Bible Strands
Ezekiel 29:7
When Israel took hold of you with their hands, you splintered, tearing all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke, and their backs were wrenched.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel to the house of Israel concerning Egypt’s failure as a political ally. The oracle addresses Egypt directly, declaring it a broken staff that failed to support Israel.
The words — The Hebrew verb תֵּר֔וֹץ (te.Rotz) means "you were crushed" or "you splintered," paired with וּ/בָקַעְתָּ֥ (u./va.ka'.Ta) meaning "and you broke." These terms describe a rigid object shattering under weight.
The thread — The imagery of a broken staff recurs in Isaiah 36:6, which calls Egypt a "splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it." The warning against relying on human power echoes Jeremiah 17:5, which curses those who make flesh their strength.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political alliances offer no real security when they fail under pressure. It calls the reader to abandon reliance on fragile human institutions and acknowledge divine sovereignty.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 36:6 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- Ezekiel 17:15 But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’
- Jeremiah 17:5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Psalms 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Proverbs 25:19 Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.
- Jeremiah 37:5 Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.