Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 32: Down to the Land of the Dead
The oracles against Egypt close with two solemn laments. In the first, Pharaoh, who thought himself a lion and a great sea-monster churning the waters, is caught in God's net and hauled onto the land for the beasts and birds; the very heavens go dark over Egypt, 'I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.' In the second, the prophet is told to wail Egypt down into 'the nether parts of the earth,' the land of the dead, where she joins the once-mighty fallen: Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north, all who 'caused their terror in the land of the living' and now 'bear their shame' among the slain. It is the great equalizer, death, and the sober truth that every proud power, however terrible, ends in the same silent pit.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel chapter 32, the closing laments over Egypt. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This chapter completes the oracles against the nations (chapters 25-32). Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Caught in God's Net
Pharaoh the sea-monster is netted and hauled out for the beasts.
The Heavens Made Dark
Sun, moon, and stars are darkened over Egypt in the day of her fall.
Down to the Dead
Egypt joins the fallen nations in the nether parts of the earth.
They Bear Their Shame
Once-terrible powers now lie together, shamed among the slain.
I Will Spread Out My Net Over Thee (Ezekiel 32:1-16)
Pharaoh, a churning sea-monster, is caught in God's net and left as carrion; the heavens are darkened over Egypt, and the sword of Babylon fills the land with the slain, that they may know He is the LORD.
I Will Cover the Sun With a Cloud
"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, 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. 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. 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. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. 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. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD. 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. 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. For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. 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. 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. Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD. 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. 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."
Hebrew Study
"a whale in the seas," tannim (תַּנִּים). The great sea-monster or dragon (the same word as the "great dragon" of Ezekiel 29:3). Pharaoh imagined himself a mighty sea-creature, master of the waters, "troubledst the waters with thy feet." God treats him as a monster to be trapped and dragged out, no match for the Creator who nets the Leviathan (Job 41). Human pride imagines itself untouchable; God hooks it like a fish.
"I will cover the sun with a cloud," the darkening of the heavens. The blotting out of sun, moon, and stars is classic "day of the LORD" imagery for cataclysmic judgment (Joel 2:10, 31; 3:15; Amos 8:9). The Lord Jesus used the same language of the coming judgment: "shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light" (Matthew 24:29). Every local darkening foreshadows the final Day when the lights of a proud world go out.
Explanation
The lament pictures Pharaoh as a "young lion" and a "whale" (sea-monster) who "troubledst the waters", a proud power that churned and fouled everything around it. God answers, "I will therefore spread out my net over thee," catching the monster and hauling it onto dry land as carrion "for the fowls of the heaven" and "the beasts." The imagery is grim and total: the great creature that ruled the waters lies dead in the open field.
Then comes the cosmic darkening: "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." When a great power falls, it is as if the lights of the world go out; the whole earth is shaken, and "many people amazed... their kings... horribly afraid." The instrument is named, "the sword of the king of Babylon", and the result is Egypt made "desolate," her waters running "like oil" (still, lifeless), so that "they shall know that I am the LORD." The proud sea-monster that fouled the nations is stilled, and the world mourns and trembles at the fall.
Gospel Focus
The darkening of sun, moon, and stars over fallen Egypt is the language the prophets and the Lord Jesus use for the great Day of the LORD, "shall the sun be darkened... and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken" (Matthew 24:29). Every historical judgment, like Egypt's, is a rehearsal for the final one, when the lights of a God-defying world will go out. Strikingly, this darkness also fell at the cross: "there was darkness over all the land" (Matthew 27:45) when Jesus bore the judgment of the world. At Calvary the darkness of the day of the LORD came down on the sinless Substitute, so that all who trust Him might walk instead in "the light of life" (John 8:12). The proud "sea-monster" powers of the world will be netted and stilled; but the humble in Christ have nothing to fear when the lights go out, for their Savior has already passed through the darkness and risen as "the light of the world." Do not be found among the amazed and terrified kings, but among those hidden in Christ.
They That Caused Terror in the Land of the Living (Ezekiel 32:17-32)
The prophet wails Egypt down to the land of the dead, where she joins the once-terrible fallen nations, Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north, and Sidon, all now lying together, shamed among the slain.
They Bear Their Shame With Them That Go Down to the Pit
"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, 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. Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. 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. 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. Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword. 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. 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. 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. 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."
Hebrew Study
"the land of the living," eretz chayyim (אֶרֶץ חַיִּים). The world of the living, where these nations "caused their terror." The refrain is haunting: the powers that terrorized "the land of the living" now lie helpless in the land of the dead. The terror they inflicted on earth counts for nothing in the grave; their swords are laid under their heads, but "their iniquities shall be upon their bones." Earthly dread does not survive death.
"bear their shame," vayyis'u kelimmatam (וַיִּשְׂאוּ כְּלִמָּתָם). To carry disgrace. The once-glorious empires now "bear their shame with them that go down to the pit." Death strips away the pomp and exposes the emptiness of a greatness built on terror and pride. Where earthly power ends in shame, the gospel offers the opposite: those who trust Christ "shall not be ashamed" (Romans 10:11).
Explanation
The second lament is a funeral procession into the underworld. The prophet is told to "wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down... unto the nether parts of the earth." There Egypt joins a grim company of the once-mighty fallen. God names them: "Asshur" (Assyria) and all her company; "Elam"; "Meshech, Tubal"; "Edom, her kings"; "the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians." One after another, the great terror-powers of history are pictured lying in their graves in Sheol, "all of them slain, fallen by the sword."
The recurring, haunting note is the contrast between their past and their present: they "caused their terror in the land of the living," yet now they "bear their shame with them that go down to the pit." The nations that once made the earth tremble lie silent and disgraced among the dead, their weapons useless, "their iniquities... upon their bones." Egypt will simply be the latest to join them, "Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted", cold comfort, that at least he is not alone in ruin. The chapter, and the whole oracle-against-the-nations section, ends here: in the pit, where all proud human power finally lies together, leveled by death and stripped of its terror.
Gospel Focus
This descent into the pit, where all the terror-powers of history lie together, "bearing their shame," is Scripture's sober verdict on greatness built on pride and violence: it ends in the grave, disgraced and forgotten. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:10), and the terror the mighty inflicted "in the land of the living" will not follow them; only "their iniquities" remain "upon their bones." This is the destiny the gospel rescues us from. Jesus Christ went down into death, not for His own sin but for ours, and rose again, "abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). Because He holds "the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18), those who trust Him do not descend to the pit to "bear their shame," but are raised with Him, for "whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed" (Romans 10:11). The nations that terrorized the living lie shamed among the dead; but the humble who hide in Christ pass from death to life. The great question this dark chapter presses is simply: when you go down, will you go down among the shamed, or rise among the redeemed?
Chapter 32 in Review
Ezekiel 32 closes the oracles against the nations with two laments over Egypt. In the first, Pharaoh, a proud "whale" churning the waters, is caught in God's "net" and hauled out as carrion, and the heavens go dark over Egypt, "I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light", as the sword of Babylon fills the land. In the second, the prophet wails Egypt down to "the nether parts of the earth," where she joins the once-terrible fallen: Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, Edom, the princes of the north, and Sidon. The haunting refrain rings through the pit: they "caused their terror in the land of the living," yet now they "bear their shame with them that go down to the pit."
For the Apostolic reader, this dark chapter delivers a sobering, clarifying truth and points to the only escape. Every proud power built on terror and self-exaltation ends the same way, in the grave, disgraced, its terror useless and its iniquities "upon its bones." Death is the great leveller. And the darkening of the heavens over Egypt is the language of the coming Day of the LORD, a darkness that fell also at the cross, where Jesus bore the world's judgment. He went down into death and rose, holding "the keys of hell and of death," and "brought life and immortality to light." So the question the pit presses on every reader is where we will finally lie: among the shamed powers who trusted their own greatness, or among the redeemed who humbled themselves in Christ and were raised with Him. "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
- The proud "sea-monster" powers imagine themselves untouchable; God nets them like a fish (32:2-3; Job 41).
- The darkening of sun, moon, and stars is "day of the LORD" language, fulfilled at the cross and the last day (32:7-8; Matthew 24:29; 27:45).
- Death is the great leveller; the terror the mighty caused does not follow them past the grave (32:23-27).
- Greatness built on pride and violence ends in shame among the dead (32:24, 30; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
- Christ conquered the pit, holds "the keys of hell and of death," and brought life and immortality to light (32:18; Revelation 1:18; 2 Timothy 1:10).
- Those who trust Christ "shall not be ashamed," but rise with Him instead of bearing shame in the pit (Romans 10:11).
Questions for Reflection
- The terror the mighty caused counted for nothing in the grave. What are you building that will not survive death?
- How does the darkness of the cross, where Jesus bore judgment, give you hope in the face of the coming Day of the LORD?
- When you "go down," will you lie among the shamed or rise among the redeemed? On what does that depend?
- What would it mean to humble yourself now in Christ rather than trust your own strength?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Pharaoh as the "whale"/sea-monster (tannim, verse 2) matches Ezekiel 29:3; the untamable monster is Job 41 (Leviathan). The darkening of sun, moon, and stars (verses 7-8) is "day of the LORD" imagery (Joel 2:10, 31; 3:15; Amos 8:9), used by Christ of the last day (Matthew 24:29) and fulfilled in part at Calvary (Matthew 27:45; Luke 23:44-45). The descent to Sheol / "the nether parts of the earth" (verses 18-32), where Assyria, Elam, Meshech and Tubal, Edom, and Sidon lie, pictures the common grave of the fallen nations; "the land of the living" is Psalm 27:13; 116:9. Judgment for all is 2 Corinthians 5:10. Christ's victory over death is 2 Timothy 1:10; Revelation 1:18; the believer "not ashamed" is Romans 10:11. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Pharaoh the sea-monster netted; the heavens darkened; the sword of Babylon: Ezekiel 32:1-16; Matthew 24:29; 27:45.
- The descent to the pit; the fallen nations who terrorized the living now bear their shame: Ezekiel 32:17-32; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 1:10; Revelation 1:18.