Ezekiel 31:3-17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 31:11

I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the Heathen ,.... Or, into the hand of the mightiest of the nations F15 ביד אל גויים "in manum fortissimi gentium", Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "potentissimi", Piscator. ; the mightiest prince among them. Some understand this of Arbaces the Mede, by whom Sardanapalus had been defeated long before this time: others of Merodachbaladan king Babylon, by whom Esarhaddon the Assyrian monarch was... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 31:12

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 31:13

Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain ,.... Or, "on his fall" F19 על מפלתו "super prolapse ejus", Cocceius; "super cadivum truncum ejus", Junius & Tremellius. ; the fall of this tree: and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches as when a tree is cut down, and its lopped off branches and boughs lie here and there, either the birds and beasts that before dwelt in it or under it, though for a while frightened away, return unto it; or others come:... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 31:14

To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height ,.... The end proposed by the Lord in the destruction of the king of Assyria, and the use to be made of it, is this; that the kings of the earth take warning hereby, who rule over a multitude of people, comparable to waters, and who abound in riches and wealth; that they are not elated with pride and vanity, because of their exalted estate, their grandeur, and dignity; and do not behave insolently against... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 31:15

Thus saith the Lord God, in the day when he went down to the grave ,.... The Assyrian monarch; when his monarchy was destroyed, and he ceased to be king, and was stripped of all his majesty, power, and authority, and was as one dead, and laid in the grave, and buried: I caused a mourning : that is, for him, in the waters, and among the trees, among the people and the kings of the earth, as follows: I covered the deep for him ; with mourning, with thick darkness, which set him up on... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 31:16

I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall ,.... As, when a large cedar was cut down and fell in Lebanon, the noise of it was heard at a distance; so when this mighty monarch and monarchy fell, the nations of the world, and the kings of them, heard of it far and near, and shook through fear of what would be the consequence, lest they should fall also in like manner: when I cast him down to hell , or "the grave", with them that descend into the pit ; in common with other men... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 31:17

They also went down to hell with him ,.... To the grave with him; many of his nobles, princes, generals, soldiers, and subjects: unto them that be slain with the sword ; to be buried and lie with them who had fallen by the sword, as a just punishment for their iniquities: and they that were his arm ; either that leaned on his arm, were dependents upon him; or his ministers, his instruments, whom he employed under him as his deputies, to govern the several provinces that belonged to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 31:3

Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar - Why is the Assyrian introduced here, when the whole chapter concerns Egypt? Bp. Lowth has shown that ארז אשור ashshur erez should be translated the tall cedar, the very stately cedar; hence there is reference to his lofty top; and all the following description belongs to Egypt, not to Assyria. But see on Ezekiel 31:11 ; (note). read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 31:4

The waters made him great - Alluding to the fertility of Egypt by the overflowing of the Nile. But waters often mean peoples. By means of the different nations under the Egyptians, that government became very opulent. These nations are represented as fowls and beasts, taking shelter under the protection of this great political Egyptian tree, Ezekiel 31:6 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 31:8

The cedars in the garden of God - Egypt was one of the most eminent and affluent of all the neighboring nations. read more

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