Yechezkel 31:17

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.

Yechezkel 31:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:17

They also went down to hell with him
To the grave with him; many of his nobles, princes, generals, soldiers, and subjects: unto them that be slain with the sword;
to be buried and lie with them who had fallen by the sword, as a just punishment for their iniquities: and they that were his arm;
either that leaned on his arm, were dependents upon him; or his ministers, his instruments, whom he employed under him as his deputies, to govern the several provinces that belonged to him; or rather his allies and auxiliaries, who helped and assisted him on occasion: that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the Heathen;
in the midst of the nations subject to the Assyrian empire; such who put themselves under the protection of it, lived comfortably under it, and continued with it to the last; these shared the same fate as that did. The Targum is,

``his governors are broken, whom he strengthened in the midst of the kingdom.''

Yechezkel 31:17 In-Context

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.

18 To whom art thou thus like in kavod and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the depths of ha’aretz; thou shalt lie in the midst of the arelim (uncircumcised) with them that be slain by the cherev. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith Adonoi Hashem.