Ezekiel 31:9
in Ezekiel 31I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I made it fair by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.
KJV
I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
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This verse in Ezekiel 31
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(2.) He seemed to have a good bottom. This cedar was not like the heath in the desert, made to inhabit the parched places ( Jer. xvii. 6 ); it was not a root in a dry ground, Isa. liii.
This site's exposition
in the length of its limbs
on Ezekiel 31:7-9
His beauty is stated three times, 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, Assyria measured against paradise itself and found to outshine every tree God planted there.
This site's exposition
I made it beautiful with its many
God claims Assyria's beauty as His own work. Isaiah 10:5 calls Assyria the rod of the LORD's anger, and Isaiah 10:15 mocks the axe that boasts against the one who swings it. The gift became the ground of the boast.
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
Note, It is the unhappiness of those who in any thing excel others that thereby they make themselves the objects of envy; and who can stand before envy? He was serviceable, as far as a standing growing cedar could be, and that was only by his shadow (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches,....
His large dominions were well managed, like a spreading tree that is kept in shape and good order by the skill of the gardener, so as to be very beautiful to the eye. His government was as amiable in the eyes of wise men as it was admirable in the eyes of all men.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Because you grew haughty with your height So I said to Assyria.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Therefore, thus said Hashem Elokim: Because you grew high in stature, and placed his lordship over kingdoms, and his heart grew haughty in his strength,
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָפֶ֣ה | yapeh | beautiful | H3303 → | 42 times |
| עֲשִׂיתִ֔יו | ʾasitiv | I made it | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בְּרֹ֖ב | bero | in [the] abundance of | H7230 → | 149 times |
| דָּֽלִיּוֹתָ֑יו | daliyotav | branches its | H1808 → | 8 times |
| וַיְקַנְאֻ֙הוּ֙ | vaykanuhu | and they envied it | H7065 → | 34 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲצֵי־ | ʾatzei- | [the] trees of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| עֵ֔דֶן | ʾeden | Eden | H5731 → | 16 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּגַ֥ן | began | [were] in [the] garden of | H1588 → | 42 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ ס | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
יָפֶ֣הbeautiful
yapehH3303 →42 times
עֲשִׂיתִ֔יוI made it
ʾasitivH6213 →2628 times
בְּרֹ֖בin [the] abundance of
beroH7230 →149 times
דָּֽלִיּוֹתָ֑יוbranches its
daliyotavH1808 →8 times
וַיְקַנְאֻ֙הוּ֙and they envied it
vaykanuhuH7065 →34 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֲצֵי־[the] trees of
ʾatzei-H6086 →328 times
עֵ֔דֶןEden
ʾedenH5731 →16 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּגַ֥ן[were] in [the] garden of
beganH1588 →42 times
הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ ס<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 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
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
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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
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
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 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 Patrick Fairbairn, Ezekiel and the Book of His Prophecy.