Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 31: A Cedar in Lebanon
God warns Pharaoh with a history lesson. 'Whom art thou like in thy greatness?' Consider Assyria, once 'a cedar in Lebanon,' higher than every tree, its top among the clouds, sheltering all the birds and beasts and 'all great nations' in its shade. Even 'the trees of Eden... envied him.' Yet 'because thou hast lifted up thyself in height... and his heart is lifted up,' God delivered the great cedar to be cut down; the nations that sheltered under it fled, and it went down to the pit. The message to Egypt is unmistakable: if the mighty Assyrian cedar fell for its pride, so will you, 'This is Pharaoh and all his multitude.' No empire is too tall to be felled by the God who resists the proud, and every towering tree that lifts up its heart will come down.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel chapter 31, the parable of the great cedar, Assyria, as a warning to Egypt. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Higher Than All Trees
Assyria towered above the nations, sheltering all in its shade.
His Heart Lifted Up
The great tree's height bred pride, and pride sealed its doom.
Cut Down and Left
God delivered the cedar to be felled; the sheltering nations fled.
This Is Pharaoh
If mighty Assyria fell for pride, so will proud Egypt.
Whom Art Thou Like in Thy Greatness? (Ezekiel 31:1-9)
God bids Pharaoh consider Assyria, once a magnificent cedar towering above all trees, watered by the deep, sheltering all nations, more beautiful than any tree in the garden of God.
The Trees of Eden Envied Him
"And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. 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. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. 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."
Hebrew Study
"a cedar in Lebanon," erez ba-levanon (אֶרֶז בַּלְּבָנוֹן). The cedar of Lebanon was the tallest, strongest, most magnificent tree known to Israel, a natural symbol of towering greatness and majesty (as in Psalm 92:12; Amos 2:9). To picture Assyria (and, as a warning, Egypt) as such a cedar is to grant it real splendor, and to make its felling all the more striking. The mightiest tree is not too great to be cut down.
"I have made him fair," ani asitiv yapheh (אֲנִי עֲשִׂיתִיו יָפֶה). A crucial line: even Assyria's beauty and greatness were God's gift, "I have made him fair." The empire's glory was not self-generated; the Creator granted it. This is the seed of the whole lesson: what God gives, He can take, and to boast in it as one's own is the pride that precedes the fall.
Explanation
God poses a question to Pharaoh: "Whom art thou like in thy greatness?" Then He points to Assyria as an object lesson. Assyria was "a cedar in Lebanon," towering "of an high stature," its top "among the thick boughs" (the clouds). It was watered by "the deep," grew higher than "all the trees of the field," and became a shelter, "all the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs... under his shadow dwelt all great nations." It was so magnificent that even "the cedars in the garden of God could not hide him," and "all the trees of Eden... envied him."
The description is deliberately dazzling, granting Assyria every superlative of greatness. But two quiet truths are planted in it. First, the source of the cedar's greatness was outside itself: "the waters made him great," and above all, "I have made him fair." The empire's glory was God's gift, not its own achievement. Second, the imagery of the shade-tree sheltering the nations recalls the kingdom-tree of Ezekiel 17 and Daniel 4, greatness that could have been a blessing, but which, as the next verses show, became an occasion for pride. The taller the tree, the greater the fall when pride sets in.
Gospel Focus
"I have made him fair." Even the greatness of empires is God's gift, not their own doing, and this humbles every boast. "There is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13:1); the LORD "increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again" (Job 12:23). What is true of empires is true of us: every gift, talent, and success is received, "what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" (1 Corinthians 4:7). The sheltering shade-tree also points, by contrast, to a greater and lasting kingdom. Where Assyria's shade collapsed, the kingdom God plants in Christ, the mustard-seed grown to a tree where "the birds of the air" lodge (Matthew 13:32), never falls. The gospel invites us to find our shelter not under the towering trees of human power, which God can fell in a day, but under the everlasting reign of the King whose kingdom "shall never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44).
Because His Heart Is Lifted Up (Ezekiel 31:10-14)
Because the great tree exalted itself and its heart was lifted up in pride, God delivered it to be cut down by the mighty; a warning that no tree, however tall, should exalt itself, for all go down to death.
All Delivered Unto Death
"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit."
Hebrew Study
"his heart is lifted up," ram levavo (רָם לְבָבוֹ). The same diagnosis as the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2, 17): the heart "raised high" with pride. Height became haughtiness. It is the recurring sin that topples the great, "an high look, and a proud heart... is sin" (Proverbs 21:4); "before destruction the heart of man is haughty" (Proverbs 18:12). Greatness is not the sin; the lifted-up heart is.
"to the end that none... exalt themselves," lemaan asher lo yigbehu (לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יִגְבְּהוּ). God states the purpose of the great tree's fall: to teach all the other trees not to exalt themselves, since "they are all delivered unto death." The felling of Assyria is a sermon to every proud nation and person: however tall you grow, you will go down to the pit like all the "children of men." Mortality is the great leveller of pride.
Explanation
The turning point is pride: "Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height... and his heart is lifted up in his height." The very greatness God had given became the occasion of arrogance. So God acted: "I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen" (Babylon), "I have driven him out for his wickedness." The great cedar was "cut off," its branches fallen "upon the mountains and in all the valleys," and, tellingly, "all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him." The nations that sheltered under the empire abandoned it the moment it fell. Human greatness commands loyalty only as long as it stands.
God names the lesson plainly: the tree fell "to the end that none of all the trees... exalt themselves for their height... for they are all delivered unto death." The felling of mighty Assyria is a warning to every proud power, Egypt included, and to every proud heart: no matter how high you rise, you are mortal, and pride only guarantees a harder fall. All the "trees," however tall, "go down to the pit." Death is the great equalizer that exposes the folly of the lifted-up heart.
Gospel Focus
The great cedar fell for one reason, "his heart is lifted up", and that felling was meant to teach "that none... exalt themselves." This is the steady drumbeat of Scripture: "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble" (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5); "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD" (Proverbs 16:5). Pride is the sin that guarantees a fall, and its cure is the humility of Christ, who "humbled himself" and was exalted (Philippians 2:8-9). The reminder that "they are all delivered unto death" is a call to number our days and walk humbly, for no earthly height outlasts the grave. But the gospel offers what no towering tree could: One who went down into death and rose, conquering the pit, so that those humbled under His hand are lifted up to life. "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:6). The proud tree falls and stays fallen; the humble in Christ are raised.
This Is Pharaoh and All His Multitude (Ezekiel 31:15-18)
When the great cedar went down to the grave, God made the nations shake and mourn; and He drives home the point to Egypt: you too, for all your glory, will be brought down to the pit like Assyria.
Thou Shalt Be Brought Down
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. 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."
Hebrew Study
"the grave," "hell," sheol (שְׁאוֹל). The realm of the dead, the underworld to which all mortals descend. The KJV renders sheol here both as "the grave" and as "hell." The towering cedar that reached "among the thick boughs" is brought down to this lowest place, "the nether parts of the earth."
"the pit," bor (בּוֹר). The word the KJV renders "the pit," standing alongside sheol for the same underworld to which all mortals descend. The higher the pride, the lower the descent; the loftiest tree ends in the deepest pit.
"This is Pharaoh and all his multitude," zeh Paroh ve-khol-hamono (זֶה פַרְעֹה וְכָל־הֲמוֹנוֹ). The parable is applied without disguise: the fate of Assyria is the fate of Egypt. Pharaoh, for all his glory, will lie among the slain. The lesson could not be plainer: what happened to the greatest empire will happen to the next proud power, and to every heart that will not humble itself before God.
Explanation
The chapter closes with the descent of the great cedar to the grave, an event so momentous that God "caused a mourning" and "made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall." Assyria, the choicest of the "trees of Eden," went down "to hell with them that descend into the pit," and those who leaned on it ("they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow") went down with it. The mightiest empire of its age lay among the slain.
Then God turns the whole parable directly on Egypt: "To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down." The unmistakable conclusion: "This is Pharaoh and all his multitude." Egypt is no more exempt from the fate of pride than Assyria was. However glorious, however tall, Egypt too would be "brought down... unto the nether parts of the earth." The pattern of history and the verdict of God are the same: proud powers rise, exalt themselves, and are felled and forgotten. Only the humble, and the kingdom of God, endure.
Gospel Focus
The towering cedar "brought down... unto the nether parts of the earth" is the destiny of all proud human greatness apart from God: the loftiest tree ends in the deepest pit. "Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish" (Psalm 49:20). But the gospel proclaims One who was "brought down" not for His own pride but to save the proud and perishing. Christ "descended first into the lower parts of the earth" (Ephesians 4:9), entering death itself, and then "ascended up far above all heavens" (Ephesians 4:10), so that He now holds "the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18). Where Assyria and Egypt went down to the pit and stayed, Jesus went down and rose in triumph, "leading captivity captive," and opens the way of life to all who humble themselves in Him. The lesson of the fallen cedar is not despair but invitation: do not lift up your heart and be felled with the proud, but bow low before the One who was brought down for you and raised again, that He might raise you too.
Chapter 31 in Review
Ezekiel 31 warns Egypt with the fall of Assyria. "Whom art thou like in thy greatness?" Consider the great cedar, Assyria, higher than all trees, sheltering all nations, so magnificent that even "the trees of Eden... envied him", yet all its greatness was God's gift, "I have made him fair." Because "his heart is lifted up in his height," God delivered the cedar to be cut down; the nations that sheltered under it fled, and it went down to the pit, "to the end that none... exalt themselves, for they are all delivered unto death." Then God applies it directly: "This is Pharaoh and all his multitude." Egypt, no less than Assyria, would be brought down for its pride.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter is a sustained sermon against pride. The greatness of empires, and all our gifts, is received from God, not self-made, "what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" The lifted-up heart is the sin that fells the tallest tree; "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." And death is the great leveller that exposes the folly of every proud height, for the loftiest tree ends in the deepest pit. Yet the gospel turns the parable to hope: Christ was "brought down... into the lower parts of the earth," conquered the pit, and now holds "the keys of hell and of death," so that all who humble themselves in Him are lifted up to life. Do not be felled with the proud; bow low before the Savior who was brought down for you and raised again.
- The greatness of empires is God's gift, not self-made: "I have made him fair" (31:9; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Romans 13:1).
- The lifted-up heart is the sin that fells the tallest tree (31:10; Proverbs 18:12; Ezekiel 28:17).
- The fall of the great is a warning that "none... exalt themselves," for all die (31:14; James 4:6).
- Human greatness commands loyalty only while it stands; the sheltered flee when it falls (31:12).
- The loftiest tree ends in the deepest pit; death levels all pride (31:16, 18; Psalm 49:20).
- Christ was "brought down" to death and rose, holding "the keys of hell and of death," raising the humble (31:18; Ephesians 4:9-10; Revelation 1:18).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you recognize your gifts and successes as God's making, or take credit as if self-made?
- Where might your heart be "lifted up" in pride, setting you up for a fall?
- Are you sheltering under "trees" of human power that God could fell, rather than under His kingdom?
- How does Christ's descent and victory over the pit turn the warning against pride into hope?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. The cedar of Lebanon as a symbol of majesty is Psalm 92:12; Amos 2:9; the shelter-tree parallels Ezekiel 17:23; Daniel 4:10-12. That greatness is God-given is Romans 13:1; Job 12:23; 1 Corinthians 4:7. The "lifted up" heart of pride (verse 10) echoes Ezekiel 28:2, 17; Proverbs 16:5; 18:12; God resisting the proud is James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5. Death as the leveller of pride is Psalm 49:20. Sheol/"the pit" (verses 15-18) is the realm of the dead; Christ's descent and victory are Ephesians 4:9-10 and Revelation 1:18; the humble exalted is 1 Peter 5:6; Philippians 2:8-9. The enduring kingdom contrasted with fallen empires is Daniel 2:44 and Matthew 13:32. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Assyria the towering cedar, envied by the trees of Eden, made great by God: Ezekiel 31:1-9; Romans 13:1; 1 Corinthians 4:7.
- Cut down for the lifted-up heart, a warning that none exalt themselves: Ezekiel 31:10-14; James 4:6; Proverbs 18:12.
- Brought down to the pit; "This is Pharaoh"; Christ's descent and victory: Ezekiel 31:15-18; Psalm 49:20; Ephesians 4:9-10; Revelation 1:18.