Ezekiel 31:10

10 "`Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his 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 him; the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches, nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches, so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied him.

10 "`Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height,

11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen. He shall surely deal with him. I have driven him out for his wickedness.

12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off and have left him. Upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow and have left him.