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Ezekiel 31:8

The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

Cedars in the garden of God could not hide him - could not out-top him. No other king eclipsed him.

Garden of God - as in the case of the King of Tyre (, "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God"), the imagery that is applied to the Assyrian king is taken from Eden; peculiarly appropriate, as Eden was watered by rivers that afterward watered Assyria (Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates, ). This cedar seemed to revive in itself all the glories of paradise, so that no tree there out-topped it.

The fir trees - the cypresses (Henderson).

The chesnut trees were not like his branches - `the plane trees' (Henderson) were not comparable to his branches.

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See also Ezekiel 31:8 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Ezekiel 31:8. _THE CEDARS IN THE GARDEN OF GOD_] Egypt was one of the most eminent and affluent of all the neighbouring nations....

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    Fifth prophecy against Egypt: a warning to Pharaoh from the fate of the Assyrians. The Assyrian empire, after having been supreme in Asia for four centuries, had been overthrown by the united forces o...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    Ezekiel 31:1. Pharaoh's greatness is described in the first part of the chapter (Ezekiel 31:1). He is compared to the Assyrian, once so powerful and proud. The fall and desolation of the proud monarch...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    EZEKIEL 31. FALLEN IS THE MIGHTY CEDAR. In this striking poem, Pharaoh (= Egypt) is likened to a cedar of surprising height and beauty, fed by the waters of the deep (_i.e._ the Nile) and giving shelt...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    THE GARDEN OF GOD. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 2:8). God. Hebrew. _Elohim_. App-4....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _could not hide him_ Probably: EQUAL HIM, compare with him (cf. the common particle "over against" or "alongside of," Ezekiel 1:20; Ezekiel 48:13, &c.). _chesnut trees_ Probably: PLANE trees, Genesis...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THE CEDARS IN THE GARDEN OF GOD— Some render this, _The cedars in the garden of God were not higher than he._ The expression seems only to mean _the highest trees._ Instead of, _I have made him fair,_...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    A. The Description of the Cedar 31:1-9 TRANSLATION (1) And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2)...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    V. THE GREAT CEDAR TREE 31:1-18 This oracle follows the preceding one by some two months. The date according to the present calendar would be June 21, 587 B.C. (Ezekiel 31:1). In the first unit of thi...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE FALL OF THE GREAT CEDAR Egypt was a stately cedar, thick, lofty, and spreading; sheltering all the fowls and beasts (the nations) in its branches and under its shadow (Ezekiel 31:1). It was the en...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    EZEKIEL: “THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM GOD” GOD’S PLANS FOR *ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS EZEKIEL CHAPTER S 25 TO 39 _IAN MACKERVOY_ CHAPTER 31 AS ASSYRIA *FELL SO EGYPT WILL *FALL – EZEKIEL 31:1-18...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    THE GARDEN OF GOD. — See Ezekiel 31:9; Ezekiel 31:16; Ezekiel 31:18; also Ezekiel 28:13. This is not a representation of Assyria as being in

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    אֲרָזִ֣ים לֹֽא ־עֲמָמֻהוּ֮ בְּ גַן ־אֱלֹהִים֒...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    EGYPT Ezekiel 29:1; Ezekiel 30:1; Ezekiel 31:1; Ezekiel 32:1 EGYPT figures in the prophecies of Ezekiel as a great world-power

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The fifth prophecy was directed against the greatness of Pharaoh. Ezekiel was commanded to address himself to Pharaoh and his multitudes. This he did, first by describing his greatness. He fist asked,...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    The cedars in the garden (d) of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; not any tree in the garden of God was like him in his...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    It is worthy the Reader's remark, that while the Lord is chastising his own people, the rod is exercised over numbers of the surrounding nations. We have here the humbling of Egypt still threatened, a...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 29, 30, 31, AND 32. Chapter s 29-32 contain the judgment of Egypt. Egypt sought, in the self-will of man, to take the place which God had in fact given to Neb...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    THE CEDARS IN THE GARDEN OF GOD COULD NOT HIDE HIM,.... That is, could not rise so high as this cedar, and overtop him, and obscure his glory; even those that were most excellent, which grew in Eden,...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the 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...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Behold the Assyrian_ This, says Archbishop Secker, seems an admonitory comparison of Pharaoh to the late Assyrian monarch, applied to Pharaoh, Ezekiel 31:18. By _the Assyrian_, compared here to a tal...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him, could not out-top him, that is, all other nations and states of the world were outranked by Assyria in greatness and glory; THE FIR-TREES, or cypres...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    COMPARISON BETWEEN PHARAOH'S POWER AND THAT OF ASSYRIA...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-9 The falls of others, both into sin and ruin, warn us not to be secure or high-minded. The prophet is to show an instance of one whom the king of Egypt resembled in greatness, the Assyrian, compar...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    THE CEDARS; kings, the greatest and most magnificent. IN THE GARDEN OF GOD; either in the most fruitful gardens, or in Judah and Israel; not David, not Solomon, Jehoshaphat, or Hezekiah, could top and...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Ezekiel 31:8 cedars H730 garden H1588 God H430 hide H6004 (H8804) trees H1265 like H1819 (H8804) boughs...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    “The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him, the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the plane trees were not as his branches. Nor was any tree in the garden of God like him in his beauty....

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Prophecy against Pharaoh. CHARACTERS: God, Ezekiel, Pharaoh. CONCLUSION: It is rare to find a humble spirit in the midst of great advancement. God can easily expel those who think themselv...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Ezekiel 31:1. _In the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day,_ about a month before Jerusalem was taken by storm. Ezekiel 31:3 ; EZEKIEL 31:8. _The Assyrian was a_ (tall) _cedar._ The Vul...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon._ THE CEDAR IN LEBANON I. The soul that will not grow down must be cut down. Trees that are to stand the storm must send their roots deep into the earth. A man t...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    EZEKIEL—NOTE ON EZEKIEL 31:1 Ezekiel’s fifth oracle against Egypt dates to June 587 B.C., only a few weeks after the preceding unit. Here the prophet points to Assyria as an object lesson for Egypt. I...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    EZEKIEL—NOTE ON EZEKIEL 31:8 The GARDEN OF GOD is mentioned three times and compared with EDEN (also vv. Ezekiel 31:16,...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    THE DESTRUCTION OF ASSYRIA A TYPE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF EGYPT. (Chap. 31) (Ezekiel 31:1.) EXEGETICAL NOTES.— Ezekiel 31:1. “In the eleventh year, in the third month.” Two months later than the prophe...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 31:1 IN THE ELEVENTH YEAR, etc. June, B.C. 586. Two months all but six days had passed since the utterance of Ezekiel 30:20, when Ezekiel was moved to expand his prediction of the...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Shall we turn now to Ezekiel, chapter 31. In Chapter s 29 and 30 of Ezekiel, he was prophesying concerning the judgment of God that was to come against the nation of Egypt, who was like a reed when Is...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Ezekiel 28:13; Genesis 13:10; Genesis 2:8; Isaiah 10:7; Isaiah 36:4;

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    The cedars — The greatest kings. Garden of God — In the most fruitful gardens. Hide — Could not ever top, and shade him. The fir — trees — Lesser kings, and kingdoms, were not equal to his boughs. Nor...

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