“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis. There will be no more a prince from the land of Egypt. I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis. There will be no more a prince from the land of Egypt. I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
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Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
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Thus saith the Lord GOD: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the things of nought to cease from Noph; and there shall be no more a prince out of the land of Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 30:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Zechariah 10:11 He will pass through the sea of affliction, and will strike the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile will dry up; and the pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will depart.
- Jeremiah 2:16 The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.
- Jeremiah 46:14 “Declare in Egypt, publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, ‘Stand up, and prepare; for the sword has devoured around you.’
- Exodus 12:12 For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh.
- Isaiah 19:1-16 The burden of Egypt. “Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it. I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards. I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord. A fierce king will rule over them,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies. The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry. The rivers will become foul. The streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up. The reeds and flags will wither away. The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, will become dry, be driven away, and be no more. The fishermen will lament, and all those who fish in the Nile will mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters will languish. Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, will be confounded. The pillars will be broken in pieces. All those who work for hire will be grieved in soul. The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?” Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt. The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the cornerstone of her tribes. Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do. In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of Yahweh of Armies’s hand, which he shakes over them.
- Jeremiah 43:12–44:1 I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them, and carry them away captive. He will array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he will go out from there in peace. He will also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and he will burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.’ ” The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
- Jeremiah 46:5 Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward. Their mighty ones are beaten down, have fled in haste, and don’t look back. Terror is on every side,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 46:25 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him.
- Ezekiel 29:14-15 I will reverse the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth. They will be a lowly kingdom, there. It will be the lowest of the kingdoms. It won’t lift itself up above the nations any more. I will diminish them, so that they will no longer rule over the nations.
- Hosea 9:6 For, behold, they have gone away from destruction. Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents.
- Zephaniah 2:11 Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.
- Zechariah 13:2 It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, Memphis, or Cairo.
Or, Memphis, or Cairo.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 30:13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will…
Eze 30:13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause [their] images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
Ver. 13. I will also destroy their idols.] He did so by Cambyses. See on Eze 30:6. He doth so still by the Turks. When they invade Popish countries, they break down their mawmets.
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Out of Noph.] Called also Moph, {Hos 9:6} afterwards Memphis (the metropolis of idolatry; Nazianzen calleth it ανοια, the mad city, because ειδωλομανης, madly set upon idols, Apis especially), afterwards Babylon, and now Alcair; famous for its incredible greatness, fair situation, pillars and pyramids. It was the seat royal of the sultans, till taken by the Turks from Camson Gaurus and the Mamelukes about the year 1515.
And there shall be no more a prince.] For forty years at least.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I will also destroy; God did it by the…
I will also destroy; God did it by the Babylonians; those proud and impious nations did triumph over the gods of the conquered, and out of contempt of them burnt them or broke them, as is well known; so Sennacherib threatened, 2Ch 32:19; Isa 37:19,24, against the true God, as he did to idol gods.
The idols; dunghill gods, as the words, fitter to be trod under foot than to be decked and respected.
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Their images; these nothings, as the word imports; whoever destroyed the image destroyed the god, for it was nothing but an image.
Noph; Memphis, now Grand Cairo, the chief city of the country, the seat of their kings first, of their priests by consequence, and of all their several gods too; but the Chaldeans destroyed the nest and birds too.
A prince; either an Egyptian horn, or independent, or over all Egypt, or that shall have the power, wealth, or honour like a former brave Egyptian king. A fear of consternation and cowardice, that should disable them for counsel and action in their most urgent affairs.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy…
Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols,.... With which Egypt abounded, making an idol of all sorts of creatures, rational and irrational, animate and inanimate, and in which they trusted; wherefore these being destroyed, they had nothing to put their confidence in:
I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; called Moph, Hos 9:6 and which we there rightly render Memphis, as many versions do here, and was very famous for idolatry: here stood the temple of Serapis, and the temple of other idols; here Isis and Osiris were worshipped; and it was in Jerom's time, as he says, the metropolis of the Egyptian superstition. It was built by Menes (s), the Mizraim of the Scriptures, the first king of Egypt; though Diodorus Siculus (t) makes Uchoreus to be the founder of it. Some interpreters take this city to be the same with what is now called Alkair, or Grand Cairo; or, however, that this is built upon the same spot, or near the same place that was, in which I have followed them on Isa 19:13 whereas Cairo stands right over against old Memphis, the Nile being between them, on the east side of it, and Memphis on the west; as is clear from Herodotus (u), and from the charts of Dr. Shaw, and Mr. Norden; and who observe, that some take the place of it to have been where a village now stands, Dr. Shaw calls Geza, and Mr. Norden Gize:
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and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt; that is, a native of that country; or that should rule over the whole of it, and in that grandeur the kings of Egypt had before; or, however, not dwell in Memphis, which was the seat of the kings of Egypt, but now should be so no more: when Egypt was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, it was under the Babylonians; and then under the Persians; and then under the Greeks; and afterwards under the Romans; since under the Saracens and Mamalucks; and now in the hands of the Turks; so that it never recovered its former glory; and indeed, after Nectanebus was driven out of it by Ochus, king of Persia, it never after had a king:
and I will put a fear in all the land of Egypt; a panic in all the inhabitants of it; as soon as they shall hear of the king of Babylon entering into it, their courage, bravery, and fortitude, shall at once leave them, and they shall be dispirited, and have no heart to defend themselves, and oppose the enemy.
(s) Herodot, Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 99. (t) Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 46. (u) Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 99.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Noph - Memphis, now Grand Cairo, the chief city…
Noph - Memphis, now Grand Cairo, the chief city of the country. A prince - Either an Egyptian born, or independent, and over all Egypt. A fear - Consternation and cowardice.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Their images to cease out of Noph]…
Verse 13. Their images to cease out of Noph] Afterwards Memphis, and now Cairo or Kahira. This was the seat of Egyptian idolatry; the place where Apis was particularly worshipped.
No more a prince of the land of Egypt] Not one, from that time to the present day. See Clarke on Eze 29:14.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 30:13. I will also destroy the idols —…
Eze 30:13. I will also destroy the idols — Idolatry being one of the principal things for which God visits the infidel nations, he would take particular vengeance upon the idols, thereby showing how much he is superior to them in power. Cambysis, the successor of Cyrus, destroyed the idols of Egypt. I will cause their images to cease out of Noph — Noph, or Memphis, was one of the principal cities of Egypt, a seat of their kings, where their sepulchres stood, one of which is still remaining. It is often mentioned in Scripture. In Hosea it is called Moph, and by many at this day Menoph. This place was famous for the worship of Apis and Osiris, whereupon the prophet, in a particular manner, denounces destruction to the idolatry of that place. And there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt — This undoubtedly refers to the future government of Egypt by foreigners, or to the general destruction of the Egyptian princes by Nebuchadnezzar and Amasis. All men know, says Josephus against Appion, 50. 2. sec. 11, Οτι Περσων και μετ’ εκεινους, ηγουμενων της Ασιας Μακεδονων, Αιγυπτοι μεν εδουλευον, ανδραποδων ουδεν διαφεροντες, “That the Egyptians were subject to the Persians, differing nothing from slaves, and after them to the Macedonians, who ruled over Asia.” See the note on Eze 29:15. And I will put a fear in Egypt —
I will make the Egyptians faint-hearted, and not able to defend themselves.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Noph - Memphis Isa 19:13.
Noph - Memphis Isa 19:13.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt, (Calmet) where the…
Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt, (Calmet) where the idol or bull (Haydock) Apis was fed. (Calmet) --- Here Amasis overcame Apries. (Herodotus ii. 168.) --- The Chaldeans made war on the gods as well as on the people. --- Prince Amasis was tributary to Babylon. Some of this probably regards the times of Cambyses and Ochus. (Usher, the year of the world 3478 and 3653.) (Calmet) See chap. xxix. 14. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Noph--Memphis, the capital of Middle Egypt, and the stronghold…
Noph--Memphis, the capital of Middle Egypt, and the stronghold of "idols." Though no record exists of Nebuchadnezzar's "destroying" these, we know from HERODOTUS and others, that Cambyses took Pelusium, the key of Egypt, by placing before his army dogs, cats, &c., all held sacred in Egypt, so that no Egyptian would use any weapon against them. He slew Apis, the sacred ox, and burnt other idols of Egypt.
no more a prince--referring to the anarchy that prevailed in the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion. There shall no more be a prince of the land of Egypt, ruling the whole country; or, no independent prince.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Images — Hebrews, no-gods. By the omission of…
13. Images — Hebrews, no-gods. By the omission of one syllable the LXX. reads, “great ones.”
Noph — LXX., Memphis, as Hos_9:6; “Moph” (Assyrian, Mi-im-pi). Memphis, the splendid capital of the ancient empire, is to-day no more than a dust heap connected with the most magnificent cemetery on earth.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. destroy the idols] On “idols” ch. Eze_6:5. The…
13. destroy the idols] On “idols” ch. Eze_6:5. The clause fails in LXX.
their images to cease] Lit., their not-gods, a favourite term of Isaiah’s, e.g. Eze_19:1; Eze_19:3, though found only here in Ezek. For “not-gods” (elîlim) LXX. renders “magnates” (elim), which no doubt gives a good parallelism to the next clause; cf. Isa_34:12.
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put a fear] Cf. Isa_19:16, Egypt “shall fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it.” Noph (in Hos_9:6 Moph) is Memphis, the most important city of lower Egypt, lying on the left bank of the Nile, somewhat south of the modern Cairo. Isa_19:13; Jer_2:16; Jer_44:1; Jer_46:14.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) Noph.—A contraction of Menoph, Memphis, the capital of…
(13) Noph.—A contraction of Menoph, Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt, situated in the region of the Pyramids, the seat of several dynasties, one of the chief centres of Egyptian idolatry, and celebrated for its Temple of Ptah.
There shall be no more a prince is to be understood, in accordance with the rest of the prophecy, not absolutely, but relatively: there shall be no more a native prince possessing the power of former kings.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Noph, or, as in Hos_9:6, Moph, is a form…
Noph, or, as in Hos_9:6, Moph, is a form of the Egyptian M"noph, the reek Memphis (so in the LXX), the capital of Lower Egypt, the chief center of the worship of Phthah, whom the Greeks identified with Hephaestos. Hence the special mention of the idols and images.
Destroying idols.
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Egypt was a land of innumerable idols. In the general desolation that was approaching, not only would these idols prove themselves useless protectors, they themselves would share the fate of their patrons. The idols are destroyed in the ruin of the idolaters.
I THERE IS NO DEFENSE IN IDOLS. This is a lesson for the heathen. But not only pagans who worship images of wood and stone need to learn it; men who despise the superstitions of heathendom have their own superstitions and practice their own idolatry, and the lesson is also for such people.
1. Every substitute for God is an idol. What a man loves supremely and trusts in absolutely is his god. One man thus idolizes his money, believing that he has only to draw a check to frighten away the most dreadful calamity. Another makes an idol of his own ability, his skill, energy, or cleverness, proudly supposing that he is equal to any emergency. A third worships a theory, and imagines, say, that the general course of evolution will assuredly bring all right. A fourth idolizes his own religious experience, and, instead of trusting God, puts his faith in his own saintliness.
2. No idol will preserve its worshipper. Money, ability, theory, saintliness, all fail in the hour of trial, as surely as the sacred hawks and eats of Egypt proved useless in face of the march of the Chaldean army.
II GOD WILL DESTROY IDOLS. The idols of Egypt were to be destroyed in the general havoc of the invasion. The Philistine god Dagon fell down and was broken before the ark of the Lord. (1Sa_5:4) The false hope will be laid low. It may be done speedily; if so, we may thank God for a merciful deliverance. It may be long delayed, and not even seen during the present life. Dives lives clad in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously till the end of his days. The rich fool is not disillusioned till the very night of his death. But in the next world, if not in this, men must see things in their true light. A happier destruction of idols comes through the revelation of their vanity in the light of God"s truth. This is the Christian method of iconoclasm. The missionary will do little good if he simply rails at the folly and sin of idol-worship. But if he makes men know of the existence of the one spiritual God, the idols will disappear without his taking any trouble to hew them down. Idols vanish from the soul when the vision of Christ is received.
III THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS IDOLS IS FOR THE SALVATION OF THE IDOLATER. There is redemption in the Divine iconoclasm. Idols delude men, hold them in bondage to superstition, degrade their souls, and blot out the view of the true heavens. God, seeing a rich man worshipping gold, snatches the fatal idol away and plunges the man into poverty that there he may learn to search for the true treasure of the kingdom of heaven. Earthly loss is often thus sent to clear away obstructions that hide us from seeing what are our souls" true possessions. But the mere destruction of idols is not itself a salvation. It is remarkable that Christian and European education is rapidly destroying the native idolatry of India; but it is questionable how far this is a gain if nothing is substituted but a hard and scornful agnosticism. When the idols are cast out of our lives, we need that the Christ shall come in and bring his new life.
Idols destroyed.
It is well known, from the records of ancient history, and from the explorations and studies of Egyptologists of our own century, that the land of the Pharaohs was the seat of idolatry of the most deeply rooted, widespread, and at the same time most debasing and contemptible kind. It was not possible that the prophet of the Lord, in rebuking Egypt, should confine himself to the region of polities; he could not but deal with the religion and the religious practices which prevailed in the land of immemorial superstition. His words upon this matter are few, but they are clear, direct, and powerful. "Thus saith the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease from Noph.
I THE VANITY AND INABILITY OF IDOLS TO HELP THOSE WHO TRUST IN THEM.
II THE HELPLESSNESS OF THEIR DEVOTEES TO RETAIN FOR IDOLS THE ALLEGIANCE OF THEIR WORSHIPPERS.
III THE CERTAINTY THAT PROVIDENTIAL OCCURRENCES WILL SHAKE THE CONFIDENCE OF IDOLATERS IN THEIR IDOLS, AND WILL BRING IDOLATRY TO NAUGHT.
IV THE DIVINE PROVISION THAT, AS IDOLS ARE CONFOUNDED, THE TRUE AND ONLY GOD WILL BE EXALTED.
APPLICATION.
1. The principles underlying this prophecy are a great encouragement to all those who labor for the propagation of the gospel among the heathen; their labors shall, sooner or later, meet with a full success and recompense.
2. There is here an implicit counsel as to the replacing of idolatry by true religion. It is one thing to destroy, another thing to construct. In our Indian dominions at the present time, education is shaking the faith of the native population in their idols and idol-worship. But in very many instances, education has done nothing to supply the place made vacant by the exorcism of superstition. Hence the importance of philosophical and historical instruction in connection with Christian missions; so that provision may be made for the deep-seated needs of the spirit of man, so that a reasonable faith in the Supreme may be encouraged, and so that the evidences of supernatural Christianity may be presented in a convincing and satisfying form. It should be the aim of the Church, in her missionary capacity, to replace idolatry, not by an irrational atheism or a degrading secularism, but by intelligent and scriptural Christianity. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The Lord Yahweh says this
The Lord Yahweh says this
The word "this" refers to what follows. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 5:5.
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I will bring an end to the worthless idols
"I will destroy the worthless idols"
Memphis
Memphis was a very important city in Egypt. It was near modern-day Cairo. (See: How to Translate Names)
a prince in the land of Egypt
"an important ruler in the land of Egypt"
I will put terror on the land of Egypt
Here "put terror on the land" represents causing the people of the land to be very afraid. AT: "I will make the people of Egypt very afraid" (See: Metaphor)
Pathros
This was a region in southern Egypt.
set fire in Zoan
"I will burn Zoan with fire"
Zoan
Zoan was another important city in Egypt.
I will execute acts of judgment on Thebes
The phrase "acts of judgment" refers to punishment. AT: "I will punish Thebes" (See: Abstract Nouns)
Thebes
This was the capital city of southern Egypt.
translationWords
Lord Yahweh
false god
prince
terror
desolate
fire
judge
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 30:13-14 From Memphis, the most important city in the…
30:13-14 From Memphis, the most important city in the north, to Thebes, the most important city in the south, all of the cities of Egypt would be destroyed.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.