17 In the twelfth e year , on the fifteenth e of the month , the word of the Lord came to me saying , 18 "Son of man , wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down , her and the daughters of the powerful nations , to the nether world , with those who go down to the pit ; 19 'Whom do you surpass in beauty ? Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised .' 20 "They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword . She is given over to the sword ; they have drawn her and all her hordes away . 21 "The strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol , 'They have gone down , they lie still , the uncircumcised , slain by the sword .' 22 " Assyria is there and all her company ; her graves are round about her. All of them are slain , fallen by the sword , 23 whose graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave . All of them are slain , fallen by the sword , who spread terror in the land of the living . 24 " Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave ; all of them slain , fallen by the sword , who went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth , who instilled their terror in the land of the living and bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit . 25 "They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes . Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised , slain by the sword (although their terror was instilled in the land of the living ), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit ; they were put in the midst of the slain . 26 " Meshech , Tubal and all their hordes are there ; their graves surround them. All of them were slain by the sword uncircumcised , though they instilled their terror in the land of the living . 27 " Nor do they lie beside the fallen heroes of the uncircumcised , who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads ; but the punishment for their iniquity rested on their bones , though the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living . 28 "But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword . 29 "There also is Edom , its kings and all its princes , who for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword ; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit . 30 "There also are the chiefs of the north , all of them, and all the Sidonians , who in spite of the terror resulting from their might , in shame went down with the slain . So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit . 31 "These Pharaoh will see , and he will be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword , even Pharaoh and all his army ," declares the Lord GOD . 32 "Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living , yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword , even Pharaoh and all his hordes ," declares the Lord GOD .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 32:17-32
Commentary on Ezekiel 32:17-32
(Read Ezekiel 32:17-32)
Divers nations are mentioned as gone down to the grave before Egypt, who are ready to give her a scornful reception; these nations had been lately ruined and wasted. But though Judah and Jerusalem were about this time ruined and laid waste, yet they are not mentioned here. Though they suffered the same affliction, and by the same hand, yet the kind design for which they were afflicted, and the mercy God reserved for them, altered its nature. It was not to them a going down to the pit, as it was to the heathen. Pharaoh shall see, and be comforted; but the comfort wicked ones have after death, is poor comfort, not real, but only in fancy. The view this prophecy gives of ruined states shows something of this present world, and the empire of death in it. Come and see the calamitous state of human life. As if men did not die fast enough, they are ingenious at finding out ways to destroy one another. Also of the other world; though the destruction of nations as such, seems chiefly intended, here is plain allusion to the everlasting ruin of impenitent sinners. How are men deceived by Satan! What are the objects they pursue through scenes of bloodshed, and their many sins? Surely man disquiets himself in vain, whether he pursues wealth, fame, power, or pleasure. The hour cometh, when all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of Christ, and shall come forth; those that have done good to the resurrection of life, and those that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.