NOTES for Eze 32:1-32

Once again the subject is Pharaoh's impending defeat. These words can be applied not only to Egypt but to any pagan empire, and even to conquerors who do not formally profess pagan religions but follow their principles in practice, or even surpass pagans in their excesses. They make a frightening impression: it seems that, whether in their own eyes or in the eyes of others, no one can compare with them.

But now the prophet reveals to us that they are already doomed; more than that, before the face of Eternity they have long since crumbled and descended into the underworld, where the warriors of great empires and other conquerors of bygone ages have already met their end, and where there will be room enough for all who choose to follow them. And not only military might, but any earthly greatness, wealth, or power, all that people value so highly, will fail to save its possessors from death and will prove to be only an illusion for which much blood was shed and a vast number of crimes committed.

Yet for thousands of years the word of truth has not fallen silent, weightless as it is and often altogether imperceptible.