Revised Literal Translation
Ezekiel 32:2
2Son 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.1
Ezekiel 32:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)“Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: “ ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas thrashing about in your streams, churning the water with your feet and muddying the streams.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: "You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: ‘You are like a young lion among the nations, And you are like a monster in the seas, Bursting forth in your rivers, Troubling the waters with your feet, And fouling their rivers.
Context of Ezekiel 32:2
1And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yhwh came unto me, saying, 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. 3Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. 4Then 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.
Read all of Ezekiel 32Ezekiel 32:2 word by word
בֶּן־אָדָ֗ם שָׂ֤א קִינָה֙ עַל־פַּרְעֹ֣ה מֶֽלֶךְ־מִצְרַ֔יִם וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֔יו כְּפִ֥יר גּוֹיִ֖ם נִדְמֵ֑יתָ וְאַתָּה֙ כַּתַּנִּ֣ים בַּיַּמִּ֔ים וַתָּ֣גַח בְּנַהֲרוֹתֶ֗יךָ וַתִּדְלַח־מַ֙יִם֙ בְּרַגְלֶ֔יךָ וַתִּרְפֹּ֖ס נַהֲרוֹתָֽם׃Read the interlinear
- Sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- of manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
- take upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: raiseH5375
- a lamentationקִינָהqîynâh · dirgeH7015
- for Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
- kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- of Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
- and sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto him, Thou art likeדָּמָהdâmâh · to resembleH1819
- a young lionכְּפִירkephîyr · lionH3715
- of the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- as a whaleתַּןtan · dragonH8565
- as a whaleתַּןtannîyn tannîym · jackalH8577
- in the seasיָםyâm · seaH3220
- and thou camest forthגִּיחַgîyach gôach · to burst/come outH1518
- with thy riversנָהָרnâhâr · riverH5104
- and troubledstדָּלַחdâlach · to troubleH1804
- the watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
- with thy feetרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272
- and fouledstרָפַשׂrâphaώ · to foulH7515
Cross-references for Ezekiel 32:2
- Ezekiel 32:16This 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 Yhwh.
- Ezekiel 19:1Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
- Ezekiel 27:2Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre;
- Ezekiel 28:12Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
- Jeremiah 9:18And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
- Ezekiel 19:2And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
- Ezekiel 38:13Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
- Genesis 49:9Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
- Numbers 24:9He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
- Proverbs 28:15As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
- Jeremiah 4:7The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
- Nahum 2:11Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?
- Ezekiel 29:3Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
- Psalms 74:13Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
- Isaiah 27:1In that day Yhwh with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
- Isaiah 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Yhwh; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not He that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
Commentaries on Ezekiel 32:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Thou art like a young lion - and thou art as a whale in the seas - Thou mayest be likened to two of the fiercest animals in the creation; to a lion, the fiercest on the land; to a crocodile, תנים tannim, (see Ezekiel 29:3;), the fiercest in the waters. It may, however, point out the hippopotamus, as there seems to be a reference to his mode of feeding. He walks deliberately into the water over head, and pursues his way in the same manner; still keeping on…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Thou art like - Rather, Thou wouldest be like to (others, “wast likened unto”) a young lion. And thou art - In contrast to what thou wouldest be. A whale - Rather, crocodile (marginal reference note). Pharaoh should have been like the king of beasts, but he is a mere sea-monster. There is strong irony here, because the Egyptian king was proud of the comparison between himself and the mighty crocodile. Seas - The word is often used of the waters of a…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3Ezekiel compares Pharaoh to a powerful beast (Ezekiel 29:3). Egypt's pharaohs used the lion and a monster in the seas (or crocodile) as symbols of strength. These animals represented power and control. However, both lions and crocodiles can be hunted and killed. The same would happen to Pharaoh. God would act through his chosen agents (Ezekiel 32:11–12). They would hunt Pharaoh, capture him, and drag him away.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Pharaoh--"Phra" in Burmah, signifies the king, high priest, and idol. whale--rather, any monster of the waters; here, the crocodile of the Nile. Pharaoh is as a lion on dry land, a crocodile in the waters; that is, an object of terror everywhere. camest forth with thy rivers--"breakest forth" [Fairbairn]. The antithesis of "seas" and "rivers" favors Grotius rendering, "Thou camest forth from the sea into the rivers"; that is, from thy own empire into…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 32:2
In the dictionaries
Notes
- 1. Ezekiel 32:2 whale: or, dragon. ↩
Commentaries on Ezekiel 32
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Revised Literal Translation — © 2018 Michael W. Jones, Sr. — GPL
Commentaries