Ezekiel Chapter 30 verse 5 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 5. - Libya. Here the Authorized Version gives (rightly enough, though inconsistently) the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Phut, which is reproduced in the Revised Version. The Lydians, in like manner, stand for Lud; but we have to remember, as before (Ezekiel 27:10), that they are the African, and not the Asiatic, people of that name. In Jeremiah 46:9 the two nations are named among the auxiliaries of Egypt. Possibly the similarity of name may have led to the term being used also for the Lydian and Ionian forces enlisted by Psam-metichus I. (Herod., 3:4); but there seems more reason for including these in the mingled people that are next mentioned. Chub, or Cub (Revised Version), is found here only, and has consequently given occasion to many guesses Havernick connects it with the Kufa, a district of Media, often named in Egyptian monuments; Michaelis, with Kobe on the Ethiopian coast of the Indian Ocean; Maurer, with Cob, a city of Mauretania; Gesenius, Ewald, and Bunsen suggest the reading Nub, and identify it with Nubia; Keil and Smend adopt the form Lub, found in the Lubim of 2 Chronicles 16:8 and Nahum 3:9. On the whole, there are no adequate data for the solution of the problem. The men of the land that is in league. Here, again, we are in a region of many conjectures. (1) Hitzig and Kliefoth (following Jerome and the LXX., which gives, "the land of my covenant") take it of Canaan, as being the land in covenant with Jehovah (Psalm 74:2, 20; Daniel 11:28; Acts 3:25). (2) Hengstenberg, for the Sabeans, as being members of the Judaeo-Egyptian confederacy implied in Ezekiel 23:42. (3) Keil, Ewald, and Smend, of a people among the allies of Egypt, unknown to us, but sufficiently designated by Ezekiel for his readers.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(5) Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia.--Ethiopia and Egypt were closely connected, and during much of their history were often under one government. Ethiopian soldiers served in great numbers in the Egyptian armies. Libya and Lydia are an unfortunate substitution for the original terms, Phut and Lud, which are preserved in Ezekiel 27:10, where see Note. They are there mentioned as furnishing mercenaries to the Tyrian army; and it is known historically that they supplied them to a still greater extent to the Egyptian army.All the mingled people, and Chub.--There is the same expression, "mingled people," in reference to Egypt, in Jeremiah 25:20. In the connection here it may be understood especially of the foreign mercenaries from various quarters in the Egyptian armies. Chub is a name entirely unknown. Various conjectures have been hazarded, and various changes in the text proposed, but none are supported by sufficient evidence. It evidently denotes some ally of Egypt, possibly Nubia.Men of the land that is in league.--Literally, sons of the land of the covenant. The ancient interpreters, St. Jerome and Theodoret, understood this expression of the Jews who had sought refuge from Nebuchadnezzar in Egypt after the murder of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 42, 43, 44), to whom Jeremiah had expressly prophesied that the sword and famine of which they were afraid should overtake them there (Jeremiah 42:16-18). This interpretation is supported by the translation of the Septuagint, made in Egypt, "land of my covenant." The objection made to this view, that Palestine is never called "the land of the covenant," and that this must therefore signify some unknown country in alliance with Egypt at the time, seems rather specious than real. If it happens that this expression is never used of Palestine, yet that was unquestionably the land of the people of the covenant, and a particular expression may very well be used once without occurring again.