Ezekiel 29:1

FIRST OF FOUR CHAPTERS DIRECTED AGAINST EGYPT

"The first sixteen verses here are an introduction to the entire four chapters against Egypt. They describe the fate of Egypt, cite the sins of which she was guilty and indicate the nature of her judgment, and her future place among the nations of the world."[1]

Ezekiel has seven oracles against Egypt, the first two of which are in this chapter: (1) Ezekiel 29:1-16; (2) Ezekiel 29:17-21; (3) Ezekiel 30:1-19; (4) Ezekiel 30:20-26; (5) Ezekiel 31; (6) Ezekiel 32:1-16; and (7) Ezekiel 32:17-32.

The date of this prophecy is specific. "It was a year and two days after Nebuchadnezzar began the siege of Jerusalem, and seven months before its destruction."[2] This was in January, 587 B.C.[3] "This was about the time when Pharaoh Hophra's approach toward Jerusalem with an army caused Nebuchadnezzar temporarily to lift the siege, as recorded in Jeremiah 37:5.[4]

The chapter naturally falls into these divisions: (1) the crocodile captured and destroyed (Ezekiel 29:1-7); (2) the allegory applied (Ezekiel 29:8-12); (3) the restoration of Egypt after forty years (Ezekiel 29:13-16); (4) Egypt awarded to Nebuchadnezzar as `wages' for his ruin of Tyre (Ezekiel 29:17-20); and (5) a glimpse of a New Age for Israel (Ezekiel 29:21).

THE CROCODILE CAPTURED AND DESTROYED

Ezekiel 29:1-7

"In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt; speak, and say, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. And I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales: and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, with all the fish of thy rivers which stick unto thy scales. And I will cast thee forth into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered; I have given thee for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens. And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of thee by the hand, thou didst break, and didst rend all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand."

"The twelfth day of the month ..." (Ezekiel 29:1). F. F. Bruce gave this day as the 7th of January, 587 B.C.[5]

"The great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers ..." (Ezekiel 29:3). The word here means crocodile, an appropriate symbol indeed for Pharaoh and his nation. He was a terrible looking monster, not nearly as dangerous as he looked, lethargic and inactive most of the time. Of course, some of our radical commentators automatically find all kinds of mythological connections with a reference of this kind; but as Cooke stated, "Mythological associations are foreign to this context."[6] Furthermore, Pearson, writing in 1962, makes the same affirmation.[7] Despite this, May, quoting some various readings, thought he found here some reflections of Sumerian mythology."[8]

Historically, there is no excuse whatever for seeking sources here in ancient mythology. The crocodile was a well-known symbol of Egypt, found on Roman coins of that vintage, and being universally understood as a symbol of Egypt and its Pharaohs.[9]

"The fish ... which stick to thy scales ..." (Ezekiel 29:4). This represents the subjects, dependents, and allies of Pharaoh who would inevitably share in his ruin and downfall.

"I have given thee for food to the beasts, etc ..." (Ezekiel 29:5). The death prophesied here for Pharaoh was especially repulsive to the Egyptian, due to the care they usually bestowed upon their dead bodies, especially those of the Pharaohs.

Two reasons are here assigned as the prior causes of the terrible punishment God was bringing upon them. (1) Pharaoh had arrogated unto himself divine prerogatives, in the same manner as the prince of Tyre, even claiming to have created the Nile River! (Ezekiel 29:3). (2) Egypt had bitterly deceived and betrayed Israel upon those occasions when, contrary to God's warning, that had formed military alliances with Egypt. They had proved to be a "broken reed" indeed upon which Israel had vainly depended for help. Still another reason is cited later in Ezekiel 29:9b-16. (3) "Egypt possessed an exaggerated sense of self-sufficiency."[10]