“Thus says Yahweh!
‘Those who support Egypt
Shall fall.
Its proud might
Shall come down.
From Migdol
To Syene.
They shall fall
Within it
By the sword.’
Says Yahweh God.”
Repeating what was said in the previous chapter, Yahweh, via Ezekiel, said that those supporting Egypt would also fall. The pride of Egypt would be abolished from the northern town of Migdol to the southern town of Syene, near the Ethiopian border. All would die by the sword.
“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.
“Look!
These shall come from far away.
Look!
These shall come from the north.
These shall come from the west.
These shall come from the land of Syene.”
The new Israelites would come from all over. Second Isaiah has them come from the north and the west. There is also a special mention of the city of Syene, which is on the border of Egypt and Ethiopia, what is now called Assouan. The book of Ezekiel, the prophet, also mentions this town in chapters 29-30, but there is no other mention of it in the biblical literature.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 