Ezekiel 32:14

Eze 32:14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.

Ver. 14. Then will I make their waters deep.] There shall not be men left to drive them by ditches and channels into their grounds and pastures, for the making of them fruitful.

And cause their rivers to run like oil,] i.e., Smoothly and silently.

“ Lene fluit Nilus, sed cunctis amnibus extat

Utilior, nullas confessus murmure vires. ”

- Claudian.

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.

32:14 The great sea monster (32:2) would no longer thrash around in the stream, stirring up mud like an irate crocodile. After Pharaoh’s demise, the waters of Egypt would flow again as smoothly as olive oil, with the untroubled serenity of death.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To wit, of the Chaldeans thine enemies, which shall quietly enjoy all thy commodities.

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

make their waters deep--rather, "make . . . to subside"; literally, "sink" [FAIRBAIRN].

like oil--emblem of quietness. No longer shall they descend violently on other countries as the overflowing Nile, but shall be still and sluggish in political action.

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

Verse 14. Cause their rivers to run like oil] Bring the whole state into quietness, there being no longer a political hippopotamus to foul the waters-to disturb the peace of the country.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) Deep should rather be rendered quiet. When the restless ambition of Egypt should be curbed, there would come about peace and quiet prosperity. This is thought by many to be a glance forward at the Messianic blessing of the future; but it does not necessarily look so far.

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

14. The waters of Egypt, no more troubled by the foot of man or beast, shall run smooth like oil.

make their waters deep] Rather: make to settle, become clear; cf. noun, Eze_34:18. No more trampled they shall settle and run smooth.

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.

Then will l make their waters deep,.... Either the water, of Egypt literally, the waters of the Nile: no canals being cut from it, to carry the water to the several parts of the land, the land being depopulated, and no business done: or, figuratively, other nations, compared to waters for their numbers, who before had been disturbed by the Egyptians; but now they being destroyed, these would be at ease, like troubled waters, which subside, and: become deep and clear, when there is none to trouble them:

and cause their, rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord God; very slowly, as if, they were mourning the unhappy condition of the land; or smoothly, clearly, undisturbed, as before. The Targum is,

"there will I cause the people to rest, and I will lead their kings quietly, saith the Lord God.''

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

A promise of a return of God’s favor. This concerns not the restoration of Egypt’s original power, but the establishment of the Divine Ruler in the place of a pagan God-opposing power.

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

Oil. It is very transparent. It seems the Nile was rendered muddy by cattle, &c.

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).

Make their waters deep: the sense literally this, the waters undisturbed shall be clear, the mud settled at the bottom, and the waters above it of good depth.

To run like oil; smooth and softly, as oil glides along, which will be when neither men nor cattle disturb the rivers: but figuratively, waters and rivers are people and nations, and those near to, and once disturbed, and put into confusion by Egypt, at whose fall all those troubles shall cease, the people shall settle in quiet state, and affairs shall, like a quieted river, run smoothly and in great peace.

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

Still waters of death.

The waters of Egypt are to settle and so to be clean. From being a highway of commerce the Nile is to become an undisturbed inland river. The waterwheels shall be still, the splash of the oar shall be no more heard. The silent river shall be left to its own peace the peace of death.

I SIN DESTROYS CIVILIZATION. The river is the busy scene of Egyptian life and activity. Its waters will be quiet because Egypt will lose its energy. This is represented as the consequence of the nation"s wickedness. Consider how the process works.

1. Sin is anti-social. Civilization is the art of city-life. It is dependent on co-operation, division of labor, mutual ministries, and mutual confidence. All these things are shattered by the selfish and untrue conduct of sin.

2. Sin, is unaspiring. Civilization presses forward; essentially it seeks an advance. Sin may be greedy and grasping, and may incline men to seize much for themselves, but it does not inspire energy for general progress. It is depressing and discoursing.

3. Sin is essentially opposed to the laws of God. Now, no civilization can be secure and lasting that is not based on those laws. All corrupt civilization bears within it the seeds of its own destruction. The only "city which hath foundations" is the city of God, and this is "let down from heaven," i.e. it is a city of which the constitution is Divine, and which embodies the idea of "the kingdom of heaven.

II IT IS WELL THAT A SINFUL CIVILIZATION SHOULD BE SHATTERED. The East is scored with the ruins of ancient empires. Today the scene of decay is melancholy and oppressive. Yet the sight of those old, bad empires in their flourishing days was far more sad to behold. They were seats of cruelty and haunts of vice. It is well that they have ceased to be. The hyenas and jackals that now infest their neglected temples and palaces are clean and innocent inhabitants compared with the lustful and murderous men who formerly lived there. The running sore of modern Christendom is in the condition of its great cities. The broken-down wrecks of civilization are far more degraded than the simple savages of the forest. It was good for the world that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, that great Nineveh became a lonely resort of lions of the desert, that the Egypt of the Pharaohs fell from her proud and wicked splendor. It wilt be well for modem civilization to be swept away if it becomes only secular, atheistic, and immoral.

III THE RESULTS OF A SHATTERED CIVILIZATION WILL BE A PREPARATION FOR A BETTER FUTURE. The old foul Nile is to settle quietly and so become clear. Its once disturbed waters are to run smoothly like oil. These facts which occur in the list of calamities for Egypt and rightly, because they indicate the departure of the old, busy, populous life from its banks and its surface are nevertheless in themselves good. It is well that the river should be clear and run smoothly. The destruction of empires brings deliverance to oppressed subject races. The loss of civilization may be the gain of naturalness. There may be less wealth, but more welfare; less pleasure, but more peace. In silence and sorrow of soul people learn to look beneath the surface of life, the Egyptians in their desolation could look deep down into the still, smooth waters of the Nile. This may be a preparation for a holier new life in the future.

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

Like oil - A figurative expression, signifying, there shall be such an universal sadness and heaviness upon the whole nation, that the very rivers which used to flow briskly, shall grow deep, and slow, and heavy.

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

I shall sink their waters The foot of cattle will not make it murky, and the mud will sink, so that the water will be clear and clean like refined oil.

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.