Ezekiel 30:15
Ver. 15. And I will pour out my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt,.... Either the city Sais, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; or rather Pelusium, as the Vulgate Latin version, so called from "pelos" which signifies "clay" in the Greek language; and the same "Sin" signifies in the Chaldee, Ps 18:43, and as now called Tineh, fromNyj, "clay": it had a very fine haven, and may be called the strength of Egypt, it lying at the entrance of it; and having a strong fortified tower, it was difficult to enter into it; but could not stand before the wrath and fury of the Lord of hosts, when he sent the Chaldeans to it. It is thought by some to be the same with Pithom, built by the first of the pastor kings of Egypt, and fortified by him, Ex 1:11, according to Manetho {z}, he put into it a garrison of two hundred and forty thousand men; and the same writer says it contained ten thousand acres of land; according to Adrichomius {a}, it was two and a half miles in compass, and near it was a vast hollow, which extended to Mount Cassius, and which made the way into Egypt on that side difficult; and is now, as he says, called "campus de Gallo"; in which he is mistaken, as well as Thevenot, and others, who take it to be the same with Damieta:and I will cut off the multitude of No; the numerous inhabitants of it; hence called "populous No", Na 3:8, or "Hamon No";See Gill on "Eze 30:14"; here, as before observed, the Septuagint version renders it Memphis; as does also the Arabic version. Some take it, as before, to be the Egyptian Thebes, where was a temple dedicated to Jupiter Hammon; and which city, Pausanias {b} says, was reduced to nothing in his time.{z} Apud Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 14. {a} Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 122, 123. {b} Arcadica, sive l. 8. p. 509. Vid. Juvenal. Satyr. 15. ver. 6. Ezekiel 30:16Ver. 16. And I will set fire in Egypt,.... Kindle a war there, which shall consume it; see Eze 30:8:Sin shall have great pain; as a woman in travail, seeing its destruction is just at hand; the same with Pelusium, as before:and No shall be rent asunder, the walls of it shall be broken down by the enemy, or a breach shall be made in it, like the breach of waters which were about it; see Na 3:8:and Noph shall have distresses daily: that is, Memphis, as before; enemies shall surround it daily, as the Targum; shall besiege and distress it, until it is taken: or, "in the daytime"; their enemies should not come as thieves in the night, openly in the day. Abendana interprets it of their unfortunate day, their star being unlucky. Ezekiel 30:17Ver. 17. The young men of Aven and of Phibeseth shall fall by the sword,.... Aven is the same with On, of which Potipherah was priest in Joseph's time and whose daughter he married, Ge 41:45, the same with Heliopolis, or Bethshemesh, the city of the sun, see Jer 43:13,See Gill on "Jer 43:13"; where was the temple of the sun, and where it was worshipped; and so it is rendered by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions. It is called here "Aven", or "vanity", because of the vain and idolatrous worship here performed. Phibeseth is the Bubastis of Herodotus, and called by other writers Bubastus; hence there was a nome or province in Egypt called the Bubastic nome, mentioned by Ptolemy {c}, and others. In this was a temple built to the honour of Diana, where she was worshipped and Herodotus {d} says, that Bubastis, in the Greek tongue, is Diana; here she was worshipped in the form of a cat; and Stephanus {e} observes, that the Egyptians call a cat Bubastus; and it is also said that dead cats salted were buried in this city, as being sacred: according to Diodorus Siculus {f}, it was built for the sake of Isis; and Hillerus {g} says, that in the Abyssine language it was called "Phy' mly' sith"; that is, the portion of the wife, namely of Isis married to Osiris, by whom this city was built to the honour of her; as appears by the pillar of Isis, on which these words are inscribed,"for me the city of Bubastia is built; be glad, be glad, O Egypt, which brought me up.''This place is now called Bishbesh, according to Dr. Shaw {h}: now the young men of both these places, though they might exert themselves in the defence of them, yet should fail therein, and fall by the sword of the Chaldeans:and these cities shall go into captivity; the rest of the inhabitants of the cities of Aven and Pibeseth, that shall not fall by the sword, shall be carried captive into other lands. Joseph Kimchi supplies "women" instead of "cities"; and thinks, that as the males are mentioned before, the females are understood here. The Targum is,"they that served them shall go into captivity;''that served the idols worshipped in these cities.{c} Geograph. l. 4. c. 5. {d} Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 59, 138, 156. {e} De Urbibus. {f} Bibliothec l. 1. p. 24. {g} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 672. {h} Travels, p. 306. Ed. 2. Ezekiel 30:18Ver. 18. At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened,.... The same with Hanes in Isa 30:4 and Tahapanes in Jer 2:16 and Tahpanhes, Jer 43:7, it was a royal seat of the kings of Egypt: there was in Solomon's time a queen of Egypt of this name, and perhaps it might be so called from her, 1Ki 11:19. It is generally thought to be the Daphne of Pelusium, it being near that city; though Junius takes it to be a place in another part of Egypt, at a great distance, which Herodotus {i} calls Tahcompso, an island encompassed by the Nile; and by Ptolemy {k} called Metacompso: now at this place the day should be darkened; or should "restrain" {l}, as it may be rendered; that is, its light; it should be a calamitous and mournful time with the inhabitants of it:when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt; the yokes they put upon the necks of others, who now should be freed from them: or, "the sceptres of Egypt", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; the regalia of their kings, which might lie in this place; it being a royal seat where Pharaoh had a house, as appears from Jer 43:9:and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her; all that grandeur and magnificence which appeared in the courts of the kings of Egypt in this place:as for her, a cloud shall cover her; as for this city, a cloud of calamity shall cover it, so as its glory shall not be seen. The Targum is,"a king with his army shall cover her as a cloud ascends and covers the earth:''and her daughters shall go into captivity; which may be taken either in a literal sense for the daughters of the inhabitants of this place, which must be a great affliction to their tender parents, to have them forced away by rude soldiers, and carried captive into distant lands; or in a figurative sense, for the villages and the inhabitants of them round about this city; it being usual to represent a city as a mother, and its villages as daughters; and so the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi interpret it.{i} Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 29. {k} Geograph. l. 4. c. 5. {l} Kvx "prohibuit", Montanus; "vitavit", Munster; "cohibuit", Cocceius; "probibebit, arcebit", Vatablus; so Ben Melech. Ezekiel 30:19Ver. 19. Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt,.... In the several provinces, and in the several cities of it before mentioned, and in all other places; even the judgments of fire, famine, sword, and captivity:and they shall know that I am the Lord; God omniscient and omnipotent, by the, judgments executed; and own the same: this more especially they did, when the Gospel was preached among them, and many were converted by it in the times of the apostles. Ezekiel 30:20Ver. 20. And it came to pass in the eleventh year,.... Of Zedekiah's reign, and Jehoiachin's captivity; some little time after the prophecy in Eze 19:1, here the prophecies come into their order again, being interrupted by those of a much later date, at the end of the preceding chapter, and the former part of this:in the first month, in the seventh day of the month; the month Nisan, which answers to part of March, and part of April; the seventh day must be about the twenty ninth of March; but, according to Bishop Usher {m}, it was on the twenty sixth of April, on the third day of the week (Tuesday), in 3416 A.M. or before Christ 588: this was given out three months and two days before Jerusalem was taken:that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying; as follows:{m} Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3416. Ezekiel 30:21Ver. 21. Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Not Pharaohnecho, king of Egypt, whose army was overthrown at Carchemish by the king of Babylon, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; when the latter took from the former all that belonged to him between the river of Egypt and the river Euphrates; by which he was so weakened and dispirited, that he could not stir any more out of his own land, Jer 46:2 and of him Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; but Pharaohhophra, or Apries, who was defeated by the Cyreneans, and saved himself by flight; See Gill on "Eze 29:4":and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it; a metaphor taken from chirurgeons, who, having set broken bones, put on a bandage or rollers of linen, or such like stuff, to keep them tight; but nothing of this kind should be done; hereby suggesting that Egypt should receive such a blow or wound as would be incurable; see Jer 46:11:to make it strong to hold the sword; which it should not be able to do, or to make war any more, at least with success, or to defend itself. Ezekiel 30:22Ver. 22. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... The then present king of Egypt, whose name was Hophra or Apries, Jer 44:30:and I will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken: both his arms, the sound and the broken one, his whole power, strength, and dominion; meaning that that part of his kingdom which lay between the two rivers of Egypt and Euphrates, that had been taken away by the king of Babylon, should remain so; and the other part of his kingdom should fall a prey to him also:and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand; so that he should be so far from being so able to make use of the sword, that he should not be able to hold it; it should drop out of his hand; nor should he be able to take it up again, and make war, either offensive or defensive. Ezekiel 30:23Ver. 23. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations,.... Among the several provinces of Babylon, and other places, where the Chaldeans should carry or send them:and will disperse them through the countries: the same thing repeated in different words for the confirmation of it. Ezekiel 30:24Ver. 24. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon,.... Give him a commission to make war; direct his councils; supply him with all necessaries; animate and encourage his soldiers; and give him success in all his enterprises:and put my sword in his hand; which confirms the above sense, that he should have power and authority from the Lord to attack the king of Egypt, and should gain a victory over him; since it was not his own sword he drew, but the sword of the Lord of hosts; which coming from him, and having his commission, cannot fail of doing execution;but will break Pharaoh's arms; as before in Eze 30:21:and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man; that is, before the king of Babylon; by whom, as an instrument, his arms shall be broken, and his power destroyed; and he be like a man in the agonies of death, just expiring, not able to speak, but groaning out his life under the inexpressible anguish of broken bones, and none to set them. Ezekiel 30:25Ver. 25. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon,.... Which is repeated for the sake of confirmation:and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down: as when a man's arms are broken; and he shall not be able to lift them up and defend himself:and they shall know that I am the Lord; namely, the Egyptians, as in Eze 30:19:when I shall have put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt; that is, when he shall have a commission to carry the war into Egypt; and he shall spread desolation over all the land, cutting off the inhabitants of it everywhere, as before described in this chapter. Ezekiel 30:26Ver. 26. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries,.... Of which they might assure themselves, since the Lord had before spoken it, and here again repeats it:and they shall know that I am the Lord; whose name alone is Jehovah, and does whatsoever he pleases; sets up kings, and puts them down; strengthens and weakens kingdoms just as seems good in his sight; none having any power but what is given by him, and which he can take away when he thinks fit.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.