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Ezekiel 31

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The Parable of the Mighty Cedar 1–9

1
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the thirdmonth, in the firstdayof the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ​
2
Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: Whom art thou like in thy greatness? ​
3
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs. ​
4
The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: the rivers thereof ran round about its plantation; and it sent out its channels unto all the trees of the field. ​
5
Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot them forth.
6
All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young; and under its shadow dwelt all great nations. ​
7
Thus was it fair in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters.
8
The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir-trees were not like its boughs, and the plane-trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto it in its beauty. ​
9
I made it fair by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.

The Cedar's Judgment and Fall 10–14

10
Therefore thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thou art exalted in stature, and he hath set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; ​
11
I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; 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 watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
13
Upon his ruin all the birds of the heavens shall dwell, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches;
14
to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up in their height, even all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit. ​

Cosmic Mourning and Descent to Sheol 15–18

15
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the rivers thereof; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. ​
16
I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with them that descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the nether parts of the earth. ​
17
They also went down into Sheol with him unto them that are slain by the sword; yea, they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the nations.
18
To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 31

Verse 1

in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day — This is nearly two months after the word of 30:20, dated in the first month. It falls in Zedekiah's eleventh year, and a little over a month later, in the fourth month, 'the city was broken up' (Jer 52:5–7). The word is addressed to Pharaoh and runs to the end of the chapter.

Verse 2

Whom art thou like in thy greatness? — 'Like' is damah, to compare, and the question recurs through the chapter: 'nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him' (v.8); 'To whom art thou thus like' (v.18). It is put to Pharaoh 'and to his multitude' (hamon), the same word as in 30:10, 15.

Verse 3

the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon — Pharaoh is set beside Assyria, a kingdom whose fall Nahum describes (Nah 3:18). Isaiah used the same figure of Assyria: 'the high ones of stature shall be hewn down' and 'Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one' (Isa 10:33–34). The 'top… among the thick boughs' (tsammereth, aboth) is named again in vv.10, 14.

Verse 4

The waters made him great — The 'deep' is tehom, the word of 'darkness was upon the face of the deep' (Gen 1:2). Its streams ('rivers', nahar; 'little rivers', te'alah, channels) feed the tree and reach 'all the trees of the field'. The greatness came with the water; in v.15 the LORD stops it.

Verse 6

under his shadow dwelt all great nations — The nesting birds and the beasts bringing forth young are the picture of a great ruler sheltering many peoples, as in Nebuchadnezzar's tree (Dan 4:12). The cedar the LORD himself plants on Israel's mountain has the same shelter: 'under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing' (Ezek 17:23).

Verse 8

the garden of God — The garden of God is Eden (28:13; Gen 2:8); the 'trees of Eden' are named again in vv.9, 16, 18. The cedars, 'fir trees' (berosh) and 'chesnut trees' (armon, the plane tree) there had no branches like his. 'Beauty' is yophi; the verse tells his unmatched greatness, which becomes pride in v.10.

Verse 10

his heart is lifted up in his height — Gabah, to be high, and gobah, height or haughtiness, are the words of the verdict on Tyre's king: 'Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty' (Ezek 28:17). Proverbs states the rule: 'Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall' (Prov 16:18).

Verse 11

the mighty one of the heathen — The king of Babylon, with 'his people… the terrible of the nations' who come against Egypt (30:10–11) and are the 'strangers' of v.12. 'Driven out' is gerash, the verb of Adam's expulsion from Eden: 'So he drove out the man' (Gen 3:24). The cause stated is 'his wickedness'.

Verse 14

the nether parts of the earth — Tachtiyyot, the lowest parts, where all 'that drink water' go, among 'the children of men' (adam). The purpose is stated: none of the trees is to 'exalt themselves for their height', the verb of v.10. Psalm 82:7 says the same of the great: 'ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes'.

Verse 15

I covered the deep for him — 'Grave' is sheol, the place of the dead. The deep (tehom) that raised him in v.4 is now covered and its floods (nahar) 'restrained'. Lebanon, where he stood, mourns for him. Isaiah has the cedars of Lebanon rejoice at the fall of Babylon's king (Isa 14:8); here they mourn.

Verse 16

comforted in the nether parts of the earth — The nations 'shake at the sound of his fall', as the isles do at Tyre's (26:15). 'Hell' is sheol, and 'the pit' (bor) its other name, as in Isaiah's 'brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit' (Isa 14:15). Pharaoh too will be 'comforted' there (32:31).

Verse 18

the midst of the uncircumcised — Arel, uncircumcised, names those slain by the sword in the pit; the same words appear in 32:19, 21. Jeremiah lists 'Egypt, and Judah, and Edom' among nations 'uncircumcised' in heart (Jer 9:25–26). The parable is explained at last: 'This is Pharaoh and all his multitude.'