Yechezkel 31:15

15 Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning; I covered the tehom (deep) for him, and I restrained the rivers thereof, and the mayim rabbim were held back; and I caused Levanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the sadeh wilted and fainted for him.

Yechezkel 31:15 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:15

Thus saith the Lord God, in the day when he went down to the
grave
The Assyrian monarch; when his monarchy was destroyed, and he ceased to be king, and was stripped of all his majesty, power, and authority, and was as one dead, and laid in the grave, and buried: I caused a mourning:
that is, for him, in the waters, and among the trees, among the people and the kings of the earth, as follows: I covered the deep for him;
with mourning, with thick darkness, which set him up on high ( Ezekiel 31:4 ) : and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed;
which made him great, ( Ezekiel 31:4 ) , signifying by all this that the kingdoms of the world, comparable to the sea, of which his monarchy consisted, and all the inhabitants and people of them, comparable to floods and great waters, were affected with the fall of this great monarch, and thrown into consternation by it; not knowing what the event of things would be, stood still, and knew not what course to take; all business was stopped, especially all traffic by sea, and all trade and commerce every where; a stagnation of everything for a while: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him;
where he was a cedar, ( Ezekiel 31:3 ) , this may respect the whole empire he was head of, particularly the kingdom of Syria, on the borders of which Lebanon was; and was a part of the Assyrian empire, which must mourn and be concerned at the fall of it: and all the trees of the field fainted for him:
all the kings of the earth that were in alliance with him, or subject to him, trembled for fear that their destruction would be next; or as doubtful and concerned what would be their condition, under the yoke of another. The Targum is,

``tribulation covered the world, and the provinces were forsaken, and many people trembled, and all the kings of the people smote the shoulder because of him.''

Yechezkel 31:15 In-Context

13 Upon his ruin shall all the oph Shomayim remain, and all the beasts of the sadeh shall come to his branches;
14 To the end that none of all the trees by the mayim exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top above the thick boughs, and that no trees that drink mayim may reach up to them in height; for they are all delivered unto mavet, to the depths of ha’aretz, in the midst of the bnei adam, with them that go down to the bor (pit).
15 Thus saith Adonoi Hashem: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning; I covered the tehom (deep) for him, and I restrained the rivers thereof, and the mayim rabbim were held back; and I caused Levanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the sadeh wilted and fainted for him.
16 I made the Goyim to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with them that descend into the bor (pit); and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Levanon, all that drink mayim, shall be consoled in the depths of ha’aretz.
17 They also went down into Sheol with him unto them that be slain with the cherev; and they that were his zero’a, that dwelt under his tzel (shade) in the midst of the Goyim.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.