“Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.
Parallel Translations
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“Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.
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Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
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'Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, with the daughters of the mighty nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 32:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 31:14 to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, and don’t set their top among the thick boughs. Their mighty ones don’t stand up on their height, even all who drink water; for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, among the children of men, with those who go down to the pit.’
- Ezekiel 32:2 ‘Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, “You were likened to a young lion of the nations; yet you are as a monster in the seas. You broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.”
- Jeremiah 1:10 Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
- Ezekiel 32:16 “ ‘ “This is the lamentation with which they will lament. The daughters of the nations will lament with this. They will lament with it over Egypt, and over all her multitude,” says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
- Micah 1:8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will howl like the jackals, and moan like the daughters of owls.
- Isaiah 16:9 Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen.
- Ezekiel 26:20 then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living.
- Ezekiel 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit. All the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.
- Ezekiel 43:3 It was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.
- Hosea 6:5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.
- Psalms 30:9 “What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth?
- Psalms 63:9 But those who seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
- Isaiah 14:15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit.
- Ezekiel 21:6-7 “Therefore sigh, you son of man. You shall sigh before their eyes with a broken heart and with bitterness. It shall be, when they ask you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it comes! Every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
- Ezekiel 32:21 The strong among the mighty will speak to him out of the middle of Sheol with those who help him. They have gone down. The uncircumcised lie still, slain by the sword.
- Ezekiel 32:24-32 “There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. They have set her a bed among the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. He is put among those who are slain. “There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude. Their graves are around them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living. They will not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. “But you will be broken among the uncircumcised, and will lie with those who are slain by the sword. “There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword. They will lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. “There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain. They are put to shame in the terror which they caused by their might. They lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. “Pharaoh will see them, and will be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword,” says the Lord Yahweh. “For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Luke 19:41 When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,
- Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, prophesy, that they shall be cast down:…
That is, prophesy, that they shall be cast down: thus the Lord giveth his Prophets power both to plant and to destroy by his word, read Jer. 1:10.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 32:18 Son of man, wail for the multitude…
Eze 32:18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, [even] her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
Ver. 18. Wail for the multitude.] Prophesy their destruction, but do it not without grief and regret.
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Cast them down.] Do thou foretell it, and I will not fail to fulfil it. {Jer 1:10} {See Trapp on "Jer 1:10"} Let them know that hell gapeth for them; and here I give thee the keys thereof. So God doth to every faithful minister; {Mat 16:19} not to Peter only, nor to his pretended successor, the Pope, whom therefore Luther bravely slighted in these words of his, Contemptus est a me Romanus et favor et furor, - I care neither for the Pope’s favour nor frowns.
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 Prepare the funeral ceremonies at the burial of Egypt,…
Prepare the funeral ceremonies at the burial of Egypt, compose a suitable song or speech, utter it with a like suitableness to the sad occasion. Jer 9:17-19, and Amo 5:16, use the word, and the places read will explain this.
Cast them down; either declare that they shall be cast down from their height and glory; or rather, because this was done already, lay them down as dead in the grave, bring him to his grave, as the word is used, with addition of sheol, 1Ki 2:9, and much like are Eze 26:20; 31:16.
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The daughters of the famous nations; and celebrate the funerals of other cities and kingdoms, that lie buried in their own ruins and other men’s oblivion.
The nether parts of the earth; a well-known description of the state of the dead and the grave.
Go down into the pit: usually this is no more than a common description of men’s going to the dust in their burial, but here it includes more. The Egyptians affected to be buried either in the isle Chemnis, or in the pyramids, their kings and great ones thus would be laid by themselves; but Ezekiel provides them their grave among common people, buries them where they fall; for they shall not have what they account so much of in their funeral.
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 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt,....…
Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt,.... Sing a funeral song or dirge, or compose one, to be sung by the mourning women, on account of the vast numbers of the inhabitants of Egypt that shall be slain; for the prophet himself would not mourn, but rejoice, on this occasion; but this is said to show the certainty of the destruction, and the lamentation that would be made on that account:
and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations; Egypt, and all those countries, and the inhabitants of them, that were in alliance and friendship with her; that is, declare by prophecy that they shall be cast down and destroyed, or be brought down from the height of grandeur and prosperity in which they now were:
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unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down to the pit; not unto stately sepulchres built on high, such as were made for the kings of Egypt; but unto common pits or graves, dug in the lower parts of the earth, where the meaner and common sort of people were buried; there should be no distinction between them and others, they should have one common burial. The Targum is,
"son of man, prophesy concerning the multitude of Egypt, and break her, even her, and the villages of the mighty people; prophesy that they shall be delivered unto the lowest earth, with those that go down to the pit of the house of perdition.''
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 Wail - Prepare the funeral ceremonies at the burial…
Wail - Prepare the funeral ceremonies at the burial of Egypt. The daughters - And celebrate the funerals of other cities and kingdoms that lie buried in their own ruins. The nether parts of the earth - A well known description of the state of the dead. The pit - The Egyptians affected to be buried in the Pyramids, and their kings, and great ones, would be laid by themselves; but Ezekiel provides them their grave among common people, being buried just where they fall.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. Cast them down] Show them that they…
Verse 18. Cast them down] Show them that they shall be cast down. Proclaim to them a casting down prophecy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Down: announce this catastrophe. (Calmet) --- Apries was slain…
CHAPTER XXXII.
Down: announce this catastrophe. (Calmet) --- Apries was slain by order of Amasis. (Diodorus 1.) (Jeremias xliv. 30.)
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 cast them down--that is predict that they shall be…
cast them down--that is predict that they shall be cast down (so Jer 1:10). The prophet's word was God's, and carried with it its own fulfilment.
daughters of . . . nations--that is the nations with their peoples. Egypt is to share the fate of other ancient nations once famous, now consigned to oblivion: Elam (Eze 32:24), Meshech, &c. (Eze 32:26), Edom (Eze 32:29), Zidon (Eze 32:30).
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 18. The pit — A synonym for Sheol (Psa_30:3;…
18. The pit — A synonym for Sheol (Psa_30:3; Psa_88:3-4, etc.).
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 18. The lament is primarily over the multitude or…
18. The lament is primarily over the multitude or nationality of Egypt.
cast them down, even her] Probably: and sink them down, thou and the daughters of famous nations. In Eze_32:16 the daughters of the nations were spoken of as chanting the dirge over Pharaoh and his multitude. The prophet (LXX. Eze_32:16) and these daughters together chant the lament. They are said to “sink the multitude down” because in their lament they describe their sinking down. The reading “thou” for “her” implies no change in the consonantal text, and the “daughters of famous nations” cannot be those that are interred, but those who inter. It is Pharaoh and his multitude who are let down into the pit (cf. Eze_32:31).
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them that go down] that are gone down, Eze_26:20, Eze_31:16.
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 (18) Cast them down.—The prophet is here, as often…
(18) Cast them down.—The prophet is here, as often elsewhere, told to do that which he prophesies shall be done. This is a forcible way of stating the certain fulfilment of that which is declared by Divine command.
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 Cast them down, etc. The prophet thinks of himself…
Cast them down, etc. The prophet thinks of himself as not only the predictor, but the minister, of the Divine judgments. So it was given to Jeremiah (Jer_1:10) "to root out and to pull down," and to Amos (Amo_9:1) to "smite" and to wound. He executes the sentence, not on Egypt only, but on the other daughters of the famous nations, sc. on the nations themselves, especially those that are named in the verses that follow.
Sympathetic sorrow.
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I SYMPATHETIC SORROW IS CALLED FOR BY THE TROUBLES OF OUR FELLOW MEN. Ezekiel is told by God to wail for the multitude of Egypt. He had his own troubles among the disaffected Jews; but he was not to shut himself up in the selfishness of private distress. His nation was passing through a season of terrible experiences, many of his kinsfolk driven into exile, and the remaining inhabitants threatened with fresh war-cruelties. Yet, Jew as he was, Ezekiel was to find room in his heart for grief over the distresses of Egypt. It is inhuman not to be moved by a neighbor"s trouble. We ought to widen the area of our sympathy, and embrace in it the interests and troubles of foreign nations. If a Jew should wail for Egypt, should not a Christian wail for the evils of the world? Mansion House funds for various successive foreign needs Persian and China famines, etc. are among the healthiest signs of our times, and contain a better augury of the future of England than the high price of government stock. Individually we are called upon to grieve over our neighbor"s troubles.
II SYMPATHETIC SORROW IS ESPECIALLY REQUIRED BY THE WORLD"S SIN.
1. We should grieve more over sin than over external calamity. The gambling of England is a more sorrowful sight than the wreckage that strews our coast after a disastrous gale. We mourn for the death of the good and noble; we should mourn more for the life of the wicked and ignoble. Drunkenness is a worse evil than pauperism. Profligacy is infinitely more deplorable than poverty. Therefore people who think themselves happy and do not seek our commiseration may most need it.
2. We should grieve over sin rather than coldly condemn it. The sympathizer is himself a sinner. Many who have fallen most low have been most grievously tempted; but even when the kindest charity can discover no excuse, wickedness itself should be regarded as a miserable source of grief to all right-minded people. God pitied the sinner, and sent his Son to save him. Christ wept over Jerusalem. The Christian treatment of sin is to approach it with sympathetic sorrow.
III SYMPATHETIC SORROW IS A MINISTERING ANGEL OF MERCY.
1. It is a source of consolation. Sympathy may comfort when no helping hand can relieve suffering. It is much to know that we are not alone, uncured for, and forgotten. The sympathy of God is offered to every distressed son of man. This is a type and pattern of what must be in the heart of every godly man.
2. It is an inspiration of deliverance. To be content to wail for the troubles of others, when by any effort or sacrifice we might alleviate those troubles, is to declare ourselves no better than hypocrites. Rich people who deplore the misery of their poor neighbors, and yet do nothing to relieve the burden of poverty, are guilty of shameful inconsistency and moral untruth. If they really grieved they would relieve. The first step is to feel the troubles of our fellow men; the next must be to do all in our power to help them. Happily in regard to spiritual troubles Christian people have a source of assistance to offer in the gospel of Christ.
Vers. 18-30. The world of the dead.
strong among the mighty" are the inhabitants of the under-world who once were kings and heroes on earth. Now those monarchs of the dead stir themselves as they see great Pharaoh coming to join their company, and prepare to give him a stately though a gloomy welcome.
I THERE IS A WORLD WHERE THE DEAD YET LIVE. This world only appeared to be a realm of shades and desolation to the Jews of Old Testament times. For those who have not the life of Christ in them the New Testament offers a worse prospect. Yet that some world of departed spirits exists is taught in the Old Testament as well as in the New. This agrees with the almost universal belief of man in all ages and of all nations and of most religions. There seems to be implanted in us an instinct of immortality. We cannot escape from some conception of a hereafter.
II IT IS OF SOME IMPORTANCE THAT WE SHOULD CONSIDER OUR RELATION TO THE WORLD OF THE DEAD. Religion is primarily for this life, to help us to do our daily duty. But it also bears on the future. We cannot but feel that our life is swiftly fleeting. Every year brings us nearer to the great mystery. We know full well that every soul among us will soon solve the awful riddle of futurity. Surely, then, it is of some moment that we should stand in right relations with the world of the dead, if only we can know what those relations should be.
III GOD RULES OVER THE REALMS OF THE DEAD. The psalmist, when meditating on the Divine omnipresence, exclaimed, "If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there". (Psa_139:8)
1. Therefore it is vain to hope to escape from God.by the gate of death. The suicide is mistaken if he thinks he will elude the grasp of the great Avenger.
2. God will maintain order and justice in the realm of the dead. Bad souls do not descend into a Miltonic hell, ruled over by Satan and his crew, at whose mercy they must be without the interference of God. Such a pandemonium does not exist. As far as the Bible is a guide on the subject, there seems to be a solemn order in the regions of the dead. The confusion of earth does not reach the silent realms on the other side of the dark river. If we would be well dealt with there, we must be right and straight with God"s justice here.
IV THE REALM OF THE DEAD WILL BE A DOLEFUL PLACE FOR THE SINNER. The old delights will all be extinguished. The worldly store will be left behind. If the soul has no better treasure, it will be starved and beggared. The strongest and most exalted on earth will find that their power and rank are utterly gone. There kings lie low. The guilty soul will stand naked, with all its sin exposed. There will be no shelter from wrath and punishment. Christ alone can save us from this doleful prospect, by giving us his life eternal.
V THE WORLD WILL WEAR A NEW ASPECT WHEN VIEWED FROM THE REALM OF THE DEAD. Seen from the sun, the earth must appear to be a very small planet. Many great interests, delights, and distresses of earth must seem but poor child"s play to the large sad eyes of death, but spiritual experiences must seem intensely real. Yet every man will be himself still. Pharaoh is recognized. The future is linked on to the past; it will look back on the past, and gravely judge it.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 32:18-20 In an earlier message (31:17-18), God had declared…
32:18-20 In an earlier message (31:17-18), God had declared that Egypt would go down to join the other nations in the underworld. Here that idea is expanded. Egypt’s destination was with the outcasts, along with those who fell by the sword. This place of horror, the pit, was already populated by many nations that once wielded power but had now gone down to destruction (cp. Isa 14:9-11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.