וַיְהִי בִּשְׁתֵּי עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בִּשְׁנֵי־עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ הָיָה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃   32:1

Ezek. 32:1   And it was in the twelfth year in the twelfth month in the month's first day the word of the Lord occurred to me saying,

If Ezekiel is reckoning time consistently, we are now in the twelfth year of Jehoiachin’s exile.  That would likely be the year Jerusalem fell, 586 BCE.  That happened in the fifth month, Av, so this is about seven months after that, the month of Adar.

בֶּן־אָדָם שָׂא קִינָה עַל־פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַיִם וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו כְּפִיר גֹּויִם נִדְמֵיתָ וְאַתָּה כַּתַּנִּים בַּיַּמִּים   32:2   וַתָּגַח בְּנַהֲרֹותֶיךָ וַתִּדְלַח־מַיִם בְּרַגְלֶיךָ וַתִּרְפֹּס נַהֲרֹותָם׃

Ezek. 32:2   “Human, take up a lamentation over Pharoah, king of Egypt, and you shall say to him,

                       ‘You imagined yourself as a lion of nations,

                                 but you are like a monster in the seas,

                       that you burst forth with your rivers,

                                 and stirred up the water with your feet

                       and fouled their streams.’

כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה וּפָרַשְׂתִּי עָלֶיךָ אֶת־רִשְׁתִּי בִּקְהַל עַמִּים רַבִּים וְהֶעֱלוּךָ בְּחֶרְמִי׃   32:3

Ezek. 32:3   ‘Thus says the Master, the Lord:

                                 So I will spread My net over you

                       by an assembly of many peoples,

                                 and they shall draw you up in My net.’

וּנְטַשְׁתִּיךָ בָאָרֶץ עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה אֲטִילֶךָ וְהִשְׁכַּנְתִּי עָלֶיךָ כָּל־עֹוף הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהִשְׂבַּעְתִּי מִמְּךָ חַיַּת   32:4          כָּל־הָאָרֶץ׃

Ezek. 32:4   ‘And I will cast you down on the ground;

                                on the surface of the field I will hurl you

                      and cause every fowl of the skies to settle on you

                                and the beasts of the entire earth

                       to be satisfied from you.’

וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־בְּשָׂרְךָ עַל־הֶהָרִים וּמִלֵּאתִי הַגֵּאָיֹות רָמוּתֶךָ׃   32:5

Ezek. 32:5   ‘And I will set your flesh on the mountains

                                 and make the valleys full of your remains.’

וְהִשְׁקֵיתִי אֶרֶץ צָפָתְךָ מִדָּמְךָ אֶל־הֶהָרִים וַאֲפִקִים יִמָּלְאוּן מִמֶּךָּ׃   32:6

Ezek. 32:6   ‘And I will irrigate the land

                                 of your outflow to the mountains

                       from your blood,

                                 and the ravines will be filled from you.’

וְכִסֵּיתִי בְכַבֹּותְךָ שָׁמַיִם וְהִקְדַּרְתִּי אֶת־כֹּכְבֵיהֶם שֶׁמֶשׁ בֶּעָןָן אֲכַסֶּנּוּ וְיָרֵחַ לֹא־יָאִיר אֹורֹו׃   32:7

Ezek. 32:7   ‘And with your demise

                                 I will conceal the heavens and darken its stars;

                       the sun, I shall conceal it with a cloud

                                 so the moon shall not shine its light.’

The last two lines of this verse seem to be saying something interesting.  Whether this lamentation is replete with metaphor (or hyperbole) or not is questionable.  But the Lord appears to be saying, according to Ezekiel, that the stars and the sun will be darkened.  What is interesting about this is that, in my translation, the sun is acknowledged as the source of the moon’s light.  The word for the preposition so is more usually translated as and, which would make the last two lines much less interesting.  So my translation can be questioned.  However, if so is the intended meaning, it says that the people of the time -- at least Ezekiel -- may have understood that the moon shone by reflected light.  Certainly God knows that, but that Ezekiel might have understood what he was recording is quite interesting, at least to me.

כָּל־מְאֹורֵי אֹור בַּשָּׁמַיִם אַקְדִּירֵם עָלֶיךָ וְנָתַתִּי חֹשֶׁךְ עַל־אַרְצְךָ נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה׃   32:8

Ezek. 32:8   ‘All the luminaries of light in the heavens,

                                 I shall make them dark over you

                      and produce darkness upon your land,

                                declares the Master, the Lord.’

וְהִכְעַסְתִּי לֵב עַמִּים רַבִּים בַּהֲבִיאִי שִׁבְרְךָ בַּגֹּויִם עַל־אֲרָצֹות אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יְדַעְתָּם׃   32:9

Ezek. 32:9   ‘And I will vex the heart of many peoples by bringing your ruin into the nations, to countries that you do not know.’

וַהֲשִׁמֹּותִי עָלֶיךָ עַמִּים רַבִּים וּמַלְכֵיהֶם יִשְׂעֲרוּ עָלֶיךָ שַׂעַר בְּעֹופְפִי חַרְבִּי עַל־פְּנֵיהֶם וְחָרְדוּ לִרְגָעִים   32:10 אִישׁ לְנַפְשֹׁו בְּיֹום מַפַּלְתֶּךָ׃

Ezek. 32:10   ‘And I will make many peoples appalled by you, and their kings shall be in dreadful fear because of you, of the tempest of My brandishing My sword near their faces, and they shall tremble every moment, each for his life, on the day of your demise.’

כִּי כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה חֶרֶב מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל תְּבֹואֶךָ׃   32:11

Ezek. 32:11   ‘For thus says the Master, the Lord: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.’

בְּחַרְבֹות גִּבֹּורִים אַפִּיל הֲמֹונֶךָ עָרִיצֵי גֹויִם כֻּלָּם וְשָׁדְדוּ אֶת־גְּאֹון מִצְרַיִם וְנִשְׁמַד כָּל־הֲמֹונָהּ׃   32:12

Ezek. 32:12   ‘By the swords of the mightiest I shall cause your multitude to fall;

                        all of them are the most terrifying of nations,

                                  and they shall devastate the pride of Egypt,

                        and every one of its multitude shall be annihilated.’

וְהַאֲבַדְתִּי אֶת־כָּל־בְּהֶמְתָּהּ מֵעַל מַיִם רַבִּים וְלֹא תִדְלָחֵם רֶגֶל־אָדָם עֹוד וּפַרְסֹות בְּהֵמָה לֹא   32:13

 תִדְלָחֵם׃

Ezek. 32:13   ‘And I will cause all of its beasts to vanish

                                  from abundant waters,

                         and no human foot shall make them turbid again,

                                 and no hooves of any beast shall stir them up.’

אָז אַשְׁקִיעַ מֵימֵיהֶם וְנַהֲרֹותָם כַּשֶּׁמֶן אֹולִיךְ נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה׃   32:14

Ezek. 32:14   ‘Then I will cause their waters to settle

                                 and make their rivers move like oil,

                        declares the Master, the Lord.’

בְּתִתִּי אֶת־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם שְׁמָמָה וּנְשַׁמָּה אֶרֶץ מִמְּלֹאָהּ בְּהַכֹּותִי אֶת־כָּל־יֹושְׁבֵי בָהּ וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי   32:15    יְהוָה׃

Ezek. 32:15   ‘By My making the land of Egypt a desolation,

                                  and a land ravaged after its fullness,

                        by My smiting all the inhabitants of it,

                                  then they may know that I am the Lord.’”

קִינָה הִיא וְקֹונְנוּהָ בְּנֹות הַגֹּויִם תְּקֹונֵנָּה אֹותָהּ עַל־מִצְרַיִם וְעַל־כָּל־הֲמֹונָהּ תְּקֹונֵנָּה אֹותָהּ נְאֻם   32:16   אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה׃

Ezek. 32:16   “This is the lamentation, and they shall lament it;

                                  the daughters of the nations shall lament it;

                         over Egypt and over all its multitude

                                  they shall lament it,

                         declares the Master, the Lord.”

וַיְהִי בִּשְׁתֵּי עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בַּחֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר לַחֹדֶשׁ הָיָה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃   32:17

Ezek. 32:17   It also was in the twelfth year in the month's fifteenth day the word of the Lord occurred to me saying,

Since this must still be the last month of the year, this new word occurred fifteen days after the above lamentation came to Ezekiel.

בֶּן־אָדָם נְהֵה עַל־הֲמֹון מִצְרַיִם וְהֹורִדֵהוּ אֹותָהּ וּבְנֹות גֹּויִם אַדִּרִם אֶל־אֶרֶץ תַּחְתִּיֹּות אֶת־יֹורְדֵי   32:18     בֹור׃

Ezek. 32:18   “Human, wail over the multitude of Egypt and cast it down, it and the daughters of the great nations, to the lowest parts of the earth with the descenders of the pit.”

מִמִּי נָעָמְתָּ רְדָה וְהָשְׁכְּבָה אֶת־עֲרֵלִים׃   32:19

Ezek. 32:19   “You were more beautiful than whom?

                                   Go down and be laid with the uncircumcised!”

בְּתֹוךְ חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב יִפֹּלוּ חֶרֶב נִתָּנָה מָשְׁכוּ אֹותָהּ וְכָל־הֲמֹונֶיהָ׃   32:20

Ezek. 32:20   “They shall fall in the midst of those slain of the sword.  The sword is delivered; they are drawn down, it and all its multitudes.”

יְדַבְּרוּ־לֹו אֵלֵי גִבֹּורִים מִתֹּוךְ שְׁאֹול אֶת־עֹזְרָיו יָרְדוּ שָׁכְבוּ הָעֲרֵלִים חַלְלֵי־חָרֶב׃   32:21

Ezek. 32:21   The mightiest of the strong ones shall speak to him from the midst of Sheol; together with his helpers they descend; they lie still, the uncircumcised, the slain of the sword.”

Who is being described here?  To whom do the pronouns him and his refer?  Is it Egypt, Pharaoh?  Probably the latter, as Egypt would have a feminine pronoun.  Here Ezekiel may hark back to the previous vision; it was addressed to Pharaoh (see v. 32:2 above).  The next verse also implies that it is probably Pharaoh.

שָׁם אַשּׁוּר וְכָל־קְהָלָהּ סְבִיבֹותָיו קִבְרֹתָיו כֻּלָּם חֲלָלִים הַנֹּפְלִים בֶּחָרֶב׃   32:22

Ezek. 32:22   “Assyria is there, with all her assembly.  Its buried are surrounding him, all of them slain, those felled by the sword,

אֲשֶׁר נִתְּנוּ קִבְרֹתֶיהָ בְּיַרְכְּתֵי־בֹור וַיְהִי קְהָלָהּ סְבִיבֹות קְבֻרָתָהּ כֻּלָּם חֲלָלִים נֹפְלִים בַּחֶרֶב   32:23               אֲשֶׁר־נָתְנוּ חִתִּית בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים׃

Ezek. 32:23   that her graves are set throughout the extremities of the pit, and her assembly is surrounding her grave, all of them slain, felled by the sword, who had put terror in the land of the living.”

שָׁם עֵילָם וְכָל־הֲמֹונָהּ סְבִיבֹות קְבֻרָתָהּ כֻּלָּם חֲלָלִים הַנֹּפְלִים בַּחֶרֶב אֲשֶׁר־יָרְדוּ עֲרֵלִים אֶל־אֶרֶץ   32:24 תַּחְתִּיֹּות אֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ חִתִּיתָם בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים וַיִּשְׂאוּ כְלִמָּתָם אֶת־יֹורְדֵי בֹור׃

Ezek. 32:24   “Elam Is there, with all her multitude, surrounding her buried, all of them slain, those felled by the sword, who had descended uncircumcised to the lowest parts of the earth, who had put their terror in the land of the living, and they bore their dishonor with descenders of the pit.”

בְּתֹוךְ חֲלָלִים נָתְנוּ מִשְׁכָּב לָהּ בְּכָל־הֲמֹונָהּ סְבִיבֹותָיו קִבְרֹתֶהָ כֻּלָּם עֲרֵלִים חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב כִּי־נִתַּן   32:25 חִתִּיתָם בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים וַיִּשְׂאוּ כְלִמָּתָם אֶת־יֹורְדֵי בֹור בְּתֹוךְ חֲלָלִים נִתָּן׃

Ezek. 32:25   “In the midst of the slain they have set a bed for her among all her multitude, her buried surrounding it, all of them uncircumcised, the slain of the sword, because their terror had been inflicted on the land of the living, and they bore their dishonor with the descenders of the pit; it was set in the midst of the slain.”

שָׁם מֶשֶׁךְ תֻּבַל וְכָל־הֲמֹונָהּ סְבִיבֹותָיו קִבְרֹותֶיהָ כֻּלָּם עֲרֵלִים מְחֻלְלֵי חֶרֶב כִּי־נָתְנוּ חִתִּיתָם בְּאֶרֶץ   32:26   חַיִּים׃

Ezek. 32:26   Meshech, Tubal, are there, with all her multitude, her buried surrounding it, all of them uncircumcised, from the slain of the sword, because they inflicted their terror on the land of the living.”

See Ezek. 27:13 for a possible explanation of the names mentioned here.

וְלֹא יִשְׁכְּבוּ אֶת־גִּבֹּורִים נֹפְלִים מֵעֲרֵלִים אֲשֶׁר יָרְדוּ־שְׁאֹול בִּכְלֵי־מִלְחַמְתָּם וַיִּתְּנוּ אֶת־חַרְבֹותָם   32:27      תַּחַת רָאשֵׁיהֶם וַתְּהִי עֲוֹנֹתָם עַל־עַצְמֹותָם כִּי־חִתִּית גִּבֹּורִים בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים׃

Ezek. 32:27   “But the more inferior than the uncircumcised will not lie with the mighty ones who descended Sheol with the implements of their war and their swords were set beneath their heads and each of their iniquities was over their bones, for the terror of the mighty had been in the land of the living.”

וְאַתָּה בְּתֹוךְ עֲרֵלִים תִּשָּׁבַר וְתִשְׁכַּב אֶת־חַלְלֵי־חָרֶב׃   32:28

Ezek. 32:28   “And you among the uncircumcised, you shall be crushed and you shall lie with those slain of the sword.”

שָׁמָּה אֱדֹום מְלָכֶיהָ וְכָל־נְשִׂיאֶיהָ אֲשֶׁר־נִתְּנוּ בִגְבוּרָתָם אֶת־חַלְלֵי־חָרֶב הֵמָּה אֶת־עֲרֵלִים יִשְׁכָּבוּ   32:29     וְאֶת־יֹרְדֵי בֹור׃

Ezek. 32:29   “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who are set, despite their might, with those slain of the sword; they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with the descenders of the pit.”

שָׁמָּה נְסִיכֵי צָפֹון כֻּלָּם וְכָל־צִדֹנִי אֲשֶׁר־יָרְדוּ אֶת־חֲלָלִים בְּחִתִּיתָם מִגְּבוּרָתָם בֹּושִׁים וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ   32:30

  עֲרֵלִים אֶת־חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב וַיִּשְׂאוּ כְלִמָּתָם אֶת־יֹורְדֵי בֹור׃

Ezek. 32:30   “The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Zidonians who descended with the slain, put to shame by their terror from their might, and the uncircumcised lie with the slain of the sword, and bear their dishonor with the descenders of the pit.”

אֹותָם יִרְאֶה פַרְעֹה וְנִחַם עַל־כָּל־(הֲמֹונֹה) [הֲמֹונֹו] חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב פַּרְעֹה וְכָל־חֵילֹו נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה׃   32:31

Ezek. 32:31   “Pharoah shall see them and be comforted by all its multitude, slain ones of the sword, Pharoah and his entire army, declares the Master, the Lord.”

The word in the parentheses that I translate as its multitude is assumed to contain an error.  The pronoun suffix is feminine and it is normally modified to masculine (from heh to vav) under the assumption that it refers to Pharoah.  However, I believe it refers to Sheol, mentioned in v. 32:27 above, which is one of those nouns that can be either gender.  Sheol is filled with a far more vast multitude, so Pharoah’s multitude alone may not be as comforting.

כִּי־נָתַתִּי אֶת־(חִתִּיתֹו) [חִתִּיתִי] בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים וְהֻשְׁכַּב בְּתֹוךְ עֲרֵלִים אֶת־חַלְלֵי־חֶרֶב פַּרְעֹה   32:32              וְכָל־הֲמֹונֹה נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה׃

Ezek. 32:32   “For I had put his terror on the land of the living that Pharoah should be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with those slain of the sword, with all the multitude, declares the Master, the Lord.”

The word in the parentheses that I translate as his terror is also assumed to contain an error.  Once more it entails the pronoun suffix, but this time it has to do with person rather than gender.  The scholars have assumed that it should be My terror as opposed to his terror.  As far as I am concerned, it could be either, and either would be appropriate.  What happens to the meaning?  You might say little or a lot, depending on your beliefs or viewpoint.  What is this verse saying to us?  As I interpret it, it says the Lord has put the terror of Pharoah’s (read Egypt’s) demise into the land of the living -- the rest of the world.  As others interpret it, the Lord has put His terror into the land of the living, because of Egypt’s demise.  As it turns out, v. 32:27 also provides support for my interpretation.  It says “for the terror of the mighty had been put in the land of the living.”  Still, either interpretation works for me, so I accept the original spelling as not being in error.

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