BIBLES NET. COM

Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Ezekiel XXXII

Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

on the Whole Bible

Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page


[Table of Contents]

[Previous]

[Next]

Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Whole Bible (1712)




E Z E K I E L.

CHAP. XXXII.



     

Still we are upon the destruction of Pharaoh and Egypt, which is

wonderfully enlarged upon, and with a great deal of emphasis. When we

read so very much of Egypt’s ruin, no less than six several prophecies

at divers times delivered concerning it, we are ready to think, Surely

there is some special reason for it. And,

I. Perhaps it may look as far back as the book of Genesis, where we

find

(ch. xv. 14)

that God determined to judge Egypt for oppressing his people; and,

though that was in part fulfilled in the plagues of Egypt and the

drowning of Pharaoh, yet, in this destruction, here foretold, those old

scores were reckoned for, and that was to have its full accomplishment.

II. Perhaps it may look as far forward as the book of the Revelation,

where we find that the great enemy of the gospel-church, that makes war

with the Lamb, is spiritually called Egypt,

Rev. xi. 8.

And, if so, the destruction of Egypt and its Pharaoh was a type of the

destruction of that proud enemy; and between this prophecy of the ruin

of Egypt and the prophecy of the destruction of the antichristian

generation there is some analogy. We have two distinct prophecies in

this chapter relating to Egypt, both in the same month, one on the 1st

day, the other that day fortnight, probably both on the sabbath day.

They are both lamentations, not only to signify how lamentable the fall

of Egypt should be, but to intimate how much the prophet himself should

lament it, from a generous principle of love to mankind. The

destruction of Egypt is here represented under two similitudes:–

1. The killing of a lion, or a whale, or some such devouring creature,

ver. 1-16.

2. The funeral of a great commander or captain-general,

ver. 17-32.

The two prophecies of this chapter are much of the same length.


















The Fall of Egypt; Lamentation for Pharaoh. B. C. 587.

     

1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth

month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the

LORD came unto me, saying,

  2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt,

and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and

thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy

rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst

their rivers.

  3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net

over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring

thee up in my net.

  4 Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth

upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven

to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole

earth with thee.

  5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the

valleys with thy height.

  6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou

swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full

of thee.

  7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and

make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon shall not give her light.

  8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee,

and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.

  9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring

thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou

hast not known.

  10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings

shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword

before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man

for his own life, in the day of thy fall.

  11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of

Babylon shall come upon thee.

  12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to

fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall

spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be

destroyed.

  13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the

great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any

more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.

  14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers

to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.

  15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the

country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I

shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know

that I am the LORD.

  16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her:

the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament

for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the

Lord GOD.

     

Here,

I. The prophet is ordered to take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king

of Egypt,
v. 2.

It concerns ministers to be much of a serious spirit, and, in order

thereunto, to be frequent in taking up lamentations for the fall and

ruin of sinners, as those that have not desired, but dreaded, the

woeful day. Note, Ministers that would affect others with the things of

God must make it appear that they are themselves affected with the

miseries which sinners bring upon themselves by their sins. It becomes

us to weep and tremble for those that will not weep and tremble for

themselves, to try if thereby we may set them a weeping, set them a

trembling.

     

II. He is ordered to show cause for that lamentation.

     

1. Pharaoh has been a troubler of the nations, even of his own nation,

which he should have procured the repose of: He is like a young lion

of the nations

(v. 2),

loud and noisy, hectoring and threatening as a lion when he roars.

Great potentates, if they by tyrannical and oppressive, are in God’s

account no better than beasts of prey. He is like a whale, or

dragon, like a crocodile (so some) in the seas, very turbulent

and vexatious, as the leviathan that makes the deep to boil

like a pot,
Job xli. 31.

When Pharaoh engaged in an unnecessary war with the Cyrenians he

came forth with his rivers, with his armies, troubled the

waters, disturbed his own kingdom and the neighbouring nations,

fouled the rivers, and made them muddy. Note, A great deal of

disquiet is often given to the world by the restless ambition and

implacable resentments of proud princes. Ahab is he that troubles

Israel, and not Elijah.

     

2. He that has troubled others must expect to be himself troubled; for

the Lord is righteous,

Josh. vii. 25.

     

(1.) This is set forth here by a comparison. Is Pharaoh like a great

whale, which, when it comes up the river, gives great disturbance,

a leviathan which Job cannot draw out with a hook?

(Job xli. 1),

yet God has a net for him which is large enough to enclose him and

strong enough to secure him

(v. 3):

I will spread my net over thee, even the army of the Chaldeans,

a company of many people; they shall force him out of his

fastnesses, dislodge him out of his possessions, throw him like a great

fish upon dry ground, upon the open field

(v. 4),

where being out of his element, he must die of course, and be a prey to

the birds and beasts, as was foretold,

ch. xxix. 5.

What can the strongest fish do to help itself when it is out of the

water and lies gasping? The flesh of this great whale shall be

laid upon the mountains

(v. 5)

and the valleys shall be filled with his height. Such

numbers of Pharaoh’s soldiers shall be slain that the dead bodies shall

be scattered upon the hills and there shall be heaps of them piled up

in the valleys. Blood shall be shed in such abundance as to swell the

rivers in the valleys. Or, Such shall be the bulk, such the height, of

this leviathan, that, when he is laid upon the ground, he shall fill a

valley. Such vast quantities of blood shall issue from this

leviathan as shall water the land of Egypt, the land

wherein now he swims, now he sports himself,

v. 6.

It shall reach to the mountains, and the waters of Egypt shall

again be turned into blood by this means: The rivers shall be

full of thee. The judgments executed upon Pharaoh of old are

expressed by the breaking of the heads of leviathan in the

waters,
Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14.

But now they go further; this old serpent not only has now his head

bruised, but is all crushed to pieces.

     

(2.) It is set forth by a prophecy of the deep impression which the

destruction of Egypt should make upon the neighbouring nations; it

would put them all into a consternation, as the fall of the Assyrian

monarchy did,

ch. xxxi. 15, 16.

When Pharaoh, who had been like a blazing burning torch, is put

out and extinguished it shall make all about him look black,

v. 7.

The heavens shall be hung with black, the stars darkened, the

sun eclipsed, and the moon be deprived of her borrowed light. It is

from the upper world that this lower receives its light; and therefore

(v. 8),

when the bright lights of heaven are made dark above,

darkness by consequence is set upon the land, upon the earth; so

it shall be on the land of Egypt. Here the plague of darkness, which

was upon Egypt of old for three days, seems to be alluded to, as,

before, the turning of the waters into blood. For, when former

judgments are forgotten, it is just that they should be repeated. When

their privy-counsellors, and statesmen, and those that have the

direction of the public affairs, are deprived of wisdom and made fools,

and the things that belong to their peace are hidden from their eyes,

then their lights are darkened and the land is in a mist. This is

foretold,

Isa. xix. 13.

The princes of Zoan have become fools. Now upon the spreading of

the report of the fall of Egypt, and the bringing of the news to remote

countries, countries which they had not known

(v. 9),

people shall be much affected, and shall feel themselves sensibly

touched by it.

[1.] It shall fill them with vexation to see such an ancient, wealthy,

potent kingdom thus humbled and brought down, and the pride of worldly

glory, which they have such a value for, stained. The hearts of many

people will be vexed to see the word of the God of Israel

fulfilled in the destruction of Egypt, and that all the gods of

Egypt were not able to relieve it. Note, The destruction of some

wicked people is a vexation to others.

[2.] It shall fill them with admiration

(v. 10):

They shall be amazed at thee, shall wonder to see such great

riches and power come to nothing,
Rev. xviii. 17.

Note, Those that admire with complacency the pomp of this world will

admire with consternation the ruin of that pomp, which to those that

know the vanity of all things here below is no surprise at all.

[3.] It shall fill them with fear: even their kings (that think

it their prerogative to be secure) shall be horribly afraid for

thee, concluding their own house to be in danger when their

neighbour’s is on fire. When I shall brandish my sword before them

they shall tremble every man for his own life. Note, When the sword

of God’s justice is drawn against some, to cut them off, it is thereby

brandished before others, to give them warning. And those that will not

be admonished by it, and made to reform, shall yet be frightened by it,

and made to tremble. They shall tremble at every moment, because of

thy fall. When others are ruined by sin we have reason to quake for

fear, as knowing ourselves guilty and obnoxious. Who is able to

stand before this holy Lord God?

     

(3.) It is set forth by a plain and express prediction of the

desolation itself that should come upon Egypt.

[1.] The instruments of the desolation appear here very formidable. It

is the sword of the king of Babylon, that warlike, that

victorious prince, that shall come upon thee

(v. 11),

the swords of the mighty, even the terrible of the nations,

all of them

(v. 12),

an army that there is no standing before. Note, Those that delight in

war, and are upon all occasions entering into contention, may expect,

some time or other, to be engaged with those that will prove too hard

for them. Pharaoh had been forward to quarrel with his neighbour and

to come forth with his rivers, with his armies,

v. 2.

But God will now give him enough of it.

[2.] The instances of the desolation appear here very frightful, much

the same with what we had before,

ch. xxix. 10-12; xxx. 7.

First, The multitude of Egypt shall be destroyed, not decimated,

some picked out to be made examples, but all cut off. Note, The numbers

of sinners, though they be a multitude, will neither secure them

against God’s power nor entitle them to his pity. Secondly, The

pomp of Egypt shall be spoiled, the pomp of their court, what they have

been proud of. Note, in renouncing the pomps of this world we did

ourselves a great kindness, for they are things that are soon spoiled

and that cheat their admirers. Thirdly, The cattle of Egypt,

that used to feed by the rivers, shall be destroyed

(v. 13),

either cut off by the sword or carried off for a prey. Egypt was famous

for horses, which would be an acceptable booty to the Chaldeans. The

rivers shall be no more frequented as they have been by man and beast,

that came thither to drink. Fourthly, The waters of

Egypt, that used to flow briskly, shall now grow deep, and slow,

and heavy, and shall run like oil

(v. 14),

a figurative expression signifying that there should be such universal

sadness and heaviness upon the whole nation that even the rivers should

go softly and silently like mourners, and quite forget their rapid

motion. Fifthly, The whole country of Egypt shall be stripped

of its wealth; it shall be destitute of what whereof it was full

(v. 15),

corn, and cattle, and all the pleasant fruits of the earth; when those

are smitten that dwell therein the ground is untilled, and that

which is gathered becomes an easy prey to the invader. Note, God can

soon empty those of this world’s goods that have the greatest fulness

of those things and are full of them, that enjoy most and have their

hearts set upon those enjoyments. The Egyptians were full of their

pleasant and plentiful country, and its rich productions. Every one

that talked with them might perceive how much it filled them. But God

can soon make their country destitute of that whereof it is

full; it is therefore our wisdom to be full of treasures in heaven.

When the country is made destitute,

1. It shall be an instruction to them: Then shall they know that I

am the Lord. A sensible conviction of the vanity of the world, and

the fading perishing nature of all things in it, will contribute much

to our right knowledge of God as our portion and happiness.

2. It shall be a lamentation to all about them: The daughters of the

nations shall lament her

(v. 16),

either because, being in alliance with her, they share in her

grievances and suffer with her, or, being admirers of her, they at

least share in her grief and sympathize with her. They shall lament

for Egypt and all her multitude; it shall excite their pity to

see so great a devastation made. By enlarging the matters of our joy we

increase the occasions of our sorrow.

















The Fall of Egypt; Egypt’s Destruction Completed. B. C. 587.

     

17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth

day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me,

saying,

  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.

  19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid

with the uncircumcised.

  20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the

sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her

multitudes.

  21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the

midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they

lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

  22 Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are

about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:

  23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her

company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by

the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.

  24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave,

all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down

uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused

their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their

shame with them that go down to the pit.

  25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all

her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them

uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused

in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with

them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them

that be slain.

  26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves

are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the

sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.

  27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of

the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons

of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but

their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were

the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

  28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised,

and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.

  29 There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with

their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they

shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to

the pit.

  30 There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all

the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their

terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie

uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear

their shame with them that go down to the pit.

  31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his

multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword,

saith the Lord GOD.

  32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and

he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them

that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his

multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

     

This prophecy concludes and completes the burden of Egypt, and leaves

it and all its multitude in the pit of destruction.

     

I. We are here invited to attend the funeral of that once flourishing

kingdom, to lament its fall, and to take a view of those who attend it

to the grave and accompany it in the grave.

     

1. This dead corpse of a kingdom is here brought to the grave. The

prophet is ordered to cast them down to the pit

(v. 18),

to foretel their destruction as one that had authority, as Jeremiah was

set over the kingdoms,

Jer. i. 10.

He must speak in God’s name, and as from him who will cast them down.

Yet he must foretel it as one that had an affectionate concern for

them; he must wail for the multitude of Egypt, even when he

casts them down. When Egypt is slain, let her have an honourable

funeral, befitting her quality; let her be buried with the daughters

of the famous nations, in their burying-places and with the same

ceremony. It is but a poor allay to the reproach and terror of death to

be buried with those that were famous; yet this is all that is allowed

to Egypt. Shall Egypt think to exempt herself from the common fate of

proud and imperious nations? No; she must take her lot with them

(v. 19):

Whom dost thou surpass in beauty? Art thou so much fairer than

any other nation that thou shouldst expect therefore to be excused? No;

others as fair as thou have sunk into the pit; go down

therefore, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. Thou art

like them and art likely to lie among them. The multitude of Egypt

shall all fall in the midst of those that are slain with the

sword, now that there is a general slaughter made among the

nations.” Egypt with the rest must drink of the bloody cup, and

therefore she is delivered to the sword, to the sword of war

(but, in God’s hand, the sword of justice), is delivered to be publicly

executed. Draw her and all her multitude; draw them either as

the dead bodies of great men are drawn in honour to the grave, in a

hearse, or as malefactors are drawn in disgrace to the place of

execution, on a sledge; draw them to the pit, and let them be made a

spectacle to the world.

     

2. This corpse of a kingdom is bid welcome to the grave, and Pharaoh is

made free of the congregation of the dead, and admitted into their

regions, not without some pomp and ceremony. As the surprising fall of

the king of Babylon is thus illustrated, Hell from beneath is moved

for thee to meet thee at thy coming, and to introduce thee into

those mansions of darkness

(Isa. xiv. 9,

&c.), so here

(v. 21),

They shall speak to him out of the midst of hell, as it were

congratulating his arrival and calling him to join with them in

acknowledging that which neither he nor they would be brought to own

when they were in their pomp and pride, that it is in vain to think of

contesting with God, and none ever hardened their hearts against him

and prospered. They shall say to him, and to those that pretended to

help him, Where are you now? What have you brought your attempts to at

last? Divers nations are here mentioned as gone down to the grave

before Egypt that are ready to give her a scornful reception and

upbraid her with coming to them at last. These nations here spoken of

were probably such as had been of late years ruined and wasted by the

king of Babylon, and their princes cut off; let Egypt know that she has

neighbour’s fare. When she goes to the grave she does but

migrare ad plures–migrate to the majority; there are

innumerable before her. But it is observable that though Judah

and Jerusalem were just about this time, or a little before, utterly

ruined and laid waste, yet they are not mentioned here among the

nations that welcome Egypt to the pit; for though they suffered the

same things that these nations suffered, and by the same hand, yet the

kind intentions of their affliction, and its happy issue at last, and

the mercy God had yet in reserve for them, altered the property of it;

it was not to them a going down to the pit, as it was to the

heathen; they were not smitten as others were, nor slain

according to the slaughter of other nations,
Isa. xxvii. 7.

But let us see who those are that have gone to the grave before

Egypt, that lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword, with whom she

must now take up her lodging.

(1.) There lie the Assyrian empire, and all the princes and mighty men

of that monarchy

(v. 22):

Asshur is there and all her company, all the countries that were

tributaries to and had dependence upon that crown. That mighty

potentate who used to lie in state, with his guards and grandees about

him, now lies in obscurity, with his graves about him and his

soldiers in them, unable any longer to do him service or honour; they

are all of them slain, fallen by the sword. The number of their

months was cut off in the midst, and, being bloody and

deceitful men, they were not suffered to live out half their

days. Their braves were set in the sides of the pit, all in

a row, like beds in a common chamber,

v. 23.

All their company is such as were slain, fallen by the sword; a

vast congregation there is of such, who had caused terror in the

land of the living. But as the death of those to whom they were a

terror put an end to their fears (in the grave the prisoners rest

together and hear not the voice of the oppressor,
Job iii. 18),

so the death of these mighty men puts an end to their terrors. Who is

afraid of a dead lion? Note, Death will be a king of terrors to

those who, instead of making themselves blessings, make themselves

terrors, in their generation.

(2.) There lies the kingdom of Persia, which perhaps within the memory

of man at that time had been wasted and brought down: There is Elam

and all her multitude, the king of Elam and his numerous armies,

v. 24, 25.

They also had caused their terror in the land of the living, had

made a fearful noise and bluster among the nations in their day. But

Elam has now a grave by herself, and the graves of the common people

round about her, fallen by the sword; she has her bed in the

midst of the slain that went down uncircumcised,

unsanctified, unholy, and not in covenant with God. They have

borne their shame with those that go down to the pit; they have

fallen under the common disgrace and mortification of mankind, that

they die and are buried; nay, they die under particular marks of

ignominy, which God and man put upon them. Note, Those who cause their

terror shall, sooner or later, bear their shame, and be made a

terror to themselves. The king of Elam is put in the midst of those

that are slain. All the honour he can now pretend to is to be

buried in the chief sepulchre.

(3.) There lies the Scythian power, which, about this time, was busy in

the world. Meshech and Tubal, those barbarous northern

nations, had lately made a descent upon the Medes, and caused their

terror among them, lived among them upon free quarter for some

years, making every thing their own that they could lay their hands on;

but at length Cyaxares, king of the Medes, drew them by a wile into his

power, but off abundance of them, and obliged them to quit his country,

v. 26.

There lie Meshech and Tubal, and all their multitude; there is a

burying place for them, with their chief commander in the midst of

them, all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword. These

Scythians, dying ingloriously as they lived, are not laid, as the other

nations spoken of before, in the bed of honour

(v. 27):

They shall not lie with the mighty, shall not be buried in

state, as those are, even by consent of the enemy, that are slain in

the field of battle, that go down to their graves with their weapons

of war carried before the hearse, or trailed after it, that have

particularly their swords laid under their heads, as if they

could sleep the sweeter in the grave when they laid their heads on such

a pillow. These Scythians are not buried with these marks of honour,

but their iniquities shall be upon their sons; they shall, for

their iniquity, be left unburied, though they were the terror

even of the mighty in the land of the living.

(4.) There lies the kingdom of Edom, which had flourished long, but

about this time, at least before the destruction of Egypt, was made

quite desolate, as was foretold,

ch. xxv. 13.

Among the sepulchres of the nations there is Edom,
v. 29.

There lie, not dignified with monuments or inscriptions, but mingled

with common dust, her kings and all her princes, her wise

statesmen (which Edom was famous for), and her brave soldiers. These

with their might are laid by those that were slain by the sword;

their might could not prevent it, nay, their might helped to procure

it, for that both encouraged them to engage in war and incensed their

neighbours against them, who thought it necessary to curb their growing

greatness. A great deal of pains they took to ruin themselves, as many

do, who with their might, with all their might, are laid by

those that were slain with the sword. The Edomites retained

circumcision, being of the seed of Abraham. But that shall stand them

in no stead; they shall lie with the uncircumcised.

(5.) There lie the princes of the north, and all the Zidonians.

These were as well acquainted with maritime affairs as the Egyptians

were, who relied much upon that part of their strength, but they have

gone down with the slain

(v. 30),

down to the pit. Now they are ashamed of their might, ashamed to

think how much they boasted of it and trusted to it; and, as the

Edomites with their might, so these with their terror,

are laid with those that are slain by the sword and are forced

to take their lot with them. They bear their shame with those that

go down to the pit, die in as much disgrace as those that are cut

off by the hand of public justice.

(6.) All this is applied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who have no

reason to flatter themselves with hopes of tranquillity when they see

how the wisest, and wealthiest, and strongest, of their neighbours have

been laid waste

(v. 28):

Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised;

when God is pulling down the unhumbled and unreformed nations thou must

expect to come down with them.”

[1.] It will be some extenuation of the miseries of Egypt to observe

that it has been the case of so many great and mighty nations before

(v. 31):

Pharaoh shall see them and be comforted; it will be some ease to

his mind that he is not the first king that has been slain in

battle–his not the first army that has been routed, his not the first

kingdom that has been made desolate. Mr. Greenhill observes here, “The

comfort which wicked ones have after death is poor comfort, not real,

but imaginary.” They will find little satisfaction in having so many

fellow-sufferers; the rich man in hell dreaded it. It is only in point

of honour that Pharaoh can see and be comforted.

[2.] But nothing will be an exemption from these miseries; for

(v. 32)

I have caused my terror in the land of the living. Great men

have caused their terror, have studied how to make every body fear

them. Oderint dum metuant–Let them hate, so that they do but

fear. But now the great God has caused his terror in the land of

the living; and therefore he laughs at theirs, because he sees that

his day is coming,
Ps. xxxvii. 13.

In this day of terror Pharaoh and all his multitude shall be

laid with those that are slain by the sword.

     

II. The view which this prophecy gives us of ruined states may show us

something,

1. Of this present world, and the empire of death in it. Come, and see

the calamitous state of human life; see what a dying world this is. The

strong die, the mighty die, Pharaoh and all his multitude. See what a

killing world this is. They are all slain with the sword. As if

men did not die fast enough of themselves, men are ingenious at finding

out ways to destroy one another. It is not only a great pit, but a

great cock-pit.

2. Of the other world. Though it is the destruction of nations as such

that perhaps is principally intended here, yet here is a plain allusion

to the final and everlasting ruin of impenitent sinners, of those that

are uncircumcised in heart; they are slain by the sword of

divine justice; their iniquity is upon them, and with it they

bear their shame. Those, Christ’s enemies, that would not have

him to reign over them, shall be brought forth and slain

before him, though they be as pompous, though they be as numerous,

as Pharaoh and all his multitude.


[Table of Contents]

[Previous]

[Next]

Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Whole Bible (1712)


Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library

Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download

Contact Us


Top