Ezekiel 31:17

17 They also went down into She'ol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, [that] lived under his shadow in the midst of 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 Thus says the Lord GOD: In the day when he went down to She'ol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the rivers of it; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Levanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to She'ol with those who descend into the pit; and all the trees of `Eden, the choice and best of Levanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the eretz.

17 They also went down into She'ol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, [that] lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations.

18 To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of `Eden? yet shall you be brought down with the trees of `Eden to the lower parts of the eretz: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Par`oh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD.