“On that day,
I will cause
A horn
To spout up
For the house
Of Israel.
I will open
Your lips
Among them.
Then they will know
That I am Yahweh.”
On the day that Yahweh would choose, the horn of David would spring up again in the house of Israel. He was going to open up their lips so that they would know that he was Yahweh, their God. Thus Israel would be restored to its Davidic kingdom glory.
“Therefore,
Thus says Yahweh God!
‘I will give the land
Of Egypt
To King Nebuchadnezzar
Of Babylon.
He shall carry off
Its wealth.
He shall despoil it.
He shall plunder it.
It shall be
The wages
For his army.
I have given him
The land
Of Egypt
As his payment
For which he labored.
Because they worked
For me.’
Says Yahweh God.”
In a perverse sort of way, Yahweh was going to give King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon the land of Egypt as a compensation for not getting much from the capture of Tyre. Thus, the king of Babylon would get the wealth of Egypt. He was going to wreck and plunder Egypt to get the wages for his army. Egypt was the payment to the king of Babylon for doing the work of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
“In the twenty-seventh year,
In the first month,
On the first day
Of the month,
The word of Yahweh
Came to me.
‘Son of man!
King Nebuchadnezzar
Of Babylon
Made his army
Labor hard
Against Tyre.
Every head
Was made bald.
Every shoulder
Was rubbed bare.
Yet neither he
Nor his army
Got anything
From Tyre
To pay
For the labor
That he had expended.”
This appears to be one of the last oracles of Ezekiel. Once again, there is an exact date, the 1st day of the 1st month of the 27th year of King Zedekiah, making it 571 BCE, well after the captivity of Jerusalem. As usual, the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel, the son of man. Yahweh explained how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had made his army work very hard against Tyre. They were baldheaded and wore out their shoulders. However, neither he nor his army got anything out of Tyre to pay for all the energy that they had spent against it.
“Thus says Yahweh God!
‘At the end of forty years,
I will gather
The Egyptians
From the people
Among whom
They were scattered.
I will restore
The fortunes of Egypt.
I will bring them back
To the land of Pathros,
The land of their origin.
There they shall be
A lowly kingdom.
It shall be the lowliest
Of the kingdoms.
It shall never again
Exalt itself
Above the nations.
I will make them
So small
That they will never again
Rule over the nations.
The Egyptians shall never again
Be the reliance
Of the house of Israel.
They will recall
Their iniquity,
When they turned
To them
For aid.
Then they will know
That I am Yahweh God!’”
Yahweh told Ezekiel that at end of forty years, he would gather the Egyptians from wherever they were scattered. He was going to restore the fortunes of Egypt. He was going to bring them back to Pathros, the southern part of Egypt near Thebes, where they originally came from. However, this would be a low kingdom that would not exalt itself among the various nations. They would be so small that they would never again rule over other countries. Israel would not rely on Egypt again. They would recall their iniquity when they turned to them for aid. They would all know that Yahweh was God.
“No human foot
Shall pass through Egypt.
No animal foot
Shall pass through it.
It shall be uninhabited
Forty years.
I will make
The land of Egypt
A desolation
Among desolated countries.
Her cities shall be
A desolation
Forty years
Among cities
That are laid waste.
I will scatter
The Egyptians
Among the nations.
I will disperse them
Among the countries.”
Yahweh, via Ezekiel, said that no humans or animals would set foot in Egypt, because it was going to be uninhabited for 40 years. Thus the 40 years was similar to the 40 years in the wilderness for the Israelites. Egypt was going to be a land of desolation among desolated countries since her cities would be laid waste for 40 years. The Egyptians would also be scattered and dispersed among the various nations and countries. Actually the Persians took over Egypt in 525 BCE.
“Therefore,
Thus says Yahweh God!
I will bring
A sword
Upon you.
I will cut off
From you
Human beings
With animals.
The land of Egypt
Shall be
A desolation
It shall be
A waste.
Then they will know
That I am Yahweh.
Because you said.
‘The Nile is mine.
I made it.’
Therefore,
I am against you.
I am against your channels.
I will make the land
Of Egypt
An utter waste,
A desolation,
From Migdol
To Syene,
As far as the border
Of Ethiopia.”
Yahweh God said that he was going to bring a sword against Pharaoh and his allies. He was going to cut them off from all human beings and animals. The land of Egypt would be a desolation and a waste. Then they would know that Yahweh was God. Because they had said that the Nile River was his and he had made it, Yahweh was going to be against the Egyptian sea dragon Pharaoh of the Nile River with all its Delta channels. He was going to make the land of Egypt an utter waste, a desolation, from the northern town of Migdol to the southern town of Syene, near the Ethiopian border.
“I will fling you
Into the wilderness.
You!
With all the fish
Of your channels!
You shall fall
In the open field!
You will not be gathered.
You will not be buried.
I have given you
As food
To the animals
Of the earth,
To the birds
Of the air.
Then all the inhabitants
Of Egypt
Shall know
That I am Yahweh.
Because they were
A staff of the reed
To the house of Israel.
When they grasped you
With the hand,
You broke down.
You tore
All their shoulders.
When they leaned
On you,
You broke down.
You made
All their legs
Unsteady.”
Yahweh was going to fling this sea dragon of Pharaoh, with all his fish in the Nile River channels, into the wilderness. They would then fall into an open field, where they would not be gathered or buried. The animals of the earth and the birds of the air would then eat them as food as they lay in the open fields. Then all the inhabitants of Egypt would know that Yahweh was God. They were like a reed to the house of Israel. When they grasped this dragon and his fish with their hands, they broke down. They tore all their shoulders when they leaned on these fish. Their legs became unsteady.
“Speak!
Say!
Thus says Yahweh God!
‘I am against you!
Pharaoh!
King of Egypt!
The great dragon
Sprawling In the midst
Of its channels!
Saying!
‘My Nile is my own!
I made it for myself.’
I will put hooks
In your jaws.
I will make the fish
Of your channels
Stick to your scales.
I will draw you up
From your channels,
With all the fish
Of your channels
Sticking to your scales.’”
Ezekiel was told to speak against the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who was described as a great dragon in the midst of the various Nile channels in the Delta area. This great dragon Pharaoh was proclaiming that the Nile River belonged to him. Yahweh said that he was going to put hooks into this dragon’s jaws. The various fish in the Nile channels in the Delta area would have their scales stick to these tributaries. In other words, they would die. These offshoots of the Nile River were an allusion to the various countries that had mercenary troops in Egypt.
“In the tenth year,
In the tenth month,
On the twelfth day
Of the month,
The word of Yahweh
Came to me.
‘Son of man!
Set your face
Against Pharaoh,
King of Egypt!
Prophesy
Against him!
Prophesy
Against all Egypt!’”
Once again there was a specific date for this oracle of Yahweh to Ezekiel, the son of man. It was the 10th year of King Zedekiah, the 12th day of the 10th month, probably early 587 BCE. Ezekiel continued to use the first-person singular, as he had throughout this work. This time Yahweh wanted him to look towards Egypt. He was to prophesize against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, probably Pharaoh Hophra, as well as all of Egypt.
“The Israelites
Shall live
In safety
In the land.
They shall
Build houses.
They shall
Plant vineyards.
They shall live
In safety.
I will execute
Judgments
Upon all their neighbors
Who have treated them
With contempt.
Then they shall know
That I am Yahweh,
Their God.”
These Israelites would live in safety in their own land. They would build houses and plant vineyards. They would be safe, because Yahweh was going to execute his judgments on all their neighbors who have treated them contemptuously. They would all know that Yahweh was their God.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 