Ezekiel 31:11

11 I give him into the hand of a god of nations, He dealeth sorely with him, In his wickedness I have cast him out.

Ezekiel 31:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:11

I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one
of the Heathen
Or, into the hand of the mightiest of the nations {o}; the mightiest prince among them. Some understand this of Arbaces the Mede, by whom Sardanapalus had been defeated long before this time: others of Merodachbaladan king Babylon, by whom Esarhaddon the Assyrian monarch was vanquished; or rather Nebuchadnezzar, who was called Nabopolassar; who, in the first year ^F16 of his reign, in conjunction with Cyaxares king of Media, took Nineveh, the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy; and this was by the appointment of God, and under the direction of his providence, and through the success he gave to the arms of these princes, according to his own decrees and prophecies. Some render it, "into the hand of the god of the nations" {q}; yet meaning either Cyaxares or Nebuchadnezzar; so called because of their great power and might, and which they had from the Lord: he shall surely deal with him;
or, "in doing he shall do to him" ^F18; he shall do with him as he pleases he shall easily manage him, though so powerful; and deal with him according to his deserts; or, as the Targum, he shall take vengeance on him, as he did: I have driven him out for his wickedness;
out of his court and palace; out of his royal city Nineveh; out of his kingdom and dominions; and he shall reside and reign no more there; and all this for his wickedness, pride, and oppression, and other sins: when God strips men of their honour, riches, power, and dominion, it is because of their abuse of them; for some sin, or sins, or wickedness they have been guilty of, both against him and men; and therefore it is but just and righteous in him to dethrone such princes, and drive them from their seats.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (Myywg la dyb) "in manum fortissimi gentium", Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "potentissimi", Piscator.
F16 Seder Olam Rabba, p. 69.
F17 "In manum dei gentium", Montanus, Starckius; "deo gentium", Castalio.
F18 (wl hvey wve) "faciendo faciet ei", Pagninus, Montanus; "faciendo faciebat ipsi", Starckius.

Ezekiel 31:11 In-Context

9 Fair I have made him in the multitude of his thin shoots, And envy him do all trees of Eden that [are] in the garden of God.

10 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because that thou hast been high in stature, And he yieldeth his foliage between thickets, And high is his heart in his haughtiness,

11 I give him into the hand of a god of nations, He dealeth sorely with him, In his wickedness I have cast him out.

12 And cut him off do strangers, The terrible of nations, and they leave him, On the mountains and in all valleys have his thin shoots fallen, And broken are his boughs at all streams of the land, And go down from his shade do all peoples of the land, and they leave him.

13 On his ruin dwell do all fowls of the heavens, And on his boughs have been all the beasts of the field,