Ezekiel 31 commentary

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.

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.

CHAPTER 31

Eze 31:1-18. The Overthrow of Egypt Illustrated by That of Assyria.

Not that Egypt was, like Assyria, utterly to cease to be, but it was, like Assyria, to lose its prominence in the empire of the world.

1. third month--two months later than the prophecy delivered in Eze 30:20.

2. Whom art thou like--The answer is, Thou art like the haughty king of Assyria; as he was overthrown by the Chaldeans, so shalt thou be by the same.

3. 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 agrees better with the Hebrew. The top, or topmost shoot, represents the king; the thick boughs, the large resources of the empire.

4. waters ... little rivers--the Tigris with its branches and "rivulets," or "conduits" for irrigation, the source of Assyria's fertility. "The deep" is the ever flowing water, never dry. Metaphorically, for Assyria's resources, as the "conduits" are her colonies.

5. when he shot forth--because of the abundant moisture which nourished him in shooting forth. But see Margin.

6. fowls ... made ... nests in ... boughs--so Eze 17:23; Da 4:12. The gospel kingdom shall gather all under its covert, for their good and for the glory of God, which the world kingdoms did for evil and for self-aggrandizement (Mt 13:32).

8. cedars ... could not hide him--could not outtop him. No other king eclipsed him.

were not like--were not comparable to.

garden of God--As in the case of Tyre (Eze 28:13), the imagery, that is applied to the Assyrian king, is taken from Eden; peculiarly appropriate, as Eden was watered by rivers that afterwards watered Assyria (Ge 2:10-14). This cedar seemed to revive in itself all the glories of paradise, so that no tree there outtopped it.

9. I ... made him--It was all due to My free grace.

10. thou ... he--The change of persons is because the language refers partly to the cedar, partly to the person signified by the cedar.

11. Here the literal supersedes the figurative.

shall surely deal with him--according to his own pleasure, and according to the Assyrian's (Sardanapalus) desert. Nebuchadnezzar is called "the mighty one" (El, a name of God), because he was God's representative and instrument of judgment (Da 2:37, 38).

12. from his shadow--under which they had formerly dwelt as their covert (Eze 31:6).

13. Birds and beasts shall insult over his fallen trunk.

14. trees by the waters--that is, that are plentifully supplied by the waters: nations abounding in resources.

stand up in their height--that is, trust in their height: stand upon it as their ground of confidence. Fairbairn points the Hebrew differently, so as for "their trees," to translate, "(And that none that drink water may stand) on themselves, (because of their greatness)." But the usual reading is better, as Assyria and the confederate states throughout are compared to strong trees. The clause, "All that drink water," marks the ground of the trees' confidence "in their height," namely, that they have ample sources of supply. Maurer, retaining the same Hebrew, translates, "that neither their terebinth trees may stand up in their height, nor all (the other trees) that drink water."

to ... nether ... earth ... pit--(Eze 32:18; Psa 82:7).

15. covered the deep--as mourners cover their heads in token of mourning, "I made the deep that watered the cedar" to wrap itself in mourning for him. The waters of the deep are the tributary peoples of Assyria (Re 17:15).

fainted--literally, were "faintness" (itself); more forcible than the verb.

16. hell--Sheol or Hades, the unseen world: equivalent to, "I cast him into oblivion" (compare Is 14:9-11).

shall be comforted--because so great a king as the Assyrian is brought down to a level with them. It is a kind of consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery.

17. his arm, that dwelt under his shadow--those who were the helpers or tool of his tyranny, and therefore enjoyed his protection (for example, Syria and her neighbors). These were sure to share her fate. Compare the same phrase as to the Jews living under the protection of their king (La 4:20); both alike "making flesh their arm, and in heart departing from the Lord" (Jr 17:5).

18. Application of the parabolic description of Assyria to the parallel case of Egypt. "All that has been said of the Assyrian consider as said to thyself. To whom art thou so like, as thou art to the Assyrian? To none." The lesson on a gigantic scale of Eden-like privileges abused to pride and sin by the Assyrian, as in the case of the first man in Eden, ending in ruin, was to be repeated in Egypt's case. For the unchangeable God governs the world on the same unchangeable principles.

thou shall lie in ... uncircumcised--As circumcision was an object of mocking to thee, thou shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, slain by their sword [Grotius]. Retribution in kind (Eze 28:10).

This is Pharaoh--Pharaoh's end shall be the same humiliating one as I have depicted the Assyrian's to have been. "This" is demonstrative, as if he were pointing with the finger to Pharaoh lying prostrate, a spectacle to all, as on the shore of the Red Sea (Ex 14:30, 31).

In the eleventh year - On Sunday, June 19, A.M. 3416, according to Abp. Usher; a month before Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans.

Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar - Why is the Assyrian introduced here, when the whole chapter concerns Egypt? Bp. Lowth has shown that אשור ארז 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 Eze 31:11 (note).

The waters made him great - Alluding to the fertility of Egypt by the overflowing of the Nile. But waters often mean peoples. By means of the different nations under the Egyptians, that government became very opulent. These nations are represented as fowls and beasts, taking shelter under the protection of this great political Egyptian tree, Eze 31:6.

The cedars in the garden of God - Egypt was one of the most eminent and affluent of all the neighboring nations.

The mighty one of the heathen - Nebuchadnezzar. It is worthy of notice, that Nebuchadnezzar, in the first year of his reign, rendered himself master of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. See Sedar Olam. This happened about twenty years before Ezekiel delivered this prophecy; on this account, Ashshur, Eze 31:3, may relate to the Assyrians, to whom it is possible the prophet here compares the Egyptians. But see the note on Eze 31:3.

Upon his ruin shall all the fowls - The fall of Egypt is likened to the fall of a great tree; and as the fowls and beasts sheltered under its branches before, Eze 31:6, so they now feed upon its ruins.

To the end that none of all the trees - Let this ruin, fallen upon Egypt, teach all the nations that shall hear of it to be humble, because, however elevated, God can soon bring them down; and pride and arrogance, either in states or individuals, have the peculiar abhorrence of God. Pride does not suit the sons of men; it made devils of angels, and makes fiends of men.

I caused Lebanon to mourn for him - All the confederates of Pharaoh are represented as deploring his fall, Eze 31:16, Eze 31:17.

They also went down into hell with him - Into remediless destruction.

This is Pharaoh - All that I have spoken in this allegory of the lofty cedar refers to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his princes, confederates, and people. Calmet understands the whole chapter of the king of Assyria, under which he allows that Egypt is adumbrated; and hence on this verse he quotes: -

Mutato nomine, de te fabula narratur.

What is said of Assyria belongs to thee, O Egypt.

His multitude - His numerous subjects.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Strangers - Foreigners.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

1 AND it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third moneth , in the first day of the moneth , that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

As chap. 30. ver. 20. let. t.

Our Iune 26th day old stile, the 16th day new stile; Calvisi[illegible: 1 letter]s. Vsserius. just one moneth, and eight dayes be[illegible: 1 letter]fore the taking of the City on the 27th of Iuly, vet. stil. but 17th of Iuly, new stile.

Tam[illegible: 1 letter]z.

Marginal references: Calvisi[illegible: 1 letter]s. Vsserius.

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

Apries, or Hophra.

His numerous Subjects, with the power, and Riches they Glory in.

Bethink thy self, what King of all before thee, art thou equal with, or else greater? On what surer, and more immoveable Foundation doth thy greatness stand? That thou dreamest of a perpetual quiet, and flourishing state in the midst of all thy sins, and wickednesses?

Marginal references: ver. 18.

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.

Kingdom, and its Kings were the greatest, the world ere knew before thee, they had longest time of growth through 1340, or 1360 years from Belus, who was Nimrod, or Belus Assyrius, to Sardanapalus, from 1719, or 1717, or 1718 to 3059. of the World. And they had as fair advantages, as reaching a foresight, and as unwearied diligence to advance the Kingdom; yet I brought it down.

Like a Cedar; Kings and Kingdoms oft compared to Trees, both in profane, and sacred Emblems, or like the most Goodly Cedar for Strength and Beauty.

A great Mountainous tract from East to West, 125 mile in length, encloseth Canaan on the North.

Which are the Beauty, Greatness, Strength of the Tree, so had this mighty Kingdom fair Provinces, as Branches springing from it.

What we render shadowing in the Hebr. may signifie, either silent, and quiet, or framing, and modelling, intimating, that this Kingdom, like a shady Tree, gave shelter to the weak, as if fram'd artificially to this, and 'twas a silent, quiet repose its Subjects had; as weak Creatures find shelter in a mighty wood, so these.

This Kingdom grew to great height, while its branches were so beneficial.

Or Clouds, for so the word will without violence bear; Cloud being called so from their thickness; however, the Head among the thick boughs speaks the magnificence, and greatness of this King compassed about with Tributary Kings, and Princes, and Mighty men.

Marginal references: Heb. fair of branches.

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.

As Cedars grow great by the water courses, so this Kingdom by multitudes of people, convenience of Trade, by the plenty of the Country, if no Trade, for 'twas first planted in the fruitful fields among the sweet Rivers, Euphrates, Tigris, Lycus, Diava, and others.

The Sea sent out her Waters, which gave being to the Rivers, that water'd him, and improved him; whereas Egypt, thy Rivers arise out of a Lake, which, though great, not to be compared with the deep.

The Provinces of this mighty Kingdom, that are like plants about a great Tree.

Beneficence, Justice, Protection, encouragements, that Subjects need, and good Princes disperse among them, so the deep filled this King, and he sent out his streams.

To all his Subjects in his Kingdom.

Marginal references: Or, nourished.; Or, brought him [illegible: 1 letter]p.; Or, conduits.

5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplyed , and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters when he shot forth.

His Power, Glory, and his Pride too, run up on high, a just administration of Laws for benefit of the publick, and a kind usage of the Subject, while 'twas here, made the King great, and his Kingdom famous.

Above all his Neighbour Kings, among whom oppressed weaklings still came to this Kingdom, while just, for shelter.

Many became his Subjects by voluntary choice, and his Native Subjects increast in numbers, and Wealth.

The Provinces reacht far and wide by the conquest of his armes, or attractives of his kindness brought to unite with him.

The many streams of Royal Justice▪ and Beneficence sent forth from the Throne of this Kingdom, so his Throne was advanced and established.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word] sent them [illegible: 1 span]

6 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.

Not every individual, but all sorts, and kinds of Men and People, Nobles, Merchants, Husbandmen likened to Fowles.

In his Kingdom, in the Cities, or Towns of it.

The very same thing exprest by a new Hieroglyphick: Beasts here are people, the Field is the Countreys round about, their bringing forth their young includes their making their Dens, that is mens building, begetting children, and breeding them under his branches, under his Government, and Protection.

This gives some light to the riddle. No Nation, that was great at that time in the World, but, either own'd the Dominion, or sought the Alliance, and Friendship of this King and Kingdom.

Marginal references: Dan. 4.[illegible: 2 letters]; Did settle their Habitations, and Families, expecting what they found, safety, and rest, and hoping, what did ensue, an increase of their Children and Posterity as Birds do in a quiet, and safe nest.

7 Thus was he fair in his greatness , in the length of his branches : for his root was by great waters.

Beautiful, lovely, and desirable.

Not exerted in Tyranny, and oppression, but exercised in the Royal Art of imitating the greatest, and best Being, who is King over all, for he doth good to all.

How far soever remote, yet the Justice, and Goodness of the Government appeared, the Beauty of those Provinces as well as of the whole Kingdom.

Whence he sprang, which supported, and supplyed the Kingdom, was Right, the Laws, Punishments, rewards, and encouragements, neither founded in cruelty, nor maintained by violence.

Not by blood, which is no proper kindly nourishment for such Cedars, but by Waters, which are kindly, and proper, and these great enough for his own growth, and to nourish others too.

8 The Cedars in the garden of God could not hide h 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.

Kings, the greatest, and most magnificent.

Either in the most fruitful Gardens, or in Iudah and Israel ▪ not David, not Solomon, Iehoshaphat, or Hezekiah could top, and shade him.

A meaner sort of Trees, emblem of lesser Kings, and Kingdoms, these were but like his boughs, though they grow to great height, and bulk.

The same in another allusion, Kings▪ like Chesnut trees, great, when by themselves, yet compared with this Assyrian, were but as branches of his boughs, all which in Isaiah's words, cap. 10.7, 8. there was some truth, though more pride in this Speech of the Assyrian, which the Prophet reports.

All summed up, none like him in all the Kingdoms of the World.

Marginal references: Gen. 2.[illegible: 2 letters]

9 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.

All this greatness, Wealth, and Glory I have given him.

The numbers of his Provinces, and multitude of his Subjects, high, and low, great, and small.

Either did when they saw his greatness, or would have envied, if they had seen it, or, if there may be a seeming justifiableness in wondring at anothers Glory, and wishing it our own, here it might be found.

10 Therefore u thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted x up thy self in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;

Now you shall hear the sin, and the fall of this great Kingdom of Assyria.

His mind could not longer bear so great prosperity, he lifts up himself, and in his pride forgets God, who lifted him up, and will cast him down, you have a Specimen of it in that of Isa. 10.7, 8, 9. with the rest to the 20th. verse, and Isa. 36.9.15, 18. this, as other best framed polities degenerated into pride, and violence against Neighbours, Subjects, Friends as well as against Enemies, though too much 'twas, to despise man, yet 'twas intolerably more insolent, to reproach God. It is but time to lop, nay cut down this Cedar, as Isa. 10.33. with Isa. 37.36, 38.

11 I have therefo[illegible: 1 letter]e 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 .

No Prophetick stile, as some think, I have, because I will, for most certainly God would deliver.

Proud King of Assyria, who inherited all the vices of his Progenitors more, than their Kingdoms, infamous Sardanapalus.

Some say Cyrus, rather Arbaces, who first strook at the root of this Cedar, and cut him down, and well might this man, though no King when he attempted this, be stiled the mighty one of the Heathen, who could bring together four hundred thousand of Medes, Pe[illegible: 1 letter]sians, Babylonians, and Arabians a power sufficient to besiege the Assyrian King two years in his own City, and Palace.

So he did, for he held him besieged without hope of relief, till at two years end, this vicious King burnt himself with his Palace.

With disgrace, for his lewd shameless courses, as a Wife is cast out by divorce for Adultery, Lev. 21.7.

So Sardanapal[illegible: 1 letter]s was cast out for his effeminacy, and lewdness; for 'tis reported, this gave Arbaces first encouragement to lay a des[illegible: 1 letter]gn against him, who was driven out, as the Prophet words it, by the breach of two mile and half wideness, made by the mighty floods from continual Rains, which the walls of Nineve could not withstand, so God rather then man did drive this beast out.

Marginal references: Heb. in doing [illegible: 1 letter]hall do unto [illegible: 1 word].

12 And strangers , the terrible of the nations, have cut him off , and have left him upon the mountains and in all the vallies 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.

Forreigners, who regard neither justice, nor mercy, such were those, which made up this Army of Arbaces the Mede.

So these were for their strength, and valour much, but for their numbers, and barbarity, more to be dreaded.

Not shall, for 'twas down before Ezekiels time, about the time Ezekiah was born, and about 240 years before the destruction of Ierusalem, and the Babylonish Captivity.

Revolted or forsaken Sardanapalus.

As a Tree, that growing on the Mountains, which hang over the Valleys, when it falls, breaks, and its branches are scattered in the lower ground, on the banks of Rivers, that run in the bottom, so is this mighty Cedar, this King, and Kingdom fallen from highest power, and honour into deepest contempt and impotence, not able to repell his Adversaries, or escape out of their hands.

All, that were Tributary to him, have withdrawn their Tribute, and rejected his Dominion, and such as were his Allies, and depended on his Patronage, have quit their Leagues, and dependences, and left his shadow.

Marginal references: chap. 28.7.

13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches.

His broken state.

Which built, and bred there, shall now despise the Tree, and triumph over it.

The same in another emblem, as ver. 6. Beasts, Fowls, People, and Nations, that were sheltred under the shadow of this Tree, shall all, as is the custom of all, of them, get from under it, and with the first insult and trample upon the body, boughs, and branches, Fowles get on it and both pick and defile, Beasts rustle through it and brouse on the broken branches.

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.

All this is designed to be a warning to mortals.

i. e. the Emperours, Potentates, Kings, or rich flourishing States.

Planted most commodiously, and furnisht most abundantly with Power, and Wealth.

Grow proud, because they are high, shoot out tops above all the t[illegible: 1 letter]ick boughs their Neighbours. This caution against pride, and self exalting is three times repeated, that all, especially great men, and this proud King of Egypt, to whom this Parable is propounded, should be humble.

For if by office they are Gods, yet by nature, they are men, and by the decree of God, who cannot die, these Gods must, as men, dye, be laid in the grave, forgotten like other men, like the Children of mean men, for that death, and the grave make no distinction. Be not proud, God will pull down such, be humble, you must dye.

Marginal references: Or, stand upon [illegible: 4 letters]selves for [illegible: 1 letter]heir height.; Psal. 82.7.

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 staied: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him; and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

The King of Assyria, the tall Cedar, or the Kingdom of Assyria,

Was a man in grave; buried in its own ruins.

There was much lamentation.

I put the Sea, i. e. Either neighbouring States, or the body of his people, or the trading part of the World, into mourning for him.

All publick affairs; Commerce, and Friendly intelligences, were at a great stand.

The great traffick and wealth by it, which did flow, as great waters, were staid, and living Rivers were, as void of motion, as the dead Sea, all was out of course.

The field, in which this Cedar grew, i. e. the whole Kingdom of Assyria.

Fell into a swound at the News of this great, and unparallel'd downfal of this mighty King, and Kingdom, which hath been here in sacred Hyperbole set forth to warn Egypt, and convince it, none can stand whom God will cast down. Whether there were any portentous signs in the Sea, and great Waters, and the Rivers, and among the trees, presages of this fall, and pointed at here, I enquire not.

All the lesser Kings, and Princes about him

Marginal references: Heb. be [illegible: 1 word].

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.

All that heard the noise of his fall trembled at it, 'twas, as God intended it should be, an astonishment to them all.

Brought the King, and Kingdom, as a dead man to the grave among them, that before were dead, and buried.

All Kings, and particularly the greatest, and richest called here the choice, and best of Lebanon.

Did enjoy great Power, Riches, and worldly Glory.

'Tis a Prosopopaeia, and he speaks of the dead with allusion to the manner of the living, who rejoice to see the proud brought, as low as the lowest, thus the Prophet, Isa. 14.9, 10.

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.

Either his neighbour Kings and Princes, or those that were his own Subjects, but rich and mighty.

Were broken and perisht with him, and went to those God had slain for their pride and wickedness.

His loyal and faithful Subjects and Friends abroad, who having been protected by him, remembred it, and adhered to him to support him; but all fell, are extinct, and gone down to the pit, where many proud, but no pride; where all know themselves dust and ashes, and God glorious, holy and just.

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 with the sword. This is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

The mightiest, richest, and longest lived Kingdom I have represented, saith God, overthrown, and destroyed; a Kingdom thou canst not pretend to equal, and if not like this, what King or Kingdom art thou like, that thou shouldst be invincible?

Who ere thou art like in height, and power thou shalt be like them in thy s[illegible: 1 letter]ll, and ruine.

As unclean, despised, and loathsome in thy blood, like the slain with the Sword, not to be known, without an upbraiding inscription: This is Pharaoh.

Marginal references: verse 2.

The Glory and Fall of Asshur a Type of Egypt

In two months minus six days from the time when the preceding word of God was uttered, Ezekiel received another threatening word against the king and the people of Egypt, in which the former announcement of the destruction of the might of Egypt was confirmed by a comparison drawn between the power of Egypt and that of Asshur. Ezekiel having opened his prophecy with the question, whom does Pharaoh with his might resemble (Eze 31:2), proceeds to depict Asshur as a mighty towering cedar (Eze 31:3-9) which has been felled and cast down by the prince of the nations on account of its height and pride (Eze 31:10-14), so that everything mourned over its fall, because many nations went down with it to hell (Eze 31:15-17). The question, whom Pharaoh resembles, is then repeated in Eze 31:18; and from the preceding comparison the conclusion is drawn, that he will perish like that lofty cedar. - The reminiscence of the greatness of the Assyrian empire and of its destruction was well adapted to overthrow all reliance upon the might and greatness of Egypt. The fall of that great empire was still so fresh in the mind at the time, that the reminiscence could not fail to make a deep impression upon the prophet’s hearers.

Eze 31:1-9

The might of Pharaoh resembles the greatness and glory of Asshur. - Eze 31:1. In the eleventh year, in the third (month), on the first of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 31:2. Son of man, say to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to his tumult, Whom art thou like in thy greatness? Eze 31:3. Behold, Asshur was a cedar-tree upon Lebanon, beautiful in branches, a shadowing thicket, and its top was high in growth, and among the clouds. Eze 31:4. Water brought him up, the flood made him high, its streams went round about its plantation, and it sent its channels to all the trees of the field. Eze 31:5. Therefore its growth became higher than all the trees of the field, and its branches became great, and its boughs long from many waters in its shooting out. Eze 31:6. In its branches all the birds of the heaven made their nests, and under its boughs all the beasts of the field brought forth, and in its shadow sat great nations of all kinds. Eze 31:7. And he was beautiful in his greatness, in the length of his shoots; for his root was by many waters. Eze 31:8. Cedars did not obscure him in the garden of God, cypresses did not resemble his branches, and plane-trees were not like his boughs; no tree in the garden of God resembled him in his beauty. Eze 31:9. I had made him beautiful in the multitude of his shoots, and all the trees of Eden which were in the garden of God envied him. - The word of God is addressed to King Pharaoh and to המונו, his tumult, i.e., whoever and whatever occasions noise and tumult in the land. We must not interpret this, however, as Hitzig has done, as signifying the ruling classes and estates in contrast with the quiet in the land, for no such use of המון is anywhere to be found. Nor must we regard the word as applying to the multitude of people only, but to the people with their possessions, their riches, which gave rise to luxury and tumult, as in Eze 30:10. The inquiry, whom does Pharaoh with his tumult resemble in his greatness, is followed in the place of a reply by a description of Asshur as a glorious cedar (Eze 31:3-9). It is true that Ewald has followed the example of Meibom (vanarum in Cod. Hebr. interprett. spec. III p. 70) and J. D. Michaelis, and endeavours to set aside the allusion to Asshur, by taking the word אשּׁוּר in an appellative sense, and understanding אשּׁוּר ארז as signifying a particular kind of cedar, namely, the tallest species of all. But apart altogether from there being no foundation whatever for such an explanation in the usage of the language, there is nothing in the fact to justify it. For it is not anywhere affirmed that Pharaoh resembled this cedar; on the contrary, the question, whom does he resemble? is asked again in Eze 31:18 (Hitzig). Moreover, Michaelis is wrong in the supposition that “from Eze 31:10 onwards it becomes perfectly obvious that it is not Assyria but Egypt itself which is meant by the cedar-tree previously described.” Under the figure of the felling of a cedar there is depicted the overthrow of a king or monarchy, which has already taken place. Compare Eze 31:12 and Eze 31:16, where the past is indicated quite as certainly as the future in Eze 31:18. And as Eze 31:18 plainly designates the overthrow of Pharaoh and his power as still in the future, the cedar, whose destruction is not only threatened in Eze 31:10-17, but declared to have already taken place, can only be Asshur, and not Egypt at all.

The picture of the glory of this cedar recalls in several respects the similar figurative description in Ezekiel 17. Asshur is called a cedar upon Lebanon, because it was there that the most stately cedars grew. חרשׁ מצל, a shade-giving thicket (מצל is a Hiphil participle of צלל), belongs to יפה ענף as a further expansion of ענף, corresponding to the further expansion of גּבהּ קמה by “its top was among the clouds.” If we bear this in mind, the reasons assigned by Hitzig for altering חרשׁ into an adjective הרשׁ, and taking מצל as a substantive formation after the analogy of מסב, lose all their force. Analogy would only require an adjective in the construct state in the event of the three statements 'יפה ע, 'הרשׁ מ, and 'גּבהּ גּבהּ ק being co-ordinate with one another. But what is decisive against the proposed conjecture is the fact that neither the noun מצל nor the adjective הרשׁ is ever met with, and that, in any case, מצל cannot signify foliage. The rendering of the Vulgate, “frondibus nemorosus,” is merely guessed at, whilst the Seventy have omitted the word as unintelligible to them. For עבתים, thicket of clouds, see the comm. on Eze 19:11; and for צמּרת, that on Eze 17:3. The cedar grew to so large a size because it was richly watered (Eze 31:4). A flood poured its streams round about the place where the cedar was planted, and sent out brooks to all the trees of the field. The difficult words את־נהרתיה וגו' are to be taken literally thus: as for its (the flood’s) streams, it (the flood) was going round about its plantation, i.e., round about the plantation belonging to the flood or the place situated near it, where the cedar was planted. את is not to be taken as a preposition, but as a sign of the accusative, and את־נהרתיה dna , as an accusative used for the more precise definition of the manner in which the flood surrounded the plantation. It is true that there still remains something striking in the masculine הלך, since תּהום, although of common gender, is construed throughout as a feminine, even in this very verse. But the difficulty remains even if we follow Ewald, and take הלך to be a defectively written or irregular form of the Hiphil הוליך; a conjecture which is precluded by the use of הוליך, to cause to run = to cause to flow away, in Eze 32:14. מטּעהּ, its (the flood’s) plantation, i.e., the plantation for which the flood existed. תּהום is used here to signify the source of starting-point of a flood, as in Deu 8:7, where תּהמות are co-ordinate with עינות. - While the place where the cedar was planted was surrounded by the streams of the flood, only the brooks and channels of this flood reached to the trees of the field. The cedar therefore surpassed all the trees of the field in height and luxuriance of growth (Eze 31:5). fגּבהאheb>, an Aramean mode of spelling for גּבהה heb>; and asרעפּתheb>, ἁπ. λεγ.., an Aramean formation with ר inserted, for סעפת, branches. For פּארת, see the comm. on Eze 17:6. בּשׁלּחו cannot mean “since it (the stream) sent out the water” (Ewald); for although תּהום in Eze 31:4 is also construed as a masculine, the suffix cannot be taken as referring to תּהום, for this is much too far off. And the explanation proposed by Rosenmüller, Hävernick, Kliefoth, and others, “as it (the tree) sent them (the branches) out,” is open to this objection, that בּשׁלּחו would then contain a spiritless tautology; since the stretching out of the branches is already contained in the fact of their becoming numerous and long. the tautology has no existence if the object is left indefinite, “in its spreading out,” i.e., the spreading not only of the branches, but also of the roots, to which שׁלּח is sometimes applied (cf. Jer 17:8). By the many waters which made the cedar great, we must not understand, either solely or especially, the numerous peoples which rendered Assyria great and mighty, as the Chaldee and many of the older commentators have done. It must rather be taken as embracing everything which contributed to the growth and greatness of Assyria. It is questionable whether the prophet, when describing the flood which watered the cedar plantation, had the description of the rivers of Paradise in Gen 2:10. floating before his mind. Ewald and Hävernick think that he had; but Hitzig and Kliefoth take a decidedly opposite view. There is certainly no distinct indication of any such allusion. We meet with this for the first time from Eze 31:8 onwards.

In Eze 31:6-9 the greatness and glory of Asshur are still further depicted. Upon and under the branches of the stately tree, all creatures, birds, beasts, and men, found shelter and protection for life and increase (Eze 31:6; cf. Eze 17:23 and Dan 4:9). In כּּל־גּוים רבּים, all kinds of great nations, the fact glimmers through the figure. The tree was so beautiful (ויּיף from יפה) in its greatness, that of all the trees in the garden of God not one was to be compared with it, and all envied it on that account; that is to say, all the other nations and kingdoms in God’s creation were far inferior to Asshur in greatness and glory. גּן אלהים is the garden of Paradise; and consequently עדן in Eze 31:9, Eze 31:16, and Eze 31:18 is also Paradise, as in Eze 28:13. There is no ground for Kliefoth’s objection, that if עדן be taken in this sense, the words “which are in the garden of God” will contain a superfluous pleonasm, a mere tautology. In Gen 2:8 a distinction is also made between עדן and the garden in Eden. It was not all Eden, but the garden planted by Jehovah in Eden, which formed the real paradisaical creation; so that the words “which are in the garden of God” give intensity to the idea of the “trees of Eden.” Moreover, as Hävernick has correctly pointed out, there is a peculiar emphasis in the separation of בּגן אלהים from ארזים in Eze 31:8 : “cedars...even such as were found in the garden of God.” Not one even of the other and most glorious trees, viz., cypresses and planes, resembled the cedar Asshur, planted by God by many waters, in its boughs and branches. It is not stated in so many words in Eze 31:8 and Eze 31:9 that the cedar Asshur stood in the garden of God; but it by no means follows from this, that by the garden of God we are to understand simply the world and the earth as the creation of God, as Kliefoth imagines, and in support of which he argues that “as all the nations and kingdoms of the world are regarded as trees planted by God, the world itself is quite consistently called a garden or plantation of God.” The very fact that a distinction is made between trees of the field (Eze 31:4 and Eze 31:5) and trees of Eden in the garden of God (Eze 31:8 and Eze 31:9), shows that the trees are not all regarded here as being in the same sense planted by God. If the garden of God stood for the world, where should we then have to look for the field (השּׂדה)? The thought of Eze 31:8 and Eze 31:9 is not that “not a single tree in all God’s broad earth was to be compared to the cedar Asshur,” but that even of the trees of Paradise, the garden in Eden, there was not one so beautiful and glorious as the cedar Asshur, planted by God by many waters.

Eze 31:10-14

The Felling of this Cedar, or the Overthrow of Asshur on Account of Its Pride

Eze 31:10. Therefore thus said the Lord Jehovah, Because thou didst exalt thyself in height, and he stretched his top to the midst of the clouds, and his heart exalted itself in its height, Eze 31:11. I will give him into the hand of the prince of the nations; he shall deal with him: for his wickedness I rejected him. Eze 31:12. And strangers cut him down, violent ones of the nations, and cast him away: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his shoots fell, and his boughs were broken in pieces into all the deep places of the earth; and all the nations of the earth withdrew from his shadow, and let him lie. Eze 31:13. Upon his fallen trunk all the birds of the heaven settle, and all the beasts of the field are over his branches: Eze 31:14. That no trees by the water may exalt themselves on account of their height, or stretch their top to the midst of the clouds, and no water-drinkers stand upon themselves in their exaltation: for they are all given up to death into hell, in the midst of the children of men, to those that go into the grave. - In the description of the cause of the overthrow of Asshur which commences with יען אשׁר, the figurative language changes in the third clause into the literal fact, the towering of the cedar being interpreted as signifying the lifting up of the heart in his height, - that is to say, in his pride. In the first clause the tree itself is addressed; but in the clauses which follow, it is spoken of in the third person. The direct address in the first clause is to be explained from the vivid manner in which the fact presented itself. The divine sentence in Eze 31:10 and Eze 31:11 is not directed against Pharaoh, but against the Assyrian, who is depicted as a stately cedar; whilst the address in Eze 31:10, and the imperfect (future) in Eze 31:11, are both to be accounted for from the fact that the fall of Asshur is related in the form in which it was denounced on the part of Jehovah upon that imperial kingdom. The perfect אמר is therefore a preterite here: the Lord said...for His part: because Asshur has exalted itself in the pride of its greatness, I give it up. The form ואתנהוּ is not to be changed into ואתנהוּ, but is defended against critical caprice by the imperfect יעשׂה which follows. That the penal sentence of God is not to be regarded as being first uttered in the time then present, but belongs to the past, - and therefore the words merely communicate what God had already spoken, - is clearly shown by the preterites commencing with גּרשׁתּיהוּ, the historical tenses ויּכרתהוּ and ויּטּשׁהוּ, and the preterite נפלוּ, which must not be turned into futures in violation of grammar. גּבהּ בּקומה does not mean, to be high in its height, which would be a tautology; but to exalt itself (be proud) in, or on account of, its height. And in the same way is רוּם also affirmed of the heart, in the sense of exultation from pride. For the fact itself, compare Isa 10:5. אל גּוים does not mean God, but a powerful one of the nations, i.e., Nebuchadnezzar. אל is a simple appellative from אוּל, the strong one; and is neither a name of God nor a defective form for איל, the construct state of איל, a ram. For this defective form is only met with once in the case of איל, a ram, namely, in Job 42:8, where we have the plural  אלים, and nowhere else; whereas, in the case of אל, אלים, in the sense of a strong one, the scriptio plena very frequently alternates with the defectiva. Compare, for example, Job 42:8, where both readings occur just as in this instance, where many MSS have איל (vid., de Rossi, variae lectt. ad h. l.); also Exo 15:15 and Eze 17:13, אילי, compared with אלי in Eze 32:21, after the analogy of נירי, 2Sa 22:29, and גּירים, 2Ch 2:16. עשׂו is not a relative clause, “who should treat him ill,” nor is the w relat. omitted on account of the preceding עשׂו, as Hitzig imagines; but it is an independent sentence, and יעשׂה is a forcible expression for the imperative: he will deal with him, equivalent to, “let him deal with him.” עשׂה ל, to do anything to a person, used here as it frequently is in an evil sense; compare Psa 56:5. בּרשׁעו-or כּרשׁעו, which Norzi and Abarbanel (in de Rossi, variae lectt. ad. h. l.) uphold as the reading of many of the more exact manuscripts and editions - belongs to גּרשׁתּיהוּ: for, or according to, his wickedness, I rejected him.

In Eze 31:12 the figure of the tree is resumed; and the extinction of the Assyrian empire is described as the cutting down of the proud cedar. זרים עריצי גּוים as in Eze 28:7 and Eze 30:11-12. ויּטּשׁהוּ: they cast him away and let him lie, as in Eze 29:5; Eze 32:4; so that in the first sentence the idea of casting away predominates, and in the second that of letting lie. By the casting away, the tree became so shattered to atoms that its boughs and branches fell upon the mountains and on the low ground and valleys of the earth, and the nations which had sat under its shadow withdrew. ויּרדוּ (they descended) is to be explained from the idea that the three had grown upon a high mountain (namely Lebanon); and Hitzig is mistaken in his conjecture that ויּרדוּ was the original reading, as נדד, to fly, is not an appropriate expression for עמּים. On the falling of the tree, the birds which had made their nests in its branches naturally flew away. If, then, in Eze 31:13, birds and beasts are said to settle upon the fallen trunk, as several of the commentators have correctly observed, the description is based upon the idea of a corpse, a מפּלת (Jdg 14:8), around which both birds and beasts of prey gather together to tear it in pieces (cf. Eze 32:4 and Isa 18:6). היה אל, to come towards or over any one, to be above it. The thought expressed is, that many nations took advantage of the fall of Asshur and rose into new life upon its ruins. - Eze 31:14. This fate was prepared for Asshur in order that henceforth no tree should grow up to the sky any more, i.e., that no powerful one of this earth (no king or prince) should strive after superhuman greatness and might. למען אשׁר is dependent upon גּרשׁתּיהוּ in Eze 31:11; for Eze 31:12 and Eze 31:13 are simply a further expansion of the thought expressed in that word. עצי מים are trees growing near the water, and therefore nourished by water. For 'לא , see Eze 31:10. The words 'ולא יעמדוּ are difficult. As אליהם, with Tzere under א, to which the Masora calls attention, cannot be the preposition אל with the suffix, many have taken אליהם to be a noun, in the sense of fortes, principes, or terebinthi (vid., Isa 61:3), and have rendered the clause either ut non perstent terebinthi eorum in altitudine sua, omnes (ceterae arbores) bibentes aquam (Vatabl., Starck, Maurer, and Kliefoth), or, that their princes may not lift themselves up in their pride, all the drinkers of water (Hävernick). But both renderings founder on the simple fact that they leave the suffix הם in אליהם either unnoticed or unexplained. As only the trees of the water have been spoken of previously, the suffix must be taken as referring to them. But the water-trees have neither terebinths nor princes; on the contrary, these are what they must either be, or signify. Terebinths, or princes of the water-trees, would be senseless ideas. Ewald has therefore taken אליהם as the object, and rendered it thus: “and (that) no water-drinkers may contend with their gods in their pride.” He has not proved, however, but has simply asserted, that עמד is to endure = to contend (!). The only remaining course is to follow the lxx, Targum, and many commentators, and to take אליהם as a pronoun, and point it אליהם. עמד אל: to station oneself against, or upon = עמד על (Eze 33:26), in the sense of resting, or relying upon anything. The suffix is to be taken in a reflective sense, as in Eze 34:2, etc. (vid., Ewald, §314 c), and precedes the noun to which it refers, as in Pro 14:20 for example. בּגבהם, as in Eze 31:10, referring to pride. כּל־שׁתי מים, the subject of the sentence, is really synonymous with כּל־עצי מים, except that the figure of the tree falls into the background behind the fact portrayed. The rendering of the Berleburg Bible is very good: “and no trees abounding in water stand upon themselves (rely upon themselves) on account of their height.” The water-drinkers are princes of this earth who have attained to great power through rich resources. “As a tree grows through the moisture of water, so men are accustomed to become proud through their abundance, not reflecting that these waters have been supplied to them by God” (Starck). The reason for this warning against proud self-exaltation is given in Eze 31:14 in the general statement, that all the proud great ones of this earth are delivered up to death. כּלּם, all of them, the water-drinkers or water-trees already named, by whom kings, earthly potentates, are intended. ארץ תּחתּית = ארץ תּח (Eze 26:20). בּתוך בּני אדם: in the midst of the children of men, i.e., like all other men. “Thus the prophet teaches that princes must die as well as the people, that death and decomposition are common to both. Hence he takes all ground of proud boasting away” (Starck).

Eze 31:15-18

Impression Made upon the Nations by the Fall of Asshur; and Its Application to Pharaoh

Eze 31:15. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, In the day that he went down to hell I caused a mourning: covered the flood for his sake, and stopped its streams, and the great waters were held back: I caused Lebanon to blacken itself for him, and all the trees of the field pined for him. Eze 31:16. I made the nations tremble at the noise of his fall, when I cast him down to hell to those who go into the grave: and they comforted themselves in the nether world, even all the trees of Eden, the choice and most beautiful of Lebanon, all the water-drinkers. Eze 31:17. They also went with him into hell, to those pierced with the sword, who sat as his helpers in his shade among the nations. Eze 31:18. Whom dost thou thus resemble in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? So shalt thou be thrust down to the trees of Eden into the nether world, and lie among uncircumcised ones with those pierced with the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his tumult, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - In order that the overthrow of the Assyrian, i.e., the destruction of the Assyrian empire, may be placed in the clearest light, a picture is drawn of the impression which it made upon the whole creation. There is no necessity to understand כּה אמר in a past sense, as in Eze 31:10. What God did on the overthrow of Asshur He may even now, for the first time, make known through the prophet, for a warning to Pharaoh and the people of Israel. That this is the way in which the words are to be interpreted, is evident from the use of the perfect האבלתּי, followed by the historical imperfects, which cannot be taken in a prophetical sense, as Kliefoth supposes, or turned into futures. It is contrary to Hebrew usage to connect האבלתּי and כּסּתי together as asyndeton, so as to form one idea, viz., “to veil in mourning” as Ewald and Hävernick propose. The circumstances under which two verbs are joined together to form one idea are of a totally different kind. In this instance האבלתּי is placed first as an absolute; and in the sentences which follow, it is more specifically defined by a detail of the objects which were turned into mourning. כּסּה עליו את־תּהום cannot mean her, “to cover the flood upon (over) him” (after Eze 24:7 and Eze 26:19); for this is altogether unsuitable to either the more remote or the more immediate context. The tree Asshur was not destroyed by a flood, but cut down by strangers. The following clauses, “I stopped its streams,” etc., show very plainly that the connection between the flood (תּהום) and the tree which had been felled is to be understood in accordance with Eze 31:4. A flood, which poured its נהרות round about its plantation, made the cedar-tree great; and now that the tree has been felled, God covers the flood on its account. כּסּה  is to be explained from כּסּה שׂק, to veil or wrap in mourning, as Raschi, Kimchi, Vatablus, and many others have shown. The word שׂק is omitted, because it appeared inappropriate to תּהום. The mourning of the flood is to be taken as equivalent to drying up, so that the streams which issued from it were deprived of their water. Lebanon, i.e., the cedar-forest (Isa 10:34), and all the other trees, mourned over the fall of the cedar Asshur. הקדּיר, to clothe in black, i.e., to turn into mourning. עלפּה is regarded by Ewald as a Pual formed after the Aramean mode, that is to say, by attaching the syllable ae instead of doubling the middle radical; whilst Hitzig proposes to change the form into עלּפּה. In any case the word must be a perfect Pual, as a nomen verbale appears unsuitable; and it must also be a third person feminine, the termination ־ה being softened into ־ה, as in זוּרה (Isa 59:5), and the doubling of the ל being dropped on account of the Sheva; so that the plural is construed with the singular feminine (Ewald, §317 a). עלּף, to faint with grief (cf. Isa 51:20). The thought is the following: all nature was so painfully affected by the fall of Asshur, that the whole of the resources from which its prosperity and might had been derived were dried up. To interpret the different figures as specially relating to princes and nations appears a doubtful procedure, for the simple reason that in Eze 31:16 the trembling of the nations is expressly named.

Whilst all the nations on the surface of the earth tremble at the fall of Assyria, because they are thereby warned of the perishable nature of all earthly greatness and of their own destruction, the inhabitants of the nether world console themselves with the thought that the Assyrian is now sharing their fate (for this thought, compare Eze 32:31 and Isa 14:9-10). “All the trees of Eden” are all the powerful and noble princes. The idea itself, “trees of Eden,” is explained by the apposition, “the choice and beautiful ones of Lebanon,” i.e., the picked and finest cedars, and still further strengthened by the expression כּל־שׁתי  (cf. Eze 31:14). מבחר are connected, as in 1Sa 9:2; and both words are placed side by side in the construct state, as in Dan 1:4 (cf. Ewald, §339 b). They comfort themselves because they have gone down with him into Sheol, so that he has no advantage over them. They come thither to those pierced with the sword, i.e., to the princes and peoples whom Asshur slew in wars to establish his imperial power. וּזרעו might also belong to ירדוּ as a second subject. In that case ישׁבוּ בצלּו should be taken in a relative sense: “and his arm,” i.e., his resources, “which sat in his shadow among the nations.” With this explanation זרעו would be different from הם, and could only denote the army of the Assyrian. But this does not harmonize with the sitting in his shadow among the nations, for these words obviously point back to Eze 31:6; so that זרעו is evidently meant to correspond to כּּל־גוים רבּים (Eze 31:6), and is actually identical with הם, i.e., with all the trees of Eden. We therefore agree with Osiander, Grotius, and others, in regarding the whole of the second hemistich as more precisely determining the subject, - in other words, as a declaration of the reason for their descending into hell along with the Assyrians, - and render the passage thus: “for as his arm (as his might) they sat in his shadow among the nations;” so that the cop. w is used in place of a causal particle. In any case, the conjecture which Ewald has adopted from the lxx and the Syriac, viz., וזרעו, and his seed, in support of which appeal might be made to Isa 14:21, is unsuitable, for the simple reason that the statement, that it sat in his shadow among the nations, does not apply. - After this description of the greatness and the destruction of the imperial power of Assyria, Ezekiel repeats in Eze 31:18 the question already asked in Eze 31:3 : to whom is Pharaoh like? כּכה, so, i.e., under such circumstances, when the glorious cedar Asshur has been smitten by such a fate (Hitzig). The reply to this question is really contained in the description given already; so that it is immediately followed by the announcement, “and thou wilt be thrust down,” etc. ערלים, uncircumcised, equivalent to ungodly heathen 'הוּא פ, not “he is,” as that would require פּרעה הוּא; but הוּא is the predicate: this is (i.e., so does it happen to) Pharaoh. המונו, as in Eze 31:2.

The King of Assyria's Greatness. (b. c. 588.)

1 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, 2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? 3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. 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. 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. 6 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. 7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut-trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. 9 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.

This prophecy bears date the month before Jerusalem was taken, as that in the close of the foregoing chapter about four months before. When God's people were in the depth of their distress, it would be some comfort to them, as it would serve likewise for a check to the pride and malice of their neighbours, that insulted over them, to be told from heaven that the cup was going round, even the cup of trembling, that it would shortly be taken out of the hands of God's people and put into the hands of those that hated them, Isa. li. 22, 23. In this prophecy,

I. The prophet is directed to put Pharaoh upon searching the records for a case parallel to his own (v. 2): Speak to Pharaoh and to his multitude, to the multitude of his attendants, that contributed so much to his magnificence, and the multitude of his armies, that contributed so much to his strength. These he was proud of, these he put a confidence in; and they were as proud of him and trusted as much in him. Now ask him, Whom art thou like in thy greatness? We are apt to judge of ourselves by comparison. Those that think highly of themselves fancy themselves as great and as good as such and such, that have been mightily celebrated. The flatterers of princes tell them whom they equal in pomp and grandeur. "Well," says God, "let him pitch upon the most famous potentate that ever was, and it shall be allowed that he is like him in greatness and no way inferior to him; but, let him pitch upon whom he will, he will find that his day came to fall; he will see there was an end of all his perfection, and must therefore expect the end of his own in like manner." Note, The falls of others, both into sin and ruin, are intended as admonitions to us not to be secure or high-minded, nor to think we stand out of danger.

II. He is directed to show him an instance of one whom he resembles in greatness, and that was the Assyrian (v. 3), whose monarchy had continued from Nimrod. Sennacherib was one of the mighty princes of that monarchy; but it sunk down soon after him, and the monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar was built upon its ruins, or rather grafted upon its stock. Let us now see what a flourishing prince the king of Assyria was. He is here compared to a stately cedar, v. 3. The glory of the house of David is illustrated by the same similitude, ch. xvii. 3. The olive-tree, the fig-tree, and the vine, which were all fruit-trees, had refused to be promoted over the trees because they would not leave their fruitfulness (Judg. ix. 8, &c.), and therefore the choice falls upon the cedar, that is stately and strong, and casts a great shadow, but bears no fruit. 1. The Assyrian monarch was a tall cedar, such as the cedars in Lebanon generally were, of a high stature, and his top among the thick boughs; he was attended by other princes that were tributaries to him, and was surrounded by a life-guard of brave men. He surpassed all the princes in his neighbourhood; they were all shrubs to him (v. 5): His height was exalted above all the trees of the field; they were many of them very high, but he overtopped them all, v. 8. The cedars, even those in the garden of Eden, which we may suppose were the best of the kind, would not hide him, but his top branches outshot theirs. 2. He was a spreading cedar; his branches did not only run up in height, but run out in breadth, denoting that this mighty prince was not only exalted to great dignity and honour, and had a name above the names of the great men of the earth, but that he obtained great dominion and power; his territories were large, and he extended his conquests far and his influences much further. This cedar, like a vine, sent forth his branches to the sea, to the river, Ps. lxxx. 11. His boughs were multiplied; his branches became long (v. 5); so that he had a shadowing shroud, v. 3. This contributed very much to his beauty, that he grew proportionably large as well as high. He was fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches (v. 7), very comely as well as very stately, fair by the multitude of his branches, v. 9. His large dominions were well managed, like a spreading tree that is kept in shape and good order by the skill of the gardener, so as to be very beautiful to the eye. His government was as amiable in the eyes of wise men as it was admirable in the eyes of all men. The fir-trees were not like his boughs, so straight, so green, so regular; nor were the branches of the chestnut-trees like his branches, so thick, so spreading. In short, no tree in the garden of God, in Eden, in Babylon (for that stood where paradise was planted), where there was every tree that was pleasant to the sight (Gen. ii. 9), was like to this cedar in beauty; that is, in all the surrounding nations there was no prince so much admired, so much courted, and whom every body was so much in love with, as the king of Assyria. Many of them did virtuously, but he excelled them all, outshone them all. All the trees of Eden envied him, v. 9. When they found they could not compare with him they were angry and grieved that he so far outdid them, and secretly grudged him the praise due to him. Note, It is the unhappiness of those who in any thing excel others that thereby they make themselves the objects of envy; and who can stand before envy? 3. He was serviceable, as far as a standing growing cedar could be, and that was only by his shadow (v. 6): All the fowls of heaven, some of all sorts, made their nests in his boughs, where they were sheltered from the injuries of the weather. The beasts of the field put themselves under the protection of his branches. There they were levant—rising up, and couchant—lying down; there they brought forth their young; for they had there a natural covert from the heat and from the storm. The meaning of all is, Under his shadow dwelt all great nations; they all fled to him for safety, and were willing to swear allegiance to him if he would undertake to protect them, as travellers in a shower come under thick trees for shelter. Note, Those who have power ought to use it for the protection and comfort of those whom they have power over; for to that end they are entrusted with power. Even the bramble, if he be anointed king, invites the trees to come and trust in his shadow, Judg. ix. 15. But the utmost security that any creature, even the king of Assyria himself, can give, is but like the shadow of a tree, which is but a scanty and slender protection, and leaves a man many ways exposed. Let us therefore flee to God for protection, and he will take us under the shadow of his wings, where we shall be warmer and safer than under the shadow of the strongest and stateliest cedar, Ps. xvii. 8; xci. 4. 4. He seemed to be settled and established in his greatness and power. For, (1.) It was God that made him fair, v. 9. For by him kings reign. He was comely with the comeliness that God put upon him. Note, God's hand must be eyed and owned in the advancement of the great men of the earth, and therefore we must not envy them; yet that will not secure the continuance of their prosperity, for he that gave them their beauty, if they be deprived of it, knows how to turn it into deformity. (2.) He seemed to have a good bottom. This cedar was not like the heath in the desert, made to inhabit the parched places (Jer. xvii. 6); it was not a root in a dry ground, Isa. liii. 2. No; he had abundance of wealth to support his power and grandeur (v. 4): The waters made him great; he had vast treasures, large stores and magazines, which were as the deep that set him up on high, constant revenues coming in by taxes, customs, and crown-rents, which were as rivers running round about his plants; these enabled him to strengthen and secure his interests every where, for he sent out his little rivers, or conduits, to all the trees of the field, to water them; and when they had maintenance from the king's palace (Ezra iv. 14), and their country was nourished by the king's country (Acts xii. 20), they would be serviceable and faithful to him. Those that have wealth flowing upon them in great rivers find themselves obliged to send it out again in little rivers; for, as goods are increased, those are increased that eat them, and the more men have the more occasion they have for it; yea, and still the more they have occasion for. The branches of this cedar became long, because of the multitude of waters which fed them (v. 5 and 7); his root was by great waters, which seemed to secure it that its leaf should never wither (Ps. i. 3), that it should not see when heat came, Jer. xvii. 8. Note, Worldly people may seem to have an established prosperity, yet it only seems so, Job v. 3; Ps. xxxvii. 35.

The King of Assyria's Downfall; The Fall of Assyria. (b. c. 588.)

10 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; 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. 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. 13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 .

We have seen the king of Egypt resembling the king of Assyria in pomp, and power, and prosperity, how like he was to him in his greatness; now here we see,

I. How he does likewise resemble him in his pride, v. 10. For, as face answers to face in a glass, so does one corrupt carnal heart to another; and the same temptations of a prosperous state by which some are overcome are fatal to many others too. "Thou, O king of Egypt! hast lifted up thyself in height, hast been proud of thy wealth and power, ch. xxix. 3. And just so he (that is, the king of Assyria); when he had shot up his top among the thick boughs his heart was immediately lifted up in his height, and he grew insolent and imperious, set God himself at defiance, and trampled upon his people;" witness the messages and letter which the great king, the king of Assyria, sent to Hezekiah, Isa. xxxvi. 4. How haughtily does he speak of himself and his own achievements! how scornfully of that great and good man! There were other sins in which the Egyptians and the Assyrians did concur, particularly that of oppressing God's people, which is charged upon them both together (Isa. lii. 4); but here that sin is traced up to its cause, and that was pride; for it is the contempt of the proud that they are filled with. Note, When men's outward condition rises their minds commonly rise with it; and it is very rare to find a humble spirit in the midst of great advancements.

II. How he shall therefore resemble him in his fall; and for the opening of this part of the comparison,

1. Here is a history of the fall of the king of Assyria. For his part, says God (v. 11), I have therefore, because he was thus lifted up, delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen. Cyaxares, king of the Medes, in the twenty-sixth year of his reign, in conjunction with Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the first year of his reign, destroyed Nineveh, and with it the Assyrian empire. Nebuchadnezzar, though he was not then, yet afterwards became, very emphatically, the mighty one of the heathen, most mighty among them and most mighty over them, to prevail against them.

(1.) Respecting the fall of the Assyrian three things are affirmed:—[1.] It is God himself that orders his ruin: I have delivered him into the hand of the executioner; I have driven him out. Note, God is the Judge, who puts down one and sets up another (Ps. lxxv. 7); and when he pleases he can extirpate and expel those who think themselves, and seem to others, to have taken deepest root. And the mightiest ones of the heathens could not gain their point against those they contended with if the Almighty did not himself deliver them into their hands. [2.] It is his own sin that procures his ruin: I have driven him out for his wickedness. None are driven out from their honour, power, and possessions, but it is for their wickedness. None of our comforts are ever lost but what have been a thousand times forfeited. If the wicked are driven away, it is in their wickedness. [3.] It is a mighty one of the heathen that shall be the instrument of his ruin; for God often employs one wicked man in punishing another. He shall surely deal with him, shall know how to manage him, great as he is. Note, Proud imperious men will, sooner or later, meet with their match.

(2.) In this history of the fall of the Assyrian observe, [1.] A continuation of the similitude of the cedar. He grew very high, and extended his boughs very far; but his day comes to fall. First, This stately cedar was cropped: The terrible of the nations cut him off. Soldiers, who being both armed and commissioned to kill, and slay, and destroy, may well be reckoned among the terrible of the nations. They have lopped off his branches first, have seized upon some parts of his dominion and forced them out of his hands; so that in all mountains and valleys of the nations about, in the high-lands and low-lands, and by all the rivers, there were cities or countries that were broken off from the Assyrian monarchy, that had been subject to it, but had either revolted or were recovered from it. Its feathers were borrowed; and, when every bird had fetched back its own, it was naked like the stump of a tree. Secondly, It was deserted: All the people of the earth, that had fled to him for shelter, have gone down from his shadow and have left him. When he was disabled to give them protection they thought they no longer owed him allegiance. Let not great men be proud of the number of those that attend them and have a dependence upon them; it is only for what they can get. When Providence frowns upon them their retinue is soon dispersed and scattered from them. Thirdly, It was insulted over, and its fall triumphed in (v. 13): Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, to tread upon the broken branches of this cedar. Its fall is triumphed in by the other trees, who were angry to see themselves overtopped so much: All the trees of Eden, that were cut down and had fallen before him, all that drank water of the rain of heaven, as the stump of the tree that is left in the south is said to be wet with the dew of heaven (Dan. iv. 23) and to bud through the scent of water (Job xiv. 9), shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth when they see this proud cedar brought as low as themselves. Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris—To have companions in woe is a solace to those who suffer. But, on the contrary, the trees of Lebanon, that are yet standing in their height and strength, mourned for him, and the trees of the field fainted for him, because they could not but read their own destiny in his fall. Howl, fir-trees, if the cedar be shaken, for they cannot expect to stand long, Zech. xi. 2. [2.] An explanation of the similitude of the cedar. By the cutting down of this cedar is signified the slaughter of this mighty monarch and all his adherents and supporters; they are all delivered to death, to fall by the sword, as the cedar by the axe. He and his princes, who, he said, were altogether kings, go down to the grave, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, as common persons of no quality or distinction. They died like men (Ps. lxxxii. 7); they were carried away with those that go down to the pit, and their pomp did neither protect them nor descend after them. Again (v. 16), He was cast down to hell with those that descend into the pit; he went into the state of the dead, and was buried as others are, in obscurity and oblivion. Again (v. 17), They all that were his arm, on whom he stayed, by whom he acted and exerted his power, all that dwelt under his shadow, his subjects and allies, and all that had any dependence on him, they all went down into ruin, down into the grace with him, unto those that were slain with the sword, to those that were cut off by untimely deaths before them, under the load of guilt and shame. When great men fall a great many fall with them, as a great many in like manner have fallen before them. [3.] What God designed, and aimed at, in bringing down this mighty monarch and his monarchy. He designed thereby, First, To give an alarm to the nations about, to put them all to a stand, to put them all to a gaze (v. 16): I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall. They were all struck with astonishment to see so mighty a prince brought down thus. It give a shock to all their confidences, every one thinking his turn would be next. When he went down to the grave (v. 15) I caused a mourning, a general lamentation, as the whole kingdom goes into mourning at the death of the king. In token of this general grief, I covered the deep for him, put that into black, gave a stop to business, in complaisance to this universal mourning. I restrained the floods, and the great waters were stayed, that they might run into another channel, that of lamentation. Lebanon particularly, the kingdom of Syria, that was sometimes in confederacy with the Assyrian, mourned for him; as the allies of Babylon, Rev. xviii. 9. Secondly, To give an admonition to the nations about, and to their kings (v. 14): To the end that none of all the trees by the waters, though ever so advantageously situated, may exalt themselves for their height, may be proud and conceited of themselves and shoot up their top among the thick boughs, looking disdainfully upon others, nor stand upon themselves for their height, confiding in their own politics and powers, as if they could never be brought down. Let them all take warning by the Assyrian, for he once held up his head as high, and thought he kept his footing as firm, as any of them; but his pride went before his destruction, and his confidence failed him. Note, The fall of proud presumptuous men is intended for warning to others to keep humble. It would have been well for Nebuchadnezzar, who was himself active in bringing down the Assyrian, if he had taken the admonition.

2. Here is a prophecy of the fall of the king of Egypt in like manner, v. 18. He thought himself like the Assyrian in glory and greatness, over-topping all the trees of Eden, as the cypress does the shrubs. "But thou also shalt be brought down, with the other trees that are pleasant to the sight, as those in Eden. Thou shalt be brought to the grave, to the nether or lower parts of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, that die in their uncleanness, die ingloriously, die under a curse and at a distance from God; then shall those whom thou hast trampled upon triumph over thee, saying, This is Pharaoh and all his multitude. See how mean he looks, how low he lies; see what all his pomp and pride have come to; here is all that is left of him." Note, Great men and great multitudes, with the great figure and great noise they make in the world, when God comes to contend with them, will soon become little, less than nothing, such as Pharaoh and all his multitude.

CHAP. XXXI.

Ver. 1. IN the third moneth] Two moneths after the former Prophecy; and a moneth before the City was taken.

Ver. 2. Speak unto Pharaoh] Unto Pharaoh-Hophra, chap. 29.2. Say unto him (though it will be to ſmall purpoſe) Hear and give ear, Jer. 13.15. be not proud, for the Lord hath ſpoken it.

Whom art thou like in thy greatneſſe?] q. d. Thou thinkeſt thy ſelf the only one, and that there is none ſuch; but what ſayeſt thou to the Aſſyrian, whom yet the Babylonian hath now laid low enough?

Ver. 3. Behold the Aſſyrian was a Cedar] See chap. 17.3, 22, 23. Dan 4.10, 11. with the Notes. The cedar is a very tall, fair, ſhady, leavy and lively tree: Such was Eſar-haddon King of Aſſyria: once a moſt potent Monarch: now, not the maſter of a mole-hill. Now therefore (by an argument from the greater to the leſſe) if he ſo fell through his pride; ſhalt not thou much more?

Ver. 4. The waters made him great] He had a confluence of all proſperities. Watered he was, non aquis ſed abyſſis; eſt autem abyſſus, inexhauſta felicitas & rerum affluentia. He over abounded with all outward happineſſe: in wealth, victories, and triumphs, he gave place to no man.

Oecol.Ver. 5. And his bought were multiplied] Ampliſſima ludit copia verborum.

Ver. 6. All the foules] See Dan. 4.12.

Ver. 7. Thus was be fair in his greatneſſe] Once again he ſetteth forth with how great power and glory God had adorned this firſt Monarchy.

Ver. 8. The Cedars in the garden of God] No Kingdom in the world was comparable to the Aſſyrian, for thirteen hundred years together.

Ver. 9. So that all the trees of Eden — envyed him] Summa petit livor. The talleſt trees are weakeſt in the tops: and envy alwayes aimeth at the higheſt.

Ver. 10. Becauſe thou haſt lifted up thy ſelfe] Here he comes to deſcribe caſum & cladem, the downfal and deſtruction of this flouriſhing Empire: beginning with a ſhort Apoſtrophe to Pharaoh. Be not high-minded but fear. Believe not him who ſaid Decent ſecundas fortunas ſuperbiae, pride well becometh proſperity:Plaut. but rather beleeve what another ſaith, and experience confirmeth, Sequitur ſuperbos ultor à tergo Deus, God puniſheth the proud, ſurely and ſeverely.Seneca. A better authour then either of them telleth us, that Pride goeth before deſtruction: and an haughty ſpirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, then to divide the spoil with the proud, Prov. 16.18, 19.

Ver. 11. I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one] Of Merodach Baladan, who of Governour, had made himſelf King of Babylon; Metaſhenes, Joſephus, lib. 1. c. 2. and in the twelfth year of his raign, having overcome Eſarhaddon ſon to Sennacherib and laſt Monarch of Aſſyria, he adjoyned that whole Empire to the Babylonians; and reigned after that forty years.

He ſhall ſurely deal with him] Heb. In doing he ſhall do unto him, Pro ſibitu tractabo. Piſcat. i. e. he ſhall do what his liſt with him: as Tamerlan ſince did with Bajazet: whom he carried about in an iron cage, uſing him on feſtival dayes for a footſtool; and feeding him like a dog with crumbes fallen from his table. All which Tamerlan did,Turk Hiſt. 220. not ſo much for hatred to the man (ſaith the Hiſtoriographer) as to manifeſt the juſt judgement of God againſt the arrogant folly of the proud.

Ver. 12. And ſtrangers have cut him off] The greatet wealth, the greater ſpoil awaiteth a man: as each one deſireth to lop the tree that hath thick and large boughs and branches.

And his boughs are broken] i. e. His Vaſals, homagers, and auxiliaries.

And all the people of the earth] Who once ſheltered under his ſhadow. But the rule is, Arbor honoretur cujus nos umbra tuetur.

And have left him] And joyned themſelves to the Babylonian.

Sic cum fortuna ſtatque caditque fides.Ovid.

Ver. 13. Ʋpon his ruine ſhall all the foules] His dead body ſhall want decent burial, as afterward did great Alexanders, great Pompeyes, our William the Conquerours, Richard the thirds, &c.

Ver. 14. To the end tha[illegible: 1 letter] none of all the trees] This is the uſe men ſhould make of Gods heavy judgements upon others. This mans father Sennacherib had a ſtatue ſet up in Egypt, ſaith Herodotus, with this inſcription: Lib. 2. Let him that looketh upon my miſery learn to be modeſt and to fear God.

Neither their trees ſtand up in their height] Neque ſtent in ſeipſis, neither ſtand in themſelves, becauſe of their height. Magna repente ruunt. In te stas & non ſtas, ſaid the Oracle to Auſtin: thou ſtandeſt on thine own bottom; thou wilt ſurely down.

For they are all delivered unto death] Without difference, pell-mell, lords and loſels together, as the Poet alſo ſingeth; Sub tua purpurei veniunt veſtigia reges, Depoſito luxu, turba cum paupere mixti;Claudian. Omnia mors aequat.—

Ver. 15. I restrained the floods thereof] I made them keep home, as mourners uſe to do.

And I cauſed Lebanon to mourn for him] Heb. To be black, i. e. in mourning-habit. Athenienſes non niſi atrati ſapiunt, ſaid one.

Ver. 16. I made the Nations ſhake at the ſound of his fall] As the earth ſeems to ſhake at the fall of ſome mighty Cedar.

Sic ſubito caſu, quae valuere, ruunt.

Shall be comforted] In ſo noble a companion and partaker of their miſery. Confer Eſa. 14.

Ver. 17. They alſo went down into hell with him] It was wont to be ſaid, that hell was paved with Kings creſts and ſhavellings bald-pates: Henry the eight was told on his death-bed, that he was now going to the place of Kings. See Eſa. 30.33. what a coile kept this Eſar-haddon in his time,Oecolamp. as being ſuperſtitibus terror, praemortuis laetitia, complicibus exitium, ſui ipſius ruina?

Ver. 18. To whom art thou like] He fitly returneth to Pharaoh, applying all this diſcourſe to him.

In the midſt of the uncircumciſed] Chap. 28.10.

This is Pharaoh] This is like that of the Poet, Hic finis Priami fatorum: hic exitus illum Virg. Aeneid. lib. 2. Sorte tulit.—