Ezekiel 29

A Prophecy against Pharaoh

¹In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. ³Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord Yahweh says:

Behold, I am against you,

O Pharaoh king of Egypt,

O great monster who lies

among his rivers,

who says, ‘The Nile is mine;

I made it myself.’

• EZK 29:3[NOTE]THE GREAT MONSTER. The Hebrew tannin can mean a sea monster or a crocodile. This Pharaoh was Hophra, Jeremiah 44:30, see Pharaoh Hophra, Jeremiah.

⁴But I will put hooks in your jaws

and cause the fish of your streams

to cling to your scales.

I will haul you up out of your rivers,

and all the fish of your streams

will cling to your scales.

⁵I will leave you in the desert,

you and all the fish of your streams.

You will fall on the open field

and will not be taken away

or gathered for burial.

I have given you as food

to the beasts of the earth

and the birds of the air.

⁶Then all the people of Egypt

will know that I am Yahweh.

For you were only a staff of reeds

to the house of Israel.

• EZK 29:6[NOTE]A STAFF OF REEDS. Egypt promised help, then broke like a reed when Israel leaned on it, 29:7 and Isaiah 36:6.

⁷When Israel took hold of you with their hands,

you splintered, tearing all their shoulders;

when they leaned on you,

you broke, and their backs were wrenched.

The Desolation of Egypt

⁸Therefore this is what the Lord Yahweh says: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from you man and beast. ⁹The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.

Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it,’ ¹⁰therefore I am against you and against your rivers. I will turn the land of Egypt into a ruin, a desolate wasteland from Migdol to Syene, and as far as the border of Cush. ¹¹No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years.

¹²I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and her cities will lie desolate for forty years among the ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.

• EZK 29:12[PROPHECY]Egypt would lie desolate for forty years and her people be scattered → HISTORY: Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Egypt in his 37th year, 568 BC. Found on a broken Babylonian tablet, British Museum BM 33041.MEDIUM

¹³For this is what the Lord Yahweh says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations to which they were scattered. ¹⁴I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.

• EZK 29:14[PROPHECY]Egypt would be a 'base kingdom' → HISTORY: Cambyses of Persia conquered Egypt in 525 BC, and foreigners ruled it most of the time after. Recorded by Herodotus, book 3.

¹⁵Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶Egypt will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity in turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.”

Egypt the Reward of Nebuchadnezzar

¹⁷In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ¹⁸“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.

• EZK 29:17[PROPHECY]Nebuchadnezzar shall have the wages of Egypt for his army in return for his labor against Tyre → HISTORY: Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Egypt in 568 BC, after his long siege of Tyre. Found on a broken Babylonian tablet, British Museum BM 33041.MEDIUM
• EZK 29:18[FULFILLS]Nebuchadnezzar would besiege Tyre and slaughter its mainland villages ← EZK 26:7-11
• EZK 29:18[NOTE]NO WAGES FROM TYRE. Dated April 571 BC, the latest date in the book. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for years and got little for it, so God gives him Egypt as his pay, 29:19. See Tyre and the Causeway.

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord Yahweh says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army. ²⁰I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord Yahweh.

²¹In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”