen him to destroy the might of Pharaoh, that the latter may groan before him like one who is pierced with the sword. This thought is repeated in Eze 30:25 and Eze 30:26 with an intimation of the purpose of this divine procedure. That purpose it: that men may come to recognise Jehovah as God the Lord. The subject to וידעוּ is indefinite; and the rendering of the lxx is a very good one, καὶ γνώσονται πάντες.

Prophecy against Egypt; Destruction of Egypt Foretold. (b. c. 572.)

1 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God ; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! 3 For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. 4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. 5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. 6 Thus saith the Lord ; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God . 7 And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. 8 And they shall know that I am the Lord , when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed. 9 In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh. 10 Thus saith the Lord God ; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. 12 And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it. 13 Thus saith the Lord God ; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. 14 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No. 15 And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No. 16 And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily. 17 The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity. 18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp 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 .

The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is here very full and particular, as well as, in the general, very frightful. What can protect a provoking people when the righteous God comes forth to contend with them?

I. It shall be a very lamentable destruction, and such as shall occasion great sorrow (v. 2, 3): "Howl you; you may justly shriek now that it is coming, for you will be made to shriek and make hideous outcries when it comes. Cry out, Woe worth the day! or, Ah the day! alas because of the day! the terrible day! Woe and alas! For the day is near; the day we have so long dreaded, so long deserved. It is the day of the Lord, the day in which he will manifest himself as a God of vengeance. You have your day now, when you carry all before you, and trample on all about you, but God will have his day shortly, the day of the revelation of his righteous judgment," Ps. xxxvii. 13. It will be a cloudy day, that is, dark and dismal, without the shining forth of any comfort; and it shall threaten a storm—fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest. It shall be the time of the heathen, of reckoning with the heathen for all their heathenish practices, that time which David spoke of when God would pour out his fury upon the heathen (Ps. lxxix. 6), when they should sink, Ps. ix. 15.

II. It shall be the destruction of Egypt, and of all the states and countries in confederacy with her and in her neighbourhood. 1. Egypt herself shall fall (v. 4): The sword shall come upon Egypt, the sword of the Chaldeans, and it shall be a victorious sword, for the slain shall fall in Egypt, fall by it, fall before it. Is the country populous? They shall take away her multitude. Is it strong, and well-fixed? Her foundations shall be broken down, and then the fabric, though built ever so fine, ever so high, will fall of course. 2. Her neighbours and inmates shall fall with her. When the slain fall so thickly in Egypt great pain shall be in Ethiopia, both that in Africa, which is in the neighbourhood of Egypt on one side, and that in Asia, which is near to it on the other side. When their neighbour's house was on fire they could not but apprehend their own in danger; nor were their fears groundless, for they shall all fall with them by the sword, v. 5. Ethiopia and Libya (Cush and Phut, so the Hebrew names are, two of the sons of Ham who are mentioned, and Mizraim, that is, Egypt, between them, Gen. x. 6), and the Lydians (who were famous archers, and are spoken of as confederates with Egypt, Jer. xlvi. 9), these shall fall with Egypt and Chub (the Chaldeans, the inhabitants of the inner Libya); these and others were the mingled people; there were those of all these and other countries who upon some account or other resided in Egypt, as did also the men of the land that is in league, some of the remains of the people of Israel and Judah, the children of the covenant, or league, as they are called (Acts iii. 25), the children of the promise, Gal. iv. 28. These sojourned in Egypt contrary to God's command, and these shall fall with them. Note, Those that will take their lot with God's enemies shall have their lot with them, yea, though they be in profession the men of the land that is in league with God.

III. All that pretend to support the sinking interests of Egypt shall come down under her, shall come down with her (v. 6): Those that uphold Egypt shall fall, and then Egypt must fall of course. See the justice of God; Egypt pretended to uphold Jerusalem when that was tottering, but proved a deceitful reed; and now those that pretended to uphold Egypt shall prove no better. Those that deceive others are commonly paid in their own coin; they are themselves deceived. 1. Does Egypt think herself upheld by the absolute authority and dominion of her king? The pride of her power shall come down, v. 6. The power of the king of Egypt was his pride; but that shall be broken, and humbled. 2. Is the multitude of her people her support? These shall fall by the sword, even from the tower of Syene, which is in the utmost corner of the land, from that side of it by which the enemy shall enter. Both the countries and the cities, the husbandmen and the merchants, shall be desolate, v. 7, as before, ch. xxix. 12. Even the multitude of Egypt shall be made to cease, v. 10. That populous country shall be depopulated. The land shall be even filled with the slain, v. 11. 3. Is the river Nile her support, and are the several channels of it a defence to her? "I will make the rivers dry (v. 12), so that those natural fortifications which were thought impregnable, because impassable, shall stand them in no stead." 4. Are her idols a support to her? They shall be destroyed; those imaginary upholders shall appear more than ever to be imaginary, for so images are when they pretend to be deliverers and strongholds (v. 13): I will cause their images to cease out of Noph. 5. Is her royal family her support? There shall be no more a prince in the land of Egypt; the royal family shall be extirpated and extinguished, which had continued so long. 6. Is her courage her support, and does she think to uphold herself by the bravery of her men of war, who have now of late been inured to service? That shall fail: I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. 7. Is the rising generation her support? is she upheld by her children, and does she think herself happy because she has her quiver full of them? Alas! the young men shall fall by the sword (v. 17) and the daughters shall go into captivity (v. 18), and so she shall be robbed of all her hopes.

IV. God shall inflict these desolating judgments on Egypt (v. 8): They shall know that I am the Lord, and greater than all gods, than all their gods, when I have set a fire in Egypt. The fire that consumes nations is of God's kindling; and, when he sets fire to a people, all their helpers shall be destroyed. Those that go about to quench the fire shall themselves be devoured by it; for who can stand before him when he is angry? When he pours out his fury upon a place, when he sets fire to it (v. 15, 16), neither its strength nor its multitude can stand it in any stead.

V. The king of Babylon and his army shall be employed as instruments of this destruction: The multitude of Egypt shall be made to cease and be quite cut off by the hand of the king of Babylon, v. 10. Those that undertook to protect Israel from the king of Babylon shall not be able to protect themselves. It is said of the Chaldeans, who should destroy Egypt, 1. That they are strangers (v. 12), who therefore shall show no compassion for old acquaintance-sake, but shall behave strangely towards them. 2. That they are the terrible of the nations (v. 11), both in respect of force and in respect of fierceness; and, being terrible, they shall make terrible work. (3.) That they are the wicked, who will not be restrained by reason and conscience, the laws of nature or the laws of nations, for they are without law: I will sell the land into the hand of the wicked. They do violence unjustly, as they are wicked; yet, so far as they are instruments in God's hand of executing his judgments, it is on his part justly done. Note, God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another; and even wicked men acquire a title to prey, jure belli—by the laws of war, for God sells it into their hands.

VI. No place in the land of Egypt shall be exempted from the fury of the Chaldean army, not the strongest, not the remotest: The sword shall go through the land. Various places are here named: Pathros, Zoan, and No (v. 14), Sin and Noph (v. 15, 16), Aven and Pi-beseth (v. 17), and Tehaphnehes, v. 18. These shall be made desolate, shall be fired, and God's judgments shall be executed upon them, and his fury poured out upon them. Their strength and multitude shall be cut off; they shall have great pain, shall be rent asunder with fear, and shall have distresses daily. Their day shall be darkened; their honours, comforts, and hopes, shall be extinguished. Their yokes shall be broken, so that they shall no more oppress and tyrannize as they have done. The pomp of their strength shall cease, and a cloud shall cover them, a cloud so thick that through it they shall not see any hopes, nor shall their glory be seen, or shine further. And, lastly, the Ethiopians, who are at a distance from them, as well as those who are mingled with them, shall share in their pain and terror. God will by his providence spread the rumour, and the careless Ethiopians shall be made afraid, v. 9. Note, God can strike a terror upon those that are most secure; fearfulness shall, when he pleases, surprise the most presumptuous hypocrites.

The close of this prediction leaves, 1. The land of Egypt mortified: Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt, v. 19. The destruction of Egypt is the executing of judgments, which intimates not only that it is done justly, for its sins, but that it is done regularly and legally, by a judicial sentence. All the executions God does are according to his judgments. 2. The God of Israel herein glorified: They shall know that I am the Lord. The Egyptians shall be made to know it and the people of God shall be made to know it better. The Lord is known by the judgments which he executes.

Destruction of Egypt Foretold. (b. c. 572.)

20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword. 22 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. 25 But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord , when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the Lord .

This short prophecy of the weakening of the power of Egypt was delivered about the time that the army of the Egyptians, which attempted to raise the siege of Jerusalem, was frustrated in its enterprises, and returned re infectâ—without accomplishing their purpose; whereupon the king of Babylon renewed the siege and carried his point. The kingdom of Egypt was very ancient, and had been for many ages considerable. That of Babylon had but lately arrived at its great pomp and power, being built upon the ruins of the kingdom of Assyria. Now it is with them as it is with families and states, some are growing up, others are declining and going back; one must increase and the others must of course decrease.

I. It is here foretold that the king of Egypt shall grow weaker and weaker. The extent of his territories shall be abridged, his wealth and power shall be diminished, and he shall become less able than ever to help either himself or his friend. 1. This was in part done already (v. 21): I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, some time ago. One arm of that kingdom might well be reckoned broken when the king of Babylon routed the forces of Pharaoh-Necho at Carchemish (Jer. xlvi. 2), and made himself master of all that pertained to Egypt from the river of Egypt to Euphrates, 2 Kings xxiv. 7. Egypt had been long in gathering strength and extending its dominions, and therefore, that there may be a proportion observed in providence, it loses its strength slowly and by degrees. It was soon after the king of Egypt slew good king Josiah, and in the same reign, that its arm was thus broken, and it received that fatal blow which it never recovered. Before Egypt's heart and neck were broken its arm was. God's judgments come upon a people by steps, that they may meet him repenting. When the arm of Egypt is broken it shall not be bound up to be healed, for none can heal the wounds that God gives but he himself. Those whom he disarms, whom he disables, cannot again hold the sword. 2. This was to be done again. One arm was broken before, and something was done towards the setting of it, towards the healing of the deadly wound that was given to the beast. But now (v. 22), I am against Pharaoh, and will break both his arms, both the strong and that which was broken and set again. Note, If less judgments do not prevail to humble and reform sinners, God will send greater. Now God will cause the sword to fall out of his hand, which he caught hold of as thinking himself strong enough to hold it. It is repeated (v. 24), I will break Pharaoh's arms. He had been a cruel oppressor to the people of God formerly, and of late the staff of a broken rod to them; and now God by breaking his arms reckons with him for both. God justly breaks that power which is abused either to put wrongs upon people or to put cheats upon them. But this is not all; (1.) The king of Egypt shall be dispirited when he finds himself in danger of the king of Babylon's forces: he shall groan before him with the groaning of a deadly wounded man. Note, It is common for those that are most elated in their prosperity to be most dejected and disheartened in their adversity. Pharaoh, even before the sword touches him, shall groan as if he had received his death's wound. (2.) The people of Egypt shall be dispersed (v. 23 and again v. 26): I will scatter them among the nations. Other nations had mingled with them (v. 5); now they shall be mingled with other nations, and seek shelter in them, and so be made to know that the Lord is righteous.

II. It is here foretold that the king of Babylon shall grow stronger and stronger, v. 24, 25. Put strength into the king of Babylon's arms, that he may be able to go through the service he is designed for. 2. That he will put a sword, his sword, into the king of Babylon's hand, which signified his giving him a commission and furnishing him with arms for carrying on a war, particularly against Egypt. Note, As judges on the bench, like Pilate (John xix. 11), so generals in the field, like Nebuchadnezzar, have no power but what is given them from above.

CHAP. XXX.

Ver. 1. THe Word of the Lord] See chap. 18.1.

Ver. 2. Woe worth the day] Ah de die iſta. This ſhall be the voice much more of reprobates at that laſt day of wrath and revelation of the righteous Judgement of God, Rom. 2.5. Enoch foretold this dreadful day, before Noah the deluge: That day is longer before it comes: but ſhall be more terrible when it is come.

Ver. 3. A cloudy day] Heb. a day of a cloud; which was rarely ſeen in Egypt.

Ver. 4. Great pain] Heb. pain upon pain, as the throws in childbirth.

Ver. 5. Chub] Certain Africans, who ſhall be worſe put to't then were thoſe ſucceeding Africans, who had a prophecy (but not of like credit with this of Ezechiel) that when the Romans ſent an army into their country, Mundus cum tota ſua prole periret, which made them think the world ſhould then be at an end. But afterwards the Romans ſent an army thither under the conduct of one Mundus, who in battle was ſlain together with his ſons by the Africans, Lib. 15. and diſcovered the illuſion of the devil. The Septuagint render Chub Spaniards; which I like the better, ſaith Lavater, becauſe Strabo ſaith Nebuchadonoſer came with his victorious army as far as Spain.

Ver. 6. They that uphold Egypt ſhall fall] i. e. Their confederates; or as ſome, their Tutelar gods. Herodotus writeth that Cambyſes waſted with the ſword Egypt and Ethiopia: killed their god Apis, and defaced all their idols. This he did, doubtleſſe, rather in ſcorn of all religion, then hatred of idolatry.

And the pride of her power ſhall come down] Tumbling down as a great and weighty bullet, from a very high and ſteep mountain.

From the tower of Syene] See chap. 29.10.

Ver. 7. And they ſhall be deſolate] See chap. 29.10.Non eſt Periſſologia: repetitur cum fructu. Lavat.

Ver. 8. And they ſhall know that I am the Lord] Men will not take knowledge of this till they have paid for their learning. Vexatio dat intellectum, ſmart makes wit.

When I have ſet a fire in Egypt] War is fitly compared to fire, it feeds upon the people. See Eſa. 9.19. with the Note.

Ver. 9. In that day ſhall meſſengers go forth from me] i. e. The Chaldeans by an inſtinct from me, to ſubdue Ethiopia alſo.

In ſhips] For Nilus was navigable:

Lene fluit Nilus.—Claudian.

To make the careleſſe Ethiopians] Heb. confident Cuſh: Security uſhereth in calamity.

As in the day of Egypt] That cloudy day, ver. 3. when clouds of blood were diſſolved upon them: Or, that diſmal day of old, when they periſhed in the red ſea, Exod. 15.14.

Ver. 10. I will alſo make the multitude] Or the great noiſe and hurry. They ſhall have no more cauſe to complain that they are too many of them: ſo that they cannot one live by another.

Ver. 11. The terrible of the nations] Tyranni gentium. Homo homini lupus.

Ver. 12. And I will make the rivers dry] The Chaldees ſhall drink them up, as 2 King. 19.24. or I will dry them up for a puniſhment of your vain truſt in them, and boaſting of them, chap. 29.3, 9.

And ſell the land] Paſſe it away utterly from you. The earth is the Lords: he is the true Proprietary.

Ver. 13. I will alſo deſtroy their idols] He did ſo by Cambyſes: See on ver. 6. he doth ſo ſtill by the Turkes; when they invade Popiſh countries, they break down their mawmets.

Out of Neph] Called alſo Moph, Hoſ. 9.6. afterwards Memphis (the Metropolis of idolatry; Nazianzen calleth it [non-Latin text not transcribed], the mad City, becauſe mad-ſet upon idols; Apis eſpecially) afterwards Babylon, and now Aleair: [non-Latin text not transcribed]. famous for its incredible greatneſſe, fair ſituation, pillars and Pyramids. It was the ſeat royal of the Sultans, till taken by the Turks from Camſon Gaurus and the Mamalukes, about the year 1515.

And there ſhall be no more a Prince] For forty years at leaſt.

Ver. 14. And I will ſet fire] See on ver. 8.

On Zoan] Or Tanis; the inhabitants whereof are ſaid to be thoſe giants called Titanes.

And will execute judgements in No] Populous No, Nahum. 3.8. called afterwards Alexandria, now Scanderoen.

Ver. 15. And I will pour my fury upon Sin] Called afterwards Peluſium, Deſerto Sinis nomen dedit. and now Damiata.

The ſtrength of Egypt] The key of the Kingdom.

Ver. 16. I will ſet fire on Egypt] See ver. 8.

Ver. 17. Aven] Called alſo Heliopolis, and Thebe.

Phibeſeth] Or Bubaeſtis, called by Ptolomy, Her[illegible: 1 letter]um civitas.

Ver. 18. At Tehaphnehes] Or Daphne, the gate of Egypt, at which the Chaldees entred.

A cloud ſhall cover her] See ver. 3.

Ver, 19. And they ſhall know] See on ver. 8.

Ver. 20. In the eleventh year] The year wherein Jeruſalem was deſtroyed; notwithſtanding Pharaoh's fair promiſes and proffers to relieve her.

Ver. 21. I have broken the arm] Ita ut nulla arte vel ope, ſo that by no means or medicines it can be made whole again. Loſſes received in war can hardly be repaired.

Ver. 22. And will break his armes] I will utterly diſable him, and drive the field of him: he ſhall neither be able to defend himſelf, or offend his enemy. See Pſal. 37.17.

Ver. 23. And I will ſcatter the Egyptians] Send them captive into other countryes, as by a whirlwind or Hurrican. This Metaphor we have oft met with. He was afterwards hanged.

Herod.Ver. 24. And I will ſtrengthen the armes of the King of Babylon] God as he ſends the ſword, chap. 14.17. muſters the men, Eſa, 13.4. orders the ammunition, Jer. 50.25. renders the weapons vain or proſperous, Eſa. 54. ult. ſo he ſtrengtheneth and weakeneth the arm of either party.

Ver. 25. But I will ſtrengthen] See ver. 25.

And they ſhall know] See on ver. 8.

Ver. 26. See ver. 23. They would hardly beleeve it, and therefore are ſo oft aſſured it.