Ezekiel 31
ZerrCBCEzekiel 31 THE GREAT CEDAR TREEEze_31:1-18 In the first unit of this chapter, Egypt is likened to a cedar (Ezekiel 31:2-9). This poetic comparison is followed by two prose messages describing the downfall of the magnificent tree at the hands of foreigners (Ezekiel 31:10-14) and its descent into Sheol (Ezekiel 31:15-18). OF THE CEDAR Ezekiel 31:1-9 Ezekiel uses the common ancient Near Eastern motif of the tree of life to underscore again the reason for Egypt’s downfall. It was not Egypt’s greatness that drew the prophet’s fire. Egypt ignored God’s sovereignty. By promising to aid Judah to escape submission to Babylon, Egypt was contradicting the expressed will of God for his people. The audacity of Egypt in encouraging Judah to rebel against Babylon had to be addressed by Yahweh. Eichrodt calls this threatening poem “Ezekiel’s most powerful piece of testimony against Egypt’s world-power.” Introduction (Ezekiel 31:1-2): 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) Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt and unto his multitude: Unto whom will you compare yourself in greatness? The fifth Egyptian oracle follows the preceding one by two months. It is a prophecy of judgment in the form of an allegory. The date, according to the present calendar, is June 21, 587 B.C. (Ezekiel 31:1). A rhetorical question sets the theme for the following poem. Pharaoh and his multitude (the Egyptian people) thought themselves to be incomparably great and powerful. Yet they will not escape the judgment of God (Ezekiel 31:2). The rhetorical question introduces a poetic allegory. The poem itself has three strophes, each of which begins with the size of the tree and moves to the supply of water. First Picture (Ezekiel 31:1-4): Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, a foliage that provided shade, and a high stature. Its top was among the thick boughs. (Ezekiel 31:4) Waters nourished it, the deep made it grow. Her rivers ran around about her plantation. She sent forth her channels unto all the trees of the field. Assyria was once a lofty Lebanon cedar, encircled at the top by leafy and thick boughs (Ezekiel 31:3). The subterranean reservoir of waters (the deep) sent forth a river to nourish the cedar, and smaller rivulets to water the other trees. Perhaps this is an indirect reference to Assyria great water sources in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Ezekiel 31:4). Second Picture (Ezekiel 31:5-6): Therefore, its height was exalted above all the trees of the field, its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long, because of the many waters when it put them forth. (Ezekiel 31:6) In its boughs all the birds of the heaven made their nests. Under its branches all the beasts of the field bring forth young. In its shadow all great nations dwell. As a result of abundant watering, the cedar (Assyria) grew taller, stronger and more luxurious than the other trees (nations; Ezekiel 31:5). All the fowl of the heavens and beasts of the field passed under the control of Assyria. These birds and beasts represented the nations under Assyria’s control (Ezekiel 31:6).
Third Picture (Ezekiel 31:7-9): Thus it was fair in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters. (Ezekiel 31:8) The cedars could not hide it in the garden of God. The cypress trees could not compare to its boughs. The plane trees were not like its branches. No tree in the garden of God could compare to it in beauty. (Ezekiel 31:9) I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches. All the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God were jealous of it. Receiving constant nourishment from many waters, the Assyrian cedar continued to spread out its branches, i.e., to annex additional territories (Ezekiel 31:7).
None of the other great trees in the garden of God., i.e., the world could compare to that mighty Assyrian cedar (Ezekiel 31:8). That tree attained its stature and beauty from the God of Israel. Assyria was an enemy of all the other trees that God had planted in his Eden, i.e., in the world (Ezekiel 31:9). OF THE CEDAR Ezekiel 31:10-14 Reason for the Downfall (Ezekiel 31:10-12) The pride of Assyria (Ezekiel 31:10): Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Because you were exalted in height, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart was lifted up in his height; Assyria became exalted in height, i.e., proud of her greatness (v 10). Such pride precedes a fall (Proverbs 16:18). The punishment of Assyria (Ezekiel 31:11-12): therefore, I will give him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations. He will surely deal with him in the midst of his wickedness. I have driven him out. (Ezekiel 31:12) And strangers— the most ruthless of the nations— have cut him down, and have cast him down. Upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches have fallen. His boughs are broken in all the channels of the land. All the peoples of the earth have gone down from his shadow. They have left him. God delivered Assyria into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, i.e., Nebuchadnezzar, to be treated as ruthlessly as she had treated other nations. The Assyrian were driven out of the garden of God as surely as Adam had been driven out of primeval Eden (Ezekiel 31:11). Assyria was cut down and cast off as worthless by the most ruthless of foreign invaders (cf. Ezekiel 28:7). The reference is to the Babylonians, who are compared to lumberjacks. The boughs and branches of that once glorious tree— the Assyrian armies— were broken and dispersed about the countryside. Those vassal states that had resided in the protective shadow of Assyria deserted their master (Ezekiel 31:12).Result of the Downfall (Ezekiel 31:13-14) Assyria consumed (Ezekiel 31:13): Upon his carcass all the birds of the heavens dwell, and upon his boughs every beast of the field. The birds and beasts feed upon the dead bodies of the Assyrian soldiers. The idea that all remnants of the Assyrian Empire disappear from the scene. Immediate impact on other nations (Ezekiel 31:14 a): The results will be that no tree by the waters will exalt itself in its height, nor set its top among the thick boughs. Their mighty ones will not stand up in their height, even all who drink wate… All of this befell Assyria so that other trees (nations) in the world will not be tempted to follow her example. Permanent lesson for the nations (Ezekiel 31:14 b): for they are all given over to death, unto the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit. Nations, like men, are mortal; they die. They depart the scene of history to descend, as it were, into Sheol— the pit— the abode of the dead.DESCENT OF THE CEDAREze_31:15-17 Mourning of the Deep (Ezekiel 31:15): Thus says the Lord GOD: In the day he went down to Sheol, I caused the deep to mourn and cover over him. I held back her rivers, and the great waters were stayed. I caused Lebanon to mourn over him. All the trees of the field fainted for him. The fall of Assyria caused a great upheaval in the world. Even the deep, from which all the nations of the earth were watered, was plunged into mourning.
The rivers, that formerly nourished the great tree (cf. Ezekiel 31:4), now had dried up, i.e., the sources of her wealth were gone. All the trees of Lebanon— other notable nations of the time— fainted in fear for their own safety. Comfort in Sheol (Ezekiel 31:16): At the sound of his fall, I caused the nations to shake, when I brought him down to Sheol with those who go down to 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. Previous world powers (all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon) were comforted by the thought that now Assyria had joined them in the lower parts of the earth— in Sheol, the realm of the departed.
The five uses of the first-person pronoun of divinity in Ezekiel 31:15-16 indicate that Yahweh is in complete control of the community of nations. Destruction of Allies (Ezekiel 31:17): They also went down with him to Sheol unto those who were slain by the sword, even they who were his arm, who dwelt in his shadow, in the midst of nations.
The allies of Assyria (they who were his arm) were destroyed once their protector was gone. They too joined their once proud master in the most disgraceful of deaths (those who were slain by the sword). TO PHARAOH Ezekiel 31:18 To whom are you like in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the lower parts of the earth. You will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude (oracle of the Lord GOD). In this final verse of ch 31, Ezekiel drives home the application of his lengthy allegory. If the giant Assyrian cedar had been cut down, how can Egypt hope to escape?
Pharaoh and his people will be brought down to a humiliating defeat and death. He will lie among the uncircumcised. The term is not to be taken literally, but refers to an uncircumcised foreigner who does not receive a decent burial. To the Israelites, the uncircumcised were those excluded from the community. Hence, in Sheol Pharaoh will lie with the excluded, dishonorable dead. Some think the reference is to those who suffer death by the sword and whose bodies lie unburied on the ground.
This is a bitter pill to swallow for one cherished opulent burial and despised foreigners.Ezekiel Chapter Thirty-One Verse 1 THE EXAMPLE OF ASSYRIA WAS A WARNING TO EGYPTThe source of the features of this allegory is not to be sought in Babylonian mythology, as supposed by May, nor should we believe that “The Garden of God” referred to herein is a reference “to a mythological `Garden of Eden.’"[1]The background of the chapter was the historical situation of those times, namely, on June 21,587. B.C.,[2] which was only a couple of months before the fall of Jerusalem,[3] and less than twenty-five years after the dramatic fall of Nineveh to Babylon in 612 B.C.[4] “The fall of the great Assyrian empire was still fresh in the memory of those times, and it could not have failed to make a deep impression upon the minds of Ezekiel’s hearers."[5]No one can fail to be aware of the two different interpretations of this chapter, each of which has its advocates. (1) Some understand the lofty cedar as a description of Pharaoh, an understanding involving an emendation of the Hebrew text. (2) Others understand Assyria as being meant by the lofty cedar. Fortunately, the meaning of the chapter is exactly the same either way. The disgraceful end of the proud Pharaoh is prophesied in either interpretation. We shall explore these views further under Ezekiel 31:3, below: Our own position favors the view of accepting Assyria as represented by the beautiful, lofty cedar. We favor this because both our version (ASV) and theKJV alike translate the text with this clear meaning. Some of the greatest scholars of our day have warned us that, “For purposes of accurate study, the American Standard Version of 1901 is the best of all the versions.” Furthermore, the New English Bible retains the same meaning with KJV and American Standard Version; and, as even some of the advocates of the other view have pointed out, The old interpretation is by no means indefensible. As it stands in the Hebrew and in all the ancient versions, the whole chapter is a description of the greatness, not of Egypt, but of Assyria. Thus Assyria is compared to the great cedar, and then Egypt is compared to Assyria. That the fate of Assyria contained a warning against the pride of Pharaoh is a thought in itself intelligible, and is just the kind of thought that Ezekiel might very well have expressed.[6]In addition to this, the ensuing description fits Assyria much better than it fits Egypt, as we shall note, below. The divisions of the chapter, easily discernible, are: (1) the description of the mighty cedar (Ezekiel 31:1-9); (2) its disastrous overthrow (Ezekiel 31:10-14); and (3) the consequences of it (Ezekiel 31:14-17); and (4) the God-given answer to the question raised in Ezekiel 31:2 (Ezekiel 31:18). THE LOFTY CEDAREze_31:1-9"And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: Whom art thou like in thy greatness? Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature, and its top was among the thick boughs. The waters nourished it, the deep made it grow; the rivers thereof ran about its plantation; and it sent out its channels unto all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot them forth. All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young: and under its shadows dwelt all great nations. Thus was it fair in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane-trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto it in its beauty.
I made it fair by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God envied it.““Whom art thou like in thy greatness …” (Ezekiel 31:2)? This question declares the following description to be of a person whom Pharaoh is “like,” not a description of Pharaoh. “The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon …” (Ezekiel 31:3). A cedar in Lebanon cannot possibly refer to Egypt. Lebanon was a province of Assyria. Nevertheless, “the emenders” of God’s Word emended Assyria out of the passage, making it read: “Behold, I will liken you to a cedar in Lebanon.” (Revised Standard Version). Any one can see, that if this change was correct, the initial question would have been, “What art thou like?” not “Whom art thou like?” Nevertheless, Beasley-Murray explained the emendation thus: “The initial letter of t’assur (cedar) fell out leaving assur (meaning Assyria). The context clearly shows that Pharaoh is in mind."[7] This is a beautiful theory, but there is no proof of it. The Hebrew and all the ancient versions read as does our text in ASV; and we are unwilling to allow the present generation of scholars to revise the Bible to make it read like what they thought the author “was trying to say.” As long as the ancient text is understandable as it stands, such emendations are absolutely contraindicated. “The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow …” (Ezekiel 31:4). ‘The deep’ here was understood by Bunn as, “the primordial waters beneath the earth, the deep which figures so largely in Babylonian mythology.” Such nonsense should be rejected with contempt. The fundamental reason why such allegations as that just cited cannot be allowed by true believers is that the allowance of such a thing would mean that God Himself, the true author of Ezekiel, accepted and allowed as truth the monstrous Babylonian myth concerning a great subterranean ocean. To inject that myth into the prophecy leaves Ezekiel as the ignorant author of it; it leaves God out of it altogether, and raises the question that if Ezekiel was wrong about this, why should he be trusted in anything else found in the prophecy? “The `deep’ which nourished the growth of Assyria was nothing less than the tremendous source of waters provided by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers."[8]And it sent out its channels unto all the trees of the field …” (v. 4). These were undoubtedly the elaborate system of canals that pertained to the Euphrates, and perhaps also to the Tigris. We should notice how the modern crop of perverters of God’s Word, once they start fiddling with the text, branch out in all directions. The Good News Bible, for example translates this verse, “There was water to make it grow, And underground rivers to feed it.” There is not a word in this passage about “underground waters,” which cannot possibly be represented, as in our text, by the word “channels.” What is indicated is that the so-called Good News Bible is giving us Babylonian mythology instead of God’s Word! Having emended Assyria into cedar, Cooke then proceeded to translate it “pine tree,” better to fit Egypt."[9]This is another excellent example of how one emendation always leads to others. However, Cooke admitted that, “Nothing could be less suggestive of the land Egypt than the tall cedar trees and scenery of Lebanon."[10] It is sad, however, that he missed the point, namely that the description here is not of Egypt at all, but of Assyria. The extravagant glory of the great Assyrian empire is fittingly represented here as being the envy even of those trees that God had planted in the garden of Eden. The Assyrian empire had existed since the days of Nimrod; and it was doubtless considered to be as established and permanent as the earth itself; but because of their inordinate pride, cruelty, and sadistic blood-lust, and contrary to all that anyone on earth could possibly have anticipated, they had fallen, totally and completely, to Babylonians in 612 B.C. In verse 18, below, the prophecy would call upon Pharaoh to accept the meaning of that event to him and to Egypt. Verse 10 “Therefore thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thou art exalted in stature, and he hath set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out of his wickedness. And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off and left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are broken, and his boughs are broken by all the water courses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. Upon his ruin all the birds of the heavens shall dwell, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches; to the end that none of the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty one stand up in their height, even all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.“ASSYRIA’S FALL WAS A WARNING AGAINST HUMAN PRIDE"Thus said the Lord Jehovah …” (Ezekiel 31:10). Note the past tense. This is a reference to the prophecy of the doom of Assyria, as fully recounted in Nahum. (See my commentary on this, Vol. 3, pp. 3-58.) Ezekiel 31:10-14 set forth the fall of Assyria in its true status, that is, as a past event, already known to the whole world of that period. A mighty one of the nations (Nebuchadnezzar) has gone up against it; and we see the great trunk lying prone across valleys and mountains; it has been felled to the earth; the nations have been scared from under its shadow; and the tree which only yesterday might have stood against the whole world now lies prostrate and dishonoured - “none so poor as to do it reverence."[11]“Here under the figure of the felling of a cedar there is depicted the overthrow of a monarchy and a kingdom that has already taken place."[12] Our chapter is a prophecy of a destruction yet future which is directed against Egypt; and, if any further proof had been needed that this description beginning in Ezekiel 31:3 and continuing through Ezekiel 31:17 cannot possibly be applied to Egypt, this provides it. “Strangers have cut him off … have left him … and have left him …” (Ezekiel 31:12) The prophecy of Nahum has the prophetic record of how that forsaking of Assyria took place. Yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry, but none looketh back (Nahum 2:8). Although this destruction is surely coming upon Egypt, the passage here is still recording what has already happened to Assyria. Cooke and others have attempted to interpret this portion of the chapter as written in the prophetic perfects, “have cut it down,” meaning “will cut it down."[13] This cannot be correct, because the past tense is contrasted with the future tense in Ezekiel 31:12 and Ezekiel 31:18, as accurately pointed out by Keil.[14]Ezekiel 31:18 plainly indicates the overthrow of Egypt and his power as still in the future, contrasting dramatically with the felling of the cedar which already had taken place. “Thus destruction of the cedar can only be Assyria, and not Egypt at all."[15]The certainty of this application to a past event is seen in the fact that, “Ezekiel corrected his allegory to accommodate the past tense. The birds and wild beasts are still there; but instead of dwelling in the boughs, the (vultures, owls, jackals and hyenas) hover and creep over the carcass of the dead, decaying trunk!."[16]Verse 15 “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the rivers thereof; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees fainted for him. I made the nations to shake at the wound of his fall, when I cast him down into Sheol with them that descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water were comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went into Sheol with him unto them that are slain by the sword; yea, they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the nations.“A SUMMARY OF THE FALL OF ASSYRIA"I caused a mourning …” (Ezekiel 31:15). This came about by the ravages against the remains of the Assyrian empire, by the ruthless armies of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. “I restrained the rivers thereof …” (Ezekiel 31:15). This also came about directly upon the fall of Assyria. The terrible floods which had contributed so dramatically to the fall of Nineveh, were promptly dried up. “When I cast him down into Sheol …” (Ezekiel 31:16). The end of all mortal pride and ambition in the grave is stressed in these verses. Verse 18 “To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shall thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt be in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.“THE ANSWER TO THE IN Ezekiel 31:2“To whom art thou thus like …” (Ezekiel 31:18)? “This is the answer to the question that opened the allegory."[17] Jamieson also agreed with this. “Pharaoh’s end shall be the same humiliating one, just as I have depicted Assyria’s end to have been. Thus the prophet, as it were, points to Pharaoh."[18] The message is clear enough. The same humiliating end that came to Assyria is also stored up for Pharaoh. There is a tremendous warning here against all human pride, arrogance, and heedless ambition that mortals partake of in their efforts to exalt themselves and to ignore the claims of holiness and righteousness which God imposes upon all who are born into this world, apparently oblivious to the fact that, “We shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”
Ezekiel 31:1
Ezekiel 31:1. The present message is dated in the same year that the one against Tyrus has, and it means the eleventh year after Ezekiel was taken to Babylon.
Ezekiel 31:2
Ezekiel 31:2. Speak unto Pharaoh. I do not take this to mean that the prophet was to make a personal contact with the Egyptian king. Ezekiel was in Babylon when he wrote this which is several hundred miles from Egypt and personal communications would be difficult if not impossible except, by some miraculous performance. Furthermore, a like expression is found regarding the Ammonites and Tyrus, and we would not suppose that separate documents were sent to those places. The phrase could better be understood in lhe sense of “ speak (or write) concerning Pharaoh.” The whole book of Ezekiel was to become a unit in the Bible and the instruction of prophecy and its fulfillment was to be for the benefit of the world. Whom art thou like is in question form, but the thought is that the Lord announces He is going to make a comparison.
Ezekiel 31:3
Ezekiel 31:3. Care should be taken not to lose our “bearing” through the most of this chapter. It will be stating some things that actually happened to the Assyrians, but the purpose is to liken the case to Pharaoh, The Assyrians were a proud and cruel people and boasted of their strength, yet they were brought down in spite of their greatness. The parable as a whole is concerning Assyria and Egypt, hence, while the verses are directly applied to the former, some of the illustrations will be drawn from the conditions in the land of Egypt, since that country is really the one the Lord is denouncing at present. The illustration of a cedar is used because of the nature of that tree. Strong defines the original, “A cedar tree (from the tenacity of its roots).’’ We shall see the appropriateness of the illustration as we proceed in our study of the chapter.
The top in a kingdom is the king and the thick boughs refers to the citizens of the nation, especially the princes and other leading men. This describes the position that the king of Assyria had in the day of his power (and of course is true of Pharaoh at the time the prophet is writing this).
Ezekiel 31:4
Ezekiel 31:4. The king of Assyria had a strong background in the day of his greatness, growing with the roots in the waters. (See Psalms 1.) The reference to waters is made because Egypt (which is the aclual subject of this parable) depended upon the Nile with its canals and smaller channels.
Ezekiel 31:5
Ezekiel 31:5. The exaltation of Assyria is still being used to illustrate the pride of Pharaoh, And since he is the one who is actually the object of God’ s fury, the terms are those connected with a body of water such as the Egyptians possessed.
Ezekiel 31:6
Ezekiel 31:6. As a large tree would support and shelter many fowls, so the Assyrian Empire included in its folds many people of the world. This fact caused the king of Assyria to be filled with pride, just as Pharaoh was puffed up over his gains by the support from the Nile in its resources for irrigation.
Ezekiel 31:7
Ezekiel 31:7. A tree that lacks moisture will not be fair (beautiful.), while one that can dally drink from “earth’ s sweet flowing breast” will leaf out and put on growth of foliage and shoots for new life.
Ezekiel 31:8
Ezekiel 31:8. The king of Assyria is still being compared to a tree that excels all others. Carrying out this imagery it ts said that the trees in the garden of God (garden of Eden) could not hide (“ over-shadow”— Strong) him. This comparison is very appropriate, for the trees in that first garden are spoken of as very desirable (Genesis 2; Genesis 9). Other trees are mentioned also as being inferior to this one of Assyria.
Ezekiel 31:9
Ezekiel 31:9. I have made him fair. It was the will of God that the king of Assyria (likewise the king of Egypt) should have great power (See Daniel 2:37; Daniel 4:17; Daniel 5:18; Romans 13:1) provided he would use it right. Trees . . . envied him will be understood to be figurattve and is another way of stating the superiority of Assyria (and Egypt for whose sake the comparison is being made) over other kingdoms.
Ezekiel 31:10
Ezekiel 31:10. True greatness is not to he condemned, but it is wrong for a man to exalt himself, or to become proud over any greatness that he really possesses. The king of Assyria did this and provoked the Lord to wrath.
Ezekiel 31:11
Ezekiel 31:11. The king of Assyria (who was Saracus at this time) was a “ heathen” as well as were others, but the original means “nations” also, and the prediction means he was delivered into the hands of other heathen. The mighty one was Nabopalassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar. At this place I believe it will be well to make a quotation from history. This will give information from a secular source that will help the reader. There will be items that are related to the present verse and also some others to follow, therefore I urge the reader to give close attention and thus be prepared to refer to it. as occasion may suggest. “Saracus, who came to the throne towards the end of the seventh century B.
C,, was the last of the long line of Assyrian kings. For nearly or quite six centuries the Ninevite [capital of Assyria] kings had now lorded it over the East.
There was scarcely a state in all Western Asia that during this time had not, in the language of the royal inscriptions, ‘ borne the heavy yoke of their lordship’ ; scarcely a people that had not suffered their cruel punishments, or tasted the bitterness of enforced exile. But now swift misfortunes were bearing down upon the oppressor from every quarter. Egypt revolted and tore Syria away from the empire; from the mountain defiles on the east issued the armies of the recent-grown empire of the Aryan Medes, led by the renowned Cyaxares; From the southern lowlands, anxious to aid in the overthrow of the hated oppressor, the Babylonians joined the Medes as allies, and together they laid close siege to Nineveh. The city was finally taken and sacked [plundered], and dominion passed away forever from the proud capital (606 B. C.)"— Myers Ancient History, page 66, “ Nabopolassar (625-605 B. C.) was the founder of what is known as the Chaldean Empire. At first a vassal king [subject or dependent king], when troubles and misfortunes began to thicken about the Assyrian court, he revolted and became independent.” — Myers Ancient History, page 72.
Ezekiel 31:12
Ezekiel 31:12. This verse will be the better understood after a glance at the historical quotation just made in the preceding paragraph. Strangers in the Bible means people from the outside or of another nation. This was fulfilled by the various foreigners who invaded Assyria and undermined her.
Ezekiel 31:13
Ezekiel 31:13. Fowls and beasts are figurative terms and refer to the nations who attacked the land of Assyria. Remain is an allusion to the continual ruin that was the lot of Assyria after being invaded by the hostile peoples.
Ezekiel 31:14
Ezekiel 31:14. To the end means the purpose of this revolution was to humble the king and country of Assyria from their position of pride. Trees and K-aters, etc., are figures used because, while Assyria is the one immediately in the mind of the Lord, it is for a comparison to Egypt which did boast of her River Nile with its canals and ditches.
Ezekiel 31:15
Ezekiel 31:15. The imagery of trees and water is being maintained throughout this passage because the chief subject is against Pharaoh and his country. And it is true literally that they boasted of their power as a nation, and that power was due to this great stream frequently mentioned. The grave means the national ruin of the country, and the mourning is the general state of regret that such a powerful empire would be brought so low after having been a great governing force so many years.
Ezekiel 31:16
Ezekiel 31:16. His fall refers to the downfall of Assyria which caused the reactions that are described in figurative terms. The nations all wondered at such a remarkable revolution, and all of them had a feeling of relief because they had stood in awe of such a powerful and heartless empire. Hell is from SHEOL and pit is from Down, Both are used figuratively in this place and mean that Assyrian greatness was to be buried and forgotten.
Ezekiel 31:17
Ezekiel 31:17. They refers to the allies of Assyria as is Indicated by the words dwelt under his shadow. The Bible teaches that if one person associates with another who is evil, or if he sympathizes with and approves of his conduct, he Is held responsible and must share in his fate. (See Romans 1:32; 1 Corinthians 15:33.)
Ezekiel 31:18
Ezekiel 31:18. The key to the entire com-parison of this chapter is in the words this is Pharaoh. All of the things said of the king of Assyria were actually true and were known to be so, although they had taken place several years previously. The Lord used that great upheaval in history to compare with the fate which He was soon to bring upon Egypt. The first phrase of the verse is in the form of a question but it is really an assertion as if it were worded “ to whom thou art like.” If the reader will connect this statement with the one underlined above, he will have the thought the prophet has been getting ready for in the wonderful parable or comparison. God had predicted most of the things that happened to Assyria and they came true, which ought to be a warning that His predictions against Pharaoh will likewise be fulfilled.