Ezekiel 31:18
in Ezekiel 31Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.
KJV
To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.
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This verse in Ezekiel 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis is Pharaoh - All that I have spoken in this allegory of the lofty cedar refers to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his princes, confederates, and people. Calmet understands the whole chapter of the king of Assyria, under which he allows that Egypt is adumbrated; and hence on this verse he quotes: - Mutato nomine, de te fabula narratur. What is said of Assyria belongs to thee, O Egypt.
This site's exposition
in glory and greatness
The chapter closes by naming its target outright, this is Pharaoh and all his multitude. Clarke notes the method, an allegory left uninterpreted until its very last line. The uncircumcised language introduced here, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, becomes the roll call the next chapter completes.
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 Awakening3 voices
7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. 8 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 his beauty.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:98%@v7-8
He thought himself like the Assyrian in glory and greatness, over-topping all the trees of Eden, as the cypress does the shrubs. "But thou also shalt be brought down, with the other trees that are pleasant to the sight, as those in Eden.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"All that has been said of the Assyrian consider as said to thyself. To whom art thou so like, as thou art to the Assyrian? To none." The lesson on a gigantic scale of Eden-like privileges abused to pride and sin by the Assyrian, as in the case of the first man in Eden, ending in ruin, was to be repeated in Egypt's case.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Application to Pharaoh. The uncircumcised - The Egyptians, at least their nobles, were circumcised. Pharaoh should thus be dishonored with those whom the Egyptians themselves deemed unclean.
The words behind it
28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | <to> | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִ֨י | mi | whom? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| דָמִ֥יתָ | damita | are you like | H1819 → | 30 times |
| כָּ֛כָה | kakhah | thus | H3602 → | |
| בְּכָב֥וֹד | bekhavod | in splendor | H3519 → | 200 times |
| וּבְגֹ֖דֶל | uvegodel | and in greatness | H1433 → | 13 times |
| בַּעֲצֵי־ | baatzei- | among [the] trees of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| עֵ֑דֶן | ʾeden | Eden | H5731 → | 16 times |
| וְהוּרַדְתָּ֨ | vehuradta | and you will be brought down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| עֲצֵי־ | ʾatzei- | [the] trees of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| עֵ֜דֶן | ʾeden | Eden | H5731 → | 16 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶ֣רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| תַּחְתִּ֗ית | tachtit | lowest | H8482 → | 19 times |
| בְּת֨וֹךְ | betokh | in among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| עֲרֵלִ֤ים | ʾarelim | uncircumcised [men] | H6189 → | 35 times |
| תִּשְׁכַּב֙ | tishkav | you will lie | H7901 → | 212 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| חַלְלֵי־ | chalei- | [those] slain of | H2491 → | 94 times |
| חֶ֔רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| ה֤וּא | hu' | that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| פַרְעֹה֙ | faroh | [is] Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הֲמונ֔וֹ | hamono | multitude his | H1995 → | 83 times |
| נְאֻ֖ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִֽה׃ ס | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
אֶל־<to>
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מִ֨יwhom?
miH4310 →423 times
דָמִ֥יתָare you like
damitaH1819 →30 times
כָּ֛כָהthus
kakhahH3602 →
בְּכָב֥וֹדin splendor
bekhavodH3519 →200 times
וּבְגֹ֖דֶלand in greatness
uvegodelH1433 →13 times
בַּעֲצֵי־among [the] trees of
baatzei-H6086 →328 times
עֵ֑דֶןEden
ʾedenH5731 →16 times
וְהוּרַדְתָּ֨and you will be brought down
vehuradtaH3381 →381 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
עֲצֵי־[the] trees of
ʾatzei-H6086 →328 times
עֵ֜דֶןEden
ʾedenH5731 →16 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֶ֣רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
תַּחְתִּ֗יתlowest
tachtitH8482 →19 times
בְּת֨וֹךְin among
betokhH8432 →418 times
עֲרֵלִ֤יםuncircumcised [men]
ʾarelimH6189 →35 times
תִּשְׁכַּב֙you will lie
tishkavH7901 →212 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
חַלְלֵי־[those] slain of
chalei-H2491 →94 times
חֶ֔רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
ה֤וּאthat
hu'H1931 →1879 times
פַרְעֹה֙[is] Pharaoh
farohH6547 →274 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הֲמונ֔וֹmultitude his
hamonoH1995 →83 times
נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִֽה׃ סYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 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
Matthew 13:19When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
it leads to
- Luke 8:11–15
Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
- Matthew 13:38
The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
- Hebrews 2:1
We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- 1 John 5:18
We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.
- Matthew 4:23
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
- Luke 8:11–15
Through
Psalms 52:7“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Ecclesiastes 8:8
As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release…
- Jeremiah 17:5
Through
Ezekiel 32:19Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!
it leads to
- Ezekiel 32:21
Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol about Egypt and her allies: ‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 32:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.