Ezekiel 30
DOYLYno more a prince] A natural prince of the Egyptian race to rule over it. It shall be subject to foreigners. Abp. Secker. See the note on chap. xxix. 15.
— little rivers] Small artificial channels, through which water was distributed in Eastern gardens. According to St. Jerome, the rivers represent the tributary kings of Assyria, and the little rivers its princes and governors, to whom the royal authority was communicated. Calmet.
Ezekiel 30:6
- All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs.] Representing the several nations which applied to the Assyrians for protection and safety, chap. xvii. 23; Dan. iv. 12. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 30:8
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— a fire in Egypt.] God’s judgments are often compared to fire. W. Lowth.
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The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: &c.] See Ps. lxxx. 10. Such fair cedars as might be supposed to grow in Paradise. W. Lowth. Implying, that the greatest princes in the most flourishing kingdoms of the world could not stand in comparison with the Assyrian monarch; but all of them were forced to yield to him as more powerful and glorious than themselves. Bp. Holt.
Ezekiel 30:9
- — in ships.] Up the Nile to Ethiopia, it being a more secure way of conveying intelligence in a time of general commotion. Abp. Newcome. St. Jerome informs us, that vessels navigated the Nile as far as the cataracts at Syene, on the borders of Ethiopia. Calmet.
— in the day of Egypt.] The Egyptians and Ethiopians being confederates, the news of the conquest of Egypt shall sensibly affect them. W. Lowth.
- — all the trees of Eden,—envied him.] “All the kings of the East envied him his greatness,” as the Chaldee Paraphrase expresseth the sense. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 30:11
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— the terrible of the nations.] See chap. xxviii. 7.
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— the mighty one of the heathen;] Or, “of the Before CHRIST 572. a Dan. 4. 12. b Gen. 2. 8.
Ezekiel 30:12
- — I will make the rivers dry.] The fertility and prosperity of Egypt depended entirely upon the overflowing of the Nile. Abp. Newcome.
Ezekiel 30:13
- — out of Noph.] Noph, or Memphis, was one of the principal cities of Egypt, a seat of their kings, where their sepulchres stood. On this account it is frequently mentioned in Scripture. See Isa. xix. 13; Jer. ii. 16; xliv. 1. In Hosea it is called “Moph.” (chap. ix. 6,) which comes near in sound to Memphis. W. Lowth. Cairo is called to this day “Menoph.” Abp. Newcome.
Ezekiel 30:14
- — Pathros] See chap. xxix. 14, and note.
— in Zoan,] Or Tanis, one of the ancient cities of Egypt, Numb. xiii. 22; Ps. lxxviii. 12. 43. W. Lowth, Dr. Wells.
— No.] Diospolis, or Thebes. Bochart. It was the capital of Upper Egypt. Calmet.
- — Tehaphuehes. Elsewhere written Tahpanhes; it is supposed to be the same place which was afterwards called Daphne Pelusiaca. Bp. Hall, W. Lowth. See the notes on Isa. xxx. 4; Jer. ii. 16.
— the yokes] The yokes imposed by the Egyptians. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 30:22
- — and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; &c.] The king of Babylon had before dispossessed the king of Egypt of all his new conquests, from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates, 2 Kings xxiv. 7. So that this part of his strength was already taken away, never to be recovered; and now God threatens to destroy the remainder of his power, the kingdom of Egypt itself. W. Lowth.
Before CHRIST 572. Pelusium. Heliopolis. Pubatium. : Or. restrained. 558. A relation unto Pharaoh, of the glory of Assyria, Before CHRIST 572.
Ezekiel 30:24
- And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon.] The same promise God afterwards made to Cyrus, Isa. xlv. 1. W. Lowth.
Chap. XXXI. ver. 2. — Whom art thou like] Thou pridest thyself as if there never was any prince or king that could compare with thee. W. Lowth.
- Behold, the Assyrian The Assyrian empire, which was destroyed by Nabopolassar king of Babylon.
The fitness and beauty of this fine image may be learnt from the account of the cedars of Libanus, given by different authors. See note at 1 Kings v. 6.
The prophetic and poetical writers among the Jews make use of the cedar of Lebanon in a figurative sense to express something proud, of high stature and magnificence, as in this place. This beautiful tree, remarkable for its loftiness, and in the most flourishing condition, but afterwards cut down and deserted, gives us a lively painting of the glory and the catastrophe of the Abyssinian monarch. The manner, in which the Prophet has embellished his description, is full of propriety and elegance, and the colouring is such as fills the mind with the greatest delight. Bp. Lowth.
- The waters made him great. As trees flourish by a river side, (compare chap. xvii. 5.) so the traffick of the several branches of the river Tigris, upon which
her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her || little rivers unto all the trees of the field.