查經資料大全

 

| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index |

 

Ezekiel Chapter Thirty-one                            

 

Ezekiel 31

Chapter Contents

The glory of Assyria. (1-9) Its fall and the like for Egypt. (10-18)

Commentary on Ezekiel 31:1-9

(Read Ezekiel 31:1-9)

The falls of others both into sin and ruin warn us not to be secure or high-minded. The prophet is to show an instance of one whom the king of Egypt resembled in greatness the Assyrian compared to a stately cedar. Those who excel others make themselves the objects of envy; but the blessings of the heavenly paradise are not liable to such alloy. The utmost security that any creature can give is but like the shadow of a tree a scanty and slender protection. But let us flee to God for protection there we shall be safe. His hand must be owned in the rising of the great men of the earth and we must not envy them. Though worldly people may seem to have firm prosperity yet it only seems so.

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.

── Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on Ezekiel

 

Ezekiel 31

Verse 2

[2] Son of man speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

His multitude — His numerous subjects.

Verse 3

[3] 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.

A cedar — Like the most goodly cedar for strength and beauty.

Verse 4

[4] 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.

The waters — Cedars grow great by the water-courses.

The deep — The sea sent out her waters which gave being to the rivers that watered him.

His plants — The provinces of this mighty kingdom that were like plants about a great tree.

All the trees — To all his subjects.

Verse 5

[5] 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 — All kind of men nobles merchants husbandmen.

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.

Verse 8

[8] 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.

The cedars — The greatest kings.

Garden of God — In the most fruitful gardens.

Hide — Could not ever top and shade him.

The fir-trees — Lesser kings and kingdoms were not equal to his boughs.

Nor any tree — All summed up none like him in all the kingdoms of the world.

Verse 11

[11] 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.

Him — The proud king of Assyria Sardanapalus.

The mighty one — Arbaces who first struck at the root of this Cedar might well be styled the mighty one of the heathen since he could bring together four hundred thousand of Medes Persians Babylonians and Arabians.

Verse 12

[12] 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.

Strangers — Foreigners.

Verse 14

[14] 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.

To the end — All this is designed to be a warning to mortals.

All the trees — The emperors kings or flourishing states.

By the waters — Planted most commodiously and furnished most abundantly with power and wealth.

The children of men — As common men of no quality or distinction.

Verse 15

[15] 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.

He — The king of Assyria.

A mourning — There was much lamentation.

Fainted — Probably there were portentous signs in the sea and great waters and the rivers and among the trees.

Verse 16

[16] 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.

Shake — All that heard the noise of his fall trembled at it.

Cast him down — Brought the king and kingdom as a dead man to the grave among them that before were dead and buried.

All the trees — All kings and particularly the greatest.

All that drink water — Enjoyed great power riches and glory.

Comforted — He speaks to the dead with allusion to the manner of the living who rejoice to see the proud brought low.

Verse 17

[17] 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.

They also — His neighbouring kings.

Hell — Perished with him and went to those whom God had slain for their pride and wickedness.

They that were his arm — His loyal and faithful subjects and friends on whom he relied and by whom he acted.

Verse 18

[18] 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.

Yet — Thou shalt be like them in thy fall.

Thou shalt lie — As unclean despised loathsome and under a curse.

This is — This will be their end.

── John WesleyExplanatory Notes on Ezekiel

 

31 Chapter 31

 

Verses 1-18

Ezekiel 31:1-18

The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon.

The cedar in Lebanon

I. The soul that will not grow down must be cut down. Trees that are to stand the storm must send their roots deep into the earth. A man that is to face successfully the storms of life must have a downward growth of humility and faith. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

II. The true teacher of man is greater than a monarch whose position only gives him power. Pharaoh must go to school to Ezekiel. A man is more than a king. (A London Minister.)


Verses 1-18

Ezekiel 31:1-18

The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon.

The cedar in Lebanon

I. The soul that will not grow down must be cut down. Trees that are to stand the storm must send their roots deep into the earth. A man that is to face successfully the storms of life must have a downward growth of humility and faith. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

II. The true teacher of man is greater than a monarch whose position only gives him power. Pharaoh must go to school to Ezekiel. A man is more than a king. (A London Minister.)


Verse 17

Ezekiel 31:17

They . . . that dwelt under His shadow in the midst of the heathen.

Under God's shadow among the heathen

Whatever may be the primary meaning of these words they have a very blessed application to those who have gone forth from so many Christian families into heathen lands. For no choice of their own and simply in obedience to their King's command hundreds of our sons and daughters have gone forth to dwell in the midst of the heathen. They have taken up their home amid conditions which they would not have chosen had it not been for the constraining love of Christ and the imperative need of dying men; and as fond relatives and friends regard their lot from a distance they are often filled with anxious forebodings. May they not be involved in some sudden riot and sacrificed to a frenzy of hate? May not the sanitary conditions and methods of life be seriously detrimental to their health or morals? "Oh if only I could be there " you sigh. Hush! Christ is there; as near them as He is to you casting over them the shadow of His presence beckoning them to His secret place. He is the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land; or like the canopy of cloud that hovered over the camp of Israel by day screening it from the torrid glare. Do not fear to trust your loved ones to the immortal Lover who fainteth not neither is weary. The hand that would harm is arrested and paralysed when it attempts to penetrate that safe enclosure. (F. B. Meyer B. A.)

──The Biblical Illustrator

 

31 Chapter 31

 

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 31

This chapter contains a confirmation of the preceding prophecy of the ruin of the king of Egypt by the example of the king of Assyria to whom he was like in grandeur and pride and would be in his fall. The time of the prophecy is observed Ezekiel 31:1 the prophet is ordered to give the following relation to the king of Egypt Ezekiel 31:2 in which the king of Assyria is compared to a large and flourishing cedar for the extent of his dominions the prosperous state of his empire and his exaltation above all other princes which drew upon him their envy Ezekiel 31:3 wherefore because of his pride his heart being lifted up with these things Ezekiel 31:10 ruin came upon him; which is described by the instruments and manner of it and the effects following it; mourning and fear in some solace and comfort to others and destruction to his associates Ezekiel 31:11 wherefore Pharaoh is called upon to consider all this who was like to him in greatness and pride and should have the like fate with him; nor could his greatness any more secure him than it did the Assyrian monarch Ezekiel 31:18.

Verse 1

And it came to pass in the eleventh year .... Of Zedekiah's reign and Jeconiah's captivity:

in the third month in the first day of the month: the month Sivan which began on the twentieth of our May and answers to part of May and part of June; this was about seven weeks after the former prophecy and about five weeks before the destruction of Jerusalem; according to Bishop UsherF14Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3416. this was on the nineteenth of June on the first day of the week in 3416 A.M. or before Christ 588:

that the word of the Lord came unto me saying; as follows:

Verse 2

Son of man speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt .... To Pharaohhophra the then reigning king; not to him personally by word of mouth for the prophet was now in Chaldea; but by delivering out a prophecy concerning him and which he might have an opportunity of sending to him:

and to his multitude; the multitude of his subjects of which he boasted and in whom he trusted:

whom art thou like in thy greatness? look over all the records of time and into all the empires kingdoms and states that have been; draw a comparison between thyself and the greatest potentate that ever was; fancy thyself to be equal to him; this will not secure thee from ruin and destruction; for as they have been humbled and are fallen so wilt thou be: pitch for instance on the Assyrian monarch whose empire has been the most ancient extensive and flourishing and yet now crushed; and as thou art like him in greatness at least thou thinkest so so thou art in pride and wilt be in thine end; to assure of which is the drift of the following account of the king of Assyria.

Verse 3

Behold the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon .... Here grew the tallest most stately broad and flourishing ones. This sense is that he was as one of them; comparable to one for his exaltation and dignity; for the largeness of his dominion the flourishing circumstances of it and its long duration; that empire having lasted from the times of Nimrod unto a few years of the present time; for this is to be understood either of the monarchy itself or of Esarhaddon; or rather of Chynilidanus or Saracus the last king of it. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it the "cypariss" in Lebanon; but not that but the cedar grew there and which best suits the comparison:

with fair branches; meaning not children nor nobles nor subjects; but provinces many and large which were subject to this monarch:

and with a shadowing shroud; power dominion authority a mighty army sufficient to protect all that were under his government and subject to it:

and of an high stature: exalted above all the kings and kingdoms of the earth:

and his top was among the thick boughs; his kingly power headship and dominion was over a multitude of petty princes and states comparable to the thick boughs and branches of a tree: or "among the clouds"; as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it; above the heights of which the Assyrian monarch attempted to ascend Isaiah 14:14.

Verse 4

The waters made him great .... The waters of the river Tigris near to which stood the city of Nineveh the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy; the traffic brought by which river made it rich and great and the whole empire and the king of it:

the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants; the vast trade by sea the profits and commodities of which were conveyed through various rivers which ran about the provinces of the empire which were as plants in a field; and by which they were enriched and the whole empire and the king of it were raised to a prodigious pitch of wealth and power:

and sent out little rivers to all the trees of the field; so that the common people comparable to the trees of the field for their number and usefulness all received profit and advantage hereby: or else by waters and the deep may be meant the multitude of people as in Revelation 17:15 which increased his kingdom filled his provinces supplied his colonies and enlarged his power and riches. The Targum is

"by the people he was multiplied; by his auxiliaries he became strong; he subjected kings under his government; and his governors he appointed over all the provinces of the earth.'

Verse 5

Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field .... His majesty grandeur and glory were advanced above all princes nobles and people; all ranks and degrees of men let them be compared to trees taller or lower:

and his boughs were multiplied and his branches became long; the provinces of his empire became more numerous and were spread far and near and reached to distant countries:

because of the multitude of waters when he shot forth; either the vast number of people which were daily increasing and were sent out to people distant colonies newly subdued or planted; or because of the great traffic which was carried on in different parts and the advantages arising from it. The Targum is

"therefore he was lifted up in his strength above all the kings of the earth and his army was multiplied and his auxiliaries prevailed over many people through his victories'

Verse 6

All the fowls of the heavens made their nests in his boughs .... People from all parts of the world under the whole heavens flocked to his dominions and settled themselves in one province or another; promising themselves protection prosperity and peace under his government:

and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young; even people of a more savage disposition being either conquered by him and placed in his provinces; or coming thither of their own accord took up their residence there built houses planted vineyards married wives begat children and settled their families there:

and under his shadow dwelt all great nations; under his protection care and government many large kingdoms and states were; yea all were either subject to him or sought to be his friends and allies: this explains the above figurative expressions. The Targum is

"by his army he subdued all the strong towers; and under his governors he subjected all the provinces of the earth; and in the shadow of his kingdom dwelt all the numerous people.'

Verse 7

Thus was he fair in his greatness .... Amiable lovely delightful to look upon in the greatness of his majesty in his royal glory and dignity:

in the length of his branches; in the extent of his empire and the provinces of it:

for his root was by great waters; his kingdom was well established firmly rooted among a multitude of people; from whom he had a large revenue to support his throne and government and the dignity of it; by tribute taxes customs and presents; and through the large trade and traffic of his subjects in different parts from whence he received great profit and advantage. The Targum is

"and he became victorious by his auxiliaries by the multitude of his mighty ones so that his terror was upon many people.'

Verse 8

The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him .... That is could not rise so high as this cedar and overtop him and obscure his glory; even those that were most excellent which grew in Eden near to which Babylon stood and where a mighty king dwelt. The sense is that the greatest kings and potentates in the whole world which is like a garden planted by the Lord were not equal to the king of Assyria and much less exceeded him in grandeur wealth and power:

the fir trees were not like his boughs: lesser kings and princes comparable to fir trees for the beauty regularity order and flourishing condition of their kingdoms; yet these were but petty states and not to be compared even with the provinces of the king of Assyria:

and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; lesser states still: which though well set and well spread and full of people yet not answerable to some countries that were in the provinces that belonged to the Assyrian empire:

not any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty; no king prince or potentate whatever in the whole world was to be compared to him for royal majesty and greatness. The Targum is

"mighty kings could not prevail against him because of the strength of his power which he had from the Lord; rulers could not stand before his army and mighty men could not prevail against his auxiliaries because of the strength of power he had from the Lord; there is none like to him in his strength.'

Verse 9

I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches .... Or provinces the extensiveness of his dominions: all his power and strength riches and wealth grandeur and glory and the vast dominions he was possessed of were all from the Lord; as whatever kings have are though they are too apt to ascribe it to themselves; but all are from him by whom kings reign:

so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied him; all the kings of the earth though they dared not openly speak against him or oppose him; yet they inwardly grieved at and secretly grudged his grandeur and majesty superior to theirs and wished themselves in his stead; and could gladly have done anything were it in their power to eclipse his glory and bring him lower. This is the case of all that are in any eminence or are conspicuous to others or in any exalted station above others be it what it will; whether they have superior gifts and endowments of mind; or greater riches and larger possessions; or are in high places of honour trust and profit. The Targum is

"I have made him beautiful by the multitude of his mighty ones; and all the kings of the east trembled before him because of the strength of his power which he had from the Lord.'

Verse 10

Therefore thus saith the Lord God .... Having described the greatness of the Assyrian monarch; now follows the account of his fall and the cause of it pride:

because thou hast lifted up thyself in height; this is either an address to Pharaoh king of Egypt who though he did not rise up so high as the Assyrian monarch in glory and grandeur; yet he lifted up himself and thought himself superior to any; which reason he must be brought down: or the words are directed to the Assyrian monarch by a change of person frequent in Scripture; who though he was raised by the Lord to the height of honour and dignity he was yet ascribed it to himself:

and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs; the multitude of provinces over which he became head and governor; See Gill on Ezekiel 31:3

and his heart is lifted up in his height; with pride insolence and contempt of God and men; of which see the instances in Isaiah 10:8.

Verse 11

I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the Heathen .... Or into the hand of the mightiest of the nationsF15ביד אל גויים "in manum fortissimi gentium" Pagninus Junius & Tremellius Polanus; "potentissimi" Piscator. ; the mightiest prince among them. Some understand this of Arbaces the Mede by whom Sardanapalus had been defeated long before this time: others of Merodachbaladan king Babylon by whom Esarhaddon the Assyrian monarch was vanquished; or rather Nebuchadnezzar who was called Nabopolassar; who in the first yearF16Seder Olam Rabba p. 69. of his reign in conjunction with Cyaxares king of Media took Nineveh the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy; and this was by the appointment of God and under the direction of his providence and through the success he gave to the arms of these princes according to his own decrees and prophecies. Some render it "into the hand of the god of the nations"F17"In manum dei gentium" Montanus Starckius; "deo gentium" Castalio. ; yet meaning either Cyaxares or Nebuchadnezzar; so called because of their great power and might and which they had from the Lord:

he shall surely deal with him; or "in doing he shall do to him"F18עשו יעשה לו "faciendo faciet ei" Pagninus Montanus; "faciendo faciebat ipsi" Starckius. ; he shall do with him as he pleases he shall easily manage him though so powerful; and deal with him according to his deserts; or as the Targum he shall take vengeance on him as he did:

I have driven him out for his wickedness; out of his court and palace; out of his royal city Nineveh; out of his kingdom and dominions; and he shall reside and reign no more there; and all this for his wickedness pride and oppression and other sins: when God strips men of their honour riches power and dominion it is because of their abuse of them; for some sin or sins or wickedness they have been guilty of both against him and men; and therefore it is but just and righteous in him to dethrone such princes and drive them from their seats.

Verse 12

And strangers the terrible of the nations have cut him off .... Cut off the boughs and branches of this cedar and cut him down to the ground; that is utterly destroyed him his empire and monarchy: these "strangers" were the Medes who lived in a country distant from Assyria; and "the terrible of the nations" the cruel and merciless Chaldeans the soldiers of the king of Babylon's army; see Ezekiel 30:11

and have left him upon the mountains like a tree cut down there and its boughs and branches lopped off which roll down from thence into the valleys and by the rivers of water signifying his depression from a high and exalted state to a very low one as follows:

and in all the valley his branches are fallen and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; signifying that many provinces and countries under his dominion were broken off and by force taken away from him; or they broke off and revolted of themselves and either set up for themselves and recovered their former power and authority; or gave up themselves to the conqueror. The Targum is

"and in all valleys his army fell and his auxiliaries were scattered by all the rivers of the land:'

and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow and have left him: those that joined themselves to his empire put themselves under his protection or sought his friendship and alliance now withdrew themselves from him and left him alone to shift for himself; as frightened birds and beasts will do when a tree is cut down and fallen in the boughs or under the shadow of which they dwelt. The Targum paraphrases it

"from the shadow of his kingdom.'

Verse 13

Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain .... Or "on his fall"F19על מפלתו "super prolapse ejus" Cocceius; "super cadivum truncum ejus" Junius & Tremellius. ; the fall of this tree: and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches as when a tree is cut down and its lopped off branches and boughs lie here and there either the birds and beasts that before dwelt in it or under it though for a while frightened away return unto it; or others come: the birds come and sit upon the boughs and pick up what they can find on them; and the beasts browse upon the branches: this may signify that even those people who before put themselves under the protection of this monarch or sought alliance with him now preyed upon his dominions; or the Medes and Babylonians the conquerors seized on the provinces of the empire and plundered them of their riches The Targum understands it literally of the fowls of the heaven and the beasts of the field feeding upon the carcasses of the slain; which is no bad sense of the passage; thus

"upon the fall of his slain all the fowls of heaven have dwelt and upon the carcasses of his army all the beasts of the field have rested.'

Verse 14

To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height .... The end proposed by the Lord in the destruction of the king of Assyria and the use to be made of it is this; that the kings of the earth take warning hereby who rule over a multitude of people comparable to waters and who abound in riches and wealth; that they are not elated with pride and vanity because of their exalted estate their grandeur and dignity; and do not behave insolently against God on whom they depend; nor haughtily and in an oppressive manner towards their own subjects over whom they rule:

neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs; affect universal monarchy as he did; and set up themselves over all kingdoms and states as he had over them and make all subject to them:

neither their trees stand up in their height that drink water; that is kings and potentates who rule over the people and are supplied and supported by them in their exalted stations by the tribute and taxes they pay them and so abound in riches and power should not trust in the height of honour and power they are raised to and treat contemptuously God and man; but consider what they are that they are but men and are in slippery places where there is no standing long and especially when death comes as follows:

for they are delivered unto death in the nether parts of the earth; they are mortal by nature as other men; they are appointed to die and will be delivered into the hands of death when the time is come who will not spare them because of their crowns and sceptres; and when they will be laid in the grave in the lowest parts of the earth who used to sit upon elevated thrones of state:

in the midst of the children of men with those that go down to the pit; the grave where they are upon a level with the poorest and meanest of their subjects. The Targum is

"that all the kings of the east might not be lifted up with their strength nor exercise tyranny over the kingdoms; nor all that hold a kingdom lift up themselves in their own strength for all are delivered unto death &c.'

Verse 15

Thus saith the Lord God in the day when he went down to the grave .... The Assyrian monarch; when his monarchy was destroyed and he ceased to be king and was stripped of all his majesty power and authority and was as one dead and laid in the grave and buried:

I caused a mourning: that is for him in the waters and among the trees among the people and the kings of the earth as follows:

I covered the deep for him; with mourning with thick darkness which set him up on high Ezekiel 31:4

and I restrained the floods thereof and the great waters were stayed; which made him great Ezekiel 31:4 signifying by all this that the kingdoms of the world comparable to the sea of which his monarchy consisted and all the inhabitants and people of them comparable to floods and great waters were affected with the fall of this great monarch and thrown into consternation by it; not knowing what the event of things would be stood still and knew not what course to take; all business was stopped especially all traffic by sea and all trade and commerce every where; a stagnation of everything for a while:

and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him; where he was a cedar Ezekiel 31:3 this may respect the whole empire he was head of particularly the kingdom of Syria on the borders of which Lebanon was; and was a part of the Assyrian empire which must mourn and be concerned at the fall of it:

and all the trees of the field fainted for him: all the kings of the earth that were in alliance with him or subject to him trembled for fear that their destruction would be next; or as doubtful and concerned what would be their condition under the yoke of another. The Targum is

"tribulation covered the world and the provinces were forsaken and many people trembled and all the kings of the people smote the shoulder because of him.'

Verse 16

I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall .... As when a large cedar was cut down and fell in Lebanon the noise of it was heard at a distance; so when this mighty monarch and monarchy fell the nations of the world and the kings of them heard of it far and near and shook through fear of what would be the consequence lest they should fall also in like manner:

when I cast him down to hell or "the grave"

with them that descend into the pit; in common with other men that die and are buried: it may refer to his subjects and soldiers that perished with him who were slain by the sword and were buried with him and he with them; no distinction being made between them:

and all the trees of Eden the choice and best of Lebanon all that drink water; the greatest kings and potentates of the world the chief and principal of the Assyrian empire; all that ruled over multitudes of people and partook of their wealth and riches and were supported in grandeur and dignity; who had been in the state of the dead before this time:

shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth; when they see so mighty a monarch depressed and brought as low as they into the same state of meanness and contempt; as it is some kind of solace for persons in distress to have partners with them: this is a poetic expression representing the dead as rejoicing to see others in the same condition with themselves. The Targum is

"all the kings of the east the governors and those that are rich in substance all that hold a kingdom are comforted in the lower part of the earth.'

Verse 17

They also went down to hell with him .... To the grave with him; many of his nobles princes generals soldiers and subjects:

unto them that be slain with the sword; to be buried and lie with them who had fallen by the sword as a just punishment for their iniquities:

and they that were his arm; either that leaned on his arm were dependents upon him; or his ministers his instruments whom he employed under him as his deputies to govern the several provinces that belonged to him; or rather his allies and auxiliaries who helped and assisted him on occasion:

that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the Heathen; in the midst of the nations subject to the Assyrian empire; such who put themselves under the protection of it lived comfortably under it and continued with it to the last; these shared the same fate as that did. The Targum is

"his governors are broken whom he strengthened in the midst of the kingdom.'

Verse 18

To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden?.... Among all the kings and potentates of the earth; pitch on whom you will say which of them all even the greatest of them for majesty and glory for wealth and riches power and authority and extent of dominion you are equal to; name the king of Assyria if you please before described though you are not equal to him; and if you were this would not secure you from ruin; since as great as he was he fell and so will you: this is said to Pharaoh king of Egypt and is an application of the preceding parable to him; suggesting that let him be as high as any ever was or he could imagine himself to be:

yet shall thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth; the grave and lie in the same depressed and humble state as the greatest monarchs that ever were on earth do:

thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised; the wicked as the Targum; the uncircumcised in heart; who belong not to God or his people and have no communion with either but are shut out of the kingdom of heaven and have their portion with devils and damned spirits:

with them that be slain by the sword; in a way of judgment for their sins:

this is Pharaoh and all his multitude saith the Lord God; this account represents Pharaoh his grandeur his pride and his ruin; this shows what will be the end of him and of his numerous subjects. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it "so will be Pharaoh" &c. in like manner will he fall and all his people with him; for the Lord God has said it and it shall assuredly come to pass. The Targum is

"to whom art thou like now in glory and greatness among the kings of the east? and thou shall be brought down with the kings of the east into the lower part of the earth; in the midst of sinners thou shalt sleep with those that are slain by the sword; this is Pharaoh and all his multitude saith the Lord God.'

── John Gill