Ezekiel 29:5

5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky.

Ezekiel 29:5 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
English Standard Version (ESV)
5 And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall on the open field, and not be brought together or gathered. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens I give you as food.
New Living Translation (NLT)
5 I will leave you and all your fish stranded in the wilderness to die. You will lie unburied on the open ground, for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds.
The Message Bible (MSG)
5 Then I'll drag you out into the desert, you and all the Nile fish sticking to your scales. You'll lie there in the open, rotting in the sun, meat to the wild animals and carrion birds.
American Standard Version (ASV)
5 And I will cast thee forth into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered; I have given thee for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish from the Nile. You will fall in an open field. No one will pick you up or bury you. I will feed you to wild animals and birds.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open ground and will not be taken away or gathered [for burial]. I have given you to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky as food.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
5 I will leave you out in the desert. All of the fish in your streams will be there with you. You will fall down in an open field. You will not be picked up. I will feed you to the wild animals and to the birds of the air.

Ezekiel 29:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 29:5

And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee, and
all the fish of thy rivers
Where fish in common cannot live, but die as soon almost as out of the water, and on dry land, excepting those that are of the amphibious kind. This wilderness designs the deserts of Lybia and Cyrene, where the battle was fought between Hophra and Amasis; and where the Egyptian army perished, only their king, before compared to a crocodile, which lives on land, as well as in water, escaped. The Targum is,

``I will cast thee into a wilderness, and all the princes of thy strength:''
thou shalt fall upon the open fields thou shalt not be brought
together, nor gathered,
this is to he understood of his army; for what is proper to an army is sometimes ascribed to the head or general of it; which fell by the sword in the fields of Lybia and Cyrene and was so discomfited, that the remains of it could not be brought and gathered together again: or the sense is, that those that were slain were left in the open fields, and had no burial; they were not gathered to the grave, as Kimchi interprets it; and so the Targum,
``upon the face of the field thy carcass shall be cast; it shall not be gathered, nor shall it be buried:''
this was only true of the carcasses of the soldiers slain in battle, not of the king, who fled, and afterwards in another battle was taken by Amasis, and strangled in the city of Sais, where he was buried among his ancestors, as Herodotus F8 relates: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls
of the heaven;
that is, his army; as the armies of the kings, beast, and false prophet, will be at the battle of Armageddon, when the two latter will be taken and cast alive into the burning lake, of which this monarch was an emblem, ( Revelation 19:17-20 ) .
FOOTNOTES:

F8 Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 169.

Ezekiel 29:5 In-Context

3 Speak to him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “ ‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams. You say, “The Nile belongs to me; I made it for myself.”
4 But I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales. I will pull you out from among your streams, with all the fish sticking to your scales.
5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky.
6 Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the LORD. “ ‘You have been a staff of reed for the people of Israel.
7 When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Jeremiah 8:2
  • 2. S Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 34:20; Ezekiel 31:13; Ezekiel 32:4-6; Ezekiel 39:4
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