Ezekiel 31:3

3 Think about what happened to Assyria. Once it was like a cedar tree in Lebanon. It had beautiful branches that provided shade for the forest. It grew very high. Its top was above all of the leaves.

Ezekiel 31:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:3

Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon
Here grew the tallest, most stately, broad and flourishing ones. This sense is, that he was as one of them; comparable to one, for his exaltation and dignity; for the largeness of his dominion, the flourishing circumstances of it, and its long duration; that empire having lasted from the times of Nimrod unto a few years of the present time; for this is to be understood, either of the monarchy itself, or of Esarhaddon; or rather of Chynilidanus, or Saracus, the last king of it. The Septuagint, and Arabic versions render it the "cypariss" in Lebanon; but not that, but the cedar, grew there, and which best suits the comparison: with fair branches;
meaning not children, nor nobles, nor subjects; but provinces, many and large, which were subject to this monarch: and with a shadowing shroud;
power, dominion, authority, a mighty army sufficient to protect all that were under his government, and subject to it: and of an high stature:
exalted above all the kings and kingdoms of the earth: and his top was among the thick boughs;
his kingly power, headship, and dominion, was over a multitude of petty princes and states, comparable to the thick boughs and branches of a tree: or, "among the clouds"; as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it; above the heights of which the Assyrian monarch attempted to ascend, ( Isaiah 14:14 ) ( Daniel 4:10-12 ) .

Ezekiel 31:3 In-Context

1 It was the 11th year since King Jehoiachin had been brought to Babylon as a prisoner. On the first day of the third month, a message came to me from the Lord. He said,

2 "Son of man, speak to Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt. Also speak to his huge army. Tell him, " 'Who can be compared with your majesty?

3 Think about what happened to Assyria. Once it was like a cedar tree in Lebanon. It had beautiful branches that provided shade for the forest. It grew very high. Its top was above all of the leaves.

4 The waters fed it. Deep springs made it grow tall. Their streams flowed all around its base. They made their way to all of the trees in the fields.

5 So it grew higher than any other tree in the fields. It grew more limbs. Its branches grew long. They spread because they had plenty of water.