Ezekiel 32:12
in Ezekiel 32I will make your hordes fall by the swords of the mighty, the most ruthless of all nations. They will ravage the pride of Egypt and all her multitudes will be destroyed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nought the pride of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
KJV
By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 32
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The sword of the king of Babylon
on Ezekiel 32:11-14
The instrument is finally named without figure, the sword of the king of Babylon. Verse 14 closes the thought with rivers running like oil, a stillness Keil reads as the peace of an emptied land. Fairbairn notes that Egypt did in fact suffer a real, datable Babylonian campaign under Nebuchadnezzar.
This site's exposition
the most ruthless of all nations
The same title marks Babylon's army at 30:11 and the foreigners who felled Assyria's cedar at 31:12. The pride of Egypt is the sin charged against that cedar at 31:10. Egypt receives Assyria's sentence for Assyria's fault.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter XXXII, verse 1 and following) And it was in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month (or tenth), on one day (the Vulgate is silent on the day) of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: You are like a lion among the nations, and like a dragon in the sea; you stirred up your horns in your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and trampled their (or your) rivers.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), an army that there is no standing before. Note, Those that delight in war, and are upon all occasions entering into contention, may expect, some time or other, to be engaged with those that will prove too hard for them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
from beside..waters of other countries that you used to sully.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּחַרְב֤וֹת | becharvot | by [the] swords of | H2719 → | 413 times |
| גִּבּוֹרִים֙ | giborim | warriors | H1368 → | 158 times |
| אַפִּ֣יל | ʾapil | I will make fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| הֲמוֹנֶ֔ךָ | hamonekha | multitude your | H1995 → | 83 times |
| עָרִיצֵ֥י | ʾaritzei | ruthless [ones] of | H6184 → | 20 times |
| גוֹיִ֖ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| כֻּלָּ֑ם | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| וְשָֽׁדְדוּ֙ | veshadedu | and they will devastate | H7703 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| גְּא֣וֹן | geon | [the] pride of | H1347 → | 49 times |
| מִצְרַ֔יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וְנִשְׁמַ֖ד | venishmad | and it will be destroyed | H8045 → | 90 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הֲמוֹנָֽהּ׃ | hamonah | multitude its | H1995 → | 83 times |
בְּחַרְב֤וֹתby [the] swords of
becharvotH2719 →413 times
גִּבּוֹרִים֙warriors
giborimH1368 →158 times
אַפִּ֣ילI will make fall
ʾapilH5307 →435 times
הֲמוֹנֶ֔ךָmultitude your
hamonekhaH1995 →83 times
עָרִיצֵ֥יruthless [ones] of
ʾaritzeiH6184 →20 times
גוֹיִ֖םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
כֻּלָּ֑םall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
וְשָֽׁדְדוּ֙and they will devastate
veshadeduH7703 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
גְּא֣וֹן[the] pride of
geonH1347 →49 times
מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וְנִשְׁמַ֖דand it will be destroyed
venishmadH8045 →90 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הֲמוֹנָֽהּ׃multitude its
hamonahH1995 →83 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 28:7behold, I will bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations. They will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and will defile your splendor.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 31:12
Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And…
- Ezekiel 30:11
He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.
- Habakkuk 1:6–8
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
- Ezekiel 31:12
Through
Ezekiel 29:19Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 30:24–25
I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place My sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, who will groan before him like a mortally wounded man.
- Jeremiah 43:10–13
Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these…
- Ezekiel 30:10–12
This is what the Lord GOD says: I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
- Ezekiel 32:11
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you!
- Ezekiel 30:24–25
Through
Ezekiel 31:11I delivered it into the hand of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with it according to its wickedness. I have banished it.
it leads to
- Daniel 5:18–19
As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor.
- Daniel 5:18–19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel and Patrick Fairbairn, Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy.