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Ezekiel 29

KJV · Chapter 29/48

1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:

3Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

4But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.

5And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

6And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.

8Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.

9And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.

10Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.

11No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

12And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

13Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:

14And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

15It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

16And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.

17And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

18Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:

19Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

20I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.

21In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A series of prophecies against Egypt and Pharaoh begins, comparing him to a great crocodile of the Nile who proudly claims to have made the river himself; God promises forty years of desolation for Egypt.

Explanation

Pharaoh at that time (likely Hophra) had promised military support to Judah against Babylon, but that help would prove insufficient, as Jeremiah also warned (Jeremiah 37:5-10). The image of the 'great dragon' or crocodile who claims to have made his own Nile River captures the arrogance of taking credit for blessings that come from God's creation. The promise of Egypt's restoration after forty years, but as a 'lowly kingdom' that would never again dominate other nations, was historically fulfilled: Egypt never fully regained its former status as a regional superpower after that period.

Fun facts

  • The 'great dragon' of the river, in the original Hebrew, uses a word (tanniyn) that refers specifically to large aquatic creatures, almost certainly representing the Nile crocodile, a common symbol of pharaonic power in ancient Egypt.
  • The phrase 'the river is mine, and I have made it' directly echoes Egyptian royal titles that described Pharaoh as the divine controller of the Nile's annual floods, on which the country's entire agriculture depended.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezekiel 29:1A specific date (around 587 BC, shortly before Jerusalem’s fall) opens the series of oracles against Egypt, which will occupy chapters 29 through 32.
  2. Ezekiel 29:2The order to prophesy against Pharaoh and all Egypt — the great southern power from whom Judah hoped, without reason, for military help against Babylon.
  3. Ezekiel 29:3Calling Pharaoh ‘the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers’ and putting hooks in his jaws is an image drawn from the crocodiles of the Nile, linking the Egyptian king to the most feared creature of the very river he claimed to own.
  4. Ezekiel 29:4‘Hooks in thy jaws’ on the ‘dragon’ (the Nile crocodile, a symbol of Pharaoh) describe his humiliating capture, as though the river itself were being used to fish him out.
  5. Ezekiel 29:5Pharaoh, compared to the crocodile, would be thrown into the wilderness without burial, becoming food for animals and birds — a fate with no honor at all.
  6. Ezekiel 29:6‘A staff of reed’ reappears as an image of fragile support: an alliance with Egypt would break in the hand of anyone who leaned on it, instead of truly holding them up.
  7. Ezekiel 29:7It details the damage caused by trusting in that broken support: instead of holding them up, it injured and left immobile anyone who tried to lean on it.
  8. Ezekiel 29:8An announcement of the sword against Egypt, destroying both people and animals — the same pattern of judgment already seen in the oracles against the other nations.
  9. Ezekiel 29:9Egypt would become a wasteland because of the same arrogance of Pharaoh, who claimed to be the owner and even the maker of the Nile itself.
  10. Ezekiel 29:10The predicted devastation stretches from Migdol in the north to Syene and the border of Ethiopia in the south — that is, the entire country, from end to end.
  11. Ezekiel 29:11The prediction of forty years of desolation followed by a return is a symbolic numerical structure, the same number as the wilderness crossing, used here to describe a period of temporary humiliation for Egypt before its partial recovery.
  12. Ezekiel 29:12Egypt would be left desolate, its people scattered among the nations for forty years — a long period of punishment, but, unlike Tyre, not a final one.
  13. Ezekiel 29:13Unlike what was said about Tyre, here comes a promise of return: after the forty years, the scattered Egyptians would be gathered again.
  14. Ezekiel 29:14Pathros was Upper Egypt, the southern region; the country would exist again, but as ‘a base kingdom’ — without the power and influence it once had.
  15. Ezekiel 29:15It reinforces that Egypt would never again dominate other nations — the end of its role as a regional great power, even after being restored.
  16. Ezekiel 29:16A direct reminder to Israel: stop trusting Egypt as an ally, since that misplaced trust had caused problems in the past.
  17. Ezekiel 29:17This passage is one of the most candid in the book: after the long siege of Tyre failed to reward the Babylonian army with enough plunder, the text says Egypt would be given to Nebuchadnezzar as a kind of payment for services rendered — a rare moment when the prophecy openly acknowledges that an earlier outcome did not turn out as announced.
  18. Ezekiel 29:18A real historical note: Nebuchadnezzar’s long siege of Tyre wore down the Babylonian army without bringing the expected plunder, because the city held out too long.
  19. Ezekiel 29:19As compensation for the effort against Tyre, Egypt is handed over for Babylon to plunder — tying the oracles against Tyre and against Egypt into a single historical logic.
  20. Ezekiel 29:20It repeats the idea from the previous verse: Egypt serves as ‘wages’ for the hard labor the Babylonian army performed during the siege of Tyre.
  21. Ezekiel 29:21The chapter’s final promise: in that same period, Israel would regain strength and Ezekiel would speak freely again — a theme that returns with greater force in chapter 33.

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