Ezekiel 31:4

4 Deep springs watered it and helped it to grow tall and luxuriant. The water flowed around it like a river, streaming to all the trees nearby.

Ezekiel 31:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:4

The waters made him great
The waters of the river Tigris, near to which stood the city of Nineveh, the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy; the traffic brought by which river made it rich and great, and the whole empire, and the king of it: the deep set him up on high, with her rivers running round about his
plants;
the vast trade by sea, the profits and commodities of which were conveyed through various rivers, which ran about the provinces of the empire, which were as plants in a field; and by which they were enriched, and the whole empire, and the king of it, were raised to a prodigious pitch of wealth and power: and sent out little rivers to all the trees of the field;
so that the common people, comparable to the trees of the field for their number and usefulness, all received profit and advantage hereby: or else by waters and the deep may be meant the multitude of people, as in ( Revelation 17:15 ) , which increased his kingdom, filled his provinces, supplied his colonies, and enlarged his power and riches. The Targum is,

``by the people he was multiplied; by his auxiliaries he became strong; he subjected kings under his government; and his governors he appointed over all the provinces of the earth.''

Ezekiel 31:4 In-Context

2 “Son of man, give this message to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his hordes: “To whom would you compare your greatness?

3 You are like mighty Assyria, which was once like a cedar of Lebanon, with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade and with its top high among the clouds.

4 Deep springs watered it and helped it to grow tall and luxuriant. The water flowed around it like a river, streaming to all the trees nearby.

5 This great tree towered high, higher than all the other trees around it. It prospered and grew long thick branches because of all the water at its roots.

6 The birds nested in its branches, and in its shade all the wild animals gave birth. All the great nations of the world lived in its shadow.