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Ezekiel 31:14

in Ezekiel 31

This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up in their height, even 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.

KJV

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.

This verse in Ezekiel 31

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

FAIRBAIRN points the Hebrew differently, so as for "their trees," to translate, "(And that none that drink water may stand) on themselves, (because of their greatness)." But the usual reading is better, as Assyria and the confederate states throughout are compared to strong trees.

This site's exposition

the most ruthless of the nations

on Ezekiel 31:12-14

Strangers, the terrible of the nations, cut him down, and his branches lie broken by every river of the land he once shadowed. Verse 14 turns the fall into a standing warning, language JFB reads as aimed past Assyria at every power that measures itself by its resources.

This site's exposition

among the mortals who descend to the

The Pit is a poetic name for Sheol, the place of the dead beneath the earth in Hebrew thought. The word rendered mortals is literally sons of man. Every tree, however high, dies as a man dies.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(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 Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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. Here is a prophecy of the fall of the king of Egypt in like manner,
To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

To the end that none of all the trees - Let this ruin, fallen upon Egypt, teach all the nations that shall hear of it to be humble, because, however elevated, God can soon bring them down; and pride and arrogance, either in states or individuals, have the peculiar abhorrence of God. Pride does not suit the sons of men; it made devils of angels, and makes fiends of men.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

water trees which are tender and frail, but have numerous and long branches because of the moisture of the water, should not compare themselves to the cedars of Eden; i.e., he should not have been haughty over Israel and should not have stood over them.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 31:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Upon its carcass..rested as the Targum paraphrases: Upon the carcass of his slain.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 31:13:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

35 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • לְמַ֡עַןso that

    lemaanH4616 →272 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֩that

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יִגְבְּה֨וּthey may be lifted up

    yigbehuH1361 →34 times

  • בְקוֹמָתָ֜םin height their

    vekomatamH6967 →45 times

  • כָּל־any

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • עֲצֵי־trees of

    ʾatzei-H6086 →328 times

  • מַ֗יִםwater

    mayimH4325 →581 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יִתְּנ֤וּthey may set

    yitenuH5414 →2011 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • צַמַּרְתָּם֙treetop their

    tzamartamH6788 →5 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בֵּ֣יןbetween

    beinH996 →407 times

  • עֲבֹתִ֔יםbranches

    ʾavotimH5688 →24 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יַעַמְד֧וּthey may stand

    yaamduH5975 →521 times

  • אֵלֵיהֶ֛םleaders their

    ʾeleihemH352 →187 times

  • בְּגָבְהָ֖םby height their

    begavehamH1363 →17 times

  • כָּל־any

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • שֹׁ֣תֵיdrinkers of

    shoteiH8354 →217 times

  • מָ֑יִםwater

    mayimH4325 →581 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • כֻלָּם֩all of them

    khulamH3605 →5413 times

  • נִתְּנ֨וּthey have been given

    nitenuH5414 →2011 times

  • לַמָּ֜וֶתto <the> death

    lamavetH4194 →156 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אֶ֣רֶץ[the] earth

    ʾeretzH776 →2504 times

  • תַּחְתִּ֗יתlowest

    tachtitH8482 →19 times

  • בְּת֛וֹךְin among

    betokhH8432 →418 times

  • בְּנֵ֥י[the] children of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • אָדָ֖םhumankind

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • י֥וֹרְדֵי[those who] go down of

    yordeiH3381 →381 times

  • בֽוֹר׃ ס[the] pit

    vorH953 →66 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Corinthians 10:11

    Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

    it leads to

    • Romans 15:4

      For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.

    • Romans 13:11

      And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

    • 1 Corinthians 9:10

      Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.

    • 1 John 2:18

      Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.

    • Philippians 4:5

      Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near.

  • Through

    2 Peter 2:6

    if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;

    it leads to

    • Jude 1:7

      In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal…

    • Luke 17:28–30

      It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

  • Through

    Psalms 82:7

    But like mortals you will die, and like rulers you will fall.”

    it leads to

    • Psalms 49:12

      But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel; Patrick Fairbairn, Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.