Глава 31

The fall of Egypt is here depicted in a parable, which in Chapter XXXII will be followed by lamentation over it, as was also done regarding Tire, although there the parable and lamentation are merged into one. The comparison is close to the XVII, partly to the XIX chapter. and Dan 4. The speech has a poetic structure and is divided into 3 stanzas: Art. 2–9 describe the height and beauty of the incomparable, amazing cedar; Art. 10–15 his fall and God’s purpose in this; Art. 16–18 consequences of the fall. Ezek.31:1. In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: May 586, a little less than 2 months after the previous speech and two months before the fall of Jerusalem; therefore, perhaps still under the impression of Nth’s reflection of the pharaoh coming to the rescue of Jerusalem. Ezek.31:2. son of man! say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his people: to whom do you compare yourself in your greatness? “To his people” - glory. more precisely, “to his multitude,” lit. rabble, crowd, and of course the multi-tribal army of the pharaoh, whose main force was foreigners; in the future, Pharaoh and his army are also distinguished: v. 6, 12. – “Who do you compare yourself to?” To which of the kingdoms and kings. Further there is no answer to this question, which is repeated and again without an answer in Art. 18; and the further comparison of Pharaoh with a cedar is intended to show that such an answer cannot be, that Pharaoh puts himself above all kings. Ezek.31:3. Behold, Assur was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and shady foliage, and tall in stature; its top was among thick branches. "Assur". Instead of the expected speech about Egypt, the prophet suddenly speaks about Assyria. Previously, this strangeness was explained by the fact that the prophet in the fate of Assyria wants to give a warning to Egypt: if Assur, such a warlike cedar, perished, then even more so Egypt. But nothing further makes it clear to the prophet that he wants to carry out such a thought; on the contrary, the entire parable is structured in such a way that Egypt itself is compared to a cedar. Therefore, in the expression: “Assur was a cedar,” which lit. from euros it will be “Assur - cedar”, they now see the name of a special breed of cedar; Indeed, Isaiah 60.13 and Ezek.27.6 have the name of the tree teashur, (the letter tav could have disappeared from the proximity with the similar ge of the previous word), which in the first of the indicated places LXX is translated “cedar”, and in the second, simply “tree” (Russian Bible: “beech”). They think that here, of course, the cedar is especially tall, the so-called pinus cedrus, according to Pliny (XXIV, 5): cedrus magna, quam cedrelaten vocant. Only the assur-cedar connection is unusual; one should say: cedar-assur. Therefore, others assume a glossa in one of these words, or read instead of ashur - adir, strong (according to the Ethiopian translation). - “And shady foliage”, glory. "often covered" Cedar does not grow as slenderly as our coniferous trees, but rather wider and lowers its mighty branches to the ground, often by 6–10. - “The top of it was among thick branches.” Heb. avotim, branches, LXX read avot, clouds: and “in the midst of the clouds came his power” - a reading that is stronger, more beautiful and considered most probable by the new interpreters. Ezek.31:4. The waters raised him, the abyss raised him, her rivers surrounded his nursery, and she sent her channels to all the trees of the field. “Waters” – Nile. - “The Abyss”. The water in rivers is generally of underground origin. The expression was especially appropriate about the Nile, the sources of which were in a country unknown to the ancients and adorned with imagination. – “Rivers”, “channels” - branches and canals of the Nile. - “I sent it to all the trees of the field.” Other trees only had excess water, which remained from the cedar's nutrition. Egypt left only unnecessary lands to the surrounding kingdoms. Ezek.31:5. Therefore its height exceeded all the trees of the field, and there were many branches on it, and its branches multiplied, and its branches became long because of the multitude of waters as it grew. “And there were many branches on it.” (Not in the LXX. "Bough" Hebrew sarafotav; should be the Aramaic form instead of seaphot, bough, vv. 6 and 8. Ezek.31:6. All kinds of birds of the air built nests on its branches, all kinds of wild animals raised their children under its branches, and all kinds of numerous nations lived under its shadow. Boughs and branches see explanation of Ezek.17.23. - Birds and animals. The peoples that were part of the Egyptian monarchy, its allies and a multi-tribal army (neighboring peoples are other trees). - “Under his shadow lived all sorts of numerous nations.” Explanation of the previous one. A sharp turn from allegory to direct speech. Ezek.31:7. He showed off the height of his growth, the length of his branches, for his root was near the great waters. Up to 9 tbsp. specifically about the incomparability of wood; hence the repetition of Art. 4. Ezek.31:8. The cedars in the garden of God did not darken it; The cypresses were not equal to its branches, and the chestnuts were not the size of its branches, not a single tree in the garden of God equaled it in beauty. “The cedars in the garden of God, that is, paradise, did not darken it.” Important data for the Old Testament concept of paradise is that its trees were natural and not even superior to natural ones. Egypt, like Tire in Ezek.28.13, is thought of as part of paradise; The Nile, Lebanon and paradise replace each other in its description. “Darkened” - guess. (according to Ezek.33.3) translation of Hebrew. amam, which, judging by the meaning of this root in Ezek.1.20 (“on a par”) and here and there in ch. XL-XLVIII. and by affinity in Assyrian. emu, to be equal, must mean “to be equal”; so also LXX: “they are not,” Vulg. "non adaequaverunt". In this case, the thought is strengthened: the Egyptian cedar is superior to the cedars of paradise (LXX: cypresses). Blazh. Fedorit, Yarhi and others consider the garden of God to be synonymous with the earth during creation. Gregory the Great (Moral. XXXII, 18) sees here an indication of the glory of the devil (Lucifer) before the fall. – “Cypress trees” are used for comparison for the density of their branches, united into a spherical crown; glory "pine trees"; Vulg. abietes (ate). - "Chestnuts" glory. "elie", Heb. armon (from the root “to peel off”), used only in Gen. 30.37, the newest ones are given according to the Vulg. meaning “sycamore”, which can be brought here for comparison for its wide-shady foliage. Ezek.31:9. I adorned it with many branches thereof, so that all the trees of Eden in the garden of God envied it. “I have decorated”, like the trees of paradise planted by God directly. I, therefore, can destroy him. “The trees... were jealous” is a personification that is so natural in the parable. Ezek.31:10. Therefore, this is what the Lord God said: because you have become tall in stature and have set your top among thick branches, and his heart was proud of his greatness - The fall of a cedar is described. “And I exposed your top among thick branches.” Slav. “And thou hast given thy power among the clouds” (see v. 3) more clearly indicates Pharaoh’s self-exaltation, which reached the point of self-deification; Wed Gen 3.5. Ezek.31:11. therefore I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations; he dealt with him as he should; Because of his iniquity I have rejected him. “The Ruler” – Nebuchadnezzar. Heb. ate sob God, strong; but they think that the abbreviation here is ail, ram, ram, in the sense of “fighter”. The name is somehow unexpected. – “Rejected” – glory. more precisely “expelled”, i.e. from Eden? but it doesn’t go to the tree. Maybe a pharaoh from the kingdom (the allegory can turn into direct speech). Ezek.31:12. And the foreigners, the most cruel of nations, cut it down and threw it onto the mountains; and its branches fell over all the valleys; and its branches were broken in all the hollows of the earth, and from under its shadow all the nations of the earth went and forsook it. “The fiercest of the nations” - see explanation of Ezek.7.24, 28.7. - “And they cast him onto the mountains,” glory. more precisely, “on the mountains,” where cedars mainly grow. - “And its branches fell over all the valleys.” Due to the extraordinary size of the cedar, its broken branches covered not only the mountain where it grew, but also the surrounding valleys. The fall of Egypt was felt beyond its borders. - “And its branches were broken in all the hollows of the earth.” The falling branches also penetrated into the gorges. As a world power, Egypt made its fall felt by the entire earth. This may also mean the murdered Egyptians (cf. Ezek.32.5). The Prophet gradually abandons his comparison; see further: “from under his shadow all the peoples (instead of the expected: birds) of the earth left.” – “They left him” – allies; presupposition translation; glory “and ruin it.” Ezek.31:13. On its fragments there were all kinds of birds of the air, and in the branches there were all kinds of beasts of the field. “On its ruins”, glory. more precisely: “in his fall”: but Heb. muppelet, in addition to such an abstract meaning, can also have a specific “corpse” (Judges 14.8), here the corpse of a tree; hence he gave it: “all sorts of birds of prey were placed ...” in order to profit from the corpse (the tree seems to be alive; cf. Art. V). Egypt's allies and neighbors rejoiced at his fall and tried to benefit from it. Ezek.31:14. This is so that no trees near the waters will boast of their high growth and will not raise their tops from among the thick branches, and so that the trees drinking the water will not cling to them because of their height; for they will all be put to death, to the underworld, along with the sons of men who go to the grave. The pedagogical goal that the Lord associates with the catastrophe (Ezek.16.41, 23.48). No tree (kingdom) should imagine that it can grow to the heavens (cf. pandemonium). – “Trees by the waters” are especially abundantly nourished (Nile for Egypt). - “Thick branches”, glory. “clouds” as in Art. 3, 10. – “So that trees drinking water do not cleave to them” – presupposition. translation; in the LXX, according to the newest, it is more correct: “and all who drink water will not stand at their height towards him (they will not reach for him to the heavenly heights”). – “To the underworld” – Ezek.26.20. The tree is personified to the extreme: and after death it has a human fate. - “With the sons of men” - ordinary mortals, simple people, burial with whom was considered especially shameful for the Egyptian pharaohs. – “To the grave” – see explanation of Ezek.26.20. Ezek.31:15. Thus says the Lord God: on the day when he went down to the grave, I made a lamentation for him, and for his sake I closed the deep, and stopped its rivers, and held back the great waters, and darkened Lebanon over it, and all the trees of the field were sad because of it. The impression made by the death of Egypt on nature and people is described. From this death, nature will positively fall into a stupor with fear and regret. - “I closed the abyss for him.” The underground waters that grew and fed the cedar tree - Egypt, will become numb and freeze from sadness about her. A strong image that involuntarily directs thought beyond Egypt and the Nile, into the spiritual world and its mysterious history unknown to mankind. - “He stopped her rivers...” that fed the cedar - as a sign of sadness. - “And it darkened Lebanon,” whose decoration was cedar. Doesn’t the thought of the fall of the devil and the reflection of this event on nature and the whole world lie behind (the ancient interpreters saw such a hidden thought in all these chapters). The fall of all earthly greatness, therefore, is deeply felt by nature: cf. Ezek.32.7 et al. Ezek.31:16. With the sound of his fall I made the nations tremble, when I brought him down to the pit, to those who went to the grave, and all the trees of Eden, the excellent and best of Lebanon, all who drank the water, rejoiced in the underworld; The fall of Egypt brings people into awe of surprise and fear for their fate, and the inhabitants of the underworld (trees in the underworld are symbols of kingdoms, more particularly kings) into joy, which, however, is just as exceptional as Ezek.14.22–23; Ezek.16.54; Wed Ezek.32.31. - “Rejoiced” - more precisely, comforted; but LXX give a slightly different thought to their “comforting him.” - “The Trees of Eden”. We are going here only as an epithet: the trees of Eden, as the further application shows, stand on Lebanon, therefore LXX and Vulg. better: “wood of sweetness”, ligna voluptatis. – “Drinking water” – v. 14. Ezek.31:17. for they also went with him into the underworld, to those slain by the sword, and his allies who dwelt under his shadow among the nations. “They” are other trees, well-appointed and mountain kingdoms. – “Allies” – lit. “muscle,” that is, what constituted the strength of the pharaoh, the army, mainly the mercenary one, and the countries that supplied it; Wed Art. 6. LXX, reading zaro instead of zeroo, “his seed,” which Cornille understands in the sense of “half a tree.” - “Those who lived under his shadow among the nations.” Speech becomes almost direct. The catastrophe was not limited only to Egypt: it led to the death of other kingdoms, independent and living at the expense of Egypt. Ezek.31:18. So which of the trees of Eden were you equal in glory and greatness? But now, along with the trees of Eden, you will be brought down to Sheol, you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain with the sword. This is Pharaoh and all the multitude of his people, says the Lord God. The question, which, as in Art. 2 remains unanswered (see there), the chapter returns to its beginning. The death of Egypt not only brought this incomparable colossus on par with other great kingdoms (the “trees of Eden”), but it suffered the fate of the most unfortunate of the dead - the uncircumcised (see explanation of Eze. 28.10; among the Egyptians, circumcision was widespread, at least among the upper classes. Vigouroux. La bible... ed. 2, t.1, p. 414) and deprived of burial. - “This is Pharaoh” is an explanation of the parable, solemnly given from the lips of the Lord himself, especially necessary in view of Art. 3 (some interpreters still apply it to Assyria on the basis of this verse). Wed. Ezek.19.14. You might be interested in: