“‘Whom do you surpass
In beauty?
Go down!
Be laid to rest
With the uncircumcised!’
They shall fall
Among those
Who are killed
By the sword.
Egypt has been
Handed over
To the sword.
Carry away
Both it
With its hordes!
The mighty chiefs
Shall speak of them,
With their helpers,
Out of the midst of Sheol.
‘They have come down!
They lie still!
The uncircumcised,
Killed by the sword.’”
This section opens with a sarcastic question about who is more beautiful. The response is that they are to go down and lie with the uncircumcised people and those killed by the sword. Egypt with the multitude of their inhabitants has been handed over to death. The mighty chiefs with their helpers will speak to them in the middle of Sheol, the shadowy underworld of the afterlife. They will say that the Egyptians have come down to lie quietly with the uncircumcised and those killed by the sword, which is the worst place in Sheol.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 