Context No. 3950 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Ezekiel 32:28-32: in context

28“But you will be broken among the uncircumcised, and will lie with those who are slain by the sword. 29“There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword. They will lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. 30“There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain. They are put to shame in the terror which they caused by their might. They lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 31“Pharaoh will see them and will be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword,” says the Lord GOD. 32“For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude,” says the Lord GOD.

This closing section of the lament over the nations returns to a solemn refrain: the great powers, Edom, the princes of the north, the Sidonians, all who spread terror in the land of the living, now lie together in the pit with the slain, bearing their shame. The very terror they had inflicted on others in life has become, in death, their own disgrace.

There is a striking reversal here. These nations had made themselves feared; they spread terror, and by it they seemed strong and dominant. But that terror they caused now returns upon them as shame; they lie disgraced among the dead, their fearsomeness counting for nothing. And Pharaoh, seeing them, is said to be comforted, the hollow comfort of the ruined finding company in their ruin. The passage exposes the emptiness of a strength built on making others afraid. The terror such powers spread did not secure them; it became the measure of their shame when they fell. What we inflict on others has a way of returning upon us, and a greatness founded on spreading terror ends not in glory but in disgrace among the fallen.

Am I ever tempted to build my strength or standing on intimidating others, and do I remember that terror inflicted returns as shame, so that no greatness founded on making others afraid can finally stand?

Sources

Ezekiel 32:30: "There are the princes of the north... They are put to shame in the terror which they caused... and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit."
Ezekiel 32:29: "There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes... They will lie with the uncircumcised."
Ezekiel 32:32: "For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised."