Ezekiel 32:3

Eze 32:3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.

Ver. 3. I will therefore spread out my net.] Thou shalt be taken in an evil net, when thou little thinkest of it: "Evil shall hunt the violent man, to overthrow him." {Psa 140:11} Look how Leo cassibus irretitus ait, Si praescivissem; and as the whale, enclosed by fishers, is lugged to land, done to death, cleft in pieces with axes, his flesh being made a prey for birds and beasts, his blood far and near drenching the earth, so shall it fare with Pharaoh and his forces.

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.

Eze 32:3-6. I will spread out my net over thee, &c. — I will bring thine enemies upon thee, who shall encompass thee on every side, and master thee as a wild beast or monstrous fish is taken in a net. Then will I leave thee upon the land — That is, leave thee to certain destruction, or take away from thee all means of recovery. For Pharaoh being here spoken of as a water animal, leaving him upon the land, signified leaving him to certain death, without the means of escaping it; for a fish left upon the land must needs die, let it struggle as it will, water being absolutely necessary to its life. This was literally fulfilled when, making war upon the Cyrenians, he was vanquished, and his army cut in pieces, and left a prey to the fowls and beasts in the deserts of Libya and Cyrene: see note on Eze 29:4-5. And I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee — With the flesh of thy vast armies. Or rather, understanding the words figuratively, I will enrich all nations with thy spoils. And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, &c. — Thy people shall be slain, both upon the mountains and in the valleys, and their carcasses lie unburied there. I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest — The land of Egypt, wherein thou bearest rule; even to the mountains — The mountains shall be wet with it, as well as the lower grounds: compare Isa 34:3. And the rivers shall be full of thee — All places, both high and low, both land and water. All the expressions in these verses are hyperbolical, signifying the vast slaughter that should be made of the Egyptians, and the immense booty that should be obtained by their enemies.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

with a company of many people--namely, the Chaldeans (Eze 29:3-4; Hos 7:12).

my net--for they are My instrument.

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

(3) Spread out my net over thee.—The figure (Eze_32:4-6) of drawing the crocodile to land and casting him upon the desert for food to the birds and beasts of prey is the same as in Eze_29:4-5. (Comp. also Eze_31:12-13.) In Eze_32:6, “the land wherein thou swimmest” is, literally, the land of thine outflow, and may be taken either of the land on which his blood is poured out, or, more probably, the land of the inundations of the Nile, now to be watered with blood.

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

3. Jehovah shall drag him out with his net by means of many peoples (Eze_32:11-12). On figure, cf. Eze_12:13, Eze_17:20; Hos_7:12. For people read peoples.

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.

Thus saith the Lord God,.... The Lord God Almighty, who is able to manage this fierce and turbulent creature, this mighty monarch and disturber of the nations:

I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; meaning the Chaldean army, which the Lord would instigate, and by his providence bring against the king of Egypt, and surround him as fishes in a net, and take him and his people; see Eze 12:13,

and they shall bring thee up in my net; out of his rivers, out of his fortresses, out of his own land, and carry him captive, or destroy him.

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

Net. Septuagint, "hook," chap. xxix. 4. (Calmet) --- Some take the crocodile with a net, ver. 3. (Elian. Hist. x. 21.)

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).

My net; a large, long, and wide net, drawn out to full extent.

Over thee; with which both lions and crocodiles might be taken, and in which this lion and crocodile should certainly be taken; for God, whose hand never erreth, will spread the net.

With a company of many people: in the countries where these creatures were hunted, they went in mighty companies to the game, as they accounted it.

Bring thee up in my net; drag thee along to destroy thee, pull thee up out of the pit, in which the net was laid to take the lion to kill him, and draw this crocodile up out of the water for the same end; in brief, war by land and sea by a confederacy of many people against Hophra shall be God’s net, wherein he shall be taken, kept a prisoner, as he was, and at last strangled: see Eze 29:4.

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

3. They shall bring me up in my net — LXX., I will, etc. Jehovah will capture the great monster in a net as if he were a harmless bird. (Compare Eze_29:4.) For people read, as usual, peoples.

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

I will spread out my net. The imagery of Eze_29:3 is repeated, with a variation as to the mode of capture. There is no evidence that the crocodile was ever taken with a net; but Ezekiel may have chosen the comparison for that very reason. What was impossible in the parable, according to its letter, was possible when it received its application.

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

With a company - In the countries, where these creatures were hunted, they went in mighty companies.

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues to speak to Pharaoh and to speak of him as if he were a monster, perhaps a crocodile, in the water.

The Lord Yahweh says this

See how you translated this in Ezekiel 5:5.

So I will spread my net over you in the assembly of many peoples

God's punishment of Pharaoh is spoken of as if the king were the river monster caught in a net. AT: "So I will gather many peoples and throw my net over you" (See: Metaphor)

I will abandon you in the land

"I will leave you helpless on the land." The monster that was fearsome and powerful when it was in the water cannot do anything when it is left on dry land.

all the birds of the heavens

"all the birds that fly in the sky"

the hunger of all living animals on earth will be satisfied by you

This can be put into active form. AT: "I will let all the animals of the earth eat your body until they are hungry no longer" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

Lord Yahweh

assembly

people group

heaven

earth

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

with My net [Heb. בְּחֶרְמִי,] a word for a net, and there are many in Scriptures, [e.g.,] (Hab. 1: 15): “he catches them in his net (בְּחֶרְמוֹ)”; (Ecc. 7:26), “snares and nets (וַחֲרָמִים).”

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.