יחזקאל, פרק ל״ב, פסוק כ״א

A dramatic scene unfolds in the world of the dead as powerful leaders of the past welcome the king of Egypt to his doom. This vision illustrates the ultimate fall of earthly power. Worldly strength offers no protection on the day of reckoning, leaving once-mighty rulers humiliated in the underworld alongside all the casualties of war. The strongest and most powerful of the fallen warriors are already present in this realm [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The primary approach among commentators is that these fallen nations, confined to the underworld, react to the arrival of the Egyptian king. Some explain that the mighty dead talk among themselves about Pharaoh and his allies, noting how they too have finally descended to lie in the depths [רש״י, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Others suggest a more direct confrontation, where the dead warriors speak right to Pharaoh and his followers. In this view, they remind the newcomers of their shared fate among the victims of war, similar to the famous mocking prophecy directed at the king of Babylon [רד״ק].

A different perspective shifts the identity of the speakers. Instead of foreign kings, the voices belong to the strongest of Pharaoh's own fallen soldiers who preceded him in death. From the underworld, they call out to their king, informing him that the wicked have already gone down to the pit and lie there [מצודת דוד].

Yet another interpretation suggests that the fallen warriors speak for Pharaoh's sake. They call out to his surviving allies, urging them to keep fighting and bring more nations down to the underworld, while announcing to Pharaoh that the victims of war have already taken their place below [מלבי״ם].

Ultimately, the grim vision highlights the final fate of the wicked and their supporters. Stripped of their former glory, they descend to the grave to lie together with all the others who met their death in battle [רד״ק, מצודת דוד].