Ezekiel 31:1 Komentář

The prophecy of this chapter, as the two chapters before, is against Egypt, and designed for the humbling and mortifying of Pharaoh. In passing sentence upon great criminals it is usual to consult precedents, and to see what has been done to others in the like case, which serves both to direct and to justify the proceedings. Pharaoh stands indicted at the bar of divine justice for his pride and haughtiness, and the injuries he had done to God's people; but he thinks himself so high, so great, as not to be accountable to any authority, so strong, and so well guarded, as not to be conquerable by any force. The prophet is therefore directed to make a report to him of the case of the king of Assyria, whose head city was Nineveh. I. He must show him how great a monarch the king of Assyria had been, what a vast empire he had, what a mighty sway he bore; the king of Egypt, great as he was could not go beyond him (Eze 31:3-9). II. He must then show him how like he was to the king of Assyria in pride and carnal security (Eze 31:10). III. He must next read him the history of the fall and ruin of the king of Assyria, what a noise it made among the nations and what a warning it gave to all potent princes to take heed of pride (Eze 31:11-17). IV. He must leave the king of Egypt to apply all this to himself, to see his own face in the looking-glass of the king of Assyria's sin, and to foresee his own fall through the perspective glass of his ruin (Eze 31:18).

This prophecy bears date the month before Jerusalem was taken, as that in the close of the foregoing chapter about four months before. When God's people were in the depth of their distress, it would be some comfort to them, as it would serve likewise for a check to the pride and malice of their neighbours, that insulted over them, to be told from heaven that the cup was going round, even the cup of trembling, that it would shortly be taken out of the hands of God's people and put into the hands of those that hated them, Isa 51:22, Isa 51:23. In this prophecy, I. The prophet is directed to put Pharaoh upon searching the records for a case parallel to his own (Eze 31:2): Speak to Pharaoh and to his multitude, to the multitude of his attendants, that contributed so much to his magnificence, and the multitude of his armies, that contributed so much to his strength. These he was proud of, these he put a confidence in; and they were as proud of him and trusted as much in him. Now ask him, Whom art thou like in thy greatness? We are apt to judge of ourselves by comparison. Those that think highly of themselves fancy themselves as great and as good as such and such, that have been mightily celebrated. The flatterers of princes tell them whom they equal in pomp and grandeur. "Well," says God, "let him pitch upon the most famous potentate that ever was, and it shall be allowed that he is like him in greatness and no way inferior to him; but, let him pitch upon whom he will, he will find that his day came to fall; he will see there was an end of all his perfection, and must therefore expect the end of his own in like manner." Note, The falls of others, both into sin and ruin, are intended as admonitions to us not to be secure or high-minded, nor to think we stand out of danger. II. He is directed to show him an instance of one whom he resembles in greatness, and that was the Assyrian (Eze 31:3), whose monarchy had continued from Nimrod. Sennacherib was one of the mighty princes of that monarchy; but it sunk down soon after him, and the monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar was built upon its ruins, or rather grafted upon its stock. Let us now see what a flourishing prince the king of Assyria was. He is here compared to a stately cedar, Eze 31:3. The glory of the house of David is illustrated by the same similitude, Eze 17:3. The olive-tree, the fig-tree, and the vine, which were all fruit-trees, had refused to be promoted over the trees because they would not leave their fruitfulness (Jdg 9:8, etc.), and therefore the choice falls upon the cedar, that is stately and strong, and casts a great shadow, but bears no fruit. 1. The Assyrian monarch was a tall cedar, such as the cedars in Lebanon generally were, of a high stature, and his top among the thick boughs; he was attended by other princes that were tributaries to him, and was surrounded by a life-guard of brave men. He surpassed all the princes in his neighbourhood; they were all shrubs to him (Eze 31:5): His height was exalted above all the trees of the field; they were many of them very high, but he overtopped them all, Eze 31:8. The cedars, even those in the garden of Eden, which we may suppose were the best of the kind, would not hide him, but his top branches outshot theirs. 2. He was a spreading cedar; his branches did not only run up in height, but run out in breadth, denoting that this mighty prince was not only exalted to great dignity and honour, and had a name above the names of the great men of the earth, but that he obtained great dominion and power; his territories were large, and he extended his conquests far and his influences much further. This cedar, like a vine, sent forth his branches to the sea, to the river, Psa 80:11. His boughs were multiplied; his branches became long (Eze 31:5); so that he had a shadowing shroud, Eze 31:3. This contributed very much to his beauty, that he grew proportionably large as well as high. He was fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches (Eze 31:7), very comely as well as very stately, fair by the multitude of his branches, Eze 31:9. His large dominions were well managed, like a spreading tree that is kept in shape and good order by the skill of the gardener, so as to be very beautiful to the eye. His government was as amiable in the eyes of wise men as it was admirable in the eyes of all men. The fir-trees were not like his boughs, so straight, so green, so regular; nor were the branches of the chestnut-trees like his branches, so thick, so spreading. In short, no tree in the garden of God, in Eden, in Babylon (for that stood where paradise was planted), where there was every tree that was pleasant to the sight (Gen 2:9), was like to this cedar in beauty; that is, in all the surrounding nations there was no prince so much admired, so much courted, and whom every body was so much in love with, as the king of Assyria. Many of them did virtuously, but he excelled them all, outshone them all. All the trees of Eden envied him, Eze 31:9. When they found they could not compare with him they were angry and grieved that he so far outdid them, and secretly grudged him the praise due to him. Note, It is the unhappiness of those who in any thing excel others that thereby they make themselves the objects of envy; and who can stand before envy? 3. He was serviceable, as far as a standing growing cedar could be, and that was only by his shadow (Eze 31:6): All the fowls of heaven, some of all sorts, made their nests in his boughs, where they were sheltered from the injuries of the weather. The beasts of the field put themselves under the protection of his branches. There they were levant - rising up, and couchant - lying down; there they brought forth their young; for they had there a natural covert from the heat and from the storm. The meaning of all is, Under his shadow dwelt all great nations; they all fled to him for safety, and were willing to swear allegiance to him if he would undertake to protect them, as travellers in a shower come under thick trees for shelter. Note, Those who have power ought to use it for the protection and comfort of those whom they have power over; for to that end they are entrusted with power. Even the bramble, if he be anointed king, invites the trees to come and trust in his shadow, Jdg 9:15. But the utmost security that any creature, even the king of Assyria himself, can give, is but like the shadow of a tree, which is but a scanty and slender protection, and leaves a man many ways exposed. Let us therefore flee to God for protection, and he will take us under the shadow of his wings, where we shall be warmer and safer than under the shadow of the strongest and stateliest cedar, Psa 17:8; Psa 91:4. 4. He seemed to be settled and established in his greatness and power. For, (1.) It was God that made him fair, Eze 31:9. For by him kings reign. He was comely with the comeliness that God put upon him. Note, God's hand must be eyed and owned in the advancement of the great men of the earth, and therefore we must not envy them; yet that will not secure the continuance of their prosperity, for he that gave them their beauty, if they be deprived of it, knows how to turn it into deformity. (2.) He seemed to have a good bottom. This cedar was not like the heath in the desert, made to inhabit the parched places (Jer 17:6); it was not a root in a dry ground, Isa 53:2. No; he had abundance of wealth to support his power and grandeur (Eze 31:4): The waters made him great; he had vast treasures, large stores and magazines, which were as the deep that set him up on high, constant revenues coming in by taxes, customs, and crown-rents, which were as rivers running round about his plants; these enabled him to strengthen and secure his interests every where, for he sent out his little rivers, or conduits, to all the trees of the field, to water them; and when they had maintenance from the king's palace (Ezr 4:14), and their country was nourished by the king's country (Act 12:20), they would be serviceable and faithful to him. Those that have wealth flowing upon them in great rivers find themselves obliged to send it out again in little rivers; for, as goods are increased, those are increased that eat them, and the more men have the more occasion they have for it; yea, and still the more they have occasion for. The branches of this cedar became long, because of the multitude of waters which fed them (Eze 31:5 and Eze 31:7); his root was by great waters, which seemed to secure it that its leaf should never wither (Psa 1:3), that it should not see when heat came, Jer 17:8. Note, Worldly people may seem to have an established prosperity, yet it only seems so, Job 5:3; Psa 37:35.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 31 This chapter contains a confirmation of the preceding prophecy, of the ruin of the king of Egypt, by the example of the king of Assyria, to whom he was like in grandeur and pride, and would be in his fall. The time of the prophecy is observed, Eze 31:1, the prophet is ordered to give the following relation to the king of Egypt, Eze 31:2 in which the king of Assyria is compared to a large and flourishing cedar, for the extent of his dominions, the prosperous state of his empire, and his exaltation above all other princes, which drew upon him their envy Eze 31:3, wherefore because of his pride, his heart being lifted up with these things, Eze 31:10, ruin came upon him; which is described by the instruments and manner of it, and the effects following it; mourning and fear in some, solace and comfort to others, and destruction to his associates, Eze 31:11, wherefore Pharaoh is called upon to consider all this, who was like to him in greatness and pride, and should have the like fate with him; nor could his greatness any more secure him than it did the Assyrian monarch, Eze 31:18.

And it came to pass in the eleventh year,.... Of Zedekiah's reign, and Jeconiah's captivity: in the third month, in the first day of the month: the month Sivan, which began on the twentieth of our May, and answers to part of May, and part of June; this was about seven weeks after the former prophecy, and about five weeks before the destruction of Jerusalem; according to Bishop Usher (n), this was on the nineteenth of June, on the first day of the week, in 3416 A.M. or before Christ 588: that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying; as follows: (n) Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3416.

(Chapter 31.) And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his people: Whom are you like in your greatness? Behold, Assyria was like a cedar (or cypress) in Lebanon, beautiful in branches and dense with foliage, towering in height, and its top was among the thick foliage (or in the midst of clouds). The waters nourished him: the abyss lifted him up; his rivers flowed round about his roots, and he sent forth his channels to all the trees of the region. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the region, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches were elevated above many waters. And when he had stretched forth his shadow, all the fowls of the air made their nests in his branches: and under his branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all the multitude of nations. And it was most beautiful in its magnificence, and in the spreading (or multitude) of its shrubs (or branches): for its roots were near the waters. The cedars (or cypresses) were not taller than it in the paradise of God, and the firs (or pines) did not reach its summit, and the plane trees (or firs) were not equal (or similar) to its foliage (or branches). Every tree of the paradise of God (or in the paradise of God) was not like it and its beauty, because I made it beautiful (Vulg. made him beautiful), and with many thick branches, and all the trees of delight (or pleasure) that were in the paradise (Vulg. adds of God) envied it. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it has exalted itself to the height, and has set its top among the thick clouds, and its heart is proud of its height, I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out for its wickedness. Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. In its ruins all the birds of the sky made their homes or found rest, and all the beasts of the field dwelt among its branches. Therefore, all the watered trees will not be lifted up to their full height, nor will they set their lofty tops among the thickly leaved trees or in the clouds. Nor will all those irrigated by water stand tall, for they have all been delivered to death, to the farthest depths of the earth, in the midst of the sons of men, to those who descend to the pit. Thus says the Lord God: on the day when he descended to the underworld, I proclaimed mourning (or the abyss mourned for him): I covered him with the abyss, and I held back its rivers and restrained its many waters. Lebanon was shattered (or darkened) over him, and all the trees of the field withered (or failed). At the sound of his downfall, nations were shaken (or trembled), when I brought him (or her) down to the underworld with those who descend (or descend) into the pit; and on the weak earth the splendid and magnificent trees of delight (or luxury) in Lebanon were consoled: and all were watered by the waters. For they themselves, whether with her or with him, went down to the underworld to the slain or wounded with a sword, and the arm or seed of each dwelled beneath her shadow, perished in the midst of the nations or their own lives. To whom have you likened yourself, O illustrious one, and sublime among the trees of pleasure! Behold, you are brought down with the trees of pleasure to the lowest earth, you will sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. So Pharaoh and all his crowd, says the Lord God. I combined both editions in the usual way, however, where they disagreed the most, so as not to increase the size of the books with a double proposition. And first it must be understood that whatever is said about the future Assyrian king is mentioned in the Septuagint as if already fulfilled, and thus it speaks of the tree or the prince of the Assyrians, so that both the masculine and feminine genders are understood to refer to one person, while the tree is related to the Assyrian and the Assyrian is called the tree. And there is no mention in the present discourse of the Babylonian king, lest it seem to provoke the anger of the lords and rulers against the captive people placed in Chaldea, but it is said of the king of the Assyrians, who at that time had already been captured by the Chaldeans, and all the strength of the Assyrians was subject to the Babylonian yoke. Therefore, the ten tribes, that is, Israel, are captured by the Assyrians; but the Chaldeans overpower the two tribes, that is, Judah and Benjamin, and they overthrow the city of Jerusalem. Therefore, in order to speak against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his people, God used the following divine words in the beginning: 'To whom have you become similar in your greatness? Behold, Assyria is like a cedar in Lebanon, and so on.' And the meaning is: Do not be surprised if you are to be defeated and destroyed by the Babylonians, and if your empire is to be destroyed, and if all the wealth of Egypt is to be destroyed, since Assyria, much stronger than you, was destroyed by the same Chaldeans who conquered you. And he described the power of the king of Assyria under the figure of a cedar tree, according to the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and the Cypress, which was planted on Mount Lebanon, which is beautiful with branches and dense with foliage, and it reaches up to the clouds, and it grew so much because it was irrigated not by water, but by the abyss, that is, by very abundant waters. For the abyss is the multitude of the sound of waters: so that all birds have made their nests in its branches, and all the beasts of the field have given birth under its foliage. And so that we would not doubt what were the flying creatures of the sky, and what were the beasts of the woods, he explained more clearly: And under its shade dwelled a multitude of diverse peoples. Cedars, he said, and cypresses, firs or pines, and plane trees or cypresses were not equal to its branches. And so that he would not speak separately about all the trees, he said, all the trees of the paradise of God are not likened to it, and to its beauty. Through these things, some understand that it is not spoken about the Assyrian king, but about an opposing strength, which is said to be generated in the speech of Tyre among the Cherubim, and distinguished by precious stones, and afterwards to have fallen to earthly matters because of his own fault, who is also called Lucifer when he is falling in Isaiah (Isaiah XIV), and is signified in the Gospel by the Lord: I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven (Luke X, 12). But we should understand all these things as hyperbolic statements made in history, that Assyria had such great power, and it oppressed all nations so that it compared itself to the strength of angels. However, everything metaphorically is said to be under the highest cedar or cypress, referring to Assyria, and the killing of it is called its destruction. And what follows: I have given it into the hand of the mightiest nations, it calls the king of Babylon, so that what conquered Assyria, it understands was not its own strength, but of divine power. According to him, I expelled her because of her impiety, so that secretly she might warn Babylon that it should not be cruel or oppress the people of God, who have been handed over to her, lest she suffer the same fate as Assyria, which was cruel and impious. And strangers will cut her down, the most cruel of nations; or, according to the Septuagint, the pestilent: which he would never say (or rather, wanted to say) while he was in Chaldea, so as not to arouse them against his nation. She is also cast upon the mountains, and her branches fall swiftly in the valleys, and they are shattered against the rocks, and she is abandoned by all the peoples, that is, by the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field, and she will come to such destruction that all the trees that were considered tall in comparison to the tree of Assyria will be raised up by her example and lifted up on high; and they will no longer stand at their height, but they will be cut down along with her in fear. And what was said through the translation becomes clearer. All, he says, were handed over (understood: kings to death) to the deepest land (that is, to the underworld), in the midst of the sons of men (by no means among the trees) to those who descend into the lake. There is no doubt that it signifies the underworld. After the cutting down of the Assyrian tree, or on the day when the Assyrian descends to the underworld, and the Lord inflicted mourning (or commanded mourning), again through the translation he speaks about him being covered by the abyss, according to what is written: 'I went down to the depths of the sea, and the storm engulfed me' (Psalm 68:3); and all the rivers, that is, all the nations, ceased to flow beyond him, and he was grieved, or darkened over it, that is, the tree, or him, that is, the Assyrian, Lebanon. So that we may not think that the tree has speech, it follows: I moved the nations by the sound of its falling. For what great ruin of one tree can there be, that all nations are moved by its sound? 'When I brought it down to the underworld,' he says, 'according to the letter, a tree cannot be brought down to the underworld with others who were descending into the pit, that is, to the underworld.' And the lowest parts of the earth, namely the heart of the earth, were consoled, because all the trees of pleasure, or delights, which in Hebrew is called Eden, were there, signifying delightful and excellent groves and forests that were in Lebanon and were watered by streams. For even the trees themselves, along with him, that is, the Assyrian, descend into the underworld, to the dead or wounded by the sword. The trees are not wounded by swords, but they are cut down, and they do not descend into the underworld. And the arm, he says, or the offspring (since in Hebrew the word 'Zara' means both), will rest in its shade among the nations, not of forests but of peoples. In the end, there is an apostrophe to the Assyrian himself, or to Pharaoh. To whom have you been compared, O illustrious and sublime among the trees of pleasure? None was your equal, they say, but you surpassed all kings in power. And yet, when you were led with the other kings, who were in your company to the farthest lands, that is, to the depths below, as Scripture says: They shall go to the ends of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hand of the sword, they shall be the portion of foxes. (Ps. LXII, 10, 11). In the midst, it is said, you will lie with the uncircumcised, with those who have been slain by the sword. He showed what were the trees, what cedar, or cypress, wounded by swords, and lying with the uncircumcised. And yet he would join the extremities to the preceding ones, because he had said above: To whom are you like in your greatness: behold the Assyrian as a cedar in Lebanon, fair in branches and leaves, and the rest, now it is brought forth: Thus is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, says the Lord. How, he says, is the Assyrian, the cedar and cypress, fallen by the Babylonian, thrown down: thus Pharaoh and his people, that is the very tree and its branches, will be thrown down by the Babylonian. In the meantime, let these things be said according to history, which most people understand will happen at the end of the world, and let the king of Pharaoh, that is, the power to which Egypt is subject, be compared to the most powerful king of the Assyrians, that is, the antichrist: if he falls, surely the other rulers of these darknesses and the princes of the world will fall more easily. Let us therefore briefly touch on each one, so that we do not so much discuss and explain obscure things, but rather seem to have given material to those who desire to explain. And first it must be discussed why, in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, saying: Son of man, speak to Pharaoh of Egypt and his multitude. When speaking to Pharaoh, in the eleventh year the word of the Lord was spoken, for it had not yet come to the twelfth year, which is the number of full and complete power. Hence, there are also twelve sons of Jacob (Genesis 35), from whom later the twelve names of the prophets are contained in one volume. And there are twelve Apostles (Luke 6), of whom one, Judas the traitor, is replaced by Matthias. And the daughter of the synagogue official, who is twelve years old, is raised by the Lord (Mark 5). The woman with the issue of blood is also healed in the twelfth year. But because Pharaoh is rebuked and mourned later, therefore the third month and the eleventh day of the twelfth year are linked together. Hence, in the subsequent twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel, saying: Son of man, lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him. For the one who mourns, mourns in order to understand how many goods he has lost; and yet, because Pharaoh was there, and his arm had not yet been bound, nor had he regained his former strength: therefore, in the twelfth year and month, there are still twenty-nine days remaining, in order to complete the number of twelve years. Therefore, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to the Prophet, and he was commanded to speak to the king of Egypt and his people. It is remarkable that the four interpreters did not say 'people' but 'multitude'. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). And in the law it is written: 'You shall not be with the multitude in evil.' And it is said to the king of Egypt: 'To whom have you likened yourself in greatness or in height?' For he himself will be exalted and subject to this sentence: 'Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled' (Luke 14:11). But let him not be like him in height, who has been like a cedar or a cypress in Lebanon, beautiful with branches and leafy; and raised his head in height, even to the clouds, to which, according to David, the truth of God reaches (Psalm 36), and to which they are commanded not to rain upon Israel. Beauty is also praised, which, when turned by wicked will into ugliness, so that it can be said of him: The Lord will break the cedars of Lebanon: and he himself, being exalted on the highest mountains of Lebanon, the higher he had been, would fall even more forcefully. The holy Scripture, desiring to demonstrate his majesty, calls him the great cedar, which was nourished by waters, not the waters of Siloam that flow silently, but the waters of Rasin and the waters of Egypt, of which it is written: Why do you want to drink the waters of Geon, or Sion? which is said to sound the turbid waters. The abyss also exalted him above which at the beginning of the world darkness was carried (Gen. I), and to which in the Gospel the demons beg not to be sent (Luke VIII). The rivers of the same abyss were around its roots, of which it is said: What do you have with the ways of the Assyrians, to drink the waters of the rivers (Jer. II, 18)? And in another place: Behold, the Lord will bring upon you strong and abundant river water, the king of the Assyrians and all his glory (Isa. VIII, 7). The abyss also sent forth its streams to all the trees of the region, in order to irrigate not only the prince of this world, but also his companions. Therefore, it was elevated and grew above all the tallest trees, and its bushes multiplied, and it possessed the empire of the whole world, saying: 'All these things have been handed over to me' (Matthew 4:9). And its branches were elevated, because they were watered by the abyss. It spread out and extended its shade, in order to subject everyone to its dominion. All the birds of the sky made their nests in its branches. For everyone who sins is born of the devil, and is counted among its branches. But those birds made their nests in its branches, which, according to the Gospel, devour the seed by the wayside. Either because all have sinned and are in need of God's mercy, as it is said: All have turned aside, they have become altogether useless. Therefore, they made their nests in its branches. It follows: And under its branches all the beasts of the forest, who have lost Christ's gentleness, were born, and under its shade dwelt a multitude of nations, so that there was no one who was not covered by its shade, except for him who said: Behold, the prince of this world is coming: and he will find nothing in me (John 14:30). For by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death (Romans 5:12); and thus death passed unto all men, in whom all have sinned, and in Adam all die, and we all have sinned, and we are in need of the glory of God (1 Corinthians 15). And yet, even within this dwelling, there is a diverse condition. Some dwell in its branches like birds, boasting knowledge of philosophy and the teachings of heretics. Others are like wild beasts, fierce and cruel. Others are like a multitude of many nations, symbolizing a mixture of different vices and sins. Now, Assur was most beautiful in its size and in the spreading of its foliage, for its roots were nourished by many waters. It was so tall in the garden of God that no cedar or cypress could surpass it, nor could fir trees and pine trees match its height, nor were plane trees equal in foliage to it. Therefore, no tree of the plants in paradise was equal to it, because every wood of the paradise of God is not similar to it and its beauty. For they were not raised up by pride, but they knew their humility, nor did they attempt to claim the likeness of God in their sacrilegious mind. And what follows: And all the trees of delight that were in paradise envied it, we shall explain as follows: The trees of paradise envied the abundance of its branches: For many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. XX, 16). And; The broad and spacious way that leads to death (Ibid. VII, 13) . For he desires to have as many for salvation as Assur had for destruction. Therefore, because Assur was exalted in height; and he gave his flourishing and dense height, even to the highest clouds, and his heart was lifted up to say: I will be like the Most High (Isa. XIV, 14) , therefore he was delivered into the hand of the strongest of nations: which we understand as another detestable power, to which he is delivered for punishment: for he himself is an enemy and avenger; so that Assur may be understood as Antichrist, and the strongest of nations to which he is delivered, Satan, according to the saying of the Apostle: Whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (I Tim. II, 20) : Who will perform for him whatever has been commanded to him by the Lord. But this cypress was expelled from the paradise of God because of its impiety; and strangers and cruel, or pestilent, people will cut it down among the nations, so that what is written may be fulfilled: The fool, when scourged, will become wiser (Proverbs 19:25). And again: The axe is already laid to the root of the trees (Matthew 3:10); those who cut it down on the mountains, so that it may fall in its pride. However, in all the valleys, its branches will fall, so that all those who were in its company are led down to Tartarus, and they will leave its shadow and abandon it, so that the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, which were previously under it and protected by its shadow, will then share in its punishment. And when they see the other trees of the forest, or of Paradise, they will not be elevated in pride, nor consider themselves to be anything, nor will they regard the abundance of their own water as riches: because all the branches and birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, which were under the dominion of Assyria, will be brought down in death to the lowest earth. Of which it is written: In his sight all who go down to the earth will fall (Psalm 21:30). And in another place: They shall go to the outermost parts of the earth (Ps. LXII, 10): and they shall in no wise be with the Angels, but with the sons of men, who descend into the lake, or into the eternal pit. But when he shall descend to the outermost parts of the earth, and a part of the foxes shall be from whom he will be torn: then there shall be mourning either of all his companions, or of the holy fortitudes, which will grieve for him having descended to the underworld. Hence the Lord says: I have covered him in the deep, whose waters he had been nourished by before; and I have stopped his rivers, that is, the depths, and I have restrained many waters, so that they would not irrigate him, but rather oppress him. Lebanon was grieved over him, in which he had been exalted, and all the trees of the field were shaken, fearing a similar destruction. From the sound of its downfall, nations were moved, so that no one would be ignorant of its ruin and descent to the underworld with its companions. And all the trees of pleasure, that is, of paradise, received consolation, while they saw evil punished with evils, and good restored to the good. But these trees of Lebanon are watered by the streams of the Lord, in which that fallen tree had also been watered. Whether all the trees that were once good and irrigated by waters, and dwelt in the height of Lebanon, will receive consolation when they see their prince endure similar torments. For they themselves will descend to hell, to the dead killed by the sword of the Lord, and all the might of the trees will dwell under its shadow, that is, in punishment, amidst all the nations that will be held captive in the prisons of hell. After this, the discourse turns to Pharaoh himself, to whom it was said in the beginning, to whom have you been likened in your greatness? And he said to him: To whom have you been compared, O renowned and lofty one, among the trees of pleasure? Surely to the Assyrian who fell. And you were renowned and lofty among the trees of Eden, which is to say, of delights and paradise. And behold, you have been brought down like the Assyrian, with all the trees that were once in delight, to the lowest earth and to the underworld, and you will not sleep in peace, but in torment amidst the uncircumcised, that is, the unclean, and with those who have fallen by the sword of the Lord. And so that we may know who is the one to whom he said: O illustrious and lofty among the trees of pleasure, he puts it more clearly: He is Pharaoh, and all his multitude. Or according to the Septuagint, it is thus Pharaoh, and all his multitude, so that just as the Assyrian was cut down and fell, so may the Egyptian be overthrown.

This very beautiful chapter relates also to Egypt. The prophet describes to Pharaoh the fall of the king of Nineveh, (see the books of Nahum, Jonah, and Zephaniah), under the image of a fair cedar of Lebanon, once exceedingly tall, flourishing, and majestic, but now cut down and withered, with its broken branches strewed around, vv. 1-17. He then concludes with bringing the matter home to the king of Egypt, by telling him that this was a picture of his approaching fate, Eze 31:18. The beautiful cedar of Lebanon, remarkable for its loftiness, and in the most flourishing condition, but afterwards cut down and deserted, gives a very lately painting of the great glory and dreadful catastrophe of both the Assyrian and Egyptian monarchies. The manner in which the prophet has embellished his subject is deeply interesting; the colouring is of that kind which the mind will always contemplate with pleasure.

In the eleventh year - On Sunday, June 19, A.M. 3416, according to Abp. Usher; a month before Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans.

THE OVERTHROW OF EGYPT ILLUSTRATED BY THAT OF ASSYRIA. (Eze. 31:1-18) third month--two months later than the prophecy delivered in Eze 30:20.

The might of Pharaoh resembles the greatness and glory of Asshur. - Eze 31:1. In the eleventh year, in the third (month), on the first of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 31:2. Son of man, say to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to his tumult, Whom art thou like in thy greatness? Eze 31:3. Behold, Asshur was a cedar-tree upon Lebanon, beautiful in branches, a shadowing thicket, and its top was high in growth, and among the clouds. Eze 31:4. Water brought him up, the flood made him high, its streams went round about its plantation, and it sent its channels to all the trees of the field. Eze 31:5. Therefore its growth became higher than all the trees of the field, and its branches became great, and its boughs long from many waters in its shooting out. Eze 31:6. In its branches all the birds of the heaven made their nests, and under its boughs all the beasts of the field brought forth, and in its shadow sat great nations of all kinds. Eze 31:7. And he was beautiful in his greatness, in the length of his shoots; for his root was by many waters. Eze 31:8. Cedars did not obscure him in the garden of God, cypresses did not resemble his branches, and plane-trees were not like his boughs; no tree in the garden of God resembled him in his beauty. Eze 31:9. I had made him beautiful in the multitude of his shoots, and all the trees of Eden which were in the garden of God envied him. - The word of God is addressed to King Pharaoh and to המונו, his tumult, i.e., whoever and whatever occasions noise and tumult in the land. We must not interpret this, however, as Hitzig has done, as signifying the ruling classes and estates in contrast with the quiet in the land, for no such use of המון is anywhere to be found. Nor must we regard the word as applying to the multitude of people only, but to the people with their possessions, their riches, which gave rise to luxury and tumult, as in Eze 30:10. The inquiry, whom does Pharaoh with his tumult resemble in his greatness, is followed in the place of a reply by a description of Asshur as a glorious cedar (Eze 31:3-9). It is true that Ewald has followed the example of Meibom (vanarum in Cod. Hebr. interprett. spec. III p. 70) and J. D. Michaelis, and endeavours to set aside the allusion to Asshur, by taking the word אשּׁוּר in an appellative sense, and understanding אשּׁוּר ארז as signifying a particular kind of cedar, namely, the tallest species of all. But apart altogether from there being no foundation whatever for such an explanation in the usage of the language, there is nothing in the fact to justify it. For it is not anywhere affirmed that Pharaoh resembled this cedar; on the contrary, the question, whom does he resemble? is asked again in Eze 31:18 (Hitzig). Moreover, Michaelis is wrong in the supposition that "from Eze 31:10 onwards it becomes perfectly obvious that it is not Assyria but Egypt itself which is meant by the cedar-tree previously described." Under the figure of the felling of a cedar there is depicted the overthrow of a king or monarchy, which has already taken place. Compare Eze 31:12 and Eze 31:16, where the past is indicated quite as certainly as the future in Eze 31:18. And as Eze 31:18 plainly designates the overthrow of Pharaoh and his power as still in the future, the cedar, whose destruction is not only threatened in Eze 31:10-17, but declared to have already taken place, can only be Asshur, and not Egypt at all. The picture of the glory of this cedar recalls in several respects the similar figurative description in Ezekiel 17. Asshur is called a cedar upon Lebanon, because it was there that the most stately cedars grew. חרשׁ מצל, a shade-giving thicket (מצל is a Hiphil participle of צלל), belongs to יפה ענף as a further expansion of ענף, corresponding to the further expansion of גּבהּ קמה by "its top was among the clouds." If we bear this in mind, the reasons assigned by Hitzig for altering חרשׁ into an adjective הרשׁ, and taking מצל as a substantive formation after the analogy of מסב, lose all their force. Analogy would only require an adjective in the construct state in the event of the three statements 'יפה ע, 'הרשׁ מ, and 'גּבהּ גּבהּ ק being co-ordinate with one another. But what is decisive against the proposed conjecture is the fact that neither the noun מצל nor the adjective הרשׁ is ever met with, and that, in any case, מצל cannot signify foliage. The rendering of the Vulgate, "frondibus nemorosus," is merely guessed at, whilst the Seventy have omitted the word as unintelligible to them. For עבתים, thicket of clouds, see the comm. on Eze 19:11; and for צמּרת, that on Eze 17:3. The cedar grew to so large a size because it was richly watered (Eze 31:4). A flood poured its streams round about the place where the cedar was planted, and sent out brooks to all the trees of the field. The difficult words את־נהרתיה וגו' are to be taken literally thus: as for its (the flood's) streams, it (the flood) was going round about its plantation, i.e., round about the plantation belonging to the flood or the place situated near it, where the cedar was planted. את is not to be taken as a preposition, but as a sign of the accusative, and את־נהרתיה dna , as an accusative used for the more precise definition of the manner in which the flood surrounded the plantation. It is true that there still remains something striking in the masculine הלך, since תּהום, although of common gender, is construed throughout as a feminine, even in this very verse. But the difficulty remains even if we follow Ewald, and take הלך to be a defectively written or irregular form of the Hiphil הוליך; a conjecture which is precluded by the use of הוליך, to cause to run = to cause to flow away, in Eze 32:14. מטּעהּ, its (the flood's) plantation, i.e., the plantation for which the flood existed. תּהום is used here to signify the source of starting-point of a flood, as in Deu 8:7, where תּהמות are co-ordinate with עינות. - While the place where the cedar was planted was surrounded by the streams of the flood, only the brooks and channels of this flood reached to the trees of the field. The cedar therefore surpassed all the trees of the field in height and luxuriance of growth (Eze 31:5). fגּבהאheb>, an Aramean mode of spelling for גּבהה heb>; and asרעפּתheb>, ἁπ. λεγ.., an Aramean formation with ר inserted, for סעפת, branches. For פּארת, see the comm. on Eze 17:6. בּשׁלּחו cannot mean "since it (the stream) sent out the water" (Ewald); for although תּהום in Eze 31:4 is also construed as a masculine, the suffix cannot be taken as referring to תּהום, for this is much too far off. And the explanation proposed by Rosenmller, Hvernick, Kliefoth, and others, "as it (the tree) sent them (the branches) out," is open to this objection, that בּשׁלּחו would then contain a spiritless tautology; since the stretching out of the branches is already contained in the fact of their becoming numerous and long. the tautology has no existence if the object is left indefinite, "in its spreading out," i.e., the spreading not only of the branches, but also of the roots, to which שׁלּח is sometimes applied (cf. Jer 17:8). By the many waters which made the cedar great, we must not understand, either solely or especially, the numerous peoples which rendered Assyria great and mighty, as the Chaldee and many of the older commentators have done. It must rather be taken as embracing everything which contributed to the growth and greatness of Assyria. It is questionable whether the prophet, when describing the flood which watered the cedar plantation, had the description of the rivers of Paradise in Gen 2:10. floating before his mind. Ewald and Hvernick think that he had; but Hitzig and Kliefoth take a decidedly opposite view. There is certainly no distinct indication of any such allusion. We meet with this for the first time from Eze 31:8 onwards. In Eze 31:6-9 the greatness and glory of Asshur are still further depicted. Upon and under the branches of the stately tree, all creatures, birds, beasts, and men, found shelter and protection for life and increase (Eze 31:6; cf. Eze 17:23 and Dan 4:9). In כּּל־גּוים רבּים, all kinds of great nations, the fact glimmers through the figure. The tree was so beautiful (ויּיף from יפה) in its greatness, that of all the trees in the garden of God not one was to be compared with it, and all envied it on that account; that is to say, all the other nations and kingdoms in God's creation were far inferior to Asshur in greatness and glory. גּן אלהים is the garden of Paradise; and consequently עדן in Eze 31:9, Eze 31:16, and Eze 31:18 is also Paradise, as in Eze 28:13. There is no ground for Kliefoth's objection, that if עדן be taken in this sense, the words "which are in the garden of God" will contain a superfluous pleonasm, a mere tautology. In Gen 2:8 a distinction is also made between עדן and the garden in Eden. It was not all Eden, but the garden planted by Jehovah in Eden, which formed the real paradisaical creation; so that the words "which are in the garden of God" give intensity to the idea of the "trees of Eden." Moreover, as Hvernick has correctly pointed out, there is a peculiar emphasis in the separation of בּגן אלהים from ארזים in Eze 31:8 : "cedars...even such as were found in the garden of God." Not one even of the other and most glorious trees, viz., cypresses and planes, resembled the cedar Asshur, planted by God by many waters, in its boughs and branches. It is not stated in so many words in Eze 31:8 and Eze 31:9 that the cedar Asshur stood in the garden of God; but it by no means follows from this, that by the garden of God we are to understand simply the world and the earth as the creation of God, as Kliefoth imagines, and in support of which he argues that "as all the nations and kingdoms of the world are regarded as trees planted by God, the world itself is quite consistently called a garden or plantation of God." The very fact that a distinction is made between trees of the field (Eze 31:4 and Eze 31:5) and trees of Eden in the garden of God (Eze 31:8 and Eze 31:9), shows that the trees are not all regarded here as being in the same sense planted by God. If the garden of God stood for the world, where should we then have to look for the field (השּׂדה)? The thought of Eze 31:8 and Eze 31:9 is not that "not a single tree in all God's broad earth was to be compared to the cedar Asshur," but that even of the trees of Paradise, the garden in Eden, there was not one so beautiful and glorious as the cedar Asshur, planted by God by many waters.