10 'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD , "Because e it is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds , and its heart is haughty in its loftiness , 11 therefore I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations ; he will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven it away . 12 " Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; on the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land . And all the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shade and left it. 13 "On its ruin all the birds of the heavens will dwell , and all the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches 14 so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature , nor set their top among the clouds , nor their well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height . For they have all been given over to death , to the earth beneath , among the sons of men , with those who go down to the pit ." 15 'Thus says the Lord GOD , "On the day when it went down to Sheol I caused lamentations ; I closed the deep over it and held back its rivers . And its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. 16 "I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I made it go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit ; and all the well-watered trees of Eden , the choicest and best of Lebanon , were comforted in the earth beneath . 17 "They also went down with it to Sheol to those who were slain by the sword ; and those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations . 18 "To which among the trees of Eden are you thus equal in glory and greatness ? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth beneath ; you will lie in the midst of the uncircumcised , with those who were slain by the sword . So is Pharaoh and all his hordes !"' declares the Lord GOD ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 31:10-18
Commentary on Ezekiel 31:10-18
(Read Ezekiel 31:10-18)
The king of Egypt resembled the king of Assyria in his greatness: here we see he resembles him in his pride. And he shall resemble him in his fall. His own sin brings his ruin. None of our comforts are ever lost, but what have been a thousand times forfeited. When great men fall, many fall with them, as many have fallen before them. The fall of proud men is for warning to others, to keep them humble. See how low Pharaoh lies; and see what all his pomp and pride are come to. It is best to be a lowly tree of righteousness, yielding fruit to the glory of God, and to the good of men. The wicked man is often seen flourishing like the cedar, and spreading like the green bay tree, but he soon passes away, and his place is no more found. Let us then mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.