יחזקאל, פרק ל״ב, פסוק ב׳

A personal lament is directed at the king of Egypt, who is destined to lose his royal crown and see his empire reduced to a lowly state. He is addressed directly by the name Pharaoh, either due to his individual prominence or because it serves as the universal title for Egyptian monarchs [חומת אנך]. At the heart of this message is a deep irony between how Pharaoh views himself and his actual reality, illustrated through the imagery of wild animals. Pharaoh imagines himself as a powerful young lion, a mighty land predator ruling over other nations as if they were mere flocks of sheep [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Commentators offer different perspectives on this lion comparison. Some explain that Pharaoh was arrogant enough to believe he could leave his natural environment to hunt on dry land [רש״י]. Others suggest that just as a young lion stays close to its den and only attacks those who come near, Pharaoh did not venture out to conquer distant countries, yet still managed to inflict heavy harm upon his immediate neighbors [מלבי״ם].

In stark contrast to his majestic self-image, the humiliating reality is that Pharaoh is not a lion at all. Instead, he is likened to a massive aquatic creature, such as a large fish or a crocodile. This comparison exposes his fundamental vulnerability. A crocodile is only formidable while submerged in water; the moment it steps onto dry land, it becomes completely helpless and perishes [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Although Pharaoh deluded himself into believing he held dominion over both the sea and the land [חומת אנך], he is in truth entirely reliant on his own country and its network of rivers.

The creature is described moving through these rivers, which symbolize Pharaoh's military forces surging forward to flood the surrounding territories [רד״ק]. This movement is characterized in various ways: as bursting out from a place of hiding [רש״י], forcefully pushing and thrusting [מצודת ציון], or simply crawling along on its belly [מלבי״ם]. As the creature moves, it violently churns the water and tramples the riverbed, stirring up thick mud and dirt [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, מצודת ציון, מנחת שי]. Pointing out the physical irony, it is noted that a fish or crocodile does not even possess legs for trampling, yet Pharaoh artificially fashioned legs for himself, acting like a land animal so he could march across and crush other nations [רש״י]. This muddying of the waters represents Pharaoh's destructive military campaigns. He invaded foreign nations, ruined their territories, drained their wealth, and forced them into submission. Furthermore, this churning of the rivers carries a subtle warning of his impending doom. Just as the river was turned to blood during the time of Moses and Aaron, the Egyptians are destined to suffer plagues similar to the Ten Plagues, and their waters will once again be ruined [חומת אנך].