Ezekiel 29 Study Notes: Judgment on Pharaoh and Egypt
God sets Himself against Pharaoh, pictured as a river monster boasting that he made the Nile, and against Egypt, a weak reed for Israel. Egypt will lie waste, then return as a humble kingdom; God gives it to Nebuchadnezzar as pay for his army’s work against Tyre and promises to make a horn grow for Israel.
General
What does the LORD say the humbled Egypt will be to Israel afterward (Ezekiel 29:16)?
Answer: No longer a hope, but a reminder of their own sin
God says Egypt would never again be something Israel trusted in. Instead, it would remind Israel of their sin in seeking Egypt’s aid (29:16). Going to Egypt was a sin because it meant relying on a foreign power instead of on the LORD. Ezekiel had already described Judah’s king revolting against Babylon and sending messengers to Egypt for horses and soldiers (Ezekiel 17:15). Isaiah called the plan to take cover under Pharaoh a sinful scheme that would bring shame (Isaiah 30:1-3), and Jeremiah records God’s warning against trusting in mere human strength instead of the LORD (Jeremiah 17:5). By making Egypt small, God was removing a false hope from His people, so that they would know Him as the Lord GOD (29:16).
- Ezekiel 29:16 (BSB)“Egypt will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity in turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.””Egypt will no longer be Israel’s object of trust but will remind them of the iniquity of turning to it.
- Ezekiel 17:15 (BSB)“But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’”Judah’s king had rebelled against Babylon by sending envoys to Egypt for horses and an army.
- Isaiah 30:1-3 (BSB)““Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin. They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade. But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.”Isaiah called seeking Pharaoh’s protection a sinful plan that would end in shame.
- Jeremiah 17:5 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.”The LORD pronounces a curse on the one who trusts in mere flesh and turns his heart from Him.
Theological
What will the diminished Egypt become for Israel, according to Ezekiel 29:16?
Answer: No longer a hope, but a reminder of their own sin
Egypt’s permanent humbling has a teaching purpose for Israel. Israel will no longer place its confidence in Egypt; instead Egypt will bring their iniquity to remembrance, their reliance on Egyptian aid (29:16). Reliance on Egypt was not mere political miscalculation but covenant unfaithfulness, trust transferred from the LORD to flesh. Ezekiel has already indicted the king who revolted against Babylon and sent envoys to Egypt for horses and troops (Ezekiel 17:15). Isaiah condemned seeking refuge in Pharaoh’s shade as a plan not from the LORD, adding sin to sin (Isaiah 30:1-3), and Jeremiah pronounces a curse on the one who makes flesh his strength (Jeremiah 17:5). By removing the idol of human security, God drives His people back to Himself, that they may know Him as the Lord GOD (29:16).
- Ezekiel 29:16 (BSB)“Egypt will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity in turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.””Egypt will no longer be Israel’s object of trust but will remind them of the iniquity of turning to it.
- Ezekiel 17:15 (BSB)“But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’”Judah’s king had rebelled against Babylon by sending envoys to Egypt for horses and an army.
- Isaiah 30:1-3 (BSB)““Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin. They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade. But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.”Isaiah called seeking Pharaoh’s protection a sinful plan that would end in shame.
- Jeremiah 17:5 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.”The LORD pronounces a curse on the one who trusts in mere flesh and turns his heart from Him.
General
True or False: The LORD says that after Egypt’s judgment He will restore it, but only as a lowly kingdom that will never again dominate other nations (Ezekiel 29:13-15).
Answer: True
This is true. God’s judgment on Egypt would not be the end of its story. After forty years He would regather the scattered Egyptians and return them to their homeland (29:13-14). But Egypt would be a humble kingdom, the least of all, and would never again lift itself up over other nations; God would make it small so that it could no longer dominate them (29:14-15). So God would bring Egypt back, but its pride would be humbled for good. A psalm says God alone brings one down and lifts up another (Psalm 75:6-7), and Mary praises God for toppling rulers from power (Luke 1:52). Jeremiah also says Egypt would be lived in again after its judgment (Jeremiah 46:26).
- Ezekiel 29:13-15 (BSB)“For this is what the Lord GOD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations to which they were scattered. I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom. Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations.”After forty years God will gather the Egyptians and restore them, but only as the lowliest of kingdoms that will never again rule other nations.
- Psalm 75:6-7 (BSB)“For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert, but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.”Honor comes from God alone, who as judge humbles one and lifts up another.
- Luke 1:52 (BSB)“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.”Mary praises God for toppling the mighty from power and raising the lowly.
- Jeremiah 46:26 (BSB)“I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives—of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.”After handing Egypt over to Nebuchadnezzar, the LORD says it will be lived in again as in former days.
Theological
True or False: The LORD promises to restore Egypt after its judgment, yet only as a lowly kingdom that will never again hold sway over other peoples (Ezekiel 29:13-15).
Answer: True
This is true. Judgment is followed by a measured restoration. After forty years the LORD will regather the Egyptians from their dispersion and return them to their homeland (29:13-14), but as a humble kingdom, the least of kingdoms, never again to exalt itself over the nations, diminished so that it can no longer dominate them (29:14-15). Restoration and humbling are joined: Egypt is brought back, but its imperial pride is permanently broken. God is the one who humbles one and lifts up another (Psalm 75:6-7); He topples rulers from power and lifts up the lowly (Luke 1:52). Jeremiah likewise foresees Egypt inhabited again after judgment (Jeremiah 46:26). The LORD determines the rise, fall, and measure of every nation.
- Ezekiel 29:13-15 (BSB)“For this is what the Lord GOD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations to which they were scattered. I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom. Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations.”After forty years God will gather the Egyptians and restore them, but only as the lowliest of kingdoms that will never again rule other nations.
- Psalm 75:6-7 (BSB)“For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert, but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.”Honor comes from God alone, who as judge humbles one and lifts up another.
- Luke 1:52 (BSB)“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.”Mary praises God for toppling the mighty from power and raising the lowly.
- Jeremiah 46:26 (BSB)“I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives—of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old, declares the LORD.”After handing Egypt over to Nebuchadnezzar, the LORD says it will be lived in again as in former days.
General
What picture does the LORD use for what Egypt had been to Israel (Ezekiel 29:6-7)?
Answer: A brittle reed that broke when Israel leaned on it
God says Egypt had been nothing more than a walking stick made of reeds for Israel (29:6). A reed looks like a walking stick, but it is weak. When Israel gripped it, it split and tore at them; when they put their weight on it, it snapped and twisted their backs (29:7). Israel had leaned on Egypt for support, but Egypt failed them and left them worse off. Years earlier the Assyrian commander used the very same picture, calling Egypt a cracked reed that stabs the hand of whoever puts weight on it (Isaiah 36:6). Isaiah warned against seeking Egypt’s aid instead of looking to the LORD (Isaiah 31:1). God’s people are to rely on the LORD’s name, not on chariots and horses (Psalm 20:7).
- Ezekiel 29:6-7 (BSB)“Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel. When Israel took hold of you with their hands, you splintered, tearing all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke, and their backs were wrenched.”Egypt was a staff of reeds to Israel; when grasped or leaned on, it splintered and injured them.
- Isaiah 36:6 (BSB)“Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.”The Assyrian commander used the same picture, calling Egypt a splintered reed that pierces the hand of whoever leans on it.
- Isaiah 31:1 (BSB)“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.”Isaiah declared woe on those who relied on Egypt’s horses and chariots rather than looking to the LORD.
- Psalm 20:7 (BSB)“Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”God’s people are to trust in the name of the LORD, not in chariots and horses.
Theological
By what image does the LORD characterize Egypt’s role toward Israel (Ezekiel 29:6-7)?
Answer: A brittle reed that broke when Israel leaned on it
Egypt was a reed staff to Israel (29:6): gripped, it split and tore their shoulders; leaned upon, it snapped and twisted their backs (29:7). The image indicts both parties. Egypt offered a support it could not give, and Israel sought from a pagan power the security only the LORD could provide. The Assyrian commander had used the same figure of Egypt in Hezekiah’s day (Isaiah 36:6), and Isaiah pronounced woe on those who sought Egypt’s aid instead of seeking the LORD (Isaiah 31:1). The psalmist states the alternative: others rely on chariots and horses, but God’s people rely on the LORD’s name (Psalm 20:7). Misplaced trust wounds the one who relies on it.
- Ezekiel 29:6-7 (BSB)“Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel. When Israel took hold of you with their hands, you splintered, tearing all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke, and their backs were wrenched.”Egypt was a staff of reeds to Israel; when grasped or leaned on, it splintered and injured them.
- Isaiah 36:6 (BSB)“Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.”The Assyrian commander used the same picture, calling Egypt a splintered reed that pierces the hand of whoever leans on it.
- Isaiah 31:1 (BSB)“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.”Isaiah declared woe on those who relied on Egypt’s horses and chariots rather than looking to the LORD.
- Psalm 20:7 (BSB)“Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”God’s people are to trust in the name of the LORD, not in chariots and horses.
General
Why does the LORD say He will hand Egypt over to Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 29:17-20)?
Answer: As payment for his army’s labor that was done for God
Nebuchadnezzar’s army had worked hard against Tyre, until their heads were rubbed bare and their shoulders worn raw, but they got no payment from Tyre for all that effort (29:18). So God would give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, and its wealth and plunder would be his army’s pay (29:19). God gave him Egypt as his reward because the work had been done for God (29:20). Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan king, yet God used him to carry out His judgments and paid him as a worker. On that day God would also make a horn sprout for Israel, a picture often used for strength, and would open Ezekiel’s mouth among them (29:21); Hannah’s song also uses the horn for the power God gives His anointed king (1 Samuel 2:10). Jeremiah even calls Nebuchadnezzar God’s servant and says God placed lands under his rule (Jeremiah 27:6). Every king’s heart rests in the LORD’s hand (Proverbs 21:1), and God removes kings and sets them up (Daniel 2:21).
- Ezekiel 29:18 (BSB)““Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.”Nebuchadnezzar’s army labored hard against Tyre but received no wages from it.
- Ezekiel 29:19-21 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD. In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.””God gives Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar as his army’s pay for work done for Him, then promises a horn sprouting for Israel and an opened mouth for the prophet.
- 1 Samuel 2:10 (BSB)“Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.””Hannah’s song pictures the strength the LORD gives His king with the image of a raised horn.
- Jeremiah 27:6 (BSB)“So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.”God calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant and places lands under his authority.
- Proverbs 21:1 (BSB)“The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.”The LORD steers a king’s heart like a channel of water, wherever He wishes.
- Daniel 2:21 (BSB)“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”God takes kings away and sets others in their place.
Theological
On what basis does the LORD hand Egypt over to Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 29:17-20)?
Answer: As payment for his army’s labor that was done for God
The oracle frames the matter as wages. Nebuchadnezzar drove his army through grueling labor against Tyre, heads rubbed bald and shoulders raw, yet got no recompense from Tyre (29:18). The LORD therefore assigns Egypt’s wealth, spoil, and plunder as his army’s pay (29:19), giving him the land as reward for labor done for Him (29:20). A pagan king is nonetheless the LORD’s hired servant, executing divine judgment and receiving payment from God’s hand. The oracle closes with a horn sprouting for Israel, a picture often used for strength, and the prophet’s mouth opened among them (29:21); Hannah’s song likewise uses a raised horn for the strength the LORD gives His anointed king (1 Samuel 2:10). Jeremiah calls Nebuchadnezzar the LORD’s servant and says the LORD placed the lands under him (Jeremiah 27:6). A king’s heart is like a stream in the LORD’s hand (Proverbs 21:1), and God alone removes and establishes kings (Daniel 2:21). Divine sovereignty governs even the wages of empires.
- Ezekiel 29:18 (BSB)““Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it.”Nebuchadnezzar’s army labored hard against Tyre but received no wages from it.
- Ezekiel 29:19-21 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD. In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.””God gives Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar as his army’s pay for work done for Him, then promises a horn sprouting for Israel and an opened mouth for the prophet.
- 1 Samuel 2:10 (BSB)“Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.””Hannah’s song pictures the strength the LORD gives His king with the image of a raised horn.
- Jeremiah 27:6 (BSB)“So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.”God calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant and places lands under his authority.
- Proverbs 21:1 (BSB)“The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.”The LORD steers a king’s heart like a channel of water, wherever He wishes.
- Daniel 2:21 (BSB)“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”God takes kings away and sets others in their place.
General
What boast of Pharaoh does the LORD quote when He announces judgment on Egypt (Ezekiel 29:3)?
Answer: That the great river belonged to him as its maker
God speaks to Egypt’s king, Pharaoh, as a great monster stretched out among the streams of his river, a creature often pictured as a crocodile. Pharaoh boasted that the Nile belonged to him because he himself had made it (29:3). The Nile was the river that gave Egypt its life, and Pharaoh claimed credit for it. That is pride claiming what belongs only to the Creator. A psalm says the sea is God’s because He made it (Psalm 95:5). So God would drag the monster out of its waters with hooks and fling it into the open country, unburied, as food for wild animals and birds (29:4-5). Another psalm praises God for crushing the monsters of the sea (Psalm 74:13-14). Paul asks what anyone has that was not given to him (1 Corinthians 4:7).
- Ezekiel 29:3 (BSB)“Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’”God addresses Pharaoh as a great monster lying in his rivers, boasting that the Nile is his own creation.
- Ezekiel 29:4-5 (BSB)“But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales. I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.”God will drag the monster out of its rivers and leave it on open ground as food for beasts and birds.
- Psalm 95:5 (BSB)“The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.”The sea belongs to God because He made it, so only God can rightly claim to own what He created.
- Psalm 74:13-14 (BSB)“You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea; You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.”The psalmist praises God who crushed the sea monsters, the same imagery of God’s rule over proud powers.
- 1 Corinthians 4:7 (BSB)“For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”Paul asks what anyone has that was not received, exposing every boast of self-made possession.
Theological
Which boast of Pharaoh does the LORD cite as grounds for judgment on Egypt (Ezekiel 29:3)?
Answer: That the great river belonged to him as its maker
The LORD addresses Pharaoh as the great monster sprawled among his streams, whose boast is that the Nile is his own and of his own making (29:3). The claim is a creature’s usurpation of the Creator’s prerogative, the source of Egypt’s life credited to its king. The psalmist confesses the opposite: the sea belongs to God as its Maker (Psalm 95:5). The judgment uses the monster imagery: hooks in the jaws, the beast hauled from its waters and flung into the open country, unburied, food for beasts and birds (29:4-5), recalling the psalmist’s praise of God who smashed the sea monsters (Psalm 74:13-14). Paul’s question about what anyone possesses that was not first given (1 Corinthians 4:7) indicts every such boast.
- Ezekiel 29:3 (BSB)“Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’”God addresses Pharaoh as a great monster lying in his rivers, boasting that the Nile is his own creation.
- Ezekiel 29:4-5 (BSB)“But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales. I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air.”God will drag the monster out of its rivers and leave it on open ground as food for beasts and birds.
- Psalm 95:5 (BSB)“The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.”The sea belongs to God because He made it, so only God can rightly claim to own what He created.
- Psalm 74:13-14 (BSB)“You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea; You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You fed him to the creatures of the desert.”The psalmist praises God who crushed the sea monsters, the same imagery of God’s rule over proud powers.
- 1 Corinthians 4:7 (BSB)“For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”Paul asks what anyone has that was not received, exposing every boast of self-made possession.