Ezekiel 31:18

18 “O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts who have died by the sword. This will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 31:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:18

To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the
trees of Eden?
&c.] Among all the kings and potentates of the earth; pitch on whom you will, say which of them all, even the greatest of them for majesty and glory, for wealth and riches, power and authority, and extent of dominion, you are equal to; name the king of Assyria, if you please, before described, though you are not equal to him; and if you were, this would not secure you from ruin; since, as great as he was, he fell, and so will you: this is said to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and is an application of the preceding parable to him; suggesting, that let him be as high as any ever was, or he could imagine himself to be: yet shall thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether
parts of the earth;
the grave, and lie in the same depressed and humble state as the greatest monarchs that ever were on earth do: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised;
the wicked, as the Targum; the uncircumcised in heart; who belong not to God, or his people, and have no communion with either, but are shut out of the kingdom of heaven, and have their portion with devils and damned spirits: with them that be slain by the sword;
in a way of judgment for their sins: this is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, saith the Lord God;
this account represents Pharaoh, his grandeur, his pride, and his ruin; this shows what will be the end of him, and of his numerous subjects. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "so will be Pharaoh" in like manner will he fall, and all his people with him; for the Lord God has said it, and it shall assuredly come to pass. The Targum is,

``to whom art thou like now in glory and greatness among the kings of the east? and thou shall be brought down with the kings of the east into the lower part of the earth; in the midst of sinners thou shalt sleep, with those that are slain by the sword; this is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.''

Ezekiel 31:18 In-Context

16 I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of its fall, for I sent it down to the grave with all the others who descend to the pit. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the most beautiful and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, took comfort to find it there with them in the depths of the earth.

17 Its allies, too, were all destroyed and had passed away. They had gone down to the grave—all those nations that had lived in its shade.

18 “O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts who have died by the sword. This will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew among the uncircumcised.