3 Behold, the Assyrian H804 was a cedar H730 in Lebanon H3844 with fair H3303 branches, H6057 and with a shadowing H6751 shroud, H2793 and of an high H1362 stature; H6967 and his top H6788 was among the thick boughs. H5688
Behold, the Lord, H113 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 shall lop H5586 the bough H6288 with terror: H4637 and the high ones H7311 of stature H6967 shall be hewn down, H1438 and the haughty H1364 shall be humbled. H8213 And he shall cut down H5362 the thickets H5442 of the forest H3293 with iron, H1270 and Lebanon H3844 shall fall H5307 by a mighty one. H117
And say, H559 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 A great H1419 eagle H5404 with great H1419 wings, H3671 longwinged, H83 H750 full H4392 of feathers, H5133 which had divers colours, H7553 came H935 unto Lebanon, H3844 and took H3947 the highest branch H6788 of the cedar: H730 He cropped off H6998 the top H7218 of his young twigs, H3242 and carried H935 it into a land H776 of traffick; H3667 he set H7760 it in a city H5892 of merchants. H7402
The tree H363 that thou sawest, H2370 which grew, H7236 and was strong, H8631 whose height H7314 reached H4291 unto the heaven, H8065 and the sight H2379 thereof to all H3606 the earth; H772 Whose leaves H6074 were fair, H8209 and the fruit H4 thereof much, H7690 and in it was meat H4203 for all; H3606 under H8460 which the beasts H2423 of the field H1251 dwelt, H1753 and upon whose branches H6056 the fowls H6853 of the heaven H8065 had their habitation: H7932 It is thou, H607 O king, H4430 that art grown H7236 and become strong: H8631 for thy greatness H7238 is grown, H7236 and reacheth H4291 unto heaven, H8065 and thy dominion H7985 to the end H5491 of the earth. H772 And whereas the king H4430 saw H2370 a watcher H5894 and an holy one H6922 coming down H5182 from H4481 heaven, H8065 and saying, H560 Hew H1414 the tree H363 down, H1414 and destroy H2255 it; yet H1297 leave H7662 the stump H6136 of the roots H8330 thereof in the earth, H772 even with a band H613 of iron H6523 and brass, H5174 in the tender grass H1883 of the field; H1251 and let it be wet H6647 with the dew H2920 of heaven, H8065 and let his portion H2508 be with H5974 the beasts H2423 of the field, H1251 till H5705 seven H7655 times H5732 pass H2499 over H5922 him;
Woe H1945 to the bloody H1818 city! H5892 it is all full H4392 of lies H3585 and robbery; H6563 the prey H2964 departeth H4185 not; The noise H6963 of a whip, H7752 and the noise H6963 of the rattling H7494 of the wheels, H212 and of the pransing H1725 horses, H5483 and of the jumping H7540 chariots. H4818 The horseman H6571 lifteth up H5927 both the bright H3851 sword H2719 and the glittering H1300 spear: H2595 and there is a multitude H7230 of slain, H2491 and a great H3514 number of carcases; H6297 and there is none end H7097 of their corpses; H1472 they stumble H3782 H3782 upon their corpses: H1472 Because of the multitude H7230 of the whoredoms H2183 of the wellfavoured H2896 H2580 harlot, H2181 the mistress H1172 of witchcrafts, H3785 that selleth H4376 nations H1471 through her whoredoms, H2183 and families H4940 through her witchcrafts. H3785 Behold, I am against thee, saith H5002 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 and I will discover H1540 thy skirts H7757 upon thy face, H6440 and I will shew H7200 the nations H1471 thy nakedness, H4626 and the kingdoms H4467 thy shame. H7036 And I will cast H7993 abominable filth H8251 upon thee, and make thee vile, H5034 and will set H7760 thee as a gazingstock. H7210 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look H7200 upon thee shall flee H5074 from thee, and say, H559 Nineveh H5210 is laid waste: H7703 who will bemoan H5110 her? whence H370 shall I seek H1245 comforters H5162 for thee? Art thou better H3190 than populous H527 H528 No, H4996 that was situate H3427 among the rivers, H2975 that had the waters H4325 round about H5439 it, whose rampart H2426 was the sea, H3220 and her wall H2346 was from the sea? H3220 Ethiopia H3568 and Egypt H4714 were her strength, H6109 and it was infinite; H369 H7097 Put H6316 and Lubim H3864 were thy helpers. H5833 Yet was she carried away, H1473 she went H1980 into captivity: H7628 her young children H5768 also were dashed in pieces H7376 at the top H7218 of all the streets: H2351 and they cast H3032 lots H1486 for her honourable men, H3513 and all her great men H1419 were bound H7576 in chains. H2131 Thou also shalt be drunken: H7937 thou shalt be hid, H5956 thou also shalt seek H1245 strength H4581 because of the enemy. H341 All thy strong holds H4013 shall be like fig trees H8384 with the firstripe figs: H1061 if they be shaken, H5128 they shall even fall H5307 into the mouth H6310 of the eater. H398 Behold, thy people H5971 in the midst H7130 of thee are women: H802 the gates H8179 of thy land H776 shall be set wide H6605 open H6605 unto thine enemies: H341 the fire H784 shall devour H398 thy bars. H1280 Draw H7579 thee waters H4325 for the siege, H4692 fortify H2388 thy strong holds: H4013 go H935 into clay, H2916 and tread H7429 the morter, H2563 make strong H2388 the brickkiln. H4404 There shall the fire H784 devour H398 thee; the sword H2719 shall cut thee off, H3772 it shall eat thee up H398 like the cankerworm: H3218 make thyself many H3513 as the cankerworm, H3218 make thyself many H3513 as the locusts. H697 Thou hast multiplied H7235 thy merchants H7402 above the stars H3556 of heaven: H8064 the cankerworm H3218 spoileth, H6584 and flieth away. H5774 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. There is no healing H3545 of thy bruise; H7667 thy wound H4347 is grievous: H2470 all that hear H8085 the bruit H8088 of thee shall clap H8628 the hands H3709 over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness H7451 passed H5674 continually? H8548
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).