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Ezekiel 31:6

in Ezekiel 31

All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young; and under its shadow dwelt all great nations.

KJV

All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.

This verse in Ezekiel 31

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Made their nests - Settled their habitations. In his boughs - In his kingdom, in the cities and towns of it. All great nations - No nation that was great at that time, but, sought the friendship of this kingdom.

This site's exposition

a cedar in Lebanon

on Ezekiel 31:3-6

Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, fed by waters that ran to every tree of the field. Gill and Clarke both take the image from Assyria's river-fed empire, the Tigris standing behind the waters that made him great. The allegory is chosen because Egypt's own strength runs on a river.

This site's exposition

all the great nations lived in its shade

The birds and beasts are the peoples under Assyria's rule. Shade was an ancient figure for a king's protection, as when the bramble of Judges 9:15 offers the trees refuge in its shade. Daniel 4:12 gives Nebuchadnezzar's tree the same sheltered birds and beasts.

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 Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Even the bramble, if he be anointed king, invites the trees to come and trust in his shadow, Judg. ix. But the utmost security that any creature, even the king of Assyria himself, can give, is but like the shadow of a tree, which is but a scanty and slender protection, and leaves a man many ways exposed.
All the fowls of the heavens made their nests in his boughs,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

fowls . . . made . . . nests in . . . boughs--so Eze 17:23; The gospel kingdom shall gather all under its covert, for their good and for the glory of God, which the world kingdoms did for evil and for self-aggrandizement (Mt 13:32).

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

The words behind it

16 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.

  • בִּסְעַפֹּתָ֤יוin boughs its

    bisapotavH5589 →

  • קִֽנְנוּ֙they made nests

    kinuH7077 →

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • ע֣וֹף<the> bird of

    ofH5775 →71 times

  • הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens

    hashamayimH8064 →421 times

  • וְתַ֤חַתand under

    vetachatH8478 →505 times

  • פֹּֽארֹתָיו֙branches its

    porotavH6288 →7 times

  • יָֽלְד֔וּthey gave birth

    yalduH3205 →496 times

  • כֹּ֖לevery

    kolH3605 →5413 times

  • חַיַּ֣ת<the> animal of

    chaiyatH2416 →498 times

  • הַשָּׂדֶ֑הthe field

    hasadehH7704 →334 times

  • וּבְצִלּוֹ֙and in shade its

    uvetziloH6738 →49 times

  • יֵֽשְׁב֔וּthey dwelt

    yeshevuH3427 →1079 times

  • כֹּ֖לall

    kolH3605 →5413 times

  • גּוֹיִ֥םnations

    goyimH1471 →561 times

  • רַבִּֽים׃great

    rabimH7227 →454 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

    Matthew 13:32

    Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

    it leads to

    • Daniel 4:12

      Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and…

    • Ezekiel 17:23–24

      I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking…

    • Acts 21:20

      When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

    • Daniel 2:44–45

      In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms…

    • Romans 15:18–19

      I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,

  • Through

    Ezekiel 17:23

    I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking…

    it leads to

    • Matthew 13:32

      Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

    • Isaiah 2:2

      In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to…

  • Through

    Daniel 4:12

    Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and…

    it leads to

    • Luke 13:19

      It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

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 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.