Ezekiel31

The LORD compares Pharaoh's greatness to Assyria, depicted as a magnificent cedar in Lebanon that grew tall and provided shelter for many nations. However, due to its pride in its exalted height, God brought it down, cut off by foreign powers and cast into the nether parts of the earth. This serves as a direct warning to Pharaoh, indicating that he and his multitude will suffer a similar fate, being brought low among the slain.
Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Date of the Prophecy Against Egypt

1
In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ​
2
“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘Who can be compared to your greatness? ​

The Parable of the Mighty Cedar

3
Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds. ​
4
The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field. ​
5
Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied, and its boughs grew long as it spread them out because of the abundant waters.
6
All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade. ​
7
It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its limbs, for its roots extended to abundant waters.
8
The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty. ​
9
I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’

The Cedar's Judgment and Fall

10
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height, ​
11
I delivered it into the hand of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with it according to its wickedness. I have banished it. ​
12
Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.
13
All the birds of the air nested on its fallen trunk, and all the beasts of the field lived among its boughs.
14
This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’ ​

Cosmic Mourning and Descent to Sheol

15
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. ​
16
I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below. ​
17
They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations.
18
Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’” ​

Study Notes for Ezekiel 31

Verse 1

This prophecy is dated approximately one month after the prophecy in chapter 30:20-26, placing it in 587 BC, shortly before the final fall of Jerusalem. The detailed chronology highlights the certainty of God's timing regarding the judgment of nations.

Verse 2

The rhetorical question sets up a taunt (a mocking lament or dirge) comparing Pharaoh to a magnificent, yet ultimately doomed, entity. The use of a parable allows the prophecy to critique Egypt indirectly before the final application.

Verse 3

The cedar is identified as Assyria, not Egypt, which is a key interpretive point. God uses the example of the recently fallen empire of Assyria (destroyed by Babylon in 612 BC) as a powerful warning and analogy for Egypt’s inevitable fate.

Verse 4

The 'waters' imagery symbolizes the sources of the kingdom's power, prosperity, and political influence, often representing the vassal states or fertile lands that sustained the empire.

Verse 6

The birds and beasts dwelling under the cedar's shadow illustrate the broad reach of Assyrian influence, signifying that many smaller nations depended upon or submitted to the empire for protection and stability.

Verse 8

The 'garden of God' (Eden) imagery is used as hyperbole, emphasizing the cedar’s perceived supreme status among all earthly kingdoms. This comparison subtly critiques the empire's self-exaltation to a quasi-divine level.

Verse 10

The cause of the cedar's downfall is explicitly identified as pride and arrogance. Hubris, or lifting one's heart in height, is the primary sin that leads to the judgment of both individuals and mighty nations in biblical prophecy.

Verse 11

The 'mighty one of the heathen' refers to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. God often uses powerful human agents, even heathen kings, as instruments to execute divine judgment upon other wicked nations.

Verse 14

This verse presents the theological purpose of the judgment: to serve as a universal object lesson. No kingdom, regardless of its prosperity or power, should exalt itself, because all are destined for death and the grave (the pit).

Verse 15

The description of the natural world mourning the cedar's fall (covering the deep, restraining the floods) signifies a cosmic, earth-shaking event. The prophet emphasizes the immense global significance of the fall of such a powerful empire.

Verse 16

The descent to 'hell' (Sheol) depicts the realm of the dead where the fallen great ones are gathered. The 'trees of Eden' (other formerly great nations) are ironically comforted that the proudest among them has finally joined them in death.

Verse 18

The chapter concludes by applying the entire parable directly to Pharaoh and Egypt. Despite their glory, they will be cast down among the 'uncircumcised,' a term used here to emphasize their spiritual contempt and ultimate fate among those slain by the sword.

Use ← → arrow keys to navigate
Settings

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options