Ezekiel 31:12

And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon 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 are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH ARE GONE DOWN FROM HIS SHADOW - under which they had formerly dwelt as their covert ()....

10-18 The king of Egypt resembled the king of Assyria in his greatness: here we see he resembles him in his pride. And he shall resemble him in his fall. His own sin brings his ruin. None of our comforts are ever lost, but what have been a thousand times forfeited. When great men fall, many fall with them, as many have fallen before them. The fall of proud men is for warning to others, to keep them humble. See how low Pharaoh lies; and see what all his pomp and pride are come to. It is best to be a lowly tree of righteousness, yielding fruit to the glory of God, and to the good of men. The wicked man is often seen flourishing like the cedar, and spreading like the green bay tree, but he soon passes away, and his place is no more found. Let us then mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace....

Assyria’s fall. Ezekiel 31:11 More accurately: Therefore I will deliver him, etc ... he shall surely deal with him. I have driven him out, etc. Ezekiel 31:14 THEIR TREES - Rather, as in the margin, “standing unto themselves” meaning “standing in their own strength.” The clause will then run thus: “Neither all that drink water stand up” in their own strength. “All that drink water” means mighty princes to whom wealth and prosperity flow in. The Egyptians owed everything to the waters of the Nile. The substance is, that Assyria’s fall was decreed in order that the mighty ones of the earth might learn not to exalt themselves in pride or to rely on themselves, seeing that they must share the

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 downfall of Egypt into a parable which is partly a _replica _of these in Ezekiel 17:1. and Ezekiel 19:1, and which also finds a parallel in Daniel 4:10. EZEKIEL 31:2 The parabl

AND STRANGERS, THE TERRIBLE OF THE NATIONS, HAVE CUT HIM OFF,.... Cut off the boughs and branches of this cedar, and cut him down to the ground; that is, utterly destroyed him, his empire and monarchy: these "strangers" were the Medes, who lived in a country distant from Assyria; and "the terrible of the nations", the cruel and merciless Chaldeans, the soldiers of the king of Babylon's army; see Ezekiel 30:11: AND HAVE LEFT HIM UPON THE MOUNTAINS, like a tree cut down there, and its boughs and branches lopped off, which roll down from thence into the valleys, and by the rivers of water signifying his depression from a high and exalted state to a very low one, as follows: AND IN ALL THE VALLEY HIS BRANCHES ARE FALLEN, AND HIS BOUGHS ARE BROKEN BY ALL THE RIVERS OF THE LAND; signifying that many provinces and countries under his dominion were broken of

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 under the picture of a tree follows in Ezekiel 31:10. The overthrow of Egypt and the resulting consternation among the nations is predicted in the last section of this chapter (Ezekiel 31:15). Ezekiel 32:1. The lamentation over Pharaoh is contained in Ezekiel 3

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 shelter to birds and beasts (_i.e._ protection to dependent peoples). For beauty, height, luxuriance no tree (= nation) could compare with it it was the envy of all (Ezekiel 31:1). (In Ezekiel 31:3 delete the Assyrian, and read simply, there was a cedar, etc. For thick boughs read clouds with LXX. In Ezekiel 31:4 for the trees of the field, read its soil.) But the mighty Nebuchadrezzar, with his terrible army, will send it crashing with a blow, boughs and branches will be scattered over mountain and valley, those who

STRANGERS. foreigners. RIVERS. torrents. Hebrew. _aphikim_. See note on" channels", 2 Samuel 22:16....

Because of his pride in his height he shall be cut down. Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty one of the nations, shall hew him to the ground, and the beasts shall feed on him. Such judgment must overtake any great tree that exalts itself into the heavens...

HAVE CUT HIM OFF— _Cut him down._ Virgil has a like comparison with respect to the fall of Troy: _Ac veluti summis antiquam in montibus ornum Quum ferro accisam crebrisque bipennibus instant Eruere agricolae certatim; illa usque minatur, Et tremefacta comam concusso vertice nutat: Vulneribus donec paulatim evicta, supremum Congemuit, traxitque jugis avulsa ruinam._ AEN. ii. 626. So when an aged ash, whose honour's rise From some steep mountain tow'ring to the skies, With many an axe by shouting swains is ply'd, Fierce they repeat the strokes from ev'ry side; The tall tree trembling as the blows go round, Bows the high head, and nods to ev'ry wound: At last quite vanquish'd with a dreadful peal, In one loud groan rolls crashing down the vale, Headlong with half the shatter'd mountain flies, And stretch'd out huge in length th' unmeasur'd ruin lies. PITT....