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,
Ezekiel 31:3-9.
II. He must then show him how like he was to the king of Assyria in
pride and carnal security,
Ezekiel 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,
Ezekiel 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,
Ezekiel 31:18.
The King of Assyria's Greatness.
B. C. 588.
1 And 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, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his
multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair
branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature;
and his top was among the thick boughs.
4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with
her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her
little rivers unto all the trees of the field.
5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the
field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became
long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and
under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth
their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his
branches: for his root was by great waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir
trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut-trees were not
like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like
unto him in his beauty.
9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so
that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God,
envied him.
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,
Isaiah 51:22,23.
In this prophecy,
I. The prophet is directed to put Pharaoh upon searching the records
for a case parallel to his own
(Ezekiel 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
(Ezekiel 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,
Ezekiel 31:3.
The glory of the house of David is illustrated by the same similitude,
Ezekiel 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
(Judges 9:8,
&c.), 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
(Ezekiel 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,
Ezekiel 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,
Psalms 80:11.
His boughs were multiplied; his branches became long
(Ezekiel 31:5);
so that he had a shadowing shroud,
Ezekiel 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
(Ezekiel 31:7),
very comely as well as very stately, fair by the multitude of his
branches,
Ezekiel 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
(Genesis 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,
Ezekiel 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
(Ezekiel 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,
Judges 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,
Psalms 17:8,91:4.
4. He seemed to be settled and established in his greatness and power.
For,
(1.) It was God that made him fair,
Ezekiel 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
(Jeremiah 17:6);
it was not a root in a dry ground,
Isaiah 53:2.
No; he had abundance of wealth to support his power and grandeur
(Ezekiel 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
(Ezra 4:14),
and their country was nourished by the king's country
(Acts 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
(Ezekiel 31:5,7);
his root was by great waters, which seemed to secure it that
its leaf should never wither
(Psalms 1:3),
that it should not see when heat came,
Jeremiah 17:8.
Note, Worldly people may seem to have an established prosperity, yet it
only seems so,
Job 5:3,Ps+37:35.
The King of Assyria's Downfall; The Fall of Assyria.
B. C. 588.
10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted
up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick
boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty
one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven
him out for his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him
off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys
his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the
rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down
from his shadow, and have left him.
13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and
all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt
themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the
thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, 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.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the
grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I
restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed:
and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the
field fainted for him.
16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I
cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and
all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that
drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be
slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt
under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among
the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees
of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the
midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the
sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord
GOD.
We have seen the king of Egypt resembling the king of Assyria in pomp,
and power, and prosperity, how like he was to him in his greatness; now
here we see,
I. How he does likewise resemble him in his pride,
Ezekiel 31:10.
For, as face answers to face in a glass, so does one corrupt carnal
heart to another; and the same temptations of a prosperous state by
which some are overcome are fatal to many others too. "Thou, O
king of Egypt! hast lifted up thyself in height, hast been proud
of thy wealth and power,
Ezekiel 29:3.
And just so he (that is, the king of Assyria); when he had
shot up his top among the thick boughs his heart was immediately
lifted up in his height, and he grew insolent and imperious, set
God himself at defiance, and trampled upon his people;" witness the
messages and letter which the great king, the king of Assyria,
sent to Hezekiah,
Isaiah 36:4.
How haughtily does he speak of himself and his own achievements! how
scornfully of that great and good man! There were other sins in which
the Egyptians and the Assyrians did concur, particularly that of
oppressing God's people, which is charged upon them both together
(Isaiah 52:4);
but here that sin is traced up to its cause, and that was pride; for it
is the contempt of the proud that they are filled with.
Note, When men's outward condition rises their minds commonly rise with
it; and it is very rare to find a humble spirit in the midst of great
advancements.
II. How he shall therefore resemble him in his fall; and for the
opening of this part of the comparison,
1. Here is a history of the fall of the king of Assyria. For his part,
says God
(Ezekiel 31:11),
I have therefore, because he was thus lifted up, delivered
him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen. Cyaxares, king
of the Medes, in the twenty-sixth year of his reign, in conjunction
with Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the first year of his reign,
destroyed Nineveh, and with it the Assyrian empire. Nebuchadnezzar,
though he was not then, yet afterwards became, very emphatically, the
mighty one of the heathen, most mighty among them and most
mighty over them, to prevail against them.
(1.) Respecting the fall of the Assyrian three things are
affirmed:--
[1.] It is God himself that orders his ruin: I have delivered him
into the hand of the executioner; I have driven him out.
Note, God is the Judge, who puts down one and sets up another
(Psalms 75:7);
and when he pleases he can extirpate and expel those who think
themselves, and seem to others, to have taken deepest root. And the
mightiest ones of the heathens could not gain their point against those
they contended with if the Almighty did not himself deliver them into
their hands.
[2.] It is his own sin that procures his ruin: I have driven him out
for his wickedness. None are driven out from their honour, power,
and possessions, but it is for their wickedness. None of our
comforts are ever lost but what have been a thousand times forfeited.
If the wicked are driven away, it is in their wickedness.
[3.] It is a mighty one of the heathen that shall be the
instrument of his ruin; for God often employs one wicked man in
punishing another. He shall surely deal with him, shall know how
to manage him, great as he is. Note, Proud imperious men will, sooner
or later, meet with their match.
(2.) In this history of the fall of the Assyrian observe,
[1.] A continuation of the similitude of the cedar. He grew very high,
and extended his boughs very far; but his day comes to fall.
First, This stately cedar was cropped: The terrible of the
nations cut him off. Soldiers, who being both armed and
commissioned to kill, and slay, and destroy, may well be reckoned among
the terrible of the nations. They have lopped off his branches
first, have seized upon some parts of his dominion and forced them out
of his hands; so that in all mountains and valleys of the
nations about, in the high-lands and low-lands, and by all the
rivers, there were cities or countries that were broken off from
the Assyrian monarchy, that had been subject to it, but had either
revolted or were recovered from it. Its feathers were borrowed; and,
when every bird had fetched back its own, it was naked like the stump
of a tree. Secondly, It was deserted: All the people of the
earth, that had fled to him for shelter, have gone down from his
shadow and have left him. When he was disabled to give them
protection they thought they no longer owed him allegiance. Let not
great men be proud of the number of those that attend them and have a
dependence upon them; it is only for what they can get. When Providence
frowns upon them their retinue is soon dispersed and scattered from
them. Thirdly, It was insulted over, and its fall triumphed in
(Ezekiel 31:13):
Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, to tread
upon the broken branches of this cedar. Its fall is triumphed in by the
other trees, who were angry to see themselves overtopped so much:
All the trees of Eden, that were cut down and had fallen before
him, all that drank water of the rain of heaven, as the stump of
the tree that is left in the south is said to be wet with the
dew of heaven
(Daniel 4:23)
and to bud through the scent of water
(Job 14:9),
shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth when they
see this proud cedar brought as low as themselves. Solamen miseris
socios habuisse doloris--To have companions in woe is a solace
to those who suffer. But, on the contrary, the trees of Lebanon,
that are yet standing in their height and strength, mourned for
him, and the trees of the field fainted for him, because
they could not but read their own destiny in his fall. Howl,
fir-trees, if the cedar be shaken, for they cannot expect to stand
long,
Zechariah 11:2.
[2.] An explanation of the similitude of the cedar. By the cutting down
of this cedar is signified the slaughter of this mighty monarch and all
his adherents and supporters; they are all delivered to death,
to fall by the sword, as the cedar by the axe. He and his princes, who,
he said, were altogether kings, go down to the grace, to the
nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, as
common persons of no quality or distinction. They died like men
(Psalms 82:7);
they were carried away with those that go down to the pit, and
their pomp did neither protect them nor descend after them.
Again
(Ezekiel 31:16),
He was cast down to hell with those that descend into the pit;
he went into the state of the dead, and was buried as others are, in
obscurity and oblivion. Again
(Ezekiel 31:17),
They all that were his arm, on whom he stayed, by whom he acted
and exerted his power, all that dwelt under his shadow, his
subjects and allies, and all that had any dependence on him, they all
went down into ruin, down into the grace with him, unto those
that were slain with the sword, to those that were cut off by
untimely deaths before them, under the load of guilt and shame. When
great men fall a great many fall with them, as a great many in like
manner have fallen before them.
[3.] What God designed, and aimed at, in bringing down this mighty
monarch and his monarchy. He designed thereby, First, To give an
alarm to the nations about, to put them all to a stand, to put them
all to a gaze
(Ezekiel 31:16):
I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall. They were
all struck with astonishment to see so mighty a prince brought down
thus. It give a shock to all their confidences, every one thinking his
turn would be next. When he went down to the grace
(Ezekiel 31:15)
I caused a mourning, a general lamentation, as the whole kingdom
goes into mourning at the death of the king. In token of this general
grief, I covered the deep for him, put that into black, gave a
stop to business, in complaisance to this universal mourning. I
restrained the floods, and the great waters were stayed, that they
might run into another channel, that of lamentation. Lebanon
particularly, the kingdom of Syria, that was sometimes in confederacy
with the Assyrian, mourned for him; as the allies of Babylon,
Revelation 18:9.
Secondly, To give an admonition to the nations about, and to
their kings
(Ezekiel 31:14):
To the end that none of all the trees by the waters, though ever
so advantageously situated, may exalt themselves for their
height, may be proud and conceited of themselves and shoot up
their top among the thick boughs, looking disdainfully upon others,
nor stand upon themselves for their height, confiding in their
own politics and powers, as if they could never be brought down. Let
them all take warning by the Assyrian, for he once held up his head as
high, and thought he kept his footing as firm, as any of them; but his
pride went before his destruction, and his confidence failed him. Note,
The fall of proud presumptuous men is intended for warning to others to
keep humble. It would have been well for Nebuchadnezzar, who was
himself active in bringing down the Assyrian, if he had taken the
admonition.
2. Here is a prophecy of the fall of the king of Egypt in like manner,
Ezekiel 31:18.
He thought himself like the Assyrian in glory and greatness,
over-topping all the trees of Eden, as the cypress does the
shrubs. "But thou also shalt be brought down, with the
other trees that are pleasant to the sight, as those in Eden. Thou
shalt be brought to the grave, to the nether or lower parts
of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the
uncircumcised, that die in their uncleanness, die ingloriously, die
under a curse and at a distance from God; then shall those whom thou
hast trampled upon triumph over thee, saying, This is Pharaoh and
all his multitude. See how mean he looks, how low he lies; see what
all his pomp and pride have come to; here is all that is left of him."
Note, Great men and great multitudes, with the great figure and great
noise they make in the world, when God comes to contend with them, will
soon become little, less than nothing, such as Pharaoh and all his
multitude.
Matthew Henry "Verse by Verse Commentary for 'Ezekiel' Matthew Henry Bible Commentary".
.