Глава 29

Ezek.29:1–2. In the tenth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set thy face against the king of Egypt, and against the prophets, and against all Egypt, say. Having finished the prophecies about Tire, turn your word to Egypt. Ezek.29:3. And the words: Adonai the Lord says: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the serpent who sits in the midst of his rivers, saying: I am the rivers, and I created them. Some of the interpreters translated “river” in the singular, and seventy in the plural. Both are true. For there is only one Nile, but there are very many watercourses leading from it, and each of them is called a river by the natives. Therefore, God reproaches Pharaoh for his arrogance and shows how he boasts about the rivers, as if he himself made them. You call him a serpent for his arbitrariness in opposition to God. For Divine Scripture also calls the devil this way. It is said: “On that day God will bring a holy sword against the dragon dragon” (Is. 27:1), etc. Ezek.29:4–6. I will put a bridle in your jaw, and I will cleave the fish of your river to your wings, and I will bring you up from the midst of your river, and all the fish of your river will cleave to your scales, and I will cast you into the wilderness, and all the fish of your river, and I will quickly overthrow you, and all the fish of your river: you will fall on the face of the field, and you will not be gathered together, and you will not be fenced in by the beasts of the earth. and I gave you to the birds of heaven for food. And those who live in Egypt will see that the Lord is. These threats are terrible and filled with horror. God threatens to hand over not only Pharaoh, but also his subjects to be beaten, for he called his subjects sticky fish. And how, speaking about Tire, the content of the allegory was borrowed from the sea, because Tire is a seaside city; So here the images of speech are taken from the river. The pharaoh called dominion and power “scales” and “wings”, under which, of necessity, together with the king, they suffered the punishments determined by him. And with the word: “bridle,” he made it sufficiently clear to understand Pharaoh’s unbridledness before the bridle was imposed. God threatens to send some captives into the desert, others to be beaten, and left to be devoured by wild beasts. But he also adds a reason. For Thou wast a rod of reed for the house of Israel: Ezek.29:7. Whenever I touched you with my hand, you were crushed, and when every hand splashed against them, and when you touched you, you were worn out, and you broke all their loins. Just as he threatened Tire and the Philistines, whom we spoke about above, that he would subject them to disasters because they rejoiced at what had happened to Israel, so Egypt reproaches not for this, but for the completely opposite, namely, that by inciting the people of Israel to rely on the hordes of the Egyptians, they deprived them of God’s providence for them and did not bring them any benefit with their help. For he depicted this under the guise of a “rod of cane,” which was “crushed and worn out” due to its powerlessness. This is what Sennacherib called the Egyptian help in Isaiah. For he says: “Behold, you trust in this broken rod of reeds, O Egypt; if a man leans on it, he will go into his hand: so is the king of Egypt, and all those who trust in him” (Is. 36:6). He said the same thing here: “When I came to you with my hand, you were crushed, and every hand lashed out at them,” that is, you became ridiculous to your enemies, because you, like a reed rod, were crushed and defeated. Ezek.29:8–9. For this reason, the Lord Adonai says this: Behold, I will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy man and beast from You, and Egypt will be ruined and desolate: and they will understand that I am the Lord. Since, thinking highly of yourself, you promised to help others, you will learn from experience that you will not be able to protect your land when I bring punishment on you. But My people will know My dominion. Then, again recalling their arrogant speeches, he says: Thou hast spoken, for the rivers are mine, and I have created them. Ezek.29:10. For this reason I will give to you, and to all your rivers, and I will give the land of Egypt for desolation, and for the sword and for destruction from Magdol and Siina, and even to the borders of the Ethiopians. He threatens with desolation not all of Egypt, but “from Magdol and Siina even to the borders of the Ethiopians,” and even these cities, not permanent, but only temporary, are threatened with desolation. Ezek.29:11. The foot of man shall not pass through it, nor the foot of beast tread upon it, and it shall not be inhabited for fourty years: Ezek.29:12. And I will give his land in the midst of destruction in the midst of a desolate land, and his cities in the midst of desolate cities will be: there will be fourty years of desolation: and I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will scatter it throughout the countries. God's love for mankind is indescribable! And it imposes punishment in some measure and weight, and again heals the injured. For this is His word: “I will kill, and I will make life: I will smite, and I will heal” (Deut. 32:39). Therefore, here, too, the Egyptians are threatened with captivity, dispersion, and desolation, but desolation does not limit it to a long time. For forty years, he says, Egypt will be impassable, but not all of it, but “from Magdol and Siina even to the border of the Ethiopians,” and immediately after this he promises a return. For he says: Ezek.29:13–14. In forty years I will gather the Egyptians from their tongues, even if they were scattered there. And I will bring back the captives of Egypt, and I will settle them in the land of Paphoor, to the land from which they were taken. Thus, promising liberation from captivity, he predicts the future insignificance of this kingdom and the humbleness of power: Ezek.29:15. More than all the authorities, I will be extremely humble, so that no one can rise above the tongues, and I will make them humble, so that they will not be among many people. The truth of the prophecy is confirmed by events. The Egyptian kingdom, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, flourished again under Cyrus of Persia, but did not regain its former power. After not much time, Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, again destroyed it, brought it under his citizenship and forced it to pay tribute. Later, after the complete cessation of the Egyptian kings, Egypt received the Macedonian kings. Ezek.29:16. And no one of the house of Israel, remembering iniquity in hope, will ever follow them, and they will understand that I am the Lord. So I will diminish, says God, the kingdom of Egypt, that My people will no longer rely on the help of the Egyptians, and will not borrow from them a reason for wickedness, but will seek My providence for them. “And they will understand that I am the Lord.” Ezek.29:17. And in the twenty-seventh year, on one day of the first month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Ezek.29:18. Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, enslaved his strength with great work on Tyre, every bald head, and every naked thing: and there was no reward for him or his strength against Tyre, for the work that she worked with. He predicted the former in the tenth or twentieth (as it is read in Hebrew and Syrian) year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, and this he predicts in the twenty-seventh year after the capture of Tire and after a long siege, during which every head became bald, and every frame was exposed. For this is what life under the open sky usually produces, and the heat often removes the skin from bodily members that are not covered by anything. God promises to give Nebuchadnezzar Egypt as a reward for his labors during the siege of Tyre, not because he did it voluntarily serving God’s will (Nebuchadnezzar, indulging in his own desire, took up arms against all these nations), but makes it clear that nothing happens without His will. For it is said: “Two birds are worth one assary, and not one of them will fall on earth, apart from your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:29). For not a single event is hidden from him, but He Himself rules over some, and allows others to take place, either leaving this to human freedom, or allowing them to punish those worthy of punishment through others. Therefore, in order to show that by His permission Nebuchadnezzar acquired such power, he promises to give him the enslavement of the Egyptians as a reward for the siege of the Tyrians. Ezek.29:19–20. Adonai the Lord says to Sitsa: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to the king of Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, and will take away its multitude, and take its captivity captive, and plunder its gain; and there will be a reward for his strength, for his service, and serve it against Tyre, giving him the land of Egypt, for everything that he did. This says the Lord Adonai: He said the same thing again, with this repetition, and with the saying, again confirming the prediction. Ezek.29:21. On that day the horn of all the house of Israel will rise up, and I will give you a mouth to open among them, and they will lead you away, for I am the Lord. Divine Scripture sometimes calls “horn” piety, sometimes power, sometimes kingdom. The figurative image of speech: “a horn will arise” is taken from calves, which are weak before the horns appear, but when the horns grow, they acquire great strength. Therefore, says God, after the destruction of Egypt, My people will prosper and acquire piety, not having the evil one as their teacher; having known My dominion, he will incline his ears to the words of the prophets. For he expressed this by saying: “And I will give you a mouth to open among them,” because Ezekiel signified the entire prophetic face.