Ezekiel 31

The original text was written in the Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 18 verses.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).{{sfn|Würthwein|1995|pp=35-37}}

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; $\backslash mathfrak\{G\}$^B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; $\backslash mathfrak\{G\}$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; $\backslash mathfrak\{G\}$^Q; 6th century).{{sfn|Würthwein|1995|pp=73-74}}{{efn|Ezekiel is missing from the extant Codex Sinaiticus.{{cite book| last= Shepherd|first= Michael |title= A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets | series= Kregel Exegetical Library | publisher= Kregel Academic | year= 2018 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_iNZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA13|isbn= 978-0825444593 | page= 13}}}}

: Now it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,{{bibleref2|Ezekiel|31:1|NKJV}} NKJV

The date corresponds to June 21, 587 BCE, based on an analysis by German theologian Bernhard Lang,Lang, Bernhard (1981) Ezechiel. Darmstadt. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesselschaft, cited in Kee et al 2008, p. 210. around 7 weeks after the proclamation against Egypt in {{bibleref2|Ezekiel|30:20-26|NKJV}}.

: "Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:

:: ‘Whom are you like in your greatness?’"{{bibleref2|Ezekiel|31:2|NKJV}} NKJV

• "Son of man" (Hebrew: בן־אדם {{Strong-number|ḇen|H|01121}}-{{Strong-number|’ā-ḏām|H|00120}}): this phrase is used 93 times to address Ezekiel.{{sfn|Bromiley|1995|p=574}}
• "Pharaoh" (Hebrew: פרעה {{Strong-number|par-‘ōh|H|06547}}; Egyptian: pr-±o, "great house"; Greek: Φαραω, Pharao): the title of ancient Egyptian kings, of royal court, and (in new kingdom) of the king, until the Persian invasion.{{sfn|Brown|Briggs|Driver|1994|ps={{sp}}"פַּרְעֹה"}}{{sfn|Gesenius|1979|ps={{sp}}"פַּרְעֹה"}}

: 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.{{bibleref2|Ezekiel|31:3|NKJV}}: NKJV

Assyria was a superpower which fell into the hand of the Babylonians (see {{bibleref2|Nahum|3:8-10}}). In the New Living Translation, Assyria "was once like a cedar of Lebanon",{{bibleref2|Ezekiel|31:3|NLT}}: NLT making it clear that the reference to Lebanon is a metaphor,Galambush, S., Ezekiel in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 The Oxford Bible Commentary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122193211/http://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 |date=2017-11-22 }}, p. 554 not a locational statement. and that Assyria's influence in the region had now waned.

Ezekiel anticipates that soon Egypt will fall likewise.The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed. Michael D. Coogan, Marc Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, Editors. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2007. pp. 1224-1225 Hebrew Bible. {{ISBN|978-0195288810}}

:The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it;

:The fir trees were not like its boughs,

:And the chestnut trees were not like its branches;

:No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty.{{bibleref2|Ezekiel|31:8|NKJV}}: NKJV

The "garden of God" is the garden of Eden.

{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|

• Assyria
• Cedar
• Eden
• Egypt
• Lebanon
• Pharaoh}}
• Related Bible parts: Ezekiel 29, Ezekiel 30, Nahum 3

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book

| last = Bromiley

| first = Geoffrey W.

| title = International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: vol. iv, Q-Z

| year = 1995

| publisher = Eerdmans

| isbn = 9780802837844

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6OJvO2jMCr8C&q=%22an+awkward+and+an+ambiguous+expression+in+Greek%22&pg=PA574

}}

• {{cite book

| last1 = Brown

| first1 = Francis

| last2 = Briggs

| first2 = Charles A.

| last3 = Driver

| first3 = S. R.

| title = The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon

| year = 1994

| edition = reprint

| publisher = Hendrickson Publishers

| isbn = 978-1565632066

}}

• {{Cite book

|last = Clements

|first = Ronald E

|title = Ezekiel

|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press

|year = 1996

|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cB5WoWI3FRAC&q=Ezekiel++By+Ronald+Ernest+Clements&pg=PA216

|isbn = 9780664252724

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Gesenius

| first = H. W. F.

| title = Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures: Numerically Coded to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, with an English Index.

| translator-last = Tregelles

| translator-first = Samuel Prideaux

| year = 1979

| edition = 7th

| publisher = Baker Book House

}}

• {{Cite book

|last =Joyce

|first =Paul M.

|title =Ezekiel: A Commentary

|publisher =Continuum

|year =2009

|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=LRepfsso2p0C&q=commentary+Ezekiel

|isbn =9780567483614

}}

• {{cite book | last1 = Kee |first1 = Howard Clark | title = The Cambridge Companion to the Bible | first2 = Eric M. | last2 = Meyers| first3 = John |last3 = Rogerson | first4 = Amy-Jill |last4 = Levine | first5 = Anthony J. | last5 = Saldarini | editor-first = Bruce | editor-last= Chilton | edition=2, revised | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2008 | isbn = 9780521691406 }}
• {{cite book | last = Würthwein | first = Ernst | author-link = Ernst Würthwein | title = The Text of the Old Testament | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans |location = Grand Rapids, MI | year= 1995 | translator-first1 = Erroll F.| translator-last1 = Rhodes |isbn = 0-8028-0788-7 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNKSBObCYwC | access-date= January 26, 2019}}

• [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1231.htm Ezekiel 31 Hebrew with Parallel English]
• [http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16129 Ezekiel 31 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary]

• [http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=31&c=31 Ezekiel 31 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420145316/http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=31&c=31 |date=2017-04-20 }}

{{Book of Ezekiel}}

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