“Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!”
Day of vengeance, (Calmet) when the Lord shall judge, (1 Corinthians v. 2.) and Egypt shall fall a prey to the most powerful nation of the Chaldeans. (Worthington)
“And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. pain: or, fear”
Ethiopia. Hebrew, “Chus,” denoting part of Arabia, or rather Ethiopia.
“Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. Libya: Heb. Phut men: Heb. children”
Lydia. Hebrew, “Phut,” near Egypt. (Calmet) — These troops were paid. (Haydock) — Chub, in Mareotis. — Covenant: the Jews or auxiliaries. Septuagint add, “the Persians and Cretans.” (Calmet) — There were Persians in Africa who followed Hercules. (Pliny, [Natural History?] v. 8.)
“In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.”
Messengers; the Chaldeans. (Calmet) — The Nile was navigable as far as Syene. (St. Jerome)
“And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the LORD have spoken it. dry: Heb. drought all: Heb. the fulness thereof”
Dry. The canals were obstructed (Calmet) which rendered cavalry useless. (Herodotus ii. 108.)
“Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.”
Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt, (Calmet) where the idol or bull (Haydock) Apis was fed. (Calmet) — Here Amasis overcame Apries. (Herodotus ii. 168.) — The Chaldeans made war on the gods as well as on the people. — Prince Amasis was tributary to Babylon. Some of this probably regards the times of Cambyses and Ochus. (Usher, the year of the world 3478 and 3653.) (Calmet) See chap. xxix. 14. (Haydock)
“And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No. Zoan: or, Tanis”
Taphnis, or Tanis, famous for the miracles of Moses. (Calmet) — Alexandria. In the Hebrew No, which was the ancient name of that city, which was afterwards rebuilt by Alexander the Great, and from his name called Alexandria. (Challoner) — Septuagint, “Memphis or Diospolis;” (Calmet) or Thebes, capital of Higher Egypt; (Bochart) though it seems rather a maritime town, Nahum iii. 8. (Calmet)
“And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No. Sin: or, Pelusium”
Pelusium. Hebrew Sin, (Haydock) “muddy,” has the same import as pelos. (Calmet) — The place is now called Damietta. (Haydock)
“At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened , when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. darkened: or, restrained”
Darkened: war and misery shall ensue. — Sceptres, by dethroning Apries. — Pride; overflowing of the Nile. See Jeremias xlix. 19.
“And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,”
Year, in which Jerusalem was taken. Pharao lost a battle. His country was afterwards invaded, (Calmet) and his subjects rebelled, ver. 21. (Haydock) — Part of the kingdom had been already subdued, 4 Kings xxiv. 7. (Worthington)