Ezekiel 31:1-11

Pharaoh as a Felled Cedar of Lebanon

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

2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes: “ ‘Who can be compared with you in majesty?

3 Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.

4 The waters nourished it, deep springs made it grow tall; their streams flowed all around its base and sent their channels to all the trees of the field.

5 So it towered higher than all the trees of the field; its boughs increased and its branches grew long, spreading because of abundant waters.

6 All the birds of the sky nested in its boughs, all the animals of the wild gave birth under its branches; all the great nations lived in its shade.

7 It was majestic in beauty, with its spreading boughs, for its roots went down to abundant waters.

8 The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor could the junipers equal its boughs, nor could the plane trees compare with its branches— no tree in the garden of God could match its beauty.

9 I made it beautiful with abundant branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God.

10 “ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height,

11 I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside,

Ezekiel 31:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 52:5
• 2. S Ezekiel 30:20; Ezekiel 32:17
• 3. S Jeremiah 50:18
• 4. S 2 Kings 19:23; Habakkuk 2:17; Zechariah 11:1
• 5. Isaiah 10:34; S Ezekiel 19:11
• 6. Ezekiel 17:7
• 7. Daniel 4:10
• 8. ver 10
• 9. S Numbers 24:6; S Ezekiel 17:5
• 10. S Genesis 31:7-9
• 11. S Ezekiel 17:23; S Matthew 13:32
• 12. S Job 14:9
• 13. Psalms 80:10
• 14. S Genesis 30:37
• 15. Genesis 2:8-9
• 16. S Genesis 2:8
• 17. S Genesis 13:10; Ezekiel 28:13
• 18. S Isaiah 2:11; S Isaiah 14:13-14; S Ezekiel 28:17
• 19. Daniel 5:20