Ezekiel 30:6

Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) From the tower of Syene.—From Migdol to Syene. (See Note on Ezekiel 29:10.)

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 30:6-9. They also that uphold Egypt shall fall — By this seems to be meant the governors of the several provinces, those who are called the stay of the tribes thereof, Isaiah 19:13; that is, of the several Nomi, or districts of Egypt. From the tower of Syene shall they fall — This should rather be rendered, from Migdol to Syene. See note on Ezekiel 29:10. When I have set a fire in Egypt — When I shall have kindled up the flame of war in Egypt. God’s judgments are often compared to fire: see the margin. And when all her helpers shall be destroyed — All her allies and auxiliaries. In that day shall messengers, &c. — Houbigant translates this verse, In that day shall swift messengers go forth from me, who shall terrify the secure Ethiopian; and he shall have great fears concerning the day of Egypt, because it shall be nigh. He observes, that as the messengers are said to be “sent to Cush, or Ethiopia, if the Arabians be meant, they were not to be gone by ships: if the Ethiopians, properly so called, to the south of Egypt, it was not proper for messengers to be sent to them in ships, because the navigation was against the stream, and could not be so quick as it ought upon an approaching calamity.” Bishop Newcome, however, adopts our translation of the first clause, observing, that to send messengers up the Nile in ships was, if not so swift, yet a more secure way of communicating intelligence in a time of general commotion, than to send them by land. The Egyptians and Ethiopians being confederates, the ill news of the conquest of Egypt could not but greatly affect the Ethiopians.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

30:1-19 The prophecy of the destruction of Egypt is very full. Those who take their lot with God's enemies, shall be with them in punishment. The king of Babylon and his army shall be instruments of this destruction. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another. No place in the land of Egypt shall escape the fury of the Chaldeans. The Lord is known by the judgments he executes. Yet these are only present effects of the Divine displeasure, not worthy of our fear, compared with the wrath to come, from which Jesus delivers his people.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the marginal reference note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. from the tower of Syene—(see on [1073]Eze 29:10).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They also that uphold Egypt; either the princes, counsellors, and martial men in Egypt, or those abroad, that favour her and help her.

The pride of her power; the glory of all her strength, of which she was proud.

Shall come down; be trodden under foot. From the tower; from Magdalum in the north-east part of Egypt, toward the Red Sea, to Syene in the most south-west part of Egypt. See Ezekiel 29:10.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thus saith the Lord, they also that uphold Egypt shall fall,.... That is, by the sword; either their allies and auxiliaries without, that supported the Egyptians with men and money; or their principal people within, their nobles that supported their state with their estates, their counsellors with their wisdom, their soldiers with their valour and courage:

and the pride of her power shall come down; or the power they were proud of, the dominion and grandeur they boasted of; the greatness of their king, and the largeness of their empire, with the wealth and riches of it:

from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God; or rather, from "Migdol to Syene"; so the Septuagint and Arabic versions, from one end of Egypt to the other; the sword would ravage, and multitudes fall by it, in all cities and towns, between the one and the other; which denotes the general slaughter that should be made; See Gill on Ezekiel 29:10.

Geneva Study Bible

Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of {b} Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.

(b) Which was a strong city of Egypt, Eze 29:10.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. the tower of Syene] from Migdol to Syene; cf. Ezekiel 29:10.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - They that uphold Egypt. The words include the allies named in Ver. 5; but also embrace the rulers, generals, perhaps the idols, of Egypt itself. From the tower of Syene. As before, in Ezekiel 29:10, "from Migdol to Syene." Ezekiel 30:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

All the supports and helpers of Egypt will fall, and the whole land with its cities will be laid waste. - Ezekiel 30:6. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Those who support Egypt will fall, and its proud might will sink; from Migdol to Syene will they fall by the sword therein, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Ezekiel 30:7. And they will lie waste in the midst of waste lands, and its cities be in the midst of desolate cities. Ezekiel 30:8. They shall learn that I am Jehovah, when I bring fire into Egypt, and all its helpers are shattered. Ezekiel 30:9. In that day will messengers go forth from me in ships to terrify the confident Ethiopia, and there will be writing among them as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it cometh. - "Those who support Egypt" are not the auxiliary tribes and allies, for they are included in the term עזריה in Ezekiel 30:8, but the idols and princes (Ezekiel 30:13), the fortified cities (Ezekiel 30:15), and the warriors (Ezekiel 30:17), who formed the foundation of the might of the kingdom. גּאון , "the pride of its might," which is an expression applied in Ezekiel 24:21 to the temple at Jerusalem, is to be taken here in a general sense, and understood not merely of the temples and idols of Egypt, but as the sum total of all the things on which the Egyptians rested the might of their kingdom, and on the ground of which they regarded it as indestructible. For 'ממּגדּל וגו, see the comm. on Ezekiel 29:10. The subject to יפּלוּ בהּ is the 'סמכי מצר. Ezekiel 30:7 is almost a literal repetition of Ezekiel 29:12; and the subject to נשׁמּוּ is מצרים regarded as a country, though the number and gender of the verb have both been regulated by the form of the noun. The fire which God will bring into Egypt (Ezekiel 30:8) is the fire of war. Ezekiel 30:9. The tidings of this judgment of God will be carried by messengers to Ethiopia, and there awaken the most terrible dread of a similar fate. In the first hemistich, the prophet has Isaiah 18:2 floating before his mind. The messengers, who carry the tidings thither, are not the warlike forces of Chaldea, who are sent thither by God; for they would not be content with performing the service of messengers alone. We have rather to think of Egyptians, who flee by ship to Ethiopia. The messengers go, מלפני, from before Jehovah, who is regarded as being present in Egypt, while executing judgment there (cf. Isaiah 19:1). צים, as in Numbers 24:24 equals ציּים (Daniel 11:30), ships, trieres, according to the Rabbins, in Hieron. Symm. on Isaiah 33:21, and the Targum on Num. (cf. Ges. Thes. p. 1156). בּטח is attached to כּוּשׁ, Cush secure or confident, equivalent to the confident Cush (Ewald, 287c). 'והיתה חלח, repeated from Ezekiel 30:4. בּהם, among the Ethiopians. 'כּיום מצר, as in the day of Egypt, i.e., not the present day of Egypt's punishment, for the Ethiopians have only just heard of this from the messengers; but the ancient, well-known day of judgment upon Egypt (Exodus 15:12.). Ewald and Hitzig follow the lxx in taking כּיום for בּיום; but this is both incorrect and unsuitable, and reduces 'בּיום מצר into a tame repetition of בּיּום החוּא. The subject to הנּה באה is to be taken from the context, viz., that which is predicted in the preceding verses (Ezekiel 30:6-8).