Ezekiel 29:7

Eze 29:7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.

Ver. 7. When they took hold of thee by thy hand,] i.e., Made a covenant with thee, and hoped for help from thee. See Job 8:20. The Holy Scripture is its own best interpreter.

Thou didst break.] So unfaithful are many friends, so uncertain are all human helps.

And madest all their loins to be at a stand.] Thou leftest them in the lurch, as we say, to shift for themselves as they could.

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.

When they felt their hurt, they would stay no more upon thee, but stood upon their feet, and put their trust in others.

Or, shake.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

hand--or handle of the reed.

rend . . . shoulder--by the splinters on which the shoulder or arm would fall, on the support failing the hand.

madest . . . loins . . . at a stand--that is, made them to be disabled. MAURER somewhat similarly (referring to a kindred Arabic form), "Thou hast stricken both their loins." FAIRBAIRN, not so well, "Thou lettest all their loins stand," that is, by themselves, bereft of the support which they looked for from thee.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(7) All their loins to be at a stand.—The expression is a difficult one, but the more probable sense is, all their loins to shake. The reed breaks under the weight of the man who leans upon it, and pierces his shoulder as he falls, while in his consternation his loins tremble.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. took hold … by thy hand] Rather: take hold of thee with the hand, as Heb. marg. All the verbs are better put in the present: take hold … dost break … dost rend, &c.

madest … to be at a stand] Rather: makest all loins to shake (reading him ‘adta for ha‘amadta, Psa_69:24).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When they took hold of thee by thy hand,.... When the Israelites entered into an alliance and confederacy with the Egyptians, called for their assistance according to treaty, and put their confidence in them:

thou didst break and rend all their shoulder; as a reed which a man puts under his armhole, and leans upon, and it breaks under him, the splinters run into the flesh up to the very shoulder, and tear the flesh to pieces; so, through Zedekiah's trusting to the king of Egypt, he rebelled against the king of Babylon, which brought on his ruin, and the destruction of his kingdom:

and when they leaned upon thee thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand; when they put their confidence in the king of Egypt, and sent to him for help when besieged by the king of Babylon, and he failed them, they were obliged to raise up themselves, as a man is forced to do when his staff breaks under him, whose loins before were bowed, but now erects himself, and stands and walks as well as he can without it; so the Jews were forced to stand upon their own legs, and exert all the force they had, and make all the efforts they could against the king of Babylon, being left in the lurch by the king of Egypt; in which, though they were rightly served for their vain confidence and not trusting in the Lord, yet the treachery of the Egyptians was resented by him, as follows:

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

So Egypt was continually proving to Israel, to Jehoiakim and to Zedekiah. The tenses are present not past.

To be at a stand - Others, “to totter.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Loins. They fell upon thee, and thou didst wound (Calmet) or "dissolve" their loins. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

When they, the Jews, unable to stand on their own legs, as men ready to fall, took hold of thee by thy hand; caught thine hand to lean on, as when besieged by the Chaldeans.

Thou didst break: it includes a designed and voluntary failure; Egypt would not support.

And rend all their shoulder; didst tear, and pierce, and wound arm and shoulder, didst them much mischief instead of benefiting them, as thou hadst promised, Jer 37:7; 42:17.

When they leaned, & c.; the same thing in words little different.

The loins are the strength of a man: thou hast put them to use all their strength to repel the enemy, thou hast been chief occasion of their engaging against.

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

7. Took, etc. — All verbs in present tense.

By thy — Rather, with thee.

Shoulder — LXX., hand (Isa_26:6).

To be at a stand — Rather, R.V., margin, “to shake.” (Compare Eze_21:6.) The thing which they grasp for help, tears the hand which clasps it, and when they try to lean upon it it breaks and makes their hips to totter (Kautzsch).

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

Rent - Didst them much mischief instead of benefiting them, as thou hast promised, Jer. xxxvii, 7.

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

When they took hold of you with the hand [Heb. בְּכַפְּךָ, lit. with your hand,] to be read בַּכַּף, with the hand, like a man who walks and supports himself on his staff.

you splintered [Heb. תֵּרוֹף] [like] תֵּרָצֵף.

and pierced the whole of their shoulders [lit. the whole of a shoulder,] i.e., their shoulders, like a man who leans on a reed, which breaks, and the man falls on it, and the shreds enter his shoulders.

and you made their loins stand upright [Heb. וְהַעֲמַדְתָּ.] Since you will break, they will be required to strengthen their loins and stand on them. You are like a man upon whom his friend was leaning, but he is weak and he says to him, “Strengthen yourself on your loins, for you can no longer lean on me.” So did Jonathan render: “and you will no longer be a support for them.” Some transpose וְהַעֲמַדְתָּ to וְהַמְעַדְתָּ, and you make all loins totter, but I do not care for their words. Moreover, Menachem (p. 134) associated it with the standing of the feet, just as I do.

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.