Ezekiel 31:10

10 "Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height,

Ezekiel 31:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:10

Therefore thus saith the Lord God
Having described the greatness of the Assyrian monarch; now follows the account of his fall, and the cause of it, pride: because thou hast lifted up thyself in height;
this is either an address to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who, though he did not rise up so high as the Assyrian monarch in glory and grandeur; yet he lifted up himself, and thought himself superior to any; which reason he must be brought down: or the words are directed to the Assyrian monarch, by a change of person frequent in Scripture; who, though he was raised by the Lord to the height of honour and dignity he was, yet ascribed it to himself: and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs;
the multitude of provinces over which he became head and governor; (See Gill on Ezekiel 31:3): and his heart is lifted up in his height;
with pride, insolence, and contempt of God and men; of which see the instances in ( Isaiah 10:8-15 ) ( 36:18-20 ) ( 37:10-13 ) .

Ezekiel 31:10 In-Context

8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; The fir trees were not like its boughs, And the chestnut trees were not like its branches; No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.
9 I made it beautiful with a multitude of branches, So that all the trees of Eden envied it, That were in the garden of God.'
10 "Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height,
11 therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness.
12 And aliens, the most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.