Bible Strands
Ezekiel 30:18
The day will be darkened in Tahpanhes when I break the yoke of Egypt and her proud strength comes to an end. A cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel to the exiled community regarding the imminent judgment on Egypt and its allied cities.
The words — The Hebrew חָשַׂךְ (cha.Sakh) literally means "it will withhold" or darken, describing the obscuration of Tahpanhes. מֹטוֹת (mo.Tot) refers to "yoke-bars," denoting the structural support of Egypt's oppressive control.
The thread — The imagery of clouds and doom appears in Ezekiel 30:3, while the breaking of a yoke parallels Isaiah 10:27. The city of Tahpanhes is previously named as a site of humiliation in Jeremiah 2:16.
Why it lands — The text states that God will darken Tahpanhes, shatter Egypt's yoke-bars, and cover the nation with a cloud so its daughters enter captivity. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human political strength is temporary and subject to divine dismantling.
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
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, the Day of the LORD is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
- Isaiah 10:27 On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.
- Jeremiah 2:16 The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head.
- Ezekiel 29:15 Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations.
- Exodus 10:15 They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
- Leviticus 26:13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness.
- Isaiah 5:30 In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.
- Isaiah 9:4 For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.
- Isaiah 9:19 By the wrath of the LORD of Hosts the land is scorched, and the people are fuel for the fire. No man even spares his brother.
- Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.