יחזקאל, פרק י״ז, פסוק י״ז

Promises of military backing from foreign empires often prove to be empty illusions exactly when they are needed most. Zedekiah, the king of Judah, placed his hope in Egyptian military support to defend against the Babylonian threat, only to face bitter disappointment. The primary approach among commentators is that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, will fail to keep his promise to Zedekiah, refusing to arrive with the massive army he had pledged [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Another perspective suggests that Pharaoh will simply avoid engaging in battle against the king of Babylon altogether [רד״ק].

This sudden abandonment by Egypt resolves a prophetic riddle introduced earlier. Nebuchadnezzar will not actually need an overwhelming military effort to uproot Zedekiah's rule, because the second great power, Pharaoh, will never even show up to the battlefield to help Judah [מלבי״ם, מצודת דוד].

Pharaoh's betrayal will become painfully clear at the height of the crisis, right as the Babylonian army launches its siege operations against Jerusalem [רש״י, אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The attackers will pour mounds of dirt near the city walls to climb over them, while constructing siege towers facing the city to secure its capture [מצודת ציון]. The ultimate goal of this brutal Babylonian siege is to kill a vast number of the city's residents [רש״י, רד״ק]. In this darkest hour, as the Chaldeans slaughter the Israelites, Zedekiah will be left completely alone in the fight, entirely stripped of the Egyptian support he so desperately relied upon [אברבנאל].