Bible Strands
Ezekiel 32:19
Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel addresses Pharaoh directly during a divine oracle of judgment against Egypt. The speaker commands the Egyptian ruler to descend to the realm of the dead alongside other defeated nations.
The words — The Hebrew מִי (mi) poses the question "whom?" while נָעַמְתָּ (na'amehta) means "are you lovely," creating a direct contrast with the imperative רְדָה (reda) to "go down" and הָשְׁכַב (hashekev) to "be laid" among the עֲרֵלִים (arelim), or "uncircumcised."
The thread — The pattern of the proud being consigned to the depths recurs in Ezekiel 31:18, where a towering tree is brought down to the Pit, and in Ezekiel 32:29, where Edom’s kings are placed among those slain by the sword. The designation "uncircumcised" later appears in Jeremiah 9:25 as a marker of those outside covenant standing.
Why it lands — The text states that physical beauty and national power do not exempt anyone from the grave. It requires the reader to accept that earthly prestige provides no defense against divine judgment.
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
Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 31:18 Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”
- Ezekiel 32:29 Edom is there, and all her kings and princes, who despite their might are laid among those slain by the sword. They lie down with the uncircumcised, with those who descend to the Pit.
- Jeremiah 9:25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—
- Ezekiel 28:10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Ezekiel 31:2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘Who can be compared to your greatness?
- Ezekiel 32:21 Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.’
- Ezekiel 32:24 Elam is there with all her multitudes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword—those who went down uncircumcised to the earth below, who once spread their terror in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit.
- 1 Samuel 17:26 David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- 1 Samuel 17:36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
- Isaiah 14:9 Sheol beneath is eager to meet you upon your arrival. It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you—all the rulers of the earth. It makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.