Ezekiel 31:2

2 "Mortal man," he said, "say to the king of Egypt and all his people: How powerful you are! What can I compare you to?

Ezekiel 31:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:2

Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt
To Pharaohhophra, the then reigning king; not to him personally by word of mouth, for the prophet was now in Chaldea; but by delivering out a prophecy concerning him, and which he might have an opportunity of sending to him: and to his multitude;
the multitude of his subjects, of which he boasted, and in whom he trusted: whom art thou like in thy greatness?
look over all the records of time, and into all the empires, kingdoms, and states that have been; draw a comparison between thyself and the greatest potentate that ever was; fancy thyself to be equal to him; this will not secure thee from ruin and destruction; for as they have been humbled, and are fallen, so wilt thou be: pitch for instance on the Assyrian monarch, whose empire has been the most ancient, extensive, and flourishing, and yet now crushed; and as thou art like him in greatness, at least thou thinkest so, so thou art in pride, and wilt be in thine end; to assure of which is the drift of the following account of the king of Assyria.

Ezekiel 31:2 In-Context

1 On the first day of the third month of the eleventh year of our exile, the Lord spoke to me.

2 "Mortal man," he said, "say to the king of Egypt and all his people: How powerful you are! What can I compare you to?

3 You are like a cedar in Lebanon, With beautiful, shady branches, A tree so tall it reaches the clouds.

4 There was water to make it grow, And underground rivers to feed it. They watered the place where the tree was growing And sent streams to all the trees of the forest.

5 Because it was well-watered, It grew taller than other trees. Its branches grew thick and long.