Ezekiel 32:11-16

Why do Egypt’s busy waters become still?

Berean Standard Bible

11 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you! 12 I will make your hordes fall by the swords of the mighty, the most ruthless of all nations. They will ravage the pride of Egypt and all her multitudes will be destroyed. 13 I will slaughter all her cattle beside the abundant waters. No human foot will muddy them again, and no cattle hooves will disturb them. 14 Then I will let her waters settle and will make her rivers flow like oil,’ declares the Lord GOD. 15 ‘When I make the land of Egypt a desolation and empty it of all that filled it, when I strike down all who live there, then they will know that I am the LORD.’ 16 This is the lament they will chant for her; the daughters of the nations will chant it. Over Egypt and all her multitudes they will chant it, declares the Lord GOD.”

What is the context?

The Lord names the sword of Babylon’s king as coming against Egypt. Ruthless warriors will ravage its pride and destroy its multitudes.

The cattle beside the waters will be removed, and neither human feet nor cattle hooves will muddy the rivers. The waters settle and flow like oil. The quiet follows the removal of the life and activity that had disturbed them.

The emptied land becomes the subject of a lament chanted by the daughters of the nations. The close repeats that the devastation will bring recognition of the Lord.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Cambridge explains the waters flowing like oil as smooth, clear waters no longer stirred up by people or animals. Henry and Wesley also draw a picture of heaviness and sadness over the nation.

These explanations stay with the comparison: the rivers are said to flow like oil. The verse does not say that the water becomes oil or blood.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

Where can I study this further?

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