Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 30:5

"Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mingled people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword." — Ezekiel 30:5 (ASV)

Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia. — Ethiopia and Egypt were closely connected, and during much of their history were often under one government. Ethiopian soldiers served in great numbers in the Egyptian armies. Libya and Lydia are an unfortunate substitution for the original terms, Phut and Lud, which are preserved in Ezekiel 27:10 (see the note on that verse). They are mentioned there as furnishing mercenaries to the Tyrian army, and it is known historically that they supplied them to a still greater extent to the Egyptian army.

All the mingled people, and Chub. — The same expression, “mingled people,” is found in reference to Egypt in Jeremiah 25:20. In this context, it may be understood especially of the foreign mercenaries from various regions in the Egyptian armies. Chub is a name entirely unknown. Various conjectures have been made, and various changes in the text proposed, but none are supported by sufficient evidence. It evidently denotes some ally of Egypt, possibly Nubia.

Men of the land that is in league. — Literally, sons of the land of the covenant. The ancient interpreters, St. Jerome and Theodoret, understood this expression to refer to the Jews who had sought refuge from Nebuchadnezzar in Egypt after the murder of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 42–44). Jeremiah had expressly prophesied to them that the sword and famine they feared would overtake them there (Jeremiah 42:16–18).

This interpretation is supported by the Septuagint translation, made in Egypt, which reads “land of my covenant.” The objection to this view—that Palestine is never called “the land of the covenant,” and that this phrase must therefore signify some unknown country allied with Egypt at the time—seems rather specious than real. Even if this expression is never used of Palestine, it was nonetheless unquestionably the land of the people of the covenant, and a particular expression may very well be used once without occurring again.