All the fowls of heaven as in Ezekiel 17:23 ; Daniel 4:9 ; Matthew 13:32 , was the natural symbol of the fact that all the neighboring nations owned the sovereignty of Assyria and were sheltered by her protection. In the great nation we have the parable passing into its interpretation. read more
The root and the waters. I. THE TREE FLOURISHES THROUGH ITS ROOT . 1. The root supports the tree . It is the foundation. Unless the root is deep and strong the tree will fall, blown over by the hurricane or swept away by the flood. Our life needs a root, a foundation. 2. The root brings nourishment to the tree . It sucks in moisture from the earth and draws the rich juices of the soil up into the plant. When the roots are cut the tree must wither and die.... read more
The source of strength and beauty. The "great power" of Assyria is likened in this parable to a noble cedar planted in (or transferred to) the garden of Eden, raising its head high above all the other trees in that "garden of God;" its eminence and its beauty being largely due to the fact that it was so well watered at its roots, that "the waters nourished him, the deep made him to grow; her rivers ran about her plantations" ( Ezekiel 31:4 , Revised Version); and that "his root was by... read more
The cedars in the garden of God . As in Ezekiel 28:13 , the thoughts of the prophet dwell on the picture of Eden in Genesis 2:8 . Far above all other trees, the cedar of Assyria rose high in majesty. All the trees that were in the garden of God envied him . The trees specially chosen for comparison are read more
The garden of God. "The garden of God , " standing, as it does, for the ideal region in which man in his perfection was placed when God was" well pleased with "him, may be taken as a picture of human society itself as it once was for however brief a period, and as it shall be again when the purposes of the Redeemer are fulfilled. I. A REGION ABOUNDING IN FRUITFULNESS . In the first garden of God there grew every tree that was "good for food." The ideal state of human... read more
In the third month - More than a month before Jerusalem was taken (compare Jeremiah 39:2). read more
Fifth prophecy against Egypt: a warning to Pharaoh from the fate of the Assyrians. The Assyrian empire, after having been supreme in Asia for four centuries, had been overthrown by the united forces of the Babylonians and Medes, in the year of the battle of Carchemish (605 b.c.), which had broken the power of Egypt. This gives force to the warning to Egypt from Assyria’s fall.Ezekiel 31:4His plants - Rather, her plantation. The water represents the riches and might which flowed into... read more
Ezekiel 31:1-2. In the eleventh year, in the third month, &c. This was another revelation upon the subject of the destruction of Egypt, imparted two months after that which is mentioned in the conclusion of the foregoing chapter. Whom art thou like in thy greatness? Thou pridest thyself, as if there never was any prince or king that could compare with thee. The prophet here asks a question, not to receive an answer from Pharaoh, but to answer it himself, as he does in the next and... read more
Ezekiel 31:3-9. Behold the Assyrian This, says Archbishop Secker, seems an admonitory comparison of Pharaoh to the late Assyrian monarch, applied to Pharaoh, Ezekiel 31:18. By the Assyrian, compared here to a tall and fair cedar, such as grew in mount Lebanon, Archbishop Usher and Dr. Prideaux understand that king of Assyria whom some call Chyniladanus, others Saracus, of whom it seems the words of the Prophet Nahum ( Nah 3:18 ) are to be understood. In like manner Zephaniah joins the... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 31:4
The waters made him great . The scenery is hardly that of Lebanon, but finds its counterpart in that of the Nile, perhaps also of the Tigris, with the waters of the river diverted into streams and channels by a careful system of irrigation. The cedar grew close to the river itself; the other trees of the field were watered only by the smaller channels, and so were inferior to it in the fullness of their growth. (For the general imagery, comp. Ezekiel 17:5 ; Psalms 1:3 ; Jeremiah 17:8 ... read more