Ezekiel 32:1

FINAL CHAPTER AGAINST EGYPT WITH ORACLES (6) Ezekiel 32:1-16 AND (7) Ezekiel 32:17-32

This chapter has the final two of seven oracles against Egypt in Ezekiel 29-32. The first of these, Ezekiel 32:1-16 is a prophecy of the, "Monster of Egypt, caught, slain and devoured."[1] There are two parts of this, (a) the allegorical representation of it (Ezekiel 32:1-10), and (b) a literal explanation of what that meant (Ezekiel 32:11-16).

The final oracle recounts the transfer of Egypt and his multitude to Sheol, the realm of the dead, a remarkable paragraph which constitutes the most extensive discussion in the Old Testament on the subject of the Underworld. "It has the most graphic portrayal of the Pit, or Sheol, in the Old Testament."[2]

Cooke stated that it illustrates more vividly than any other passage in the Old Testament the notions of the Underworld current in those times.[3] (1) It is international and universal. Great and small, foreign and remote peoples are all there. (2) It is conceived of as "in the depths of the earth." The grave is only six feet deep; but in the sense of its significance it indeed goes to the "heart of the earth," as Jesus stated in Matthew 12:40. (3) The dead lie there prostrate, harmless and extinct. (4) Such distinctions as race and rank so visible on earth seem still to be retained in death. (5) Isaiah even conceived of the dead as being capable of emotions, and even of speech (Isaiah 14), using such a conception to teach spiritual truth, but perhaps not intending that we should understand that there is any capability whatever pertaining to the dead.

Two dates are given for the chapter: March 15,586 B.C. from the LXX, and March 3,585 B.C. from the text here. Brace preferred that in the LXX;[4] and Keil vigorously supported our text in ASV.[5] At this time, Jerusalem had already fallen.

THE CROCODILE CAPTURED; SLAIN; AND DEVOURED (EZEK. 32:1-10)

Ezekiel 32:1-10

"And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou wast likened unto a young lion of the nations: yet thou art as a monster in the seas; and thou didst break forth with thy rivers, and troubleth the waters with thy feet, and foulest thy rivers. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will spread out my net upon thee with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring thee up in my net. And I will leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the field, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle upon thee, and I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with thee. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of thee. And when I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah. I will also vex the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring thy destruction upon the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known. Yea, I will make many peoples amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall."

"Thou wast likened unto a young lion ..." (Ezekiel 32:2). Pharaoh probably looked upon himself as `a young lion among the nations'; but God here told him what he was really like.

"Yet thou art as a monster in the seas ..." (Ezekiel 32:3). "The seas here, as in Ezekiel 29:3 where it reads `monster in the midst of the rivers,' is the Nile and its spangled delta exits. The `monster' is the crocodile."[6]

It is a totally unchristian viewpoint that drags Babylonian mythology into this prophecy. See our comment in the previous chapter regarding the errors involved in seeking evidence of mythological connections in the prophecies of God.

Bunn's allegation was that "the monster" of this passage, "May stand for the great dragon Tiamat in Babylonian mythology, or perhaps Apophis, the primordial god of chaos in Egyptian mythology ... more likely it is the latter."[7]

If such imaginary characters had been intended by Ezekiel, would he not have named them? On the contrary, he used a word which in Hebrew means any large sea-creature, including the crocodile. Or, could Bunn possibly have meant that Jehovah himself, mentioned in the same breath as the author of this statement, recognized the actual existence of mythological creatures like Apophis or Tiamat? Whatever he meant by this, his comment must be disallowed as inaccurate and untrustworthy.

As Keil noted, "Pharaoh is here compared to a crocodile, which stirs up the streams, muddying and fouling them, doing so with his mouth and his feet, rendering turbid all that was pure."[8]

"And I will leave thee upon the land ..." (Ezekiel 32:4). The picture of what would happen to the crocodile was thus described by Pearson, "He would be taken in a great net, dragged out of his river retreat and left to die, out of his element, on the dry land, and his dead carcass would be left to provide food for the birds of the heavens and the wild beasts of the earth."[9]

The darkening of the sun, moon and stars is a figure often encountered in the Scriptures. It carries the meaning of the destruction of all of the great leaders and public officials of a nation or kingdom.

In the following verses (Ezekiel 32:11-16), "All metaphors are abandoned, and the desolation of Egypt is announced in literal language as something to be accomplished by the sword of Babylon, `the most terrible of the nations.'"[10]