Up to now, God has predicted the fall and destruction of Egypt as a whole. In the rest of this prophecy he describes in detail what will happen to eight cities and places in Egypt. At one time or another, all of these places had been leading areas of Egypt. By bringing them all together in this list, God emphasizes the total destruction of Egypt.

Thus says the Lord GOD: This traditional prophetic formula is used once again (see Ezek 30.2). Here it introduces the fourth part of this prophecy against Egypt and gives it more authority.

I will destroy the idols, and put an end to the images, in Memphis: The Hebrew words for idols and images refer to the statues of false gods (compare notes on 6.4). New Century Version renders images as “statues of gods” to show that these are not statues of people. Instead of idols and images, Revised English Bible has “petty rulers” and “chieftains” (similarly New English Bible, New American Bible), which follows the Septuagint. However, it is best to follow the Hebrew here. Put an end to means essentially the same thing as destroy, and many translations combine these two expressions (so Good News Translation). New Century Version keeps two verbs by saying “I will destroy the idols and take away the statues of gods from the city of Memphis.” Memphis (“Noph” in Hebrew; so King James Version / New King James Version, Revised English Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) was located about 21 kilometers (13 miles) from the southern point of the Nile Delta. It was one of the most important cities of Egypt. For most of its history it was the seat of government, where the kings of Egypt usually lived, and it was the center for the worship of one of the main Egyptian gods. For many readers it will be helpful to say “the city of Memphis.”

God will begin the punishment of Egypt by destroying the statues of the false gods and, by implication, the gods also. In ancient Egypt people thought that the king was a god as well as a man, so, when God destroys the Egyptian gods, there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt. Here the Hebrew word for prince is just another word for “king” (compare “leader” [New Century Version] and “ruler” [Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible]). This clause may be rendered “Egypt will no longer have a king.”

So I will put fear in the land of Egypt: With its gods defeated and its king gone, the country of Egypt will fall into anarchy because of fear. So renders the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “and”). Here it introduces a result. Some translations omit it (so New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). For those languages where it is unnatural to speak of fear in the land (compare Contemporary English Version “terror will fill the land”), it is better to say that God will make the people live in fear; for example, Good News Translation says “and I will terrify all the people.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .