Ezekiel 30:20

"And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and lo it hath not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. And I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall put my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Jehovah."

GOD HAS ALREADY BROKEN PHARAOH'S ARM

"Eleventh year, first month, seventh day ..." (Ezekiel 30:20). "This was April 29,587 B.C."[20] "This was three months before the fall of Jerusalem and three months later than the prophecy of Ezekiel 29:3."[21] In the meanwhile Pharaoh-Hophra's attempt to aid Jerusalem had collapsed (Jeremiah 37:5), a fact that history is strangely silent about. Evidently Nebuchadnezzar inflicted a humiliating defeat upon Egypt that prevented any substantial relief of Jerusalem and resulted in Nebuchadnezzar's renewal of the siege almost immediately.

"Nebuchadnezzar's defeat of Pharaoh-Hophra appears in this paragraph as `the breaking of Pharaoh's arm.'"[22] This greatly weakened Pharaoh (Ezekiel 30:21); but further defeats were promised in this prophecy. Note in verse 22 that there is a distinction between what has already been broken and that which will be broken later. "I will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken."

"The flexed arm was a common symbol for the strength of Pharaoh. Statues and images of Pharaoh showed the flexed arm, wielding a sword in battle. A king with a great biceps was a popular conception during the Saites Dynasty in the times of Ezekiel. Also another title taken by Pharaoh-Hophra was, `The Strong armed.' Thus the defeat of Pharaoh-Hophra was most appropriately described by the expression `breaking his arm.'"[23]

"I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand ..." (Ezekiel 30:24). God commissioned Nebuchadnezzar as the destroyer of nations; and here the sword of Nebuchadnezzar is understood to be the very sword of God Himself.

"The groanings of a deadly wounded man ..." (Ezekiel 30:24). "Figuratively, when Ezekiel wrote this, Egypt is represented as a man mortally wounded in battle standing before the Lord who will destroy him."[24]

The dispersion of the Egyptians among the nations and countries is again mentioned here, that being the almost invariable result of any conquest of one nation by another in those times. Also, the reason and purpose of God's punitive judgment upon the pagan nations of that era was focused in the divine intention of teaching them, by the hard way, who was really God. "And they shall know that I am Jehovah."