Ezekiel 31

Ezekiel 29–32 is a collection of prophecies against Egypt. Chapter 31 follows the prophecy of Ezekiel 30, in which God declares that he will break Pharaoh's arms, and uses the image of a great tree to describe Pharaoh's downfall.

Outline

• Verses 1–2: The word of the LORD comes in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month. Ezekiel is told to ask Pharaoh and his multitude, "Whom art thou like in thy greatness?"
• Verses 3–9: Assyria is portrayed as a cedar of Lebanon. The deep waters nourished the tree until its top reached the clouds. Birds, beasts, and all great nations dwelt in its shadow, and the trees of Eden, the garden of God, envied it.
• Verses 10–14: Because the tree grew tall and its heart became proud, God delivers it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations. Terrible nations cut it down; its branches fall upon the mountains and in the valleys, and the peoples depart from its shadow. The passage explains that this is so that the other trees by the waters will not exalt themselves.
• Verses 15–17: On the day the tree goes down to Sheol, the deep is covered, Lebanon mourns, and the nations shake. The trees of Eden are comforted in the nether parts of the earth. Those who dwelt under its shadow go down with it.
• Verse 18: The parable is applied to Pharaoh. He too will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the nether parts of the earth and will lie among the uncircumcised who were slain by the sword.

Key Verses

• Ezekiel 31:3 "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon" — This verse introduces the great-tree parable that governs the entire chapter.
• Ezekiel 31:10 "His heart is lifted up in his height" — Pride is identified as the reason for judgment.
• Ezekiel 31:18 "This is Pharaoh and all his multitude" — The verse reveals that the account of Assyria was a warning directed at Pharaoh.

People and Places

• Ezekiel: The prophet who received this prophecy. God addresses him as "son of man."
• Pharaoh: The king of Egypt. He is not named; a widely held view identifies him as the reigning king, Hophra (Apries).
• Assyria: A nation that had been a great power before Egypt and then fell.
• Lebanon: A mountainous region north of Israel, famous for its large, fine cedars.
• Garden of Eden: Here called "the garden of God," it is depicted as the place where the trees representing other nations stand.
• Sheol: The underworld to which the dead descend.

Notes for Reading

• The date is generally understood to be counted from the year King Jehoiachin was taken captive. On that reckoning, it falls around the time of the fall of Jerusalem.
• Regarding "Assyria" in verse 3, some scholars propose emending one Hebrew letter to read "a kind of conifer," so that the tree itself would represent Egypt. Most Korean Bible translations render the text as it stands, as Assyria.
• The parable of a great tree that grows and is cut down resembles Daniel 4, which recounts Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The image of the birds of the air nesting in the branches also appears in the Parable of the Mustard Seed.
• The scene of Pharaoh's descent to Sheol continues in the lament of Ezekiel 32.