1 And it came to passe in the twelfth yeere, in the twelft moneth, in the first day of the moneth, that the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying;
2 Sonne of man, take vp a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say vnto him; Thou art like a young lyon of the nations, & thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy riuers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their riuers.
3 Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore spread out my net ouer thee, with a company of many people, and they shall bring thee vp in my net.
4 Then will I leaue thee vpon the land, I will cast thee forth vpon the open field, and will cause all the foules of the heauen to remaine vpon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.
5 And I will lay thy flesh vpon the mountaines, and fill the valleis with thy height.
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, euen to the mountaines, and the riuers shall be full of thee.
7 And when I shall put thee out, I wil couer the heauen, and make the starres thereof darke: I will couer the sunne with a cloud, and the moone shall not giue her light.
8 All the bright lights of heauen will I make darke ouer thee, and set darkenesse vpon thy land, saith the Lord God.
9 I wil also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not knowen.
10 Yea I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraide for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them, and they shall tremble at euery moment; euerie man for his owne life, in the day of thy fall.
11 ¶ For thus saith the Lord God, The sword of the king of Babylon shal come vpon thee.
12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations all of them: and they shall spoile the pompe of Egypt, and all the multitude therof shall be destroyed.
13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from besides the great waters, neither shall the foote of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofes of beasts trouble them.
14 Then will I make their waters deepe, and cause their riuers to runne like oyle, saith the Lord God.
15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the countrey shall be destitute of that wherof it was full; when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shal they know that I am the Lord.
16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, euen for Egypt and for al her multitude, saith the Lord God.
17 ¶ It came to passe also in the twelfth yeere, in the fifteenth day of the moneth, that the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying;
18 Sonne of man, waile for the multitude of Egypt, & cast them downe, euen her, and the daughters of the famous nations, vnto the nether parts of the earth, with them that goe downe into the pit.
19 Whom doest thou passe in beautie? goe downe, and be thou layed with the vncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the middest of them that are slaine by the sword: she is deliuered to the sword; draw her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speake to him out of the middest of hell with them that helpe him: they are gone downe, they lie vncircumcised, slaine by the sword.
22 Ashur is there, and all her companie: his graues are about him: al of them slaine, fallen by the sword.
23 Whose graues are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her graue: all of them slaine, fallen by the sword, which caused terrour in the land of the liuing.
24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her graue, all of them slaine, fallen by the sword, which are gone downe vncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terrour in the lande of the liuing, yet haue they borne their shame with them that goe downe to the pit.
25 They haue set her a bed in the midst of the slaine with all her multitudes: her graues are round about him, all of them vncircumcised, slaine by the sword: though their terrour was caused in the land of the liuing, yet haue they borne their shame with them that goe downe to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slaine.
26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graues are round about him: all of them vncircumcised, slaine by the sword, though they caused their terrour in the land of the liuing.
27 And they shall not lie with the mightie, that are fallen of the vncircumcised, which are gone downe to hell with their weapons of warre: and they haue laid their swords vnder their heads, but their iniquities shalbe vpon their bones, though they were the terrour of the mightie in the land of the liuing.
28 Yea thou shalt be broken in the midst of the vncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slaine with þe sword.
29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slaine by the sword: they shall lie with the vncircumcised, and with them that go downe to the pit.
30 There be the princes of the North all of them, and all the Zidomans: which are gone downe with the slaine, with their terrour they are ashamed of their might, and they lie vncircumcised with them that be slaine by the sword, and beare their shame with them that goe downe to the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall bee comforted ouer all his multitude, euen Pharaoh and all his armie slaine by the sword, saith the Lord God.
32 For I haue caused my terrour in the land of the liuing: and he shall bee laid in the midst of the vncircumcised with them that are slaine with the sword, euen Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.
The fall of Egypt. (1-16) It is like that of other nations. (17-32)1-16 It becomes us to weep and tremble for those who will not weep and tremble for themselves. Great oppressors are, in God's account, no better than beasts of prey. Those who admire the pomp of this world, will wonder at the ruin of that pomp; which to those who know the vanity of all things here below, is no surprise. When others are ruined by sin, we have to fear, knowing ourselves guilty. The instruments of the desolation are formidable. And the instances of the desolation are frightful. The waters of Egypt shall run like oil, which signifies there should be universal sadness and heaviness upon the whole nation. God can soon empty those of this world's goods who have the greatest fulness of them. By enlarging the matters of our joy, we increase the occasions of our sorrow. How weak and helpless, as to God, are the most powerful of mankind! The destruction of Egypt was a type of the destruction of the enemies of Christ.
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.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.