Ezekiel 29:1-7·~1 min

A Prophecy against Pharaoh

In the tenth year the word of the LORD comes, directing Ezekiel to set his face against Pharaoh king of Egypt. Pharaoh is depicted as a great dragon in the Nile who boasts that the river is his and that he made it for himself. The LORD will put hooks in his jaws, drag him out with the fish of the river, and cast him into the wilderness to lie unburied. Egypt has been a reed staff to Israel rather than a true support, wounding those who leaned on it, and therefore all who dwell in Egypt will know that the LORD is God.

I¹n the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. ³Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: ⁴But I will put hooks in your jaws ⁵I will leave you in the desert, ⁶Then all the people of Egypt ⁷When Israel took hold of you with their hands,

Verse 1In the tenth year, tenth month, and twelfth day, the word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel.

This verse dates the opening oracle against Egypt.

Verse 2Ezekiel is told to set his face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and all Egypt.

This verse directs the judgment toward Pharaoh and his realm.

Verse 3Pharaoh is called the great monster in the Nile who says, 'My Nile is mine; I made it for myself.'

This verse names Egypt's pride in self-created sovereignty.

Verse 4God will put hooks in Pharaoh's jaws and draw him out with the fish of his rivers clinging to him.

This verse turns the river-boast into a humiliating capture scene.

Verse 5Pharaoh and the fish of the river will be cast into the wilderness and left unburied as food for beasts and birds.

This verse strips Egypt's grandeur down to exposed carcass imagery.

Verse 6Then all the inhabitants of Egypt will know the LORD because Egypt was only a staff of reed to Israel.

This verse states both the revelatory goal and the practical sin.

Verse 7When Israel grasped Egypt, it splintered and tore the shoulder; when they leaned on it, it broke and made them stagger.

This verse explains Egypt's guilt as false support that worsened Israel's fall.

Passage shape

A quiet block diagram: each row is one authored paragraph movement, with verse numbers kept visible for scanning and deeper work.

vv. 1-7
In the tenth year the word of the LORD comes, directing Ezekiel to set his face against Pharaoh king of Egypt. Pharaoh is depicted as a great dragon in the Nile who boasts that the river is his and that he made it for himself. The LORD will put hooks in his jaws, drag him out with the fish of the river, and cast him into the wilderness to lie unburied. Egypt has been a reed staff to Israel rather than a true support, wounding those who leaned on it, and therefore all who dwell in Egypt will know that the LORD is God.
This paragraph exposes both Pharaoh's pride and Egypt's unreliability as grounds for judgment.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Section summaryThe LORD sets Himself against Pharaoh king of Egypt, portraying him as the great monster lying in the Nile and arrogantly claiming the river as his own creation. God will hook him from the waters with all the fish clinging to his scales and cast him into the wilderness. Egypt is judged because it proved to be a flimsy reed staff to the house of Israel: when Israel leaned on it, it splintered and failed. Pharaoh's pride and Egypt's false support alike are exposed under divine judgment.

Role in the chapterThis section attacks Pharaoh's self-divinizing arrogance and Egypt's history as a treacherous source of false security for Israel.