(2) His multitude.—The word means literally tumult, and applies to the multitude as influenced by whatever is the occasion of tumult: their wealth, their idols, their sources of pride of every kind. read more
Ezekiel 31:3 In Proserpina, after quoting this passage, Ruskin proceeds: 'Now hear what follows. "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 beauty." So that you see, whenever a nation rises into consistent, vital, and, through many generations, enduring power, there is still the Garden of God; still it is the water of life which feeds... read more
EGYPTEzekiel 29:1-21; Ezekiel 30:1-26; Ezekiel 31:1-18; Ezekiel 32:1-32EGYPT figures in the prophecies of Ezekiel as a great world-power cherishing projects of universal dominion. Once more, as in the age of Isaiah, the ruling factor in Asiatic politics was the duel for the mastery of the world between the rival empires of the Nile and the Euphrates. The influence of Egypt was perhaps even greater in the beginning of the sixth century than it had been in the end of the eighth, although in the... read more
Ezekiel 31:1-18 . Pharaoh’s greatness is described in the first part of the chapter (Ezekiel 31:1-9 ). He is compared to the Assyrian, once so powerful and proud. The fall and desolation of the proud monarch under the picture of a tree follows in Ezekiel 31:10-14 . The overthrow of Egypt and the resulting consternation among the nations is predicted in the last section of this chapter (Ezekiel 31:15-18 ). Ezekiel 32:1-32 . The lamentation over Pharaoh is contained in Ezekiel 32:1-10 , followed... read more
31:1 And it came to pass in the {a} eleventh year, in the third [month], in the first [day] of the month, [that] the word of the LORD came to me, saying,(a) Of Zedekiah’s reign, or of Jeconiah’s captivity. read more
31:2 Son of man, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou {b} like in thy greatness?(b) Meaning that he was not the same in strength to the king of the Assyrians whom the Babylonians overcame. read more
JUDGMENTS ON GENTILE NATIONS The prophet’s “dumbness” enjoined in the last chapter, was only towards his own people, and the interval was employed in messages touching the Gentiles. These nations might have many charges laid against them, but that which concerned a prophet of Israel chiefly was their treatment of that nation see this borne out by the text. Their ruin was to be utter in the end, while that of Israel was but temporary (Jeremiah 46:28 ). Seven nations are denounced, “the... read more
CONTENTS The Prophet is still discoursing concerning Egypt. The great monarchy of Assyria is brought forward by way of illustrating, that al Nineveh fell, so shall Egypt. read more
It is worthy the Reader's remark, that while the Lord is chastising his own people, the rod is exercised over numbers of the surrounding nations. We have here the humbling of Egypt still threatened, as in the preceding chapters, and a great humbling it should seem to have been. In order to set it forth more fully, the Prophet is commissioned to state how the King of Assyria had been brought down, and to say that such should be the ruin of Egypt. The date of the Prophet's sermon is marked, by... read more
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John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 31:1-18
The Fall of the Great CedarEgypt was a stately cedar, thick, lofty, and spreading; sheltering all the fowls and beasts (the nations) in its branches and under its shadow (Ezekiel 31:1-6). It was the envy of all the trees (other great empires) in Eden, the garden of God (Ezekiel 31:7-9). But because of its pride it is given into the hands of a mighty one (Nebuchadrezzar), who will cut it down. Those whom it sheltered will be scattered or will trample on it when it has fallen (Ezekiel 31:10-13).... read more