Ezekiel 32 – “Doom for Egypt – Part IV”

12 - Ezekiel

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God vows to annihilate the Egyptians and to send them to the underworld.

II. Photo
Egypt’s cattle will disappear: “I will make all her cattle vanish from beside abundant waters.” (v. 13a)

III. Important Verses
2-6: O mortal, intone a dirge over Pharaoh king of Egypt. Say to him: O great beast among the nations, you are doomed! You are like the dragon in the seas, Thrusting through their streams, Stirring up the water with your feet And muddying their streams! Thus said the Lord GOD: I will cast My net over you In an assembly of many peoples, And you shall be hauled up in My toils. And I will fling you to the ground, Hurl you upon the open field. I will cause all the birds of the sky To settle upon you. I will cause the beasts of all the earth To batten on you. I will cast your carcass upon the hills And fill the valleys with your rotting flesh. I will drench the earth With your oozing blood upon the hills, And the watercourses shall be filled with your [gore].
16: This is a dirge, and it shall be intoned; The women of the nations shall intone it, They shall intone it over Egypt and all her multitude — declares the Lord GOD.
21-23: From the depths of Sheol the mightiest of warriors speak to him and his allies; the uncircumcised, the slain by the sword, have gone down and lie there. Assyria is there with all her company, their graves round about, all of them slain, fallen by the sword. Their graves set in the farthest recesses of the Pit, all her company are round about her tomb, all of them slain, fallen by the sword — they who struck terror in the land of the living.
29: Edom is there, her kings and all her chieftains, who, for all their might, are laid among those who are slain by the sword; they too lie with the uncircumcised and with those who have gone down to the Pit.

IV. Outline

1-16. Oracle #1
    1-2a. Introduction
    2b-14. Lament for Egypt
        2b-6. God will utterly destroy Egypt
        7-8. God will bring darkness to the land
        9-10. Fear will spread
        11-12. Babylon will annihilate the Egyptians
        13-14a. The cattle will disappear
        14b. Conclusion
    15. Conclusion
    16a. Description of the lament
    16b. Conclusion
17-32. Oracle #2
    17-18. Introduction
    19-21. Egypt will descend to Sheol
    22-23. Assyria resides in Sheol
    24-25. Elam resides in Sheol
    26-27. Meshech and Tubal reside in Sheol
    28. Egypt will descend to Sheol
    29. Edom resides in Sheol
    30. The [Phoenician] princes of the north reside in Sheol
    31a. Pharaoh will be killed
    31b. Conclusion
    32a. Egypt will be terrified
    32b. Conclusion

V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://www.siouxnationag.com/uploads/image/cattleriver.jpg

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