Ezekiel 29:8,9 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Bible Comments

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off from you man and beast. And the land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste, and they will know that I am Yahweh, because he has said, ‘The River (Nile) is mine, and I have made it'.”

We come back here to the major reason for Egypt's judgment, because of its overweening pride (compare Tyre - chapter 28) and its claim not to owe anything to the hand of Yahweh. It proclaims its own divine self-sufficiency. So Yahweh will bring against it His sword of judgment (Ezekiel 21:3-17) which at this time is the sword of Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 21:20; see Jeremiah 46:13-26), but is not limited to that. Nebuchadnezzar did later invade Egypt in 568/7 BC, which would certainly result in devastation and is referred to in a damaged Babylonian tablet, (see also Ezekiel 29:19), but full details are not known and they eventually came to a compromise and became allies. This was later followed by Persian subjugation.

God's Future Judgment on Egypt.

Ezekiel 29:8-9

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.

9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.