Arrogance mixed with spiteful pride becomes toxic trauma that disrupts local and global order. We’re seeing it now. And it’s always been there. That’s why Ezekiel takes on dictatorship, authoritarianism, and political policy that defies collective voices and greater interdependence. He does so through the means of symbol and myth.
Crawling out of the deepest part of the Nile River today is an ancient alligator, primal prehistoric reptilian symbol of force and fears. It first showed up in the first few verses of Genesis. Why does Ezekiel name this mythic creature in today’s political protest against the king and land of Egypt?
And what of this old prophecy still rings significant today?
Mid-way through his long list of strong words for each of the nations neighboring Judah, Ezekiel protesting, safely, from his perch as an exiled refugee in Babylon. (Spoiler - he won’t protest Babylon itself.)
He now turns the wrath towards Egypt, naming an exact date for this prophecy which makes it possible to figure out exactly which Egyptian period he refers to. “In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month…” can be precisely dated: January 7, 587 BCE. Teh years after the first waves of exile from Jerusalem, the political alliance of Judah with Egypt, feeble as it was, has completely collapsed.
The pharaoh that Ezekiel names and blames is most often identified as Hophra, or, Apries who reigned over Egypt from 589 to 570 BCE, and also mentioned by name in Jeremiah 44:30.
In 588 BCE, Hophra attempted to defend Jerusalem from Babylonian forces sent by Nebuchadnezzar II (Jeremiah 37:5, 34:21). This unsuccessful attempt led to a mutiny of his soldiers and his eventual overthrow. The strategic and military alliances with Egypt were a trademark of the last few kings of Jerusalem, despite ongoing warnings from prophets such as Jeremiah, who doubted Egypt’s motives and counseld submission to Babylon. He was right.
The Egyptian failure to save Judah is the cause for Ezekiel’s wrath, and why he rails against the king - as the despot figurehead - who thought he was above it all, devoid of ethical or moral responsibility to any but himself:
דַּבֵּ֨ר וְאָמַרְתָּ֜ כֹּה־אָמַ֣ר ׀ אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִ֗ה הִנְנִ֤י עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ פַּרְעֹ֣ה מֶלֶךְ־מִצְרַ֔יִם הַתַּנִּים֙ הַגָּד֔וֹל הָרֹבֵ֖ץ בְּת֣וֹךְ יְאֹרָ֑יו אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָמַ֛ר לִ֥י יְאֹרִ֖י וַאֲנִ֥י עֲשִׂיתִֽנִי׃
Speak these words:
Thus said my lord YHWH:
I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
Mighty monster, sprawling in your channels,
Who said,
My Nile is my own;
I made it for myself.”
Ezekiel 29:3
“Mighty Monster” is one of the English translations for the Hebrew ‘Tanim’ which is otherwise translated as ‘reptile’, ‘crocodile’, ‘dragon’, or ‘sea-monster’. It is reminiscent of the great creatures mentioned in the Creation stories found in Genesis and also in the Psalms. According to most mythologists those ancient reptiles are leftover from previous mythologies, either as the great goddess or the power of chaos that predates the patriarchal order. So what is it doing here?
Vincent Calabrese, a contemporary Jewish scholar, delves deeper into this creature’s significance in this context:
“Pharaoh believes himself to be the source of the Nile’s power. In the charge which Ezekiel lays at Pharaoh’s feet, we find alongside his oppression of the Israelites the fact that “he boasted, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it.’” While Pharaoh may think of himself as a god, the creator of Egypt’s prosperity and stability, Ezekiel characterizes him as a sea-monster — meaning, precisely those forces of chaos and destruction which the true God defeats in order to establish creation. Pharaoh’s arrogance is merely a particularly extreme case of a tendency which lives in us all, and which has the power to sow chaos wherever it grows.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites are warned not to buy into the Pharaonic delusion. Should the nation meet with world success, growing rich and powerful, Deuteronomy imagines that they will say to themselves: “My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.” In such moments they are urged to “Remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to get wealth, in fulfillment of the covenant that He made on oath with your fathers, as is still the case” (Deut. 8:17-18). While the Israelites (and we) may meet with startling success in the course of our lives, it is vital to remember that the proper response in such moments is always gratitude, and never self-satisfaction.”
Ezekiel’s prophetic words upon Egypt are a reminder to us all, today. The great reptile represents the king who thinks he is the ruler of all, predating creation itself -- and this self-grandeur makes for immoral, unethical, boundary-less behavior and irresponsible leadership. The lesson to be learned here is that humility, limits of power, strength and might are essential qualities to strive for and insist on - esp. In leaders. Ezekiel warns Egypt that it will fall and be desolate for forty years. This didn’t happen, but the warning still matters to us today. The circles of history spin one into the other - Jewish, Egyptian, Babylonian. They only become meaningful as echoes of the ongoing human struggle for justice and divine presence that celebrates the interwoven care of people and cultures.
Ezekiel is not quite done with his Egyptian visions, with more coming tomorrow imaging the day of divine wrath and the terrible consequences of arrogance and the lack of compassion.
What can we learn from this vision on these days of Hanukkah, mid war?
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