Ezekiel 29:3

“Speak, and say, thus saith the Lord God, &c.] The one only, living, and true God, the almighty, eternal, and unchangeable Jehovah, which the gods of Egypt were not: behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt; who, though so great a king, was not a match for God, yea, nothing in his hands; nor could he stand before him, or contend with him; or, I am above theef498; though the king of Egypt was so high above others, and thought so highly of himself, as if he was a god; yet the Lord was higher than he: the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers; the chief river of Egypt was the Nile, which opened in seven mouths or gates into the sea, and out of which canals were made to water…”

“dragon--Hebrew, tanim, any large aquatic animal, here the crocodile, which on Roman coins is the emblem of Egypt. lieth--restest proudly secure. his rivers--the mouths, branches, and canals of the Nile, to which Egypt owed its fertility.”

“The king is addressed as the embodiment of the state. Dragon - Here the crocodile, the great monster of the Nile, which was regarded very differently in different parts of Egypt. By some it was worshipped and embalmed after death, and cities were named after it (e. g., in the Arsinoite nome). Others viewed it with the utmost abhorrence. An animal so terrible, so venerated, or so abhorred, was an apt image of the proud Egyptian monarch - the more so, perhaps, because it was in truth less formidable than it appeared, and often became an easy prey to such as assailed it with skill and courage. Lieth in the midst of his rivers - Sais, the royal city, during the twenty-sixth dynasty was in the…”

“The great dragon - The crocodile; our prophet, as well as Isaiah, compares the Egyptian king to that devouring serpent, or dragon. That lieth - Not only at rest, but waiting for prey. My river - My kingdom, power, riches, and forces, all the strength and glory of Egypt. Ezekiel 29:4”

“29:3-16 The opening section of the oracle is a word of judgment against Pharaoh, who is addressed as a great sea monster. These creatures were a familiar part of ancient Near Eastern mythology as a manifestation of chaos that had to be tamed by the gods. Strikingly, these same sea monsters appear in demythologized form as part of God’s good creation (Gen 1:21). In this chapter, however, the mythical image blends with the image of Pharaoh as a great crocodile, resting comfortably in the streams that laced the delta of the Nile.”

“I am: Eze 29:10, Eze 28:22; Psa 76:7; Jer 44:30; Nah 1:6 the great: Eze 32:2; Psa 74:13, Psa 74:14; Isa 27:1, Isa 51:9; Rev 12:3, Rev 12:4, Rev 12:16, Rev 12:17, Rev 13:2, Rev 13:4, Rev 13:11; Rev 16:13, Rev 20:2 My river: Eze 29:9, Eze 28:2; Deu 8:17; Isa 10:13, Isa 10:14; Dan 4:30, Dan 4:31 Ezekiel 29:4”