Ezekiel 31:3
New International Version
Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.

New Living Translation
You are like mighty Assyria, which was once like a cedar of Lebanon, with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade and with its top high among the clouds.

English Standard Version
Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade, and of towering height, its top among the clouds.

Berean Standard Bible
Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.

King James Bible
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

New King James Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
‘Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And very high, And its top was among the clouds.

NASB 1995
Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And very high, And its top was among the clouds.

NASB 1977
‘Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And very high; And its top was among the clouds.

Legacy Standard Bible
Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade And lofty in height, And its top was among the clouds.

Amplified Bible
‘Behold (listen carefully), Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and with forest shade, And of high stature, With its top among the clouds.

Christian Standard Bible
Think of Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and shady foliage and of lofty height. Its top was among the clouds.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Think of Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and shady foliage and of lofty height. Its top was among the clouds.

American Standard Version
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Behold, the Assyrian, the cedar of Lebanon, whose branches are beautiful and whose shade is heavy, and whose height is high, and whose growth was among the thick ones

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Behold, the Assyrian was a cypress in Libanus, and was fair in shoots, and high in stature: his top reached to the midst of the clouds.

Contemporary English Version
There was once a cedar tree in Lebanon with large, strong branches reaching to the sky.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Behold, the Assyrian was like a cedar in Libanus, with fair branches, and full of leaves, of a high stature, and his top was elevated among the thick boughs.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
What about Assyria? It was a cedar in Lebanon with fine branches that shaded the forest. It was very tall. Its top was among the clouds.

Good News Translation
You are like a cedar in Lebanon, With beautiful, shady branches, A tree so tall it reaches the clouds.

International Standard Version
Think about Assyria, that cedar of Lebanon, beautiful with its branches, like a shady forest, with an awesome height, its summit touches the clouds.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, With fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, And of a high stature; And its top was among the thick boughs.

Literal Standard Version
Behold, Asshur, a cedar in Lebanon, | Beautiful in branch, and shading bough, and high in stature, | And its foliage has been between thickets.

Majority Standard Bible
Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.

New American Bible
Assyria! It is Assyria! A cedar of Lebanon— Beautiful branches, thick shade, Towering heights, its crown in the clouds!

NET Bible
Consider Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade, and extremely tall; its top reached into the clouds.

New Revised Standard Version
Consider Assyria, a cedar of Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great height, its top among the clouds.

New Heart English Bible
Look, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shady cover, and of a high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

World English Bible
Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, Asshur, a cedar in Lebanon, Fair in branch, and shading bough, and high in stature, And between thickets hath its foliage been.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Egypt will Fall Like Assyria
2“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: ‘Who can be compared to your greatness? 3Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds. 4The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field.…

Cross References
Psalm 92:12
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Isaiah 10:33
Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.

Isaiah 10:34
He will clear the forest thickets with an axe, and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

Jeremiah 17:8
He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

Jeremiah 50:18
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.

Ezekiel 17:3
and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.

Ezekiel 17:4
He plucked off its topmost shoot, carried it to the land of merchants, and planted it in a city of traders.


Treasury of Scripture

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.

the Assyrian

Nahum 3:1
Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;

Zephaniah 2:13
And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

a cedar

Ezekiel 17:3,4,22
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: …

Isaiah 10:33,34
Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled…

Isaiah 37:24
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.

Ezekiel 31:6
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.

Judges 9:15
And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Daniel 4:12
The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it.

Jump to Previous
Asshur Assyria Assyrian Beautiful Bough Boughs Branch Branches Cedar Clouds Cover Fair Foliage Forest Great Growth Height High Lebanon Pine-Tree Shade Shadowing Shady Shroud Stature Thick Thickets Top
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Asshur Assyria Assyrian Beautiful Bough Boughs Branch Branches Cedar Clouds Cover Fair Foliage Forest Great Growth Height High Lebanon Pine-Tree Shade Shadowing Shady Shroud Stature Thick Thickets Top
Ezekiel 31
1. A relation unto Pharaoh
3. of the glory of Assyria
10. and the fall thereof for pride
18. The like destruction of Egypt














(3) A cedar in Lebanon.--Lebanon is mentioned only because it was the place where the most famous cedars grew in their greatest perfection. Assyria did, indeed, at one time possess Lebanon, but this was never its home or seat of empire. The word "shroud" in the description refers to the thickness of the shade of the branches.

Among the thick boughs.--Rather, among the clouds. (See Note on Ezekiel 19:11 .Comp. also Ezekiel 31:10; Ezekiel 31:14.)

Verse 3. - Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon. The Hebrew text, as rendered in all versions and interpreted by most commentators, gives us, in the form of the parable of the cedar, the history of the Assyrian empire in its glory and its fall. That had passed away in spite of its greatness, and so should Egypt. The question in Ver. 18 takes the place of "Thou art the man!" in Nathan's interpretation of his parable (2 Samuel 12:7), or the mutato nominee de te fabula, narratur of the Roman satirist. Some recent commentaters, however, either like Ewald, taking the Hebrew word for, Assyrian" as describing a particular kind of cedar or fir tree, or, like Comill and amend, adopting a conjectural emendation of the text which actually gives that meaning (Tasshur for Asshur), refer the whole parable primarily to Egypt, and dwell on the fact that the words of Vers. 10, 18 are addressed to the living representative of a great monarchy, and not to a power that has already passed away into the Hades of departed glory. The former view seems to me the more tenable of the two, and I therefore adopt it throughout the chapter. It may be admitted, however, that the inner meaning of the parable at times breaks through the outward imagery, as was indeed to be expected, the prophet seeking to apply his apologue even before he had completed it. The "cedar in Lebanon" has already met us as the symbol of s kingdom, in Ezekiel 17:2. The shadowing shroud may be noted as a specially vivid picture of the peculiar foliage of the cedar rendered with singular felicity. His top was among the thick boughs; better, clouds, as in the margin of the Revised Version. So Keil, Smend, and others (comp. Vers. 10, 14).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Look at
הִנֵּ֨ה (hin·nêh)
Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

Assyria,
אַשּׁ֜וּר (’aš·šūr)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 804: Ashshur

a cedar
אֶ֣רֶז (’e·rez)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 730: A cedar tree

in Lebanon,
בַּלְּבָנ֗וֹן (bal·lə·ḇā·nō·wn)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3844: Lebanon -- a wooded mountain range on the northern border of Israel

with beautiful
יְפֵ֥ה (yə·p̄êh)
Adjective - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3303: Fair, beautiful

branches
עָנָ֛ף (‘ā·nāp̄)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6057: A branch, bough

that shaded
מֵצַ֖ל (mê·ṣal)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 6751: To shade, as twilight, an opaque object

the forest.
וְחֹ֥רֶשׁ (wə·ḥō·reš)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2793: Horesh -- a forest

It towered
וּגְבַ֣הּ (ū·ḡə·ḇah)
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1362: High, proud

on high;
קוֹמָ֑ה (qō·w·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6967: Height

its top
צַמַּרְתּֽוֹ׃ (ṣam·mar·tōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6788: Fleeciness, foliage

was
הָיְתָ֖ה (hā·yə·ṯāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

among
וּבֵ֣ין (ū·ḇên)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 996: An interval, space between

the clouds.
עֲבֹתִ֔ים (‘ă·ḇō·ṯîm)
Noun - common plural
Strong's 5688: Something intwined, a string, wreath, foliage


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 31:3 Behold the Assyrian was a cedar (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 31:2
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