Ezekiel 32:25

Among the slain they prepare a resting place for Elam with all her hordes, with her graves all around her. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, although their terror was once spread in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. They are placed among the slain.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Ezekiel delivers this oracle to the exiled community of Israel while pronouncing judgment on Pharaoh and the nations allied with Egypt. The prophecy situates the defeated Elamite army within the underworld realm of the dead.

The words — The text uses מִשְׁכָּב (mish.Kav), literally “a bed” or resting place, and חֲלָלִים (Cha.la.lim), meaning “the slain.” These terms frame death not as rest but as a prepared grave for the defeated.

The thread — This motif of the defeated nations lying uncircumcised among the slain recurs in Ezekiel 32:24 and 32:26, while the descent to the Pit echoes the Sheol imagery of Psalms 139:8.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that former political terror and military power hold no standing before divine judgment. It strips away national pride by showing that the uncircumcised and the mighty alike share the same disgrace in the grave.

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

בְּת֣וֹךְbe./Tokhin/ among חֲ֠לָלִיםCha.la.lim[those] slain נָתְנ֨וּna.te.Nupeople have made מִשְׁכָּ֥בmish.Kava bedלָהּ֙la/hfor/ itבְּכָל־be./kholamong/ all הֲמוֹנָ֔הּha.mo.Na/hmultitude/ its סְבִֽיבוֹתָ֖יוse.vi.vo.Ta/v[are] around/ it קִבְרֹתֶ֑הָkiv.ro.Te./hagraves/ its כֻּלָּ֣םku.La/mall of/ them עֲרֵלִ֣ים'a.re.Lim[are] uncircumcised חַלְלֵי־cha.lei-[those] slain of חֶ֡רֶבChe.reva sword כִּֽי־ki-for נִתַּ֨ןni.Tanit was put חִתִּיתָ֜םchi.ti.Ta/mterror/ their בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe./'E.retzin/ [the] land of חַיִּ֗יםchai.Yim[the] living וַיִּשְׂא֤וּva/i.yis.'Uand/ they have borne כְלִמָּתָם֙khe.li.ma.Ta/mdisgrace/ their אֶת־'et-with י֣וֹרְדֵיYor.dei[those who] go down of ב֔וֹרVor[the] pit בְּת֥וֹךְbe./Tokhin/ among חֲלָלִ֖יםcha.la.Lim[those] slain נִתָּֽן׃ni.Tanit was made

King James Version

They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.

Cross-references

Psalms 139:8 If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
2 Samuel 1:20 Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
1 Chronicles 10:4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
Ezekiel 32:19 Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!
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 44:7 In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.
Ezekiel 44:9 This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.
Luke 12:4 I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
Revelation 2:22 Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds.