Ezekiel 29:15

Eze 29:15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

Ver. 15. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms.] And worthily, for their worshipping the basest creatures, {see Rom 1:23-24} but especiailly for their faithlessness to God’s Israel.

For I will diminish them.] As God hath likewise done the Persians at this day - who have undone their confederates, the Egyptians and Georgians {a} - and the Grecians no less, who have now lost their liberty, and are so degenerate, by means of the Turkish oppression, that in all Graecia is hardly to be found any small remembrance of the glory thereof. {b}

{a} Turkish History.

{b} Ibid., 260.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it shall be the basest of the kingdoms,.... That belonged to the Persian monarchy, or to the Macedonian empire, being more kept under than the rest, lest it should regain its former strength and glory; though it became more famous in the times of some of the Ptolemies, yet never recovered its former greatness; and is now exceeding base indeed, as appears from the preceding note:

neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations; so as to conquer them, and make them tributary to it, as it had done:

for I will demolish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations; for though they made war upon other nations in the time of the Lagidae, yet they did not subdue them, and annex them to their kingdom, being much weakened both as to men and money.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The basest; the most abject, debased, and most underling. It is likely the kings to whom Egypt was tributary kept them lowest, as knowing how dangerous that kingdom might be, as it recovered its ancient greatness; and the word seems to intimate this, for it is more than the kingdoms it shall be depressed.

Neither shall it exalt itself; its masters would so watch and check it. I will diminish them; beside the hard and cruel usages of the Persian kings, which might be unjust enough, God’s most just judgment should follow them to lessen their numbers, power, wealth, and honour.

They shall no more rule over the nations; though once they had subdued and ruled, yet should they not any more. In the times of the Ptolemies, though it was considerable, yet then it was not a kingdom that ruled the nations about her, though she made war upon them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. The basest of the kingdoms — Compare Eze_17:14. Egypt never recovered from the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar. She was easily conquered by the Persians, fell a prey to the Greeks, was tossed about by the Romans, and has never, even to this day, had an independent native ruler on the throne. Never again should Egypt be “the confidence of the house of Israel” (Eze_29:16; compare Isa_30:2-3; Isa_36:4; Isa_36:6; 2Ki_23:35; 2Ki_17:4).

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It shall be the basest of the kingdoms. The words describe vividly the condition of Egypt under the Persian monarchy, after its conquest by Cambyses. With the Ptolemies it rose again to something like eminence, but that, it must be remembered, was an alien dynasty. The nationality of Egypt was suppressed, and Alexandria, practically a Greek city, took the place of Memphis, Sais, and Thebes.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No more rule - Though in the times of the Ptolemeys, it was considerable, yet then, even then it did not rule the nations about her.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to Pharaoh.

the lowliest of the kingdoms

Here "lowliest" represents least important. AT: "the least important of the kingdoms" (See: Metaphor)

it will not be lifted up any more among the nations

Here "be lifted up" represents becoming important. AT: "it will not become important again among the nations" (See: Metaphor)

I will diminish them

"I will make them small." Here "diminish them" represents making Egypt weak or unimportant. (See: Metaphor)

The Egyptians will no longer be a reason for confidence for the house of Israel

The abstract noun "confidence" can be translated with the verbs "trust" or "rely on." AT: "The house of Israel will no longer trust in the Egyptians" or "The house of Israel will no longer rely on the Egyptians" (See: Abstract Nouns)

the house of Israel

Here "house" represents the people of Israel. AT: "the people of Israel" or "the nation of Israel" (See: Metonymy)

they will be a reminder of the iniquity that Israel committed

How Egypt would be a reminder can be stated clearly. The abstract nouns "reminder" and "iniquity" can be expressed with the verbs "remember" and "sin." AT: "when Israel sees what I do to Egypt, Israel will remember how Israel sinned" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Abstract Nouns)

when they turned to Egypt for help

Here "turn ... for help" is a metonym for "ask ... for help." AT: "whenever they asked Egypt to help them" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

kingdom

nation

confidence

iniquity

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

So that they shall not domineer over the nations [Heb. רְדוֹת,] an expression of ruling, like (Gen. 1:28): “and rule (וּרְדוּ) over the fish of the sea.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.