2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you did break forth with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Thou art like - Rather, Thou wouldest be like to (others, "wast likened unto") a young lion.
And thou art - In contrast to what thou wouldest be.
A whale - Rather, crocodile (marginal reference note). Pharaoh should have been like the king of beasts, but he is a mere sea-monster. There is strong irony here, because the Egyptian king was proud of the comparison between himself and the mighty crocodile.
Seas - The word is often used of the waters of a great river, like the Nile.
Thou camest forth with thy rivers - Rather, thou didst burst forth in "thy rivers" as the crocodile does from the water into which he has plunged.
Thou art like a young lion - and thou art as a whale in the seas - Thou mayest be likened to two of the fiercest animals in the creation; to a lion, the fiercest on the land; to a crocodile, תנים tannim, (see Ezekiel 29:3), the fiercest in the waters. It may, however, point out the hippopotamus, as there seems to be a reference to his mode of feeding. He walks deliberately into the water over head, and pursues his way in the same manner; still keeping on his feet, and feeding on the plants, etc., that grow at the bottom. Thus he fouls the water with his feet.
Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, Thou art like a young (b) lion of the nations, and thou [art] as a whale in the seas: and thou didst come forth with thy rivers, and didst (c) trouble the waters with thy feet, and didst foul their rivers.
(b) Thus the scriptures compare tyrants to cruel and huge beasts which devour all that are weaker than they and such as they may overcome.
(c) You prepared great armies.
Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Pharaohhophra, or Apries; say a funeral dirge for him; this is ordered, not out of honour and respect to him, or in compassion for his misery and ruin, but to assure him of it:
and say unto him, thou art like a young lion of the nations; for strength and fierceness, for cruelty and tyranny, which he exercised, not in one nation only, but in many; a lively emblem of the beast of Rome, spiritually called Egypt and Sodom, compared to a leopard, bear, and lion, Revelation 11:8,
and thou art as a whale in the seas; or rather "like a crocodile" (u), which was common in the rivers of Egypt, but not the whale; which also has not scales, nor does it go upon land, nor is it taken in a net; all which is said of this creature here, and in Ezekiel 29:3 and to the crocodile there is an allusion in the name of Pharaoh, in the Arabic language, as Noldius from Camius observes (w); see Ezekiel 29:3,
and thou camest forth with thy rivers; or, "by thy rivers" (x); as the crocodile in the river Nile, by the arms of it, or canals made out of it, sometimes went out from thence to other parts: or, "out of thy rivers" (y) upon the land, as the crocodile does; so the king of Egypt went forth with his armies out of his own land, into other countries, to disturb them, as follows: or rather, "camest forth in thy rivers" (z); as the crocodile puts forth its head out of the water for respiration:
and thou troublest the waters with thy feet, and foulest their rivers; just as the feet of men or beasts, in shallow waters, raise up the mud or clay at the bottom, and so foul them; this best agrees with the crocodile, which has feet; Grotius thinks, for this reason, the sea horse is intended; the meaning is, that Pharaoh with his soldiers entered other nations, made war upon them, and disturbed their peace and tranquillity. The Targum is,
"thou hast been strong among the people, as a whale in the seas, thou hast fought with thine army; and thou hast moved the people with thine auxiliaries, and thou hast wasted their provinces.''
(u) "similis es crocodile", Noldius, Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 375. (w) Ibid. No. 1306. (x) "per flumina tua", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. (y) "Ex fluminibus tuis", Starckius. (z) "In fluviis tuis", V. L. Piscator; "in fluminibus tuis", Cocceius.
Pharaoh--"Phra" in Burmah, signifies the king, high priest, and idol.
whale--rather, any monster of the waters; here, the crocodile of the Nile. Pharaoh is as a lion on dry land, a crocodile in the waters; that is, an object of terror everywhere.
camest forth with thy rivers--"breakest forth" [FAIRBAIRN]. The antithesis of "seas" and "rivers" favors GROTIUS rendering, "Thou camest forth from the sea into the rivers"; that is, from thy own empire into other states. However, English Version is favored by the "thy": thou camest forth with thy rivers (that is, with thy forces) and with thy feet didst fall irrecoverably; so Israel, once desolate, troubles the waters (that is, neighboring states).
Like a young lion - Spoiling all thou canst. Crocodile - The crocodiles lay in the rivers, though sometimes they went down the river to the sea. With thy rivers - Raisedst mighty armies, and didst lead them out against thy neighbours. The waters - The people, and kings near thee. Thy feet - With thy soldiers. Fouledst - Didst spoil all the conveniences of thy neighbours.
*More commentary available at chapter level.