Ezekiel 31:14

14 Wherefore all the trees of waters shall not be raised [up] in their highness, neither shall set their highness among places full of wood(s), and full of boughs, and all trees that be moisted of waters shall not stand in the highness of those. For all they be given into death, to the farthest land in the midst of the sons of men, to them that go down into the pit. (And so all the trees by the waters shall not be raised up in their highness, nor shall set their highness in places full of woods, and full of branches, and all the trees that be watered by these waters shall not stand in their highness. For they all be given over unto death, yea, to the farthest, or to the last, land in the midst of those, who go down into the pit.)

Ezekiel 31:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:14

To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt
themselves for their height
The end proposed by the Lord in the destruction of the king of Assyria, and the use to be made of it, is this; that the kings of the earth take warning hereby, who rule over a multitude of people, comparable to waters, and who abound in riches and wealth; that they are not elated with pride and vanity, because of their exalted estate, their grandeur, and dignity; and do not behave insolently against God, on whom they depend; nor haughtily and in an oppressive manner towards their own subjects, over whom they rule: neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs;
affect universal monarchy, as he did; and set up themselves over all kingdoms and states, as he had over them, and make all subject to them: neither their trees stand up in their height, that drink water;
that is, kings and potentates, who rule over the people, and are supplied and supported by them in their exalted stations, by the tribute and taxes they pay them and so abound in riches and power, should not trust in the height of honour and power they are raised to, and treat contemptuously God and man; but consider what they are, that they are but men, and are in slippery places, where there is no standing long, and especially when death comes, as follows: for they are delivered unto death in the nether parts of the earth;
they are mortal by nature, as other men; they are appointed to die, and will be delivered into the hands of death, when the time is come, who will not spare them because of their crowns and sceptres; and when they will be laid in the grave, in the lowest parts of the earth, who used to sit upon elevated thrones of state: in the midst of the children of men, with those that go down to the
pit;
the grave, where they are upon a level with the poorest and meanest of their subjects. The Targum is,

``that all the kings of the east might not be lifted up with their strength, nor exercise tyranny over the kingdoms; nor all that hold a kingdom lift up themselves in their own strength, for all are delivered unto death''

Ezekiel 31:14 In-Context

12 And aliens, and the most cruel men of nations, shall cut him down, and shall cast him forth on hills. And his branches shall fall down in all the great valleys, and his trees shall be broken in all rocks of stone of (the) earth. And all the peoples of earth shall go away from his shadowing place, and shall forsake him. (And foreigners, and the most cruel men of the nations, have cut it down, and have thrown it forth upon the hills. And its branches have fallen down in all the great valleys, and its boughs were broken by all the hard rocks of the earth. And all the peoples of the earth went away from under its shadow, and deserted it.)

13 All the volatiles of the air dwelled in the falling of him, and all beasts of the country were in the branches of him. (All the birds of the air lived on that fallen tree, and all the beasts of the field walked all over its branches.)

14 Wherefore all the trees of waters shall not be raised [up] in their highness, neither shall set their highness among places full of wood(s), and full of boughs, and all trees that be moisted of waters shall not stand in the highness of those. For all they be given into death, to the farthest land in the midst of the sons of men, to them that go down into the pit. (And so all the trees by the waters shall not be raised up in their highness, nor shall set their highness in places full of woods, and full of branches, and all the trees that be watered by these waters shall not stand in their highness. For they all be given over unto death, yea, to the farthest, or to the last, land in the midst of those, who go down into the pit.)

15 The Lord God saith these things, In the day when he went down to hells, I brought in mourning; I covered him with depth of waters, and I forbade his floods, and I refrained many waters. The Lebanon was sorry on him, and all the trees of the field were shaken of the sound of his falling. (The Lord God saith these things, On the day when it went down to Sheol, I brought in mourning; I covered it with the depths of waters, and I forbade its rivers, and I restrained the great waters. Lebanon sorrowed for it, and all the trees of the field were shaken by the sound of its falling.)

16 I moved together heathen men, when I led him down to hell, with them that went down into the pit. And all trees of liking, noble trees, and full clear in the Lebanon, all that were moisted with waters, were comforted in the lowest land. (I altogether shook the heathen, when I led it down to Sheol, with them who went down into the pit. And all the trees of Eden, noble trees, and the most beautiful in Lebanon, all that were watered with water, were comforted in the lowest land.)