What is the context?
The lament refers to warriors who went down with their weapons, then warns its hearer of being shattered among those slain by the sword. Military standing cannot remove the threatened judgment.
Edom’s rulers, the leaders of the north and the Sidonians are also there, despite the terror of their might. The repeated contrast is between what these powers once made others feel and the disgrace they now bear.
Pharaoh will see them and be comforted concerning his own multitude. This is the grim consolation of discovering that other mighty peoples share the same end. It is not a restoration of Egypt’s former power.
The Lord closes by declaring that He will spread His terror in the land of the living. Pharaoh and his multitude will be laid with the fallen. The judgments against the nations end with their inability to place themselves beyond His authority.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley reads verse 27 through a contrast in the honor given to fallen warriors. Cambridge considers the wording difficult and reads the burial scene as another expression of lives and deaths marked by violence. The BSB keeps the distinction between the groups who do not lie together, and refers to shields resting on the warriors’ bones.
Henry and Wesley both regard Pharaoh’s comfort as poor comfort: sharing the humiliation of others is no deliverance from his own. Henry also points beyond the fall of nations toward the resurrection and judgment taught by Christ.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Hebrews 2:14–18 gives a larger answer to the fear of death. The Son shares human flesh and blood, makes atonement as a merciful and faithful high priest, and through His death breaks the devil’s power of death and frees those enslaved by that fear.
Hebrews does not explicitly quote this lament. It adds a hope greater than Pharaoh’s discovery that others have fallen too. The saving help comes from Christ entering human suffering and death on behalf of those He helps, rather than from finding a mightier earthly power in which to hide.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.