Ezekiel 31
The Cedar of Lebanon: Assyria's Fall
1In the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, the LORD’s word came to me, saying,
2“Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt and his multitude: ‘Whom are you like in your greatness?
3Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.
4The waters nourished it. The deep made it to grow. Its rivers ran all around its plantation. It sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.
5Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied. Its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it spread them out.
6All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs. Under its branches, all the animals of the field gave birth to their young. All great nations lived under its shadow.
7Thus it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters.
8The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it. The cypress trees were not like its branches. The pine trees were not like its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty.
9I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.’
10“Therefore thus said the Lord GOD: ‘Because he is exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick branches, and his heart is lifted up in his height,
11I will deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations. He will surely deal with him. I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12Foreigners, the tyrants of the nations, have cut him off and have left him. His branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land. All the peoples of the earth have gone down from his shadow and have left him.
13All the birds of the sky will dwell on his ruin, and all the animals of the field will be on his branches,
14to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, and don’t set their top among the thick boughs. Their mighty ones don’t stand up on their height, even all who drink water; for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, among the children of men, with those who go down to the pit.’
15“The Lord GOD says: ‘In the day when he went down to Sheol, I caused a mourning. I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its rivers. The great waters were stopped. I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.
16I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit. All the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.
17They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, who lived under his shadow in the middle of the nations.
18“‘To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth. You will lie in the middle of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. “‘This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,’ says the Lord GOD.”
God commands Ezekiel to deliver a prophetic oracle to Pharaoh using Assyria as an object lesson. Through an extended metaphor of a magnificent cedar tree in Lebanon, God describes how Assyria once towered above all nations in beauty and power, providing shelter and security to many peoples. However, because of its pride and arrogance, God delivered Assyria to destruction, cutting it down and casting it into Sheol as a warning that no earthly power can exalt itself against the sovereignty of God.
Context
This chapter continues Ezekiel's series of oracles against Egypt (chapters 29-32), using Assyria's historical downfall as a warning to Pharaoh about the consequences of pride.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-2Oracle Against PharaohGod commands Ezekiel to address Pharaoh with a rhetorical question about his perceived greatness.
- 3-9Assyria's Former GloryGod describes Assyria as a magnificent cedar tree that surpassed even the trees of Eden in beauty and provided shelter to all nations.
- 10-14Judgment for PrideBecause of its arrogant heart, God delivered Assyria to foreign powers who cut it down and left it desolate.
- 15-18Descent to SheolGod describes the cosmic mourning when Assyria fell and joined other fallen powers in the realm of the dead.
The Cedar of Lebanon: Assyria's Fall
31:1–31:18Using the allegory of a great cedar tree representing Assyria, God warns Pharaoh that pride leads to downfall, as even the mightiest nations fall when they exalt themselves.
person_contrast
Pharaoh, typically portrayed in contexts of divine judgment and sovereignty, here receives an unprecedented warning about pride through Assyria's allegorical downfall as Lebanon's mighty cedar.
Ezekiel 31:3
Ezekiel 17:22lexical“The Lord GOD says: ‘I will also take some of the lofty top of the cedar, and will plant it. I will crop off from the to…
Ezekiel 17:3lexicaland say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers which had various color…
1 Kings 7:2lexicalFor he built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its heig…
2 Kings 19:23lexicalBy your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the h…
Isaiah 37:24lexicalBy your servants, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the heig…
Ezekiel 31:6
Isaiah 34:15lexicalThe arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered th…
2 Samuel 21:10lexicalRizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until wa…
Genesis 2:19lexicalOut of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man…
1 Kings 16:4lexicalThe dogs will eat Baasha’s descendants who die in the city; and he who dies of his in the field, the birds of the sky wi…
Genesis 2:20lexicalThe man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there wa…
Ezekiel 31:7
Ezekiel 17:7lexical“‘“There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. Behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, a…
Ezekiel 17:6lexicalIt grew and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him. So i…
Ezekiel 31:8
1 Kings 9:11lexical(now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and cypress trees, and with gold, according to all hi…
1 Kings 6:15lexicalHe built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he…
Isaiah 41:19lexicalI will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set cypress trees, pine, and box trees togethe…
Ezekiel 31:10
Ezekiel 19:11lexicalIt had strong branches for the scepters of those who ruled. Their stature was exalted among the thick boughs. They were…
Ezekiel 17:22lexical“The Lord GOD says: ‘I will also take some of the lofty top of the cedar, and will plant it. I will crop off from the to…
Ezekiel 28:2lexical“Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a g…
Ezekiel 28:6lexical“‘therefore the Lord GOD says: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of God,
Ezekiel 17:3lexicaland say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers which had various color…
Ezekiel 31:12
Isaiah 25:5lexicalAs the heat in a dry place you will bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of…
Ezekiel 35:8lexicalI will fill its mountains with its slain. The slain with the sword will fall in your hills and in your valleys and in al…
Ezekiel 17:6lexicalIt grew and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him. So i…
Ezekiel 31:13
Ezekiel 32:4lexicalI will leave you on the land. I will cast you out on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle o…
Psalms 104:12lexicalThe birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.
Genesis 2:19lexicalOut of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man…
Genesis 2:20lexicalThe man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there wa…
2 Samuel 21:10lexicalRizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until wa…
Ezekiel 31:14
Ezekiel 19:11lexicalIt had strong branches for the scepters of those who ruled. Their stature was exalted among the thick boughs. They were…
Ezekiel 26:20lexicalthen I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in th…
Ezekiel 32:18lexical“Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to t…
Ezekiel 32:24lexical“There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncirc…
Obadiah 1:4lexicalThough you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” s…
Ezekiel 31:15
Ezekiel 26:19lexical“For the Lord GOD says: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I bring up the de…
Ezekiel 39:10lexicalso that they will take no wood out of the field, and not cut down any out of the forests; for they will make fires with…
Jeremiah 7:20lexicalTherefore the Lord GOD says: “Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, on animal, on the…
Exodus 15:5lexicalThe deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone.
Ezekiel 32:8lexicalI will make all the bright lights of the sky dark over you, and set darkness on your land,” says the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 31:16
Ezekiel 26:15lexical“The Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Won’t the islands shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaught…
Ezekiel 32:18lexical“Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to t…
Ezekiel 32:24lexical“There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncirc…
Ezekiel 26:20lexicalthen I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in th…
Isaiah 51:3lexicalFor the LORD has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her d…
Ezekiel 31:17
Ezekiel 32:21lexicalThe strong among the mighty will speak to him out of the middle of Sheol with those who help him. They have gone down. T…
Ezekiel 32:25lexicalThey have made Elam a bed among the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are around her, all of them uncircumcised,…
Ezekiel 30:24lexicalI will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, a…
Ezekiel 32:27lexicalThey will not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of…
Numbers 16:33lexicalSo they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from amon…
Ezekiel 31:18
Ezekiel 32:32lexical“For I have put his terror in the land of the living. He will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain…
Ezekiel 32:21lexicalThe strong among the mighty will speak to him out of the middle of Sheol with those who help him. They have gone down. T…
Ezekiel 32:24lexical“There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncirc…
Ezekiel 32:31lexical“Pharaoh will see them and will be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword,”…
Ezekiel 32:30lexical“There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down with the slain. They are put…
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