Ezekiel 32:19

Translations

Modern

Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!

Traditional

Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.

Literal

Whom are you pleasing? Go down, and lie down with the uncircumcised!

Latin

Quo pulchrior es? descende, et dormi cum incircumcisis.

Original

Hebrew

English

Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!

Notes

Ezekiel 32:18–20

In an earlier message (Ezekiel 31:17–18), God said that Egypt would go down to join other nations in the place of the dead. Here that idea is explained more fully.

Egypt would share the fate of those who were rejected and those killed by the sword. They would go to the Pit, a word that describes the place of the dead.

This place of judgment was already filled with many nations. These nations were once powerful, but they had fallen and been destroyed (compare Isaiah 14:9–11).

Ezekiel 32:17–32

This final message against Egypt brings the whole series of messages to a close. It gathers together the main themes from God’s judgments against all the nations.

Ezekiel 29:1–32:32

The seventh and final message of judgment against the nations targets Egypt, an old enemy and ally of Israel. This message is the longest and, like the one against Tyre, it addresses both Egypt and its ruler.
Egypt often tempted Israel and Judah to turn away from their loyalty to the Lord. Soon after leaving Egypt, Israel fell into the trap of Egypt's idolatry. Egypt led Judah to rely on chariots and horses instead of the Lord, but Egypt was unreliable when it mattered most. The Lord judged Egypt for leading his people astray (compare Luke 17:1–2).

Ezekiel 25:1–32:32

This section contains a series of messages of judgment against nearby nations. There are six shorter messages against Judah's immediate neighbors, arranged in a clockwise order, followed by a final message against Egypt (Ezekiel 30–32). Through experiencing God's judgment, the nations would recognize God's control over everything. The nations might be used to carry out God's judgment on his people, but they would not avoid judgment themselves.
One of the main purposes of these messages was to show that the negative part of God's promise to Abraham ("I will … curse those who curse you," Genesis 12:3) was still active. No one can harm God's people and avoid consequences, even when God's people are under his judgment.

Theme notes and profiles

Messages Against the Nations

Events

Prophecies of Ezekielc. 593 BC

Related verses

Ezekiel 32:29–30
Edom is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.
Ezekiel 31:18
Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”
Jeremiah 9:25–26
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—
Ezekiel 32:24
Elam is there with all her multitudes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who went down uncircumcised to the earth below, who once spread their terror in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit.
Ezekiel 32:21
Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.’
Ezekiel 31:2
“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘Who can be compared to your greatness?
Ezekiel 28:10
You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”
1 Samuel 17:36
Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
Ezekiel 28:12–17
“Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Isaiah 14:9–15
Sheol beneath is eager to meet you upon your arrival. It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you—all the rulers of the earth. It makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.
Ezekiel 27:3–4
Tell Tyre, who dwells at the gateway to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coasts, that this is what the Lord GOD says: You have said, O Tyre, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
1 Samuel 17:26
David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

Glossary

Book of Jeremiah Circumcision Ezekiel, Book of Lord Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadrezzar Place of the Dead

Ezekiel 32:19

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