Ezekiel 29:1

Modern

In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Traditional

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Literal

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth of the month, the word of YHWH came to me, saying:

Latin

In anno decimo, decimo mense, undecima die mensis, factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens:

Hebrew

English

In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

This day in the tenth year since the exile of Jehoiachin was approximately one year after the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem.

The seventh and final message of judgment against the nations targets Egypt, an old enemy and ally of Israel. This message is the longest and, like the one against Tyre, it addresses both Egypt and its ruler.
Egypt often tempted Israel and Judah to turn away from their loyalty to the Lord. Soon after leaving Egypt, Israel fell into the trap of Egypt's idolatry. Egypt led Judah to rely on chariots and horses instead of the Lord, but Egypt was unreliable when it mattered most. The Lord judged Egypt for leading his people astray (compare Luke 17:1–2).

This section contains a series of messages of judgment against nearby nations. There are six shorter messages against Judah's immediate neighbors, arranged in a clockwise order, followed by a final message against Egypt (Ezekiel 30–32). Through experiencing God's judgment, the nations would recognize God's control over everything. The nations might be used to carry out God's judgment on his people, but they would not avoid judgment themselves.
One of the main purposes of these messages was to show that the negative part of God's promise to Abraham ("I will … curse those who curse you," Genesis 12:3) was still active. No one can harm God's people and avoid consequences, even when God's people are under his judgment.

Theme notes and profiles

Ezekiel 26:1
In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezekiel 29:17
In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezekiel 20:1
In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.
Ezekiel 1:2
On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—
Ezekiel 40:1
In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there.
Ezekiel 8:1
In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.