Bible Strands
Ezekiel 32:16
This is the lament they will chant for her; the daughters of the nations will chant it. Over Egypt and all her multitudes they will chant it, declares the Lord GOD.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to the prophet and the exilic community, declaring what will be chanted over Egypt after its desolation, immediately following the judgment pronouncement in verse 15 and preceding the new oracle in verse 17.
The words — קִינָ֥ה (ki.Nah) translates literally as “lamentation,” while תְּקוֹנֵ֣נָּה (te.ko.Ne.nah) means “they will chant,” establishing the verse’s focus on a formal mourning ritual.
The thread — The text links this pattern to Ezekiel 26:17 for Tyre, while 2 Samuel 1:17 records David composing a lament for Saul and Jonathan, and 2 Chronicles 35:25 notes Jeremiah mourning Josiah, showing how lament traditions shift from national collapse to specific leaders.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to acknowledge that divine judgment transforms a nation into an object of public mourning, and it asks readers to trace how different biblical contexts apply the same mourning vocabulary to distinct historical events.
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
This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord God.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 1:17 Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,
- 2 Chronicles 35:25 Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.
- Ezekiel 26:17 Then they will lament for you, saying, “How you have perished, O city of renown inhabited by seafaring men—she who was powerful on the sea, along with her people, who imposed terror on all peoples!
- Ezekiel 32:2 “Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash about in your rivers, churning up the waters with your feet and muddying the streams.’
- 2 Samuel 3:33 And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
- Jeremiah 9:17 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.