Ezekiel 31

Pharaoh Warned of Assyria's Fate

1 In the ¹eleventh * year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying,

2 "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his ²hordes, 'Whom * are you like in your greatness?

3 'Behold, Assyria was a ³cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And ⁴very high, And its top was among the clouds.

4 'The ⁵waters made it grow, the deep made it high. With its rivers it continually extended all around its planting place, And sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.

5 'Therefore * ⁶its height was loftier than all the trees of the field And its boughs became many and its branches long Because of ⁷many waters as it spread them out.

6 'All the ⁸birds of the heavens nested in its boughs, And under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth, And all great nations lived under its shade.

7 'So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; For its roots extended to many waters.

8 'The ⁹cedars in ¹⁰God's garden could not match it; The cypresses could not compare with its boughs, And the plane trees could not match its branches. No * tree in ¹¹God's garden could compare with it in its beauty.

9 'I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches, And all the trees of ¹²Eden, which were in the ¹³garden of God, were jealous of it.

10 'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Because * it is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, and its ¹⁴heart is haughty in its loftiness,

11 therefore I will give it into the hand of a ¹⁵despot of the nations; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have ¹⁶driven it away.

12 "¹⁷Alien ¹⁸tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the ¹⁹mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the peoples of the earth have ²⁰gone down from its shade and left it.

13 "On its ruin all the ²¹birds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches

14 so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the ²²earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit."

15 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On the day when it went down to Sheol I ²³caused lamentations; I closed the deep over it and held back its rivers. And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it.

16 "I made the nations ²⁴quake at the sound of its fall when I made it ²⁵go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of ²⁶Lebanon, were ²⁷comforted in the earth beneath.

17 "They also ²⁸went down with it to Sheol to those who were ²⁹slain by the sword; and those who were its strength lived ³⁰under its shade among the nations.

18 "To which among the trees of Eden are you thus equal in glory and greatness? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath; you will lie in the midst of the ³¹uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. ³²So is Pharaoh and all his hordes!"' declares the Lord GOD."

Ezekiel 31 Commentary

Chapter 31

The glory of Assyria. (1-9) Its fall, and the like for Egypt. (10-18)

Verses 1-9 The falls of others, both into sin and ruin, warn us not to be secure or high-minded. The prophet is to show an instance of one whom the king of Egypt resembled in greatness, the Assyrian, compared to a stately cedar. Those who excel others, make themselves the objects of envy; but the blessings of the heavenly paradise are not liable to such alloy. The utmost security that any creature can give, is but like the shadow of a tree, a scanty and slender protection. But let us flee to God for protection, there we shall be safe. His hand must be owned in the rising of the great men of the earth, and we must not envy them. Though worldly people may seem to have firm prosperity, yet it only seems so.

Verses 10-18 The king of Egypt resembled the king of Assyria in his greatness: here we see he resembles him in his pride. And he shall resemble him in his fall. His own sin brings his ruin. None of our comforts are ever lost, but what have been a thousand times forfeited. When great men fall, many fall with them, as many have fallen before them. The fall of proud men is for warning to others, to keep them humble. See how low Pharaoh lies; and see what all his pomp and pride are come to. It is best to be a lowly tree of righteousness, yielding fruit to the glory of God, and to the good of men. The wicked man is often seen flourishing like the cedar, and spreading like the green bay tree, but he soon passes away, and his place is no more found. Let us then mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 52:5, 6; Ezekiel 30:20; Ezekiel 32:1
• 2. Ezekiel 29:19; Ezekiel 30:10; Nahum 3:9
• 3. Isaiah 10:33, 34; Ezek 17:3, 4, 22; Ezekiel 31:16; Dan 4:10, 20-23
• 4. Isaiah 10:33; Ezekiel 31:5, 10
• 5. Ezekiel 17:5, 8; Revelation 17:1, 15
• 6. Daniel 4:11
• 7. Psalms 1:3; Ezekiel 17:5
• 8. Ezekiel 17:23; Ezekiel 31:13; Daniel 4:12, 21; Matthew 13:32
• 9. Psalms 80:10; Ezekiel 31:3
• 10. Genesis 2:8, 9; Genesis 13:10; Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 28:13; Ezekiel 31:16, 18
• 11. Genesis 2:8, 9; Genesis 13:10; Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 28:13; Ezekiel 31:16, 18
• 12. Genesis 2:8, 9; Genesis 13:10; Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 28:13; Ezekiel 31:16, 18
• 13. Genesis 2:8, 9; Genesis 13:10; Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 28:13; Ezekiel 31:16, 18
• 14. 2 Chronicles 32:25; Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 14:13, 14; Ezekiel 28:17; Daniel 5:20
• 15. Ezekiel 30:10, 11; Ezekiel 32:11, 12; Daniel 5:18, 19
• 16. Deuteronomy 18:12; Nahum 3:18
• 17. Ezekiel 7:21; Ezekiel 28:7; Ezekiel 30:12; Habakkuk 1:6
• 18. Ezekiel 28:7; Ezekiel 30:11; Ezekiel 32:12
• 19. Ezekiel 32:5; Ezekiel 35:8
• 20. Ezekiel 31:17; Daniel 4:14; Nahum 3:17, 18
• 21. Isaiah 18:6; Ezekiel 29:5; Ezekiel 31:6; Ezekiel 32:4
• 22. Numbers 16:30, 33; Psalms 63:9; Ezekiel 26:20; Ezekiel 31:18; Ezekiel 32:24; Amos 9:2; Jonah 2:2, 6; Ephesians 4:9
• 23. Ezekiel 32:7; Nahum 2:10
• 24. Ezekiel 26:15; Ezekiel 27:28; Haggai 2:7
• 25. Isaiah 14:15; Ezekiel 32:18
• 26. Isaiah 14:8; Habakkuk 2:17
• 27. Ezekiel 14:22, 23; Ezekiel 32:31
• 28. Psalms 9:17
• 29. Ezekiel 32:20
• 30. Ezekiel 31:3, 6; Daniel 4:12
• 31. Jeremiah 9:25, 26; Ezekiel 28:10; Ezekiel 32:19, 21
• 32. Psalms 52:7; Matthew 13:19

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "high of stature"
• [b]. So Gr; M.T. "thick boughs"
• [c]. I.e. subterranean waters
• [d]. Lit "was going"
• [e]. Lit "in its sending forth"
• [f]. Lit "root was"
• [g]. Lit "did"
• [h]. Or "Phoenician junipers"
• [i]. Lit "did"
• [j]. Lit "were not like"
• [k]. Lit "did"
• [l]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
• [m]. Lit "you are"
• [n]. Or "thick boughs"
• [o]. Or "mighty one"
• [p]. Or "thick boughs"
• [q]. Lit "drinkers of water"
• [r]. I.e. subterranean waters
• [s]. Lit "be darkened"
• [t]. Lit "drinkers of water"
• [u]. Lit "arm"
• [v]. Lit "like"

Chapter Summary

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.