Ezekiel 31
DOYLYEzekiel 31:13
- Upon his ruin &c.] As the birds sit upon the boughs of a tree cut down, and the beasts browse upon its branches, so his dominions shall be a prey to the conquerors; or his armies that are slain shall become meat to the birds and beasts. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 31:14
- To the end &c.] To the end that none of the proud princes of the earth should hereafter dare to exalt themselves in the overweening confidence of their own strength and glory. Bp. Hall.
— all that drink water: A figurative expression for trees, which derive so much nourishment from water. Abp. Newcome.
for they are all delivered unto death, Whatever distinction there is between them and the inferior sort, death shall make them all equal, Ps. lxxvii. 7. This is more particularly intimated to Egypt, and to those other countries against which God had denounced his judgments: the same fate is here allotted to them which the Assyrian monarch had undergone. W. Lowth.
- In the day when he went down to the grave This and the following verse form a noble and elegant description of that consternation which seized the king of Assyria’s allies at the suddenness of his downfall; the same metaphor being still pursued. W. Lowth. Vol. II.
I covered the deep for him.] I caused the deep to mourn; or, I caused it to cover itself in token of grief. Grotius. The deep that nourished this fair tree (ver. 4.) is described as mourning at his downfall. W. Lowth.
- — when I cast him down to hell (or the grave) with them that descend into the pit: See chap. xxxii. 18. 21; Isa. xiv. 15.
— all the trees of Eden, — shall be comforted! The deceased princes, his allies and tributaries, described here as so many stately trees and cedars, shall feel some mitigation of their calamity, in considering, that this king, so mighty, and so powerful, is brought like themselves to the nether parts of the earth; or, that he is become their equal in the pit, in the grave, in the place of darkness, from which all distinctions of quality and condition are entirely banished. Colnet, W. Lowth.
- — his arm, His auxiliaries: the nations that composed his strength, and lived under his protection. W. Lowth.
Ezekiel 31:18
- To whom art thou thus like &c.] Oh Pharaoh! thou that art thou like to the Assyrian amongst all the kings of the earth in glory and magnificence, thou shalt also be like him in thy ruin; thou with the other princes of the world shalt be brought down into the grave, and shalt be destroyed in the midst of thy fellow heathen. Bp. Hall. The latter part of ver. 2 is here resumed, and the application is directly made to Egypt. Abp. Newcome.
Chap. XXXII. ver. 2. — take up a lamentation] To 2 M A lamentation for the fearful fall of Egypt. Before CHRIST 587. a Chap. 12. 13. & 17. 20. land of thy swimming. extinguish. b Isa. 13. 10. Joel 2. 31 & 3. 15. Matt. 24. 29. of the light in heaven. dark provoke to anger, or, good.
the preceding funeral panegyrick over Assyria, the fate of which was past, Ezekiel prophetically subjoins a similar panegyrick over Egypt, though its fate was still future; making plainly here a happy variation in the figure. In the former case past events are brought down and represented as now present before our eyes; whereas, on the contrary, by this prophetic figure, future events are anticipated, and represented as already past. Abp. Newcome.
— thou art as a whale] By the original word we may fitly understand a crocodile, as hath been observed upon chap. xxix. 3, and the description that follows of this creature agrees very well to a crocodile, but cannot be applied to a whale. W. Lowth.
— and thou camest forth with thy rivers, &c.] Thou didst raise mighty armies, and lead them out against thy neighbours; see chap. xxx. 3, and the note there. By “the waters” in the next clause are intended the neighbouring people, kings, and kingdoms, whose peace and enjoyments were disturbed by the invasion of the Egyptian monarch. Poole.