Ezekiel 31:8
in Ezekiel 31The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir-trees were not like its boughs, and the plane-trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto it in its beauty.
KJV
The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
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This verse in Ezekiel 31
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe cedars in the garden of God could not hide him,.... That is, could not rise so high as this cedar, and overtop him, and obscure his glory; even those that were most excellent, which grew in Eden, near to which Babylon stood, and where a mighty king dwelt.
This site's exposition
in the length of his branches
on Ezekiel 31:7-9
His beauty is stated three times over, fair in his greatness, fair by the multitude of his branches, until even the trees of Eden envied him. Wesley reads the garden language as the highest possible comparison the prophet could reach for, Assyria measured against paradise itself and found to outshine every tree God planted there. The claim is deliberately extravagant, because the fall that follows has to answer a pride this large.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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 Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
cedars . . . could not hide him--could not outtop him. No other king eclipsed him. were not like--were not comparable to. garden of God--As in the case of Tyre (Eze 28:13), the imagery, that is applied to the Assyrian king, is taken from Eden; peculiarly appropriate, as Eden was watered by rivers that afterwards watered Assyria (Ge 2:10-14).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The cedars in the garden of God - Egypt was one of the most eminent and affluent of all the neighboring nations.
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲרָזִ֣ים | ʾarazim | cedars | H730 → | 73 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עֲמָמֻהוּ֮ | ʾamamuhu | they eclipsed it | H6004 → | |
| בְּגַן־ | began- | in [the] garden of | H1588 → | 42 times |
| אֱלֹהִים֒ | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בְּרוֹשִׁ֗ים | beroshim | fir trees | H1265 → | |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| דָמוּ֙ | damu | they were like | H1819 → | 30 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | <to> | H413 → | 5510 times |
| סְעַפֹּתָ֔יו | seapotav | boughs its | H5589 → | |
| וְעַרְמֹנִ֥ים | vearmonim | and plane trees | H6196 → | |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָי֖וּ | hayu | they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְּפֹֽארֹתָ֑יו | keforotav | like branches its | H6288 → | 7 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֵץ֙ | ʾetz | tree | H6086 → | 328 times |
| בְּגַן־ | began- | in [the] garden of | H1588 → | 42 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֔ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| דָמָ֥ה | damah | it was like | H1819 → | 30 times |
| אֵלָ֖יו | ʾelav | <to> it | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּיָפְיֽוֹ׃ | beyafeyo | in beauty its | H3308 → | 19 times |
אֲרָזִ֣יםcedars
ʾarazimH730 →73 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
עֲמָמֻהוּ֮they eclipsed it
ʾamamuhuH6004 →
בְּגַן־in [the] garden of
began-H1588 →42 times
אֱלֹהִים֒God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
בְּרוֹשִׁ֗יםfir trees
beroshimH1265 →
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
דָמוּ֙they were like
damuH1819 →30 times
אֶל־<to>
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
סְעַפֹּתָ֔יוboughs its
seapotavH5589 →
וְעַרְמֹנִ֥יםand plane trees
vearmonimH6196 →
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָי֖וּthey were
hayuH1961 →3559 times
כְּפֹֽארֹתָ֑יוlike branches its
keforotavH6288 →7 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֵץ֙tree
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
בְּגַן־in [the] garden of
began-H1588 →42 times
אֱלֹהִ֔יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
דָמָ֥הit was like
damahH1819 →30 times
אֵלָ֖יו<to> it
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
בְּיָפְיֽוֹ׃in beauty its
beyafeyoH3308 →19 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 13:10And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was…
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 34:3
the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.
- Isaiah 51:3
Through
Ezekiel 28:13You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:15
From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you.
- Ezekiel 27:16
Aram was your customer because of your many products; they exchanged turquoise, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies for your wares.
- Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- Ezekiel 28:15
Through
Isaiah 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
it leads to
- Isaiah 49:13
Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
- Isaiah 52:9
Break forth in joy, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- Joel 2:3
Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.
- Isaiah 49:13
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.