Ezekiel 32:19
in Ezekiel 32Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
KJV
Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
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This verse in Ezekiel 32
Commentary
8 notes on this verseWhom dost thou pass in beauty? - How little does it signify, whether a mummy be well embalmed, wrapped round with rich stuff, and beautifully painted on the outside, or not. Go down into the tombs, examine the niches, and see whether one dead carcass be preferable to another.
This site's exposition
pass in beauty
on Ezekiel 32:19-21
The question, whom dost thou pass in beauty, echoes chapter 31's whom art thou like, and answers it the same way, by sending Egypt down to lie with the uncircumcised among the slain. Verse 21 has the strong among the mighty already in Sheol speak to him out of the midst of hell, a scene JFB compares to Isaiah 14's taunt over the king of Babylon, the dead greeting a new arrival to their company. Gill notes uncircumcised is used here as a term of shame among nations that themselves practiced circumcision, not a claim about Egypt's own custom, since Egypt is recorded elsewhere as a circumcising people.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 17 onwards) 'And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Son of man, mourn for the multitude of Egypt, and bring her down, even her and the daughters of the mighty nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit. Wherein art thou fairer than any woman? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised. Among them that are slain with the sword, they shall fall: the sword is given: draw her and all her multitudes.'
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The multitude of Egypt shall all fall in the midst of those that are slain with the sword, now that there is a general slaughter made among the nations." Egypt with the rest must drink of the bloody cup, and therefore she is delivered to the sword, to the sword of war (but, in God's hand, the sword of justice), is delivered to be publicly executed.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
16 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 G OD . The prophet is ordered to take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt,
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:33w-of-49
Whom dost thou pass in beauty?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Whom dost thou pass in beauty?--Beautiful as thou art, thou art not more so than other nations, which nevertheless have perished. go down, &c.--to the nether world, where all "beauty" is speedily marred.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
whom dost thou pass in beauty? - Thou art not more beautiful than other nations: thou shalt not escape their fate.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִמִּ֖י | mimi | more than whom? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| נָעָ֑מְתָּ | naameta | are you lovely | H5276 → | |
| רְדָ֥ה | redah | go down ! | H3381 → | 381 times |
| וְהָשְׁכְּבָ֖ה | vehashekevah | and be laid ! | H7901 → | 212 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| עֲרֵלִֽים׃ | ʾarelim | uncircumcised [men] | H6189 → | 35 times |
מִמִּ֖יmore than whom?
mimiH4310 →423 times
נָעָ֑מְתָּare you lovely
naametaH5276 →
רְדָ֥הgo down !
redahH3381 →381 times
וְהָשְׁכְּבָ֖הand be laid !
vehashekevahH7901 →212 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
עֲרֵלִֽים׃uncircumcised [men]
ʾarelimH6189 →35 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 31:18Who 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…
it leads to
- 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.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 28:10
You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Ezekiel 32:21
Through
Ezekiel 32:21Mighty 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.’
it leads to
- Isaiah 14:9–10
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…
- Ezekiel 32:27
They do not lie down with the fallen warriors of old, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads, whose shields rested on their bones,…
- Luke 16:23–24
In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
- Isaiah 14:9–10
Through
Ezekiel 28:10You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”
it leads to
- 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…
- 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…
- 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 31:18
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.