Ezekiel 31:3

Ezekiel 31:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade, and of towering height, its top among the clouds.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, With fine branches that shaded the forest, And of high stature; And its top was among the thick boughs.

Context of Ezekiel 31:3

1On the first day of the third month of the eleventh year, the word of Adonai came to me saying: 2“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘Who is like you in your greatness? Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches shadowing the forest, of lofty height. Its top was in leafy branches. 4Water nourished it, the deep made it tall, with its rivers going around its planting as it sent out its water-courses to all the trees of the field. 5Therefore its height was loftier than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied and its boughs became long because of the abundant water in its shoots.

Ezekiel 31:3 word by word

הִנֵּ֨ה אַשּׁ֜וּר אֶ֣רֶז בַּלְּבָנ֗וֹן יְפֵ֥ה עָנָ֛ף וְחֹ֥רֶשׁ מֵצַ֖ל וּגְבַ֣הּ קוֹמָ֑ה וּבֵ֣ין עֲבֹתִ֔ים הָיְתָ֖ה צַמַּרְתּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold, the Assyrianאַשּׁוּר'ashshûr 'ashshûr · AssyriaH804
• a cedarאֶ֫רֶז'erez · cedarH730
• in Lebanonלְבָנוֹןlebânôn · LebanonH3844
• with fairיָפֶהyâpheh · beautifulH3303
• branchesעָנָף‛ânâph · branchH6057
• and with a shadowingצָלַלtsâlal · to shadeH6751
• shroudחֹ֫רֶשׁchôresh · woodH2793
• and of an highגָּבֹהַּgâbâhh · highH1362
• statureקוֹמָהqômâh · heightH6967
• and his topצַמֶּ֫רֶתtsammereth · treetopH6788
• was among the thick boughsעֲבֹת‛ăbôth ‛ăbôth ‛ăbôthâh · cordH5688

Cross-references for Ezekiel 31:3

• Nahum 3:1Oy , bloody city! Full of deceit, full of plunder. The prey never departs.
• Zephaniah 2:13He will stretch out his hand against the north and devastate Assyria and make Nineveh as a wasteland— dry as a desert.
• Ezekiel 17:3Say, thus says Adonai Elohim: “A great eagle with large wings and broad wings, full of feathers which had varied colors, came to Lebanon and took hold of the top of the cedar.
• Isaiah 10:33Behold, the Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot will lop off the branches with terror! So the tall ones will be cut down and the lofty ones laid low.
• Isaiah 37:24Through your servants, you have blasphemed my Lord and said: ‘With my many chariots I have climbed to the heights of the mountains, to the remotest parts of Lebanon! I cut down its tall cedars and choice cypress trees. I have gone to its farthest peak, its thickest forest.
• Daniel 4:10“I was watching the visions in my mind while on my bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, descended from heaven.
• Zechariah 11:2Wail, cypress tree! For the cedar has fallen. Those majestic ones are devastated. Wail, oaks of Bashan! For the thick forest is cut down!
• Ezekiel 31:6All the birds of the sky nested in its branches. All the beasts of the field gave birth to their young under its branches. All great nations lived under its shade.
• Judges 9:15And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If you truly are going to anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shadow; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
• Daniel 4:12Yet leave a stump with its roots in the earth, in fetters of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be damp with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 31:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar - Why is the Assyrian introduced here, when the whole chapter concerns Egypt? Bp. Lowth has shown that ארז אשור ashshur erez should be translated the tall cedar, the very stately cedar; hence there is reference to his lofty top; and all the following description belongs to Egypt, not to Assyria. But see on Ezekiel 31:11; (note).Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3-9Verses 3-9 Fifth prophecy against Egypt: a warning to Pharaoh from the fate of the Assyrians. The Assyrian empire, after having been supreme in Asia for four centuries, had been overthrown by the united forces of the Babylonians and Medes, in the year of the battle of Carchemish (605 b.c.), which had broken the power of Egypt. This gives force to the warning to Egypt from Assyria‘s fall. Ezekiel 31:4 His plants - Rather, her plantation. The water…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-4The cedar of Lebanon was a tree known for its beauty and great value. People used its wood for building, trade, and even military purposes. Assyria is compared to a tall cedar tree. Its army had once been stronger than any other army. Like a tree whose top reaches the clouds, Assyria’s power seemed greater than all others.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. He illustrates the pride and the consequent overthrow of the Assyrian, that Egypt may the better know what she must expect. cedar in Lebanon--often eighty feet high, and the diameter of the space covered by its boughs still greater: the symmetry perfect. Compare the similar image (Eze 17:3; Da 4:20-22). with a shadowing shroud--with an overshadowing thicket. top ... among ... thick boughs--rather [Hengstenberg], "among the clouds." But English Version…Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 31:3

• Cedar

In the dictionaries

• Lebanon
• Assyria, Assyrian, Assyrian Empire
• Cedar
• Egypt
• Fair
• Branch ;bough
• Forest
• Glory
• Horesh
• Isaiah

Commentaries on Ezekiel 31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings