Bible Strands
Ezekiel 30:14
I will lay waste Pathros, set fire to Zoan, and execute judgment on Thebes.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel during an oracle pronouncing judgment against Egypt. This declaration occurs amid a sequence of threats targeting Egyptian cities and their religious infrastructure.
The words — The Hebrew verb הֲשִׁמּוֹתִי (ha.shi.mo.Ti) translates literally to “I will devastate,” while שְׁפָטִים (she.fa.Tim) means “judgments.” These terms frame the coming destruction as a deliberate, sovereign execution of divine sentence.
The thread — The judgment against Pathros, Zoan, and Thebes echoes Jeremiah 46:25, where the LORD punishes the god Amon of Thebes alongside Pharaoh and Egypt. Ezekiel 29:14 contrasts this destruction by promising future restoration to Pathros, while Psalms 78:12 recalls God’s past wonders in the region of Zoan.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that historical military campaigns against Egyptian strongholds function as direct instruments of divine judgment. Readers must acknowledge that geopolitical events are governed by sovereign decree rather than chance.
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
And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 46:25 The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I am about to punish Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt with her gods and kings, and those who trust in Pharaoh.
- Ezekiel 29:14 I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.
- Psalms 78:12 He worked wonders before their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
- Psalms 78:43 when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
- Numbers 13:22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
- Isaiah 19:11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
- Nahum 3:8 Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?
- Isaiah 11:11 On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Isaiah 30:4 For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,