Ezekiel 32

AND it came to pass in the twelfth year Of the Captivity of Ieconiah., in the twelfth month Answering to part of our February, and part of March, and called S bat., in the first And was the 15th of Febr. vet. stil. and the 5th new stile. day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, take See chap. 19. ver. 1. let. a. b. c. and hap. 27. ver. 2. let. a. b. up a lamentation for Pharaoh Hop ra. king of Egypt, and say unto him, thou are like a young lion This Hieroglyphick see chap. 19. ver. 3. let. s. and ver 6. let. i. of the nations Among, or to the Nations round about thee, spoiling all thou canst, a cruel devourer abroad., and thou art as a whale A Crocodile, a devouring Dragon in thy Rivers at home, for there the Crocodiles lay, and did m schief, though sometimes they went down the River to the Sea. in the seas That comes forth to seek prey, and devour, so a Lion at Land, a Whale, or Crocodile rather, at S, ravenous every where. and thou camest forth with thy rivers Raisedst mighty A mies, and didst lead them out ag inst thy Neighbours, as in particular, cap. 29.3, 4. and troubledst the waters The People, Kingdoms, and Kings near thee. with thy feet With thy Souldiers., and fouledst Disturbedst, and mudd edst their pleasant clearness, and madest them unfit to drink, i. e, Didst spoil all the pleasant and useful conveniencies of thy Neighbours. their rivers.

Thus says the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out A large, long, and wide net, drawn out to full extent. my net With which both Lions, and Crocodiles might be taken, and in which this Lion and Crocodile should certainly be taken; for God, whose hand never erreth, will spread the net. over thee, with a company of many In the Countreys, where these Creatures were hunted; for they went in mighty companies to the Game, as they accounted it. people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. Drag thee along to destroy thee, pull thee up out of the Pit, in which the Net was laid to take the Lion to kill him and draw this Crocodile up out of the water for the same end; In brief, War by land, and Sea by a confederacy of many people against Hopbra shall be Gods ner, wherein he shall be taken, kept a Prisoner, as he was, and at last strangled, see chap. 29. ver. 4. let. t.

Then will I leave thee Thy beaten Army shall be slain, see chap. 29.5. ver. it was literally fulfilled in the Deserts of Lybia, where the slain of Hophr 's Army were left to be devoured by Fowles, and Beasts. Metaphorically 'tis gathering a mixture of people, Souldiers, like ravenous Birds and Beasts from all parts to spoil Egypt. upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain They should not be removed, till filled with the spoils of Egypt. upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole The Forreign, and mercenary Souldiers shall be enricht by the slaughter, and plunder of the Egyptians. earth with thee.

And I will lay Throw, or cast. thy flesh The Carcasses of thy slain men, and Souldiers. upon the mountains Whither they retired for safety., and fill Not so fill them, as to equal them in height with Hills, but we say a man fills a place, who scatters much, or many things, though but on the surface, so here Va leys filled. the valleys with thy height With the Carcasses of thy Princes, as the Chald. Paraphrast I think hits right: And so the French (Et remplirai les valle s de tes Glorieux qu'on aura abbatus.).

I will also water Most plentifully pour out thy blood, as water is poured out to water Land, when men float their grounds. with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest Either because of the plenty thereof, wherein they swim'd, as we speak, or else because this King was a Whale, or Crocodile, his dwelling must be the Waters, and in them he swimmeth., even to the mountains An Hyperbole, blood shall be poured sorth, as if it were to rise to the very mountains, and cover them, or thy blood shall be shed through all thy plain Countrey, to the very Mountains, which I think are toward the South-west parts toward Aethiopia; so they should be slain from Migdol or Magdala to Syene, as chap. 29.10.; and the rivers shall be full of thee Of thy Blood, and of thy Carcasses cast into the Rivers by thine Enemies, or drown'd in attempting flight by water from the drawn sword..

And when I shall put thee As a Torch is extinguisht, Isa. 43.17. so I will put out thy light, and turn thee into darkness. out, I will cover Either by dark Vapours that arise from Blood, and putrifying Carcasses, which darken the Heavens, or 'tis a Description of great sorrows, fears, troubles, and perplexities; or else it may intimate particularly the total ruine of the whole Kingdom, in which the best, greatest, and noblest parts are, as Heaven, suppose the Government, the Sun, the King, the Moon, the Queen, the Stars, the Princes, and Nobles, Bright Lights, the most eminent of the Subjects for Wisdom, and Understanding, and then the Land, the Common People. All shall be covered with Clouds, and darkness of misery first, and sorrow next; or 'tis possible, that some unusual darknesses might be seen in the Heavens, and on the Earth about that time. the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land; says the Lord GOD. These two foregoing verses contain the same thing four times with a little variation, repeated to affect the hearer, and to impress it the more deeply on their minds.

I will also vex It speaks a passion mixt, and made up with grief for what is done, fear of the consequence of it, Anger against him, that did it, and an astonishment at the report, and it seiseth the heart, and spirits of the hearers. the hearts of many And great Nations. people, when I shall bring thy destruction Either the same of it, or the remainders that fled timely from thy destruction, or thy Captives, who after thou art destroyed, are carryed away, and the news of thy fall with them, or when the like ruin and destruction shall fall upon them. among the nations, into the countreys which thou hast not known Such as were strangers to Egypt, and which Egypt had no Commerce with, shall be troubled with apprehension what mischief may come upon the World from so mighty a Conqueror, and by the accession of so great a Kingdom, and Power, as that of Egypt..

Yea, I will make many And mighty people too. people amazed Astonisht and puzzel'd not knowing what resolutions to take, what advices to follow, or what to do. at thee, and their kings Who usually are, and in reason should be undaunted, and discovers no signs of fear, shall discover mighty disorders of fear and doubt, both for Egypt, and themselves. shall be horribly Vid. chap. 27. ver. 35. let, e. f. afraid for thee when I shall brandish Or make my sword pass with such speed, as if it did fly along their borders, or hover near them, and so threaten them. my sword before them; and they shall tremble Be greatly afraid, lest Nebuchadnezzar, who here is Gods Sword, should smite them. at every moment, every man Every one of the Kings, whose Kingdoms are near to Egypt, and by whose Borders the Babylonish Army must pass in their marches. for his own life They should be solicitous, not for the outmost parts of their Kingdoms, or for their Subjects, but for their own life., in the day of thy When they shall hear of Hophra beaten, taken, imprisoned, his Kingdom taken from him, and he dead by a shameful death, and all his people slain, captivated, spoiled, or fled. fall.

For thus says the Lord GOD; the sword See chap. 30.24, 25. of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee Both King, and Kingdom of Egypt..

By the swords of the mighty The Souldiers of Nebuchadnezzar helpt also by Amasis, and the rebellious Egyptians, that joined with Amasis and Nebuchadnezzar against their own King. will I cause the multitude to fall The people of the Land, which were numerous before they were wasted by these Wars., the terrible See chap. 31. ver. 12. let. d. of the nations all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp Break her Strength, rob her Treasures, sack her Cities, captivate her People, and make the Kingdom Tributary, and so stain all her Glory. of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed From high to low, the great, and the mean promiscuously shall perish..

I will destroy also all the beasts The Sheep, and Oxen devoured by hungry Chaldaean Souldiers, or else driven away: The Horses taken up to mount the Horsemen of the Chaldee Army, whose own Horses were tired, or spoiled. thereof from besides the great The Pastures lying along the Rivers side, and along their Canals, should be emptied of all Cattel, with which once they were full. waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them There should be so few men left in Egypt, that they should not, as formerly, disturb the waters by digging, swimming, or rowing on them, or else, no more trouble the waters with the passing of mighty Armies over them to invade their Neighbours. any more, nor the hoofs So few Horse or Cows, that they should not at watering times, or in heat of the day soul the waters by running into them, and stamping, or trampling in them: but the Waters shall continue pure, and undisturb'd. of beasts trouble l them.

Then will I make their waters deep The sense literally this, the Waters undisturbed shall be clear, the mud settled at the bottom, and the waters above it of good depth,, and cause their rivers to run like oyl Smooth, and softly, as oyl, glides along, which will be when, neither Men, nor Cattel d sturb the Rivers: but figuratively waters, and Rivers are People, and Nations, and those near to and once disturbed, and put into confusion by Egypt, at whose fall all those troubles shall cease, the people shall settle in quiet State, and Affairs shall, like a quieted River, run smoothly, and in great peace., says the Lord GOD.

When The former verse assures us of what it foretold and the assurance is the Word, and Truth of God; this ver e tells us, when this shall be. I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the countrey shall be destitute This phrase is chap. 12.19. let. y. of that Men; and Women, Cattle, Food, Wealth, and Peace. whereof it was full, when I shall smite By the Sword, the destroying Sword of the Chaldaeans. all them that dwell therein, then shall they know Then shall they confess it to the Glory of God's Power, and Justice. that I am the LORD.

This This heavy, mournful, and sad account, which the Prophet has given of the State of Egypt. is the lamentation The Funeral Speech of this Kingdom, for this, as Funeral Orations, tell us what was their Antient Glory, and what is now their miserable reproach and loss. wherewith they Her Friends, or the Egyptians themselves rather. shall lament her: the daughters This may be expository of the former, and tell us who they are, that shall lament Egypt. The Provinces, and Cities of their Neighbouring Nations, or literally, the Daughters, the tender hearted Virgins, and Women abroad. of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt Ruin'd Egypt., and for all her multitude The common people, many of which suffered for what they could not prevent, a sort of people, that were fitter to be pitied, and spared, then to be rob'd, and slain, a sort of people, none but unrelenting hearts could be harsh to, or hasty with., says the Lord GOD.

It came to pass also in the twelfth year See ver. 1. let. a. b., in the fifteenth day About the 9th of February New Stile, or the 1st. of March, Old Stile. of the moneth, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, wail Prepare the Funeral Ceremonies at the burial of Egypt, compose a suitable Song or Speech, utter it with a like suitableness to the sad occasion. Ier. 9.17, 18, 19. and Amos 5.16. use the word, and the places read will explain this. for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down Either declare, that they shall be cast down from their height, and glory, or because this was done already, rather lay them down as dead in the Grave, bring him to his Grave, as the word is used with addition of Sheol. 1 King. 2.9. and much like are chap.. 26.20. let. b. d. and chap. 31.16. let. u., even her, and the daughters And celebrate the Funerals of other Cities, and Kingdoms, that lie buried in their own ruines, and other mens oblivion. of the famous nations, unto the nether parts A well known description of the state of the Dead, and the Grave. of the earth, with them that go down into the pit Usually this is no more, than a common Description of mens going to the dust in their Burial, but here it includes more. The Egyptians affected to be buried, either in the Isle Chemnis, or in the Pyramids, their Kings, and great ones thus would be laid by themselves, but Ezekiel provides them their grave among common people, burys them, where they fall; for they shall not have what they account so much of in their Funeral..

Whom The Prophet begins with this question Dialogue-wise, Art thou better than others, that thou shouldest not die, and be laid in dust, as well as all others; speak Hophra, if thou hast any priviledge to plead, what hast thou to say, why thou shouldest not go down to the Pit, as a despised mortal? dost thou pass in beauty? go down The Prophet hearing no plea of Priviledge adjudgeth him to the Grave, or lays him down with somewhat a sarcasm, go down like others., and be thou laid Take up thy Lodging, thy long, dark, and dismal recess where thy dust and bones shall never be known by any Royal Figure. with the uncircumcised Among prophane and loathed Carcasses, such the uncircumcised were in the opinion of the circumcised, and Herodotus in Euterpe says, the Egyptians were circumcised. However in Scriptures, a Burial with the uncircumcised is a note of dishonour, and contempt; thus for the King and Princes.. The whole, from this verse, is a most Elegant personating of the Dead, as if sensible, and acquainted, and discoursing with, and rejoycing at the fall of proud Tyrants, who took not warning by their all. Such a Prosspopaeia you have Isa. 14. In this Chapter, the Actors, are the Prophet, the King of Egypt, and his people, and their Auxiliaries.

They The Egyptians. shall fall in the midst In Battle shall die. of them that are slain by the sword Of either one another in civil War, or of their Neighbours, they invaded, or of Babylonians, that invaded them.: she is delivered The whole Egyptian Kingdom is given up of God. to the sword Of wasting Enemies, especially of the Chaldaean.: draw Make no Ceremony more than usually is made, when common Souldiers slain in the Field, where the Battle is fought, are drag'd by scores into mighty pits, and thrown into them promiscuously; or, as the enterlude will bear it, suppose any of them unwilling to stoop, draw them to it against their will. her and all her multitudes Of Souldiers, and People, Subjects, Allies, and helpers of Egypt.. Now the Prophet determines concerning the people, which die as others, fall undistinguisht, and, as such undistinguisht, must be laid in the pit.

The strong The powerful, the valiant, whose natural strength of Body was great, and their courage greater, those that were strongest. among the mighty For Feats, they did, by which it appeared they might, compared with others, pass for Giants, Mighty Warriours, Conquerors, and Rulers. shall speak to him The King of Egypt. out of the midst of hell Or, rather the Grave, where they lie without strength, as dead Mortals, tho' while they lived, they bore themselves, as if Gods, and immortal. with them that help Either these great ones shall speak to Hophra's helpers, or else these his friends slain in his quarrel, and dead before him, shall speak to him. him: they are gone down To the Grave, See ver. 18. let. d., they lie Neglected, and forgotten, or remembred with contempt, see ver. 19. let. i. uncircumcised, slain by the sword. The Prophet seems in this verse to introduce the next speakers in this Parlee, and bringing them in, gives their character.

Ashur The famous, warlike, victorious Kings of Assyria. is there In the state of the dead, in the Land of Darkness, and Oblivion. and all her company Princes, Captains, Souldiers, Subjects, and Confederates.: his graves are about him Perhaps his the greater, yet a Grave, and they about him, who were slain with him.: all of them slain Some in Wars, whilest the Kingdom began, grew, and flourisht, others, when the Kingdom was destroyed, these fell by the sword, a while their sword was longest, at last a longer sword, that of Arbaces the Mede, with his complices wounds Ashur to the heart, and he is brought to the Grave., fallen by the sword.

Whose At least for Decorum here is supposed a spacious Vault, or Pit, in midst whereof the King of Ahur in a stately Tomb lies buried, and round about the Vault places to lay others dead with him, and in his cause, some of his more famous Captains, and Commanders. graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company The common Subjects, and Souldiers of the Assyrian Empire, all buried undistinguisht about her, see ver. 22. let. d. is found about her The ruins of an Empire are its Grave, and so all the Subjects of this Empire lie buried with it. grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terrour Were a terrour to all they would be Enemies to; and proudly boasted of, and inhumanely used, their power now lie quiet, their dust little regarded, less feared, and least of all pitied. in the land of the living While they were in the Land of the living, a periphrasis of life..

There is Elam The Persians, and their great, famous Kings, who lived in former days., and all her multitude Ver. 22. l t. c. and r. 23. l t. g. h. round about her grave, all of them slain Vid. v r. 22., fallen by the sword, which are gone down See er 20. l t.. uncircumcised Vid. v r. 20. l t. z. into the nether parts Vid. ver. 1. l t. d. of the earth, which caused their terrour See v r. 23. let. i. in the land of the living; yet have they born their shame God, and Man poured contemp upon them and punisht them for their pride, and turn d t eir Glory into shame whose vices, and miscarriages are more remembr d, then their Noble Facts, and Glorious Atc ievement. with them that go down to the pit.

They have set her a bed ome co c ive t e Prophet may allude to the manner of bur ing ith the, who had their Coffins, or Sepulchri, in which with balms and spices the dead were kept, and these Ch sts placed in midst of places provided for them; in such is the K ng of here placed with his slaughterd Captains a out him, Vid. v r. 23. let. h. in the midst of the slain u with all her multitude ver. 22. let. c.; her graves are round about.. l t. d. him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terrour was caused in the land of the living, yet have they born their shame ver. 24. let. s. with them that go down to the pit; he is put in the midst See ver. 20. let. l. of them that be slain.

There is Meshech See chap. 27.. 13. let. l., Tubal Vid. c ap. 27. ver. 13. let. k. to which interpre tion I still adhere, adding that in the full extent of these Mos hi, and, these Cappado ians, and Albanians, the may be in luded, many of which were next Neighbours to them. i of opinion that the are here meant, and so am I, but 'twill be said, they never had such a se le Kingdom worth noting. 'Tis true of that barbarous people no account, that ere they were Lords of the World yet they caused their terrour in the Land of the Living, were slain by the Sword under the Command and in the Expeditions of their Kings into Asi, who were accompanied with her multitudes. reports they wasted Asia 3 0 years before Ro was thought of, and that's about 1082 years before Christ's b rth. Again we find them in armes, (no doubt in numbers much like what they appeared in, when To ris their Queen destroyed C rus, or when they have moved against their Neighbours in later days) and with those armes wasted the Cimmerii, a people seated near them on the Euxine Sea, and M otis pal s, and about that time they did under their Chief ains waste Asia, they forced Cyaxares from the siege of Ni eve such consi rable strength they were then of, this was 634 before Christ's birth, about 117 after Rome was built; about this time, or in this expedition, they took Sardis the Royal seat of Crae us, to which Ovid gave the Title of Great, only the Castle held out. These Scythians in those days were a terrour to the Nations. Nay Hel ious tells me from Herodotus, that they had the Imperial Power, were Lords of Asia for 28 years, and it seems, that their power was such, Cyaxares was glad to decline plain dealing, and to overthrow them by a wile, as Calvisius tells us ad Ann. M. 3344, and the help of Halyattes, King of the Lydians. These things were fresh in memory when Ezekiel prophesied thus against Egypt, for they fell out about the Eighth or Ninth year of Pharaoh Necho, some Fourteen years before Pharaoh Hophra came to the Crown; now about the Sixth year of his Reign, came this word of the Lord to Ezekiel; so that the Prophet might well mention these, as instances of Gods power abating the pride, and destroying the Kingdome of the Mighty, and these are with reason brought in among the Persians, and Assyrians., and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terrour in the land of the living.

And they shall not lie The leaders of these Scythians were not buried with a pomp like that of Ashur, or Elam, but surprised by the fraud of Halyattes and Cyaxares, were cut off with all their multitude, and tumbled into pits with the rabble. with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons A Ceremony observed in pompous Funerals of great Captains, to have their Weapons, and their Armour carryed before the Hearse. of war, and they have laid their Either, when carryed out to be buryed, or laid under their Head in their Graves; or perhaps under the Statues of them made, and laid on the tops of their Tombs; these Barbarous Scythians were not so buried. swords under their heads, but their iniquity The exemplary punishment of their iniquity. shall be upon their bones Shall be seen upon their bones unburied, and cast out on the Earth by the just judgment of God., though Because they were cruel, bloody, ravenous, and mischievously Tyrannical, while they lived. they were the terrour of the mighty Cyaxares, and the Persians, that durst not again attempt Nineve, till the Scythians were fallen. in the land of the living.

Yea, thou Chief of Mesech, and Tubal, though not named. shalt be broken Shall be killed with the rest of wicked followers. in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie Without regard, hurled into the pit with the common Souldiers, as thou fallest with them, with them that are slain Whose Throats were cut after they were taken. with the sword Of Halyattes and his Lidyans, in revenge 'tis like of the spoil done to Sardis, and by Cyaxares, in revenge of the affront they gave him, forcing him to quit the siege of Nineve, and by giving him Childs flesh to eat, pretending it was Venison taken by them in hunting..

There is Edom The Posterity of Esau, the name of the Country too, in which they dwelt., her kings Which had been many, and some great Warriours, and all her princes Or Dukes, as Gen. 36.20, 21., which with their Showed in the Assistance, they gave the Assyrians. might, are laid by Are slain, and laid aside to be buried, as Commanders are usually after their Death regarded, and their Bodies kept for a Funeral. them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie Yet as the uncircumcised, so these must to the Pit, though no mention made of their being a terrour to the Nations. with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.

There be the princes of the north Of all those Countreys, Tyrians, Zidonians, Assyrians, and Syrians, &c. which lay Northward from Iudea, now swallowed up by the Babylonian. all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain Conquer'd, and slain.; with their terrour Their terrour is buried with them. they are ashamed When it appeared a vain confidence, and too weak to resist the Enemy, and save themselves. of their might; and they lie uncircumcised Scorned, and cast out, as profane, and loathsome. with them that be slain by the sword Of their conquering Enemy., and bear They lie under a shameful fall, from a seeming Glory, to a Real Ignominy. their shame with them that go down to the pit.

Pharaoh shall see them Hophra shall go to them by a like destruction, and, as if he did see them all ruined, as he was, shou'd, and shall be comforted Be comforted, or rejoyce, others before him met with the same fatal end, and, what ere comfort this might be, 'tis all he shall ever have, did he know all those things, and persons, that are here represented, and personated to us. over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, says the Lord GOD.

For I It is God that speaketh, who had punisht former Tyrants, and by a retaliation, that the World might see his just Judgments: They were a terrour to the world by their cruelty, oppression, and continued violence, by their Covetousness, Ambition, and Pride; And God has made them a terrour by his just severities in their punishments; And so, says God, will I do with Pharaoh; have caused my terrour in the land of the living: and he That is, Pharaoh Hophra. shall be laid Shall suffer, as they, since he sinned, as they, he made himself like them by choice of their vices, and I will make him like them by like miseries, and just recompences, and these shall be to his Subjects, as well as to himself. To Hophra, who was strangled, and likely cast out without Burial: To Amasis, who was taken out of his Tomb, and burnt to Ashes; so unlike the condition of the dead, which usually is rest to the body, was their condition after Death, who in life made it unlike, and imagined it was above the condition of Mortal men. in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD.