Ezekiel 31:7-17

7 And he is fair in his greatness, In the length of his thin shoots, For his root hath been by great waters.

8 Cedars have not hid him in the garden of God, Firs have not been like unto his boughs, And chesnut-trees have not been as his branches, No tree in the garden of God hath been like unto him in his beauty,

9 Fair I have made him in the multitude of his thin shoots, And envy him do all trees of Eden that [are] in the garden of God.

10 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because that thou hast been high in stature, And he yieldeth his foliage between thickets, And high is his heart in his haughtiness,

11 I give him into the hand of a god of nations, He dealeth sorely with him, In his wickedness I have cast him out.

12 And cut him off do strangers, The terrible of nations, and they leave him, On the mountains and in all valleys have his thin shoots fallen, And broken are his boughs at all streams of the land, And go down from his shade do all peoples of the land, and they leave him.

13 On his ruin dwell do all fowls of the heavens, And on his boughs have been all the beasts of the field,

14 In order that none of the trees of the waters May become haughty because of their stature, Nor give their foliage between thickets, Nor any drinking waters stand up unto them in their haughtiness, For all of them are given up to death, Unto the earth -- the lower part, In the midst of the sons of men, Unto those going down to the pit.

15 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the day of his going down to sheol I have caused mourning, I have covered for him the deep, and diminish its flowings, And restrained are many waters, And I make Lebanon black for him, And all trees of the field have been covered for him.

16 From the sound of his fall I have caused nations to shake, In My causing him to go down to sheol, With those going down to the pit, And comforted in the earth -- the lower part, are all trees of Eden, The choice and the good of Lebanon, All drinking waters.

17 Also they with him have gone down to sheol, Unto the pierced of the sword, And -- his arm -- they dwelt in his shade in the midst of nations.

Ezekiel 31:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 31

This chapter contains a confirmation of the preceding prophecy, of the ruin of the king of Egypt, by the example of the king of Assyria, to whom he was like in grandeur and pride, and would be in his fall. The time of the prophecy is observed, Eze 31:1, the prophet is ordered to give the following relation to the king of Egypt, Eze 31:2 in which the king of Assyria is compared to a large and flourishing cedar, for the extent of his dominions, the prosperous state of his empire, and his exaltation above all other princes, which drew upon him their envy Eze 31:3-9, wherefore because of his pride, his heart being lifted up with these things, Eze 31:10, ruin came upon him; which is described by the instruments and manner of it, and the effects following it; mourning and fear in some, solace and comfort to others, and destruction to his associates, Eze 31:11-17, wherefore Pharaoh is called upon to consider all this, who was like to him in greatness and pride, and should have the like fate with him; nor could his greatness any more secure him than it did the Assyrian monarch, Eze 31:18.