Ezekiel 31:17

17 They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies^[a][b]they had lived in its shade among the nations.

Ezekiel 31:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:17

They also went down to hell with him
To the grave with him; many of his nobles, princes, generals, soldiers, and subjects: unto them that be slain with the sword;
to be buried and lie with them who had fallen by the sword, as a just punishment for their iniquities: and they that were his arm;
either that leaned on his arm, were dependents upon him; or his ministers, his instruments, whom he employed under him as his deputies, to govern the several provinces that belonged to him; or rather his allies and auxiliaries, who helped and assisted him on occasion: that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the Heathen;
in the midst of the nations subject to the Assyrian empire; such who put themselves under the protection of it, lived comfortably under it, and continued with it to the last; these shared the same fate as that did. The Targum is,

``his governors are broken, whom he strengthened in the midst of the kingdom.''

Ezekiel 31:17 In-Context

15 "This is what the Lord God says: I caused grieving on the day the cedar went down to Sheol. I closed off the underground deep because of it: I held back the rivers of the deep, and [its] abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn on account of it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.

16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I threw it down to Sheol [to be] with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, all the well-watered trees, the choice and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the underworld.

17 They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its alliesthey had lived in its shade among the nations.

18 "Who then are you like in glory and greatness among Eden's trees? You also will be brought down to the underworld [to be] with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his hordes"-the declaration of the Lord God .

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX, Syr read offspring
• [b]. Lit arm