The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel 31
Chapter XXXI · Vol. III, pp. 1354–1356
1 A recital to Pharaoh of the glory of Assyria. 10 And the fall thereof for pride. 18 The like destruction shall be to Pharaoh.
1 And it came to pass in the aeleventh year,1 in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, bspeak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; cWhom art thou like in thy greatness?
3 Behold, the dAssyrian2 was ea cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches,3 and with a gshadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.4
A.M. cir. 3416. B.C. cir. 588.
2 The Assyrian empire, founded by Nimrod, and having for its chief city the great Nineveh, was destroyed by Nebopolassar, and succeeded by the empire of Babylon.—C.
e Is.10.34; 37.24. Zec.11.2. ch.17.3,22,23. Da.4.10,20-22.
3 Heb. fair of branches.
g Ju.9.15. Da.4.15. ver.6. Ps.78.72. La.4.20.
4 The figure is very beautiful and appropriate. The cedar is the king of trees. None is more striking for stateliness, symmetry, and grandeur. It is represented as growing on a fertile soil abundantly irrigated, its growth and splendour being thus promoted in every possible way. No object could have been more appropriately selected to set forth the glory and strength of the king of Assyria.—P.
4 The hwaters5 made6 him great, the deep set7 him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers8 untoi all the trees of the field.
h ch.17.5,8; 19.10. Am.5.24. Re.17.15. Je.51.36.
5 The waters of the Euphrates and Tigris were, in those days, the great channels of commercial wealth to Nineveh, as afterwards to Babylon. The noble efforts lately made for reopening them for commercial and religious purposes have hitherto been unavailing; but God, who has inflicted his judgment, will send forth his mercy in the appointed time.—C.
6 Or, nourished.
7 Or, brought.
8 Or, conduits.
5 Therefore jhis height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his kboughs were multiplied, and his branches became long, because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.9
6 All the lfowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
l Da.4.12,21,22. ch.17.23. Ps.47.9.
7 Thusn was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
n See ver.3-6. Is.10.7-14; 36.13,18; 37.11-13,18. 2 Ki.xv.-xix.
8 The ocedars in the garden of God could not hide him: pthe fir-trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut-trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
9 Iq have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, renvied him.
10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, sBecause 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 tmighty one of the heathen, he shall surely deal with him:1 I have driven him out for his uwickedness.
t Je.25.9. ch.32.11,12. Da.5.18,19.
1 Heb. in doing he shall do unto him, Ju.1.7. Mat.7.1,2.
u La.1.21,22. Na.3.18,19.
12 And vstrangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: uponx 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 yare gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
v 1 Sa.15.33. ch.28.7; 30.10,11. Hab.1.6-11. Na.i.-iii.
x ch.32.4,5; 35.8; 39.4. Is.34.5-7; 18.5,6.
y Re.17.16. Na.3.5,7,17,18, with Da.4.14.
13 Uponz his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
z ch.29.5. Is.18.6; 34.6. Re.19.17,18.
14 Toa the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height,2 all that drink water: for they are all bdelivered 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.
a 2 Pe.2.6. 1 Co.10.11. De.13.9,11. Ne.13.18. Da.4.32; 5.22,23. Ps.119.120. ch.28.17. Job 9.4,13; 40.2,11,12.
A.M. cir. 3416. B.C. cir. 588.
2 Or, stand upon themselves for their height.
b ch.32.18-32. Ps.82.7. Job 30.23. 2 Sa.14.14. Ec.12.7. Ps.49.10. He.10.27.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD, In the day when he cwent down to the grave dI caused a mourning. I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon3 to mourn4 for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
c Na.i.-iii. ch.32.22,23. Zep.2.13-15.
d ver.3,4. Re.18.11. Is.xv. xvi. Na.2.8,10; 3.19. 2 Sa.15.30.
3 Assyria, ver.3.
4 Heb. to be black, Mal.3.14.
16 I made the nations to eshake at the sound of his fall, when gI cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and hall the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.5
* The fall of a great man, or of a great empire, must always shake many dependants, and produce a moral impression that cannot entirely be resisted. In the rise of individuals or empires, men are prone to regard merely second causes, such as the talents, the application, or the courage of the man; the constitution, the population, the agriculture, the commercial enterprise, or military power of the empire. It is in the fall of either that God's being and providence are chiefly seen, as by the destruction of an idol the folly of its worship is best demonstrated. See ch.32.9,10.—C.
e ch.26.15. Re.11.13; 18.9-19. Is.26.9,11. Ps.119.120.
g ch.32.18,12. Is.14.15.
h ch.32.31. Is.14.8-17. Na.3.19. Hab.2.17.
5 See note * in first column.
17 Theyi also went down into hell with him, unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his jarm, that kdwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
18 Tol 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 nin the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh, and all his multitude,6 saith the Lord GOD.
Notes
Ver. 3-6. The kingdom of Assyria arrived at an astonishing extent of dignity and power, ruling over and protecting many nations; and their king was exceedingly exalted. Their fruitful soil, enriching commodities, prudent administrations, and traffic with or conquest of nations, rendered it more powerful and extensive than any kingdom on earth. All the nations about were either under its dominion or courted its friendship. 13-17. Upon the fall of the Assyrian monarchy the conquering nations made a prey of it, and glutted themselves with the spoils thereof. Let therefore no princes nor kingdoms be puffed up with a conceit of themselves because of present prosperity, as they must all, in their turn, be reduced and ruined. When the Assyrian monarchy was destroyed, it struck a general terror into all its friends, dependants, and neighbours, and put a stop to all trade;—and while the Assyrians and their neighbours bewailed the disaster, the great kings and kingdoms which had been before reduced rejoiced to see Assyria in like manner ruined, and to see its armies and dependants brought to destruction.
Reflections.—Kings and kingdoms may flourish and shine for a time in great pomp and grandeur, and yet must certainly fail at last. And the greater men's height, the more ruinous is their fall. But how unhappy it is that men cannot excel in earthly things without creating envy to themselves! It is highly necessary that they, who have power and wealth, should use it for the protection and comfort of others around; and that God's hand should be carefully observed in the advancement of the great men of the earth. He, as Judge, pulls down one king and kingdom, and sets up another. And often their ruin comes upon them just after they seemed most fixed and flourishing. The more proud and imperious they are, the greater is like to be their disgrace and contempt. They who were courted in their prosperity will be deserted and spoiled in the day of adversity; and their fall will probably involve multitudes in terror or ruin. And let us always remember, that God intends every providential stroke as a warning to others; that when proud presumptuous sinners are cast down, all around may mortify their lusts, and be clothed with humility.