12 And strangers, H2114 the terrible H6184 of the nations, H1471 have cut him off, H3772 and have left H5203 him: upon the mountains H2022 and in all the valleys H1516 his branches H1808 are fallen, H5307 and his boughs H6288 are broken H7665 by all the rivers H650 of the land; H776 and all the people H5971 of the earth H776 are gone down H3381 from his shadow, H6738 and have left H5203 him.
Behold, therefore I will bring H935 strangers H2114 upon thee, the terrible H6184 of the nations: H1471 and they shall draw H7324 their swords H2719 against the beauty H3308 of thy wisdom, H2451 and they shall defile H2490 thy brightness. H3314
Thy crowned H4502 are as the locusts, H697 and thy captains H2951 as the great grasshoppers, H1462 which camp H2583 in the hedges H1448 in the cold H7135 day, H3117 but when the sun H8121 ariseth H2224 they flee away, H5074 and their place H4725 is not known H3045 where H335 they are. Thy shepherds H7462 slumber, H5123 O king H4428 of Assyria: H804 thy nobles H117 shall dwell H7931 in the dust: thy people H5971 is scattered H6335 upon the mountains, H2022 and no man gathereth H6908 them.
For, lo, I raise up H6965 the Chaldeans, H3778 that bitter H4751 and hasty H4116 nation, H1471 which shall march H1980 through the breadth H4800 of the land, H776 to possess H3423 the dwellingplaces H4908 that are not theirs.
For my sword H2719 shall be bathed H7301 in heaven: H8064 behold, it shall come down H3381 upon Idumea, H123 and upon the people H5971 of my curse, H2764 to judgment. H4941 The sword H2719 of the LORD H3068 is filled H4390 with blood, H1818 it is made fat H1878 with fatness, H2459 and with the blood H1818 of lambs H3733 and goats, H6260 with the fat H2459 of the kidneys H3629 of rams: H352 for the LORD H3068 hath a sacrifice H2077 in Bozrah, H1224 and a great H1419 slaughter H2874 in the land H776 of Idumea. H123 And the unicorns H7214 shall come down H3381 with them, and the bullocks H6499 with the bulls; H47 and their land H776 shall be soaked H7301 with blood, H1818 and their dust H6083 made fat H1878 with fatness. H2459
Then will I leave H5203 thee upon the land, H776 I will cast thee forth H2904 upon the open H6440 field, H7704 and will cause all the fowls H5775 of the heaven H8064 to remain H7931 upon thee, and I will fill H7646 the beasts H2416 of the whole earth H776 with thee. And I will lay H5414 thy flesh H1320 upon the mountains, H2022 and fill H4390 the valleys H1516 with thy height. H7419
By the swords H2719 of the mighty H1368 will I cause thy multitude H1995 to fall, H5307 the terrible H6184 of the nations, H1471 all of them: and they shall spoil H7703 the pomp H1347 of Egypt, H4714 and all the multitude H1995 thereof shall be destroyed. H8045
Thou shalt fall H5307 upon the mountains H2022 of Israel, H3478 thou, and all thy bands, H102 and the people H5971 that is with thee: I will give H5414 thee unto the ravenous H5861 birds H6833 of every sort, H3671 and to the beasts H2416 of the field H7704 to be devoured. H402
The leaves H6074 thereof were fair, H8209 and the fruit H4 thereof much, H7690 and in it was meat H4203 for all: H3606 the beasts H2423 of the field H1251 had shadow H2927 under H8460 it, and the fowls H6853 of the heaven H8065 dwelt H1753 in the boughs H6056 thereof, and all H3606 flesh H1321 was fed H2110 of it. H4481 I saw H1934 H2370 in the visions H2376 of my head H7217 upon H5922 my bed, H4903 and, behold, H431 a watcher H5894 and an holy one H6922 came down H5182 from H4481 heaven; H8065 He cried H7123 aloud, H2429 and said H560 thus, H3652 Hew down H1414 the tree, H363 and cut off H7113 his branches, H6056 shake off H5426 his leaves, H6074 and scatter H921 his fruit: H4 let the beasts H2423 get away H5111 from H4481 under it, H8479 and the fowls H6853 from H4481 his branches: H6056
And G2532 the ten G1176 horns G2768 which G3739 thou sawest G1492 upon G1909 the beast, G2342 these G3778 shall hate G3404 the whore, G4204 and G2532 shall make G4160 her G846 desolate G2049 and G2532 naked, G1131 and G2532 shall eat G5315 her G846 flesh, G4561 and G2532 burn G2618 her G846 with G1722 fire. G4442
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 31
Commentary on Ezekiel 31 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 31
Eze 31:1-18. The Overthrow of Egypt Illustrated by That of Assyria.
Not that Egypt was, like Assyria, utterly to cease to be, but it was, like Assyria, to lose its prominence in the empire of the world.
1. third month—two months later than the prophecy delivered in Eze 30:20.
2. Whom art thou like—The answer is, Thou art like the haughty king of Assyria; as he was overthrown by the Chaldeans, so shalt thou be by the same.
3. He illustrates the pride and the consequent overthrow of the Assyrian, that Egypt may the better know what she must expect.
cedar in Lebanon—often eighty feet high, and the diameter of the space covered by its boughs still greater: the symmetry perfect. Compare the similar image (Eze 17:3; Da 4:20-22).
with a shadowing shroud—with an overshadowing thicket.
top … among … thick boughs—rather [Hengstenberg], "among the clouds." But English Version agrees better with the Hebrew. The top, or topmost shoot, represents the king; the thick boughs, the large resources of the empire.
4. waters … little rivers—the Tigris with its branches and "rivulets," or "conduits" for irrigation, the source of Assyria's fertility. "The deep" is the ever flowing water, never dry. Metaphorically, for Assyria's resources, as the "conduits" are her colonies.
5. when he shot forth—because of the abundant moisture which nourished him in shooting forth. But see Margin.
6. fowls … made … nests in … boughs—so Eze 17:23; Da 4:12. The gospel kingdom shall gather all under its covert, for their good and for the glory of God, which the world kingdoms did for evil and for self-aggrandizement (Mt 13:32).
8. cedars … could not hide him—could not outtop him. No other king eclipsed him.
were not like—were not comparable to.
garden of God—As in the case of Tyre (Eze 28:13), the imagery, that is applied to the Assyrian king, is taken from Eden; peculiarly appropriate, as Eden was watered by rivers that afterwards watered Assyria (Ge 2:10-14). This cedar seemed to revive in itself all the glories of paradise, so that no tree there outtopped it.
9. I … made him—It was all due to My free grace.
10. thou … he—The change of persons is because the language refers partly to the cedar, partly to the person signified by the cedar.
11. Here the literal supersedes the figurative.
shall surely deal with him—according to his own pleasure, and according to the Assyrian's (Sardanapalus) desert. Nebuchadnezzar is called "the mighty one" (El, a name of God), because he was God's representative and instrument of judgment (Da 2:37, 38).
12. from his shadow—under which they had formerly dwelt as their covert (Eze 31:6).
13. Birds and beasts shall insult over his fallen trunk.
14. trees by the waters—that is, that are plentifully supplied by the waters: nations abounding in resources.
stand up in their height—that is, trust in their height: stand upon it as their ground of confidence. Fairbairn points the Hebrew differently, so as for "their trees," to translate, "(And that none that drink water may stand) on themselves, (because of their greatness)." But the usual reading is better, as Assyria and the confederate states throughout are compared to strong trees. The clause, "All that drink water," marks the ground of the trees' confidence "in their height," namely, that they have ample sources of supply. Maurer, retaining the same Hebrew, translates, "that neither their terebinth trees may stand up in their height, nor all (the other trees) that drink water."
to … nether … earth … pit—(Eze 32:18; Ps 82:7).
15. covered the deep—as mourners cover their heads in token of mourning, "I made the deep that watered the cedar" to wrap itself in mourning for him. The waters of the deep are the tributary peoples of Assyria (Re 17:15).
fainted—literally, were "faintness" (itself); more forcible than the verb.
16. hell—Sheol or Hades, the unseen world: equivalent to, "I cast him into oblivion" (compare Isa 14:9-11).
shall be comforted—because so great a king as the Assyrian is brought down to a level with them. It is a kind of consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.
17. his arm, that dwelt under his shadow—those who were the helpers or tool of his tyranny, and therefore enjoyed his protection (for example, Syria and her neighbors). These were sure to share her fate. Compare the same phrase as to the Jews living under the protection of their king (La 4:20); both alike "making flesh their arm, and in heart departing from the Lord" (Jer 17:5).
18. Application of the parabolic description of Assyria to the parallel case of Egypt. "All that has been said of the Assyrian consider as said to thyself. To whom art thou so like, as thou art to the Assyrian? To none." The lesson on a gigantic scale of Eden-like privileges abused to pride and sin by the Assyrian, as in the case of the first man in Eden, ending in ruin, was to be repeated in Egypt's case. For the unchangeable God governs the world on the same unchangeable principles.
thou shall lie in … uncircumcised—As circumcision was an object of mocking to thee, thou shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, slain by their sword [Grotius]. Retribution in kind (Eze 28:10).
This is Pharaoh—Pharaoh's end shall be the same humiliating one as I have depicted the Assyrian's to have been. "This" is demonstrative, as if he were pointing with the finger to Pharaoh lying prostrate, a spectacle to all, as on the shore of the Red Sea (Ex 14:30, 31).