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Ezekiel 31:15

in Ezekiel 31

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the rivers thereof; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

KJV

Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

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This verse in Ezekiel 31

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
Effect of Assyria’s fall. Eze 31:15 I covered the deep - To cover with sack-cloth was an expression of mourning Eze 27:31. The deep, the source of Assyria’s prosperity Eze 31:4, was made to mourn, being dried up instead of giving forth its waters, its glad abundance. For him - Upon his account. Floods ... great waters - Or, rivers ... the multitude of waters (as in Eze 31:4-5). Lebanon represents the country which Assyria governed; “the trees,” the tributary princes. Eze 31:16 See the marginal references.

This site's exposition

I caused mourning

on Ezekiel 31:15-17

The Lord marks the day of the fall with mourning fit for a funeral of cosmic scale. Fairbairn reads the descent language as the same underworld picture the book will use again over Egypt in the next chapter. The nations that had sheltered under Assyria's shadow go down with him.

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)

I restrained the floods, and the great waters were stayed, that they might run into another channel, that of lamentation. Lebanon particularly, the kingdom of Syria, that was sometimes in confederacy with the Assyrian, mourned for him; as the allies of Babylon, Rev. xviii.
Thus saith the Lord God, in the day when he went down to the grave,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

covered the deep--as mourners cover their heads in token of mourning, "I made the deep that watered the cedar" to wrap itself in mourning for him. The waters of the deep are the tributary peoples of Assyria (Re 17:15). fainted--literally, were "faintness" (itself); more forcible than the verb.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

I caused Lebanon to mourn for him - All the confederates of Pharaoh are represented as deploring his fall, Eze 31:16, Eze 31:17.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

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

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

25 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.

  • כֹּֽה־thus

    koh-H3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֞רhe says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord

    ʾadonaiH136 →440 times

  • יְהוִ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3069 →306 times

  • בְּי֨וֹםon [the] day

    beyomH3117 →2304 times

  • רִדְתּ֤וֹwent down it

    ridtoH3381 →381 times

  • שְׁא֙וֹלָה֙Sheol towards

    sheolahH7585 →66 times

  • הֶאֱבַ֜לְתִּיI caused mourning

    heevaltiH56 →39 times

  • כִּסֵּ֤תִיI covered

    kisetiH3680 →152 times

  • עָלָיו֙over it

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • תְּה֔וֹם[the] deep

    tehomH8415 →36 times

  • וָֽאֶמְנַע֙and I withheld

    vaemna'H4513 →

  • נַהֲרוֹתֶ֔יהָrivers its

    naharoteihaH5104 →119 times

  • וַיִּכָּלְא֖וּand they were restrained

    vaiyikaluH3607 →

  • מַ֣יִםwaters

    mayimH4325 →581 times

  • רַבִּ֑יםmany

    rabimH7227 →454 times

  • וָאַקְדִּ֤רand I made mourn

    vaakdirH6937 →17 times

  • עָלָיו֙on it

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • לְבָנ֔וֹןLebanon

    levanonH3844 →71 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • עֲצֵ֥י[the] trees of

    ʾatzeiH6086 →328 times

  • הַשָּׂדֶ֖הthe field

    hasadehH7704 →334 times

  • עָלָ֥יוon it

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • עֻלְפֶּֽה׃[were] wilted

    ʾulpehH5969 →

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

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Revelation 18:9–11Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.2 worksMalachi 3:4Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.2 worksRevelation 18:18–19and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.2 worksNahum 2:8–10Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.2 works2 Samuel 1:21O mountains of Gilboa, may you have no dew or rain, no fields yielding offerings of grain. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.2 works

The walk

5 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

    Malachi 3:4

    Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 7:1–3

      When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

    • Zechariah 8:3

      This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of Hosts will be…

    • Isaiah 56:7

      I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called…

    • Jeremiah 30:18–20

      This is what the LORD says: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be rebuilt on her own ruins, and the palace will…

    • Ezekiel 43:26–27

      For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so they shall consecrate it.

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.
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 31 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of 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 and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.

Read on in Ezekiel 31 →