The Assyrian empire fell for their pride: the Egyptian shall fall in like manner.
The glorie of Assirians excelling al other kingdomes, 10. was ouerthrowne, God so ordayning, by the Chaldees: 18. much lesse shal Aegypt escape.
1And it came to pass, in the eleventh year, the third month the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying:L'anno undecimo, il terzo mese, il primo del mese, il Signore parlommi, dicendo:AND it came to passe in the eleuenth yeare, the third moneth, the first of the moneth, the word of our Lord was made to me, saying:Et factum est in anno undecimo, tertio mense, una mensis: factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens: 2Son of man, speak to Pharao king of Egypt, and to his people: To whom art thou like in thy greatness?Figliuolo dell'uomo, di a Faraone re dell'Egitto, e al suo popolo: A chi se' tu simile in tua grandezza?Sonne of man, say to Pharao the king of Aegypt, and to his people: To whom art thou made like in thy greatnes?Fili hominis, dic Pharaoni regi Ægypti et populo ejus: Cui similis factus es in magnitudine tua ? 3Behold, the Assyrian 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.Eccoti Assur qual cedro sul Libano di belle braccia, ombroso di frondi, sublime di altezza, la cui vetta tra' densi rami s'innalza.Behold Assur as it were a ceder in Libanus, fayre of boughes, and thicke of leaues, and high of height and the toppe therof is eleuated among the thicke boughes.ecce Assur quasi cedrus in Libano, / pulcher ramis, et frondibus nemorosus, excelsusque altitudine, / et inter condensas frondes elevatum est cacumen ejus. 4The waters nourished him, the deep set him up on high, the streams thereof ran round about his roots, and it sent, forth its rivulets to all the trees of the country.Lo nudriron le acque, e una perenne fiumana lo fece salire in atto; l'umore correva intorno alle sue radici, ed ei facea passare i suoi ruscelli a tutte le piante di quella regione.The waters haue nourished him, the depth hath exalted him, the riuers therof ranne out round about the rootes therof, and he sent forth her riuers to al the trees of the countrie.Aquæ nutrierunt illum; / abyssus exaltavit illum: / flumina ejus manabant in circuitu radicum ejus, / et rivos suos emisit ad universa ligna regionis. 5Therefore was his height exalted above all the trees of the country and his branches were multiplied, and his boughs were elevated because of many waters.Per questo ei superò in altezza le piante tutte del paese, e i rami suoi si moltiplicarono, e s'ingrandirono mercè delle acque abbondanti.Therfore was his height eleuated aboue al the trees of the countrie: and his groues were multiplied, and his boughes were eleuated because of manie waters.Propterea elevata est altitudo ejus super omnia ligna regionis, / et multiplicata sunt arbusta ejus, / et elevati sunt rami ejus præ aquis multis.
6And when he had spread forth his shadow, all the fowls of the air made their nests in his boughs, and all the beasts of the forest brought forth their young under his branches, and the assembly of many nations dwelt under his shadow.E com'ei gettava grand' ombra, su' rami di lui fecer nido gli uccelli tutti dell'aria, e sotto alle sue frondi partorirono tutte le bestie della foresta, e all'ombra di lui si ricoverava una turba di moltissime genti.And when he had spred forth his shadow, in his boughes al the foules of the heauen made nests, and vnder his leaues al beasts of the forrests engendred, and vnder his shadow dwelt the assemblie of verie manie nations.Cumque extendisset umbram suam, / in ramis ejus fecerunt nidos omnia volatilia cæli: / et sub frondibus ejus genuerunt omnes bestiæ saltuum, / et sub umbraculo illius habitabat cœtus gentium plurimarum. 7And he was most beautiful for his greatness, and for the spreading of his branches: for his root was near great waters.Ed egli era bellissimo per sua grandezza, e per l'ampiezza de' rami suoi: conciossiachè erano le sue radici presso ad acque copiose.And he was most faire in his greatnes, and in the enlarging of his groues: for his roote was nere manie waters.Eratque pulcherrimus in magnitudine sua, / et in dilatatione arbustorum suorum: / erat enim radix illius juxta aquas multas. 8The cedars in the paradise of God were not higher than he, the fir trees did not equal his top, neither were the plane trees to be compared with him for branches: no tree in the paradise of God was like him in his beauty.Più alti cedri di lui non furono nel paradiso di Dio, non arrivavano alla sua vetta gli abeti, e i platani non agguagliavano de' suoi rami l'ampiezza: nissuna pianta del paradiso di Dio fu da assomigliare a lui, e alla bellezza di lui.The ceders were not higher then he in the paradise of God, the firretrees matched not his toppe, and the planetrees were not equal to his boughes: no tree of the paradise of God was likened to him, and to his beautie.Cedri non fuerunt altiores illo in paradiso Dei; / abietes non adæquaverunt summitatem ejus, / et platani non fuerunt æquæ frondibus illius: / omne lignum paradisi Dei non est assimilatum illi, / et pulchritudini ejus. 9For I made him beautiful and thick set with many branches: and all the trees of pleasure, that were in the paradise of God, envied him.Perch'io lo feci sì bello, e di molti, e fitti rami, ebber di lui gelosia tutte le deliziose piante, che erano nel paradiso di Dio.Because I made him beautiful, and with manie & thicke boughes: and al the trees of pleasure, that were in the paradise of God, did emulate him.Quoniam speciosum feci eum, / et multis condensisque frondibus, / et æmulata sunt eum omnia ligna voluptatis / quæ erant in paradiso Dei.
10Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because he was exalted in height, and shot up his top green and thick, and his heart was lifted up in his height:Per questo così dice il Signore Dio: Perchè egli si è levato in altezza, e ha alzata la verdeggiante, ed ombrosa sua cima, e il cuore di lui s'insuperbì di sua elevazione,Therfore thus saith our Lord God: For that he is extolled in height, and hath geuen his toppe greene and thicke, and his hart is eleuated in his height:Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Pro eo quod sublimatus est in altitudine, / et dedit summitatem suam virentem atque condensam, / et elevatum est cor ejus in altitudine sua: 11I have delivered him into the hands of the mighty one of the nations, he shall deal with him: I have cast him out according to his wickedness.Lo ho io dato in potere del più forte trai popoli: ei ne farà quel, che vorrà: secondo la sua empietà io lo ho rigettato.I haue deliuered him into the handes of the strongest of the nations, doing he shal doe to him: according to his impietie I haue cast him out.tradidi eum in manu fortissimi gentium: / faciens faciet ei: / juxta impietatem ejus ejeci eum. 12And strangers, and the most cruel of the nations shall cut him down, and cast him away upon the mountains, and his boughs shall fall in every valley, and his branches shall be broken on every rock of the country: and all the people of the earth shall depart from his shadow, and leave him.E gente straniera, e i più crudeli trai popoli lo troncheranno, e lo getteranno sui monti, e i rami di lui cadran per tutte le valli, e le spezzate sue frondi sopra tutte le rupi della terra, e tutti i popoli della terra fuggiranno da' padiglione di lui, e lo abbandoneranno.And aliens, and the most cruel of the nations shal cut him downe, and shal throw him forth vpon the mountaines, and in al valleis his boughes shal fal, and his groues shal be broken on al rockes of the land: and al the peoples of the earth shal depart from his shadow, and shal leaue him.Et succident eum alieni, / et crudelissimi nationum, / et projicient eum super montes: / et in cunctis convallibus corruent rami ejus, / et confringentur arbusta ejus in universis rupibus terræ: / et recedent de umbraculo ejus omnes populi terræ, / et relinquent eum. 13All the fowls of the air dwelt upon his ruins, and all the beasts of the field were among his branches.Sopra le rovine di lui poseranno gli uccelli dell'aria, e sui rami di lui sederanno tutte le bestie della terra.In his ruine dwelt al the foules of heauen, and in his boughes were al the beasts of the fielde.In ruina ejus habitaverunt omnia volatilia cæli, / et in ramis ejus fuerunt universæ bestiæ regionis.
14For which cause none of the trees by the waters shall exalt themselves for their height: nor shoot up their tops among the thick branches and leaves, neither shall any of them that are watered stand up in their height: for they are all delivered unto death to the lowest parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down into the pit.Per la qual cosa nissuno degli alberi posti lungo le acque s'innalzerà alla sua grandezza, e non eleverà la sua cima trai densi rami, e fronzuti; né saran fermi nella loro altezza tutti quest'alberi innaffiati dalle acque; perocché tutti sono dati in poter di morte nell'infima terra insieme co' figliuoli degli uomini, tra color, che scendono nel sepolcro.For which cause there shal not be eleuated in their height al the trees of the waters, neitheir shal they put their highnes among the wooddie and thicke ones, neither shal they stand in their height, al that are watered with waters: because they are al deliuered into death to the lowest earth in the middes of the children of men, to them that goe downe into the lake.Quam ob rem non elevabuntur in altitudine sua omnia ligna aquarum, / nec ponent sublimitatem suam inter nemorosa atque frondosa, / nec stabunt in sublimitate sua omnia quæ irrigantur aquis: / quia omnes traditi sunt in mortem ad terram ultimam, / in medio filiorum hominum, / ad eos qui descendunt in lacum. 15Thus saith the Lord God: In the day when he went down to hell, I brought in mourning, I covered him with the deep: and I withheld its rivers, and restrained the many waters: Libanus grieved for him, and all the trees of the field trembled.Questo cose dice il Signore Dio: Nel dì, in cui egli cadde nell'inferno, io feci fare lutto grande, lo sommersi nell'abisso: e trattenni i suoi fiumi, e arrestai le grandi acque: si rattristò per cagion di lui il Libano, e tutte le piante dei campi si scossero.Thus saith our Lord God: In the day that he went downe to hel, I brought in mourning, I couered him with the depth: and I stayed his riuers, and kept in manie waters: Libanus was made sad vpon him, and al the trees of the filde were shaken.Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / In die quando descendit ad inferos, induxi luctum: / operui eum abysso, / et prohibui flumina ejus, / et coërcui aquas multas: / contristatus est super eum Libanus, / et omnia ligna agri concussa sunt. 16I shook the nations with the sound of his fall, when I brought him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of pleasure, the choice and best in Libanus, all that were moistened with waters, were comforted in the lowest parts of the earth.Col fracasso di sua rovina feci tremar le nazioni, quand'io lo feci cader nell'inferno con quelli, che calavano in quella fossa; e nel fondo della terra si consolarono tutte le piante dell'orto di delizie insigni, e famose del Libano, le quali erano tutte innaffiate dalle acque.At the sound of his ruine I moued the Gentils, when I brought him downe to hel with them, that descended into the lake: and al the trees of pleasure goodlie and glorious in Libanus, al that were watered with waters, were comfourted in the lowest earth.A sonitu ruinæ ejus commovi gentes / cum deducerem eum ad infernum / cum his qui descendebant in lacum: / et consolata sunt in terra infima / omnia ligna voluptatis egregia atque præclara in Libano, / universa quæ irrigabantur aquis. 17For they also shall go down with him to hell to them that are slain by the sword; and the arm of every one shall sit down under his shadow in the midst of the nations.Perocché nell'inferno tra que', che periron di spada, disceser con lui tutti quelli, i quali, essendo il suo braccio, all'ombra di lui sedevano tralle nazioni.For they also shal goe downe with him to hel to the slaine by the sword: and the arme of euerie one shal sitte vnder his shadow in the middes of the nations.Nam et ipsi cum eo descendent in infernum ad interfectos gladio: / et brachium uniuscujusque sedebit sub umbraculo ejus / in medio nationum.
18To whom art thou like, O thou that art famous and lofty among the trees of pleasure? Behold, thou art brought down with the trees of pleasure to the lowest parts of the earth: thou shalt sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword: this is Pharao, and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.A chi se' tu simile, o illustre, e sublime tralle piante del giardin di delizia? Ecco, che colle piante di quel giardino tu se' stato cacciato nel fondo della terra: tu dormirai tralli incirconcisi, con que', che furono uccisi di spada. Così sarà di Faraone, e di tutta la sua gente, dice il Signore Dio.To whom art thou likened ô thou noble and loftie among the trees of pleasure? Behold thou art brought downe with the trees of pleasure to the lowest earth: in the middes of the vncircumcised shalt thou sleepe, with them that are slaine by the sword, the same is Pharao, and al his multitude, saith our Lord God.Cui assimilatus es, o inclyte atque sublimis inter ligna voluptatis ? / ecce deductus es cum lignis voluptatis ad terram ultimam: / in medio incircumcisorum dormies, / cum eis qui interfecti sunt gladio: / ipse est Pharao, et omnis multitudo ejus, / dicit Dominus Deus.
31:1
Year of the World 3416.
Year, about a month before the fall of Jerusalem.
31:3
Haydock
Assyrian. The ruin of this great empire (Calmet) might have admonished the king of Egypt of his frail condition. (Haydock)
Usher
About thirty-eight years before (Calmet) Ninive had been taken, and its king (Sarac or Chinaladan) slain by his own general, Nabopolassar, and by Astyages, of Media. They divided the empire between them, and the father of Nabuchodonosor fixed his residence at Babylon. (Usher, the year of the world 3378.)
Cedar. Septuagint, "cypress."
Calmet
Top; the king of Ninive. (Calmet)
Worthington
Egypt's monarch thought himself invincible; yet would fall like the Assyrian. (Worthington)
31:4
31:11
I have delivered. Here the time past is put for the future; i.e., I shall deliver.
Haydock
The mighty one, etc., viz., Nabuchodonosor, who conquered both the Assyrians and Egyptians; (Challoner) or rather his father, Nabopolassar, subdued the former, ver. 3. (Haydock)
31:12
Strangers; revolted Assyrians. See Psalm 17:46.
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Branches. The nations continued, but submitted to another master.
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Pit. The new king would appoint fresh governors.
31:15
Calmet
Waters, as if they bewailed his fate. (Calmet)
Theodoret
Those whom the king of Ninive had exalted, and the people, who wished not to submit to a foreigner, would no doubt lament the slaughtered monarch, now silent (Haydock) in the grave. (Theodoret)
31:16
Calmet
Comforted. The ghosts of princes who had been subject to Serac, seeing his fall, bore their own misfortune with greater content. In the grave there is no distinction of master and slave. (Calmet)
Haydock
Surviving princes expected some emolument from the change. (Haydock)
31:17
Arm; those in power. Septuagint, "his seed." Hebrew Zora, (Haydock) means both.
31:18
Famous king of Assyria, or of Egypt.
Calmet
Pharao. (Calmet)
Horace
Mutato nomine de te Fabula narratur. (Horace, 1. Sat. 1.)
Worthington
Though Egypt be like the most potent kingdoms, it shall likewise fall. (Worthington)
31:11
I have delivered.... Here the time past is put for the future, i. e., I shall deliver.—Ibid. The mighty one, etc.... Viz., Nabuchodonosor, who conquered both the Assyrians and Egyptians.
31:2
Thou that semest to thyself inuincible yet art thou not equal to the king of Assirians, who already is ouer throwne; and so shalt thou likewise be.
31:18
Although • Aegypt thou art like to the most potent kingdomes, yet as the assirians & others so thou also shalt be ruined.
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1. In the eleventh year,—from the capture and carrying away of Jeconiah. In the third month.—Ezekiel therefore received this prophecy two months after the one which preceded it. On the first day of the month. eternity. And so they made images of the gods from it. There is a cedar at Rome in the temple of Apollo Sosianus, brought from Seleucia." And Virgil in the seventh book of the Aeneid: "Nay, even the likenesses of the ancients in order of their forefathers, ancient ones from cedar." Pharaoh looked to this eternity. Fourth, cedar was used in sacred rites. For, as Pliny says, lib. XIII, cap. I: "In the times of Ilium they did not supplicate with frankincense; cedar alone and citron in sacred rites, wrapped in smoke, they knew a scent rather than a fragrance." Again, cedar loves mountains, as the same author says lib. XVI, cap. xviii. Moreover, cedar leaves do not fall off, as the same author says in the same place cap. xxi, and he also asserts in cap. xxiv that they are hairy. Fifth, cedar produces pitch, as the same author says lib. XIV, cap. xix. Moreover, "in Egypt and Syria kings, from lack of fir, are said to have used cedar for fleets," says the same lib. XVI, cap. xi. Cedar therefore abounded with Pharaoh, and he gloried in cedar fleets. Sixth, cedar bears sweet fruit, "and new fruit hangs on it with the old," says Pliny, lib. XVI, cap. xxvi. Thus Pharaoh displayed the fruits of Egypt to the whole world. Seventh, cedar pitch soothes the pains of teeth. "It is certain that serpents are driven away by cedar seed. Cedrides, that is the fruit of cedar, heal cough, provoke urine, stop the bowels," says Pliny, lib. XXIV, cap. v. Thus Pharaoh boasted that he would heal the infirmity and disasters of the Jews.
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2. To whom are you like?—both in reality, and in your opinion, as if to say, To whom have you compared yourself, O Pharaoh? In your greatness.—The Chaldean: in your strength; the Septuagint: in your height.
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3. Behold Assur, — that is to say, Behold Sennacherib king of the Assyrians was glorious like you, O Pharaoh! yet afterwards he was slain by his own sons: thus therefore you too shall be slain by God. Thus Maldonatus. Or, as St. Jerome says, that is to say, It is no wonder if you, O Pharaoh! are to be conquered and laid waste by the Chaldeans, since the Assyrians, who were more powerful than you, were conquered and subdued by them. But it is more true that the Pharaoh himself and the Egyptians are called here Assur, as also in Isaiah lii, 4; and this because the Egyptians were descended from the Assyrians; or rather, because they boasted that in glory, power and kingdom they were equal to the kings of the Assyrians; and because, equally as the Assyrians, they were to be laid waste by the Chaldeans. For Assur was the exemplar of tyrants, and therefore signifies any tyrants whatsoever, as I have said on Isaiah viii, 4. Moreover, that Assur is to be understood here as the Pharaoh is evident from this, that throughout this entire chapter, prophesying against the Pharaoh, he continually speaks of this Assur: therefore Assur is the Pharaoh. Secondly, after he has spoken at length of Assur, he does not explain, nor compare him to the Pharaoh; therefore what he says of Assur, he leaves to be understood of the Pharaoh. Thirdly, because he does not so much compare the Pharaoh to the Assyrian, as to the cedar, as is evident in what follows. Whence concluding at verse 18: "To whom, says he, are you likened, O glorious and sublime one! among the trees of pleasure? Behold you are brought down with the trees of pleasure to the lowest earth." Therefore he calls the Pharaoh both Assur and cedar, by that figure of speech by which at chapter xxviii, 14, he called the king of Tyre a Cherub; and Isaiah, at chapter xiv, 12, called Baltassar Lucifer. Wherefore this figure of speech is to be explained in the same manner as I explained it there. Behold Assur like a cedar in Lebanon, — as the cedar surpasses the other trees of Lebanon in height: so Assur, that is the Pharaoh, surpassed all things in glory, riches, and power. By a similar reasoning Daniel, at chapter iv, 7, compares Nabuchodonosor to a tree lofty and great. He compares therefore the Pharaoh to the cedar, first, on account of the amplitude of its branches, that is of provinces; likewise on account of the loftiness and pride of mind; for from this the cedar is called by the Poet lofty. Secondly, because the cedar is fragrant. Whence Virgil, III Georgics: Learn also to kindle the fragrant cedar in the stalls. And lib. VII Aeneid: And in the proud dwellings he burns the fragrant cedar in the lights of night. These odors and honors the Pharaoh coveted. Thirdly, because the cedar does not suffer decay: whence things "worthy of cedar" are said to be those which merit immortality, and are to be consecrated to eternal posterity. Hence also they anointed books with cedar juice, lest they suffer from moths; these books Pliny, lib. XIII, cap. xiii, calls cedarated, which also at cap. v: "The material itself," says he, "(of cedar) Beautiful in branches (that is adorned with sons), and leafy with groves, — that is with many magnates and princes. He calls the king a cedar, his sons branches, princes leaves, or rather he calls branches the extension and amplitude of his empire, and his riches and power; but leaves, his glory and pomp. Whence under his branches, he says at verse 6, all the birds of heaven nested.
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4. The waters nourished it (that is her, namely the cedar: but he says "it," because he understands the Assyrian: and) the abyss. — By waters, abyss and rivers he understands the Nile, which, being led into channels and ditches, irrigates and makes fertile all the fields of Egypt. But under these things symbolically he understands the abundance of riches and soldiers, which flowed from the king to the neighboring trees, that is not only to the men subject to the Pharaoh, even the vile and common people; but also to the Jews and other neighboring and friendly nations.
31:5
5. Above all the trees of the region, — that is to say, the Pharaoh became more powerful than other kings. His shrubs were multiplied (that is, as the Hebrew and Septuagint have it, his branches) and his branches were elevated, — that is his borders were extended, spread far and wide, that is, his kingdom was extended and exalted. Others say, that is to say, His sons and grandsons were multiplied and exalted in riches and glory; and this "by the waters," that is by the waters of the Nile, namely the abundance of riches and soldiers already mentioned.
31:6
6. The birds (Note: By birds he means the magnates; by the beasts of the field, the common people and nations especially fierce and barbarous, whom the Pharaoh subdued and subjected: whence they nested, that is dwelt) in his branches, — that is under his power and protection. It is similar in Daniel, cap. iv, 18.
31:7
7. And it was most beautiful,—that is, the most beautiful cedar; but he says in the masculine "most beautiful," because by this cedar he understands the Assyrian, that is, Pharaoh. 8. Cedars were not higher than him in the paradise of God.—That is, no king was equal in power to the Assyrian, that is, to Pharaoh; no king, I say, even if he seemed to be in the paradise of God, that is, in the abundance of all delights, pleasures and riches. Firs, etc., planes, etc., every tree.—By these he understands princes, cities and the mighty, of whom none was equal to Pharaoh in the greatness and glory of his empire. For these are compared first to the plane tree, because the plane tree spreads its branches widely, and from this the plane tree is called, as it were πλατύς, that is, broad: hence under it, being shady and umbrageous, they were accustomed to feast: whence by Ovid, X Metamorphoses, the plane tree is called genial. And Virgil, IV Georgics: And now the plane tree ministering shade to the drinkers. The plane tree therefore represents the rich, splendid and genial. Secondly, Pliny, lib. XII, cap. 1: "Who," he says, "would not justly marvel at a tree sought from a foreign land for the sake of shade alone! This is the plane tree, which was brought across the Ionian sea to the island of Diomedes, first for the sake of his tomb, thence it passed into Sicily, and among the first was given to Italy. Dionysius the elder, tyrant of Sicily, brought them to the city of Rhegium, a marvel of his house." He adds: "And afterwards so much honor increased, that they are nourished with wine poured in: it has been found that this especially benefits the roots." Indeed, "peoples pay tribute for the shade (of the plane tree)." Licinius the consul feasted within a plane tree with eighteen guests, "the tree itself generously providing couches with its foliage, secure from every breeze, wishing for the sound of rains through the leaves, happier than in the brightness of marbles, the variety of paintings, the ceiling of gold, reclining in the same." Thus also Caius the prince in the Veliternum countryside dined in a plane tree with fifteen guests, "which dinner he called a nest. The commendation (of the plane tree) is not greater than this, that it shuts out the sun in summer, admits it in winter." Moreover the shade of the plane tree is pleasant, although thick, says the same author, lib. XVII, cap. xii. The same, lib. XV, cap. vii, relates that from the berries of the plane tree macerated in water and salt oil is made for lamps. The same, lib. XVI, cap. xliv, says: "There are authors who assert that the Delphic plane tree was planted by the hand of Agamemnon." Indeed, even the foolish king of the Persians, Xerxes, when he saw a tall plane tree in Lydia, spent an entire day at it, and placed his whole camp around it, and even venerated its branches, hanging torques and bracelets from them: finally he left a curator for it as a guardian and defender. Thus Aelian, lib. II, cap. xiv. Themistocles compared himself to plane trees, to which travelers flee when rain comes on, and then when fair weather returns, they pluck and harass them. The plane tree is a powerful man; the storm, calamity; fair weather, prosperity; the plucking of the plane tree, the vexation of the man, to whom we have done well. Thus Causinus, lib. X Parallel. Histor. cap. lxii. Again he compares Pharaoh to the fir, which is commonly called pine, whose leaves are like combs, says Pliny, and never fall, and it is the tallest of trees, bearing weight strongly, and useful for masts. Again, "the fir is most firm for roofing. The same for the hinges of doors, and for whatever interior works one pleases, whether in Greek, Campanian, or Sicilian workmanship, remarkable in the art of building, rolling itself with a crest of shavings always around the incited rushes of the plane. The same also for chariots, most sociable with glue, so much so that it splits before it is solid." Thus Pliny, lib. XVI, cap. xiii. For the fir is tall, knotless, curled, long, loving heights; whence Virgil, eclogue vii: The poplar in rivers, the fir on high mountains. Hence in the Fables the bramble inculcates to the tall fir, boasting its stature and beauty too intemperately: Now indeed you gladly confess only good things And enjoy our imperious evils: But when the beautiful threatening axe cuts your limbs, How you would wish then to have had my thorns! Thus Avianus, fab. xix. Wherefore the fir is a symbol of the ambitious and boastful, whose pride and pomp are soon laid low and vanish. From the fir are made long spears, likewise ships; whence Claudian: The fir fit for the seas, the cornel suited to wars. Hence the epithet of the fir is bold. Hear Statius, lib. VI Thebaid: Hence the bold fir, and the fragrant pine with its wound. For what is bolder than ships, which are made from fir? Wherefore Virgil, II Georgics, says: The fir about to see the disasters of the sea. For these reasons the fir is in the delights of princes and magnificent cities. Thus near Nuremberg, a dense forest of firs, which extends for several miles, I beheld with pleasure. These firs, planes, etc., he says could not be compared to the cedar, that is to Pharaoh, both for the reasons already stated; and because it is proper to the cedar that, as Pliny says, lib. XVI, cap. xl, if a nail be driven into it, it does not hold. Thus Pharaoh, surrounded by the Nile, repelled all the force of enemies, and eluded and repelled the arms of all kings as if secure. Again Pliny, lib. XXIV, cap. v: "The cedar," he says, "preserves dead bodies uncorrupted through the ages, but corrupts living things: a wonderful difference, since it takes away life from the living, but is life to the dead: it also corrupts garments and kills animals." Thus Pharaoh was the plague and destruction of princes: but to the dead, that is to those subdued to him, he was life and abundance of things. Add that the Egyptians embalmed bodies for incorruption, as the evidence of mummification testifies. Symbolically and antitypically he touches here upon the beauty and glory of Lucifer, who was in paradise, that is, in heaven, to whom no cedars, firs and planes, that is, no angels in knowledge and grace and power, could be compared. Thus St. Gregory, XXXII Moral. XVIII. So also Rupertus, lib. I De Victoria verbi Dei, cap. viii, by cedars, firs and planes understands the remaining dignities of the angels, as if in those three hierarchies of heavenly spirits, nothing could be compared to the sublimity of Lucifer. By the same reasoning adapt these to the gifts and graces of Adam, which he had in the state of innocence and paradise.
31:9
9. All the trees envied him (all kings and princes who) were in the paradise of God, — that is, who flourished in riches and honors, and in all happiness and glory, as if they had been in paradise. It is a catachresis. Thus Vatablus.
31:10
10. And he gave its top green and thick, — that is, as Vatablus translates: He placed, namely from pride, his summit among the thick, that is, he was surrounded by a dense multitude of kings and nobles.
31:11
11. I delivered (that is, I will deliver) him into the hand of the mightiest of the nations, — i.e. into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. He shall do to him what he will, — that is, he will do to him what he pleases; for he shall be in his hand and power.
31:12
12. Strangers shall cut him down, and the most cruel of nations, — namely the Chaldeans, cruel beyond other nations: wherefore in Scripture they are denoted by the epithet of cruelty. This and more also Isaiah has, cap. xix, 4. See the things said there. All peoples shall depart from his shadow, — that is, The peoples formerly subject to Pharaoh, or confederated with him, now seeing him cut down, shall withdraw themselves from him and his empire.
31:13
13. Upon his ruin (upon the trunk of this prostrate cedar) dwelt (that is, shall dwell) the fowls (that is, the magnates and princes subject or confederated to Pharaoh), and in his branches the beasts, — that is, the common people and peoples of the same, that is, Previously the birds and beasts were under his branches; but after he has fallen, they shall sit upon him, that is, they shall trample upon him. It signifies that it shall come to pass that the nations, which were previously under Pharaoh's protection, he being laid low by the Chaldeans, shall turn against him and despoil him. He persists always in the metaphor of the cedar tree. Thus Maldonatus.
31:14
14. For which reason, — that is, Struck by this example of Pharaoh, other princes shall be wise, so that they do not become proud, lest they be cast down by God in like manner. All the trees of the waters, — which abound in waters, that is, all princes abounding in riches. Because all are delivered unto death to the lowest earth. — In Hebrew the lowest, that is, they are relegated to the grave and hell. Whence explaining, he adds: In the midst of the children of men, — that is, with others or like other common men, common people and the vile. See the things said cap. xxix, 11. For the Hebrews call the sons of a man the nobles: but they call the sons of men the common people and the vile. To those who descend into the pit, — that is, into hell.
31:15
15. In the day when it went down (that is, shall go down) to hell, I brought (that is, I will bring) mourning, — that is, On account of the slaughter of Pharaoh I will bring lamentation to all his friends and to his whole region. I covered him with the abyss, — that is, with a multitude of calamities, and with the abyss itself, that is, with hell. The Hebrews and Vatablus translate: I covered the abyss over him, that is, That abyss of waters, which in verse 4 exalted the cedar, that is, Pharaoh, was sad at his fall, that is, those riches deprived of their king, shall be seen to mourn, that is, The king being dead, his treasury shall be exhausted, so that it itself shall be seen to be squalid and to mourn. Whence aptly follows: "I prohibited his rivers." The Septuagint translates: The abyss mourned him, that is, the multitude of nations subject to Pharaoh. I prohibited his rivers, — concerning which verse 4, namely lest they water this cedar, that is, I will dry it up, I have dried it and deprived it of all goods. Lebanon was grieved over him. — In Hebrew it is אקדיר ardir, that is, to clothe Lebanon in dark and mournful garments. By Lebanon he understands Judea, Phoenicia and Syria, regions neighboring Egypt and confederated with it, that is, These regions shall mourn the slaughter of Pharaoh and Egypt, and "all the trees of the field," that is, all peoples, hearing of this slaughter, shall be shaken with fear.
31:16
16. And all the trees were comforted in the lowest land (that is, in hell they received comfort, that is, they will receive it)—that is, the nobles and kings now departed from life, who in this life and world excelled like cedars in Lebanon: namely because they will rejoice that they now have Pharaoh as a companion in calamity and punishment.
31:17
17. For they also (Vatablus and Emmanuel Sa read: but they) shall descend with him.—Some read, they descended. Thus indeed the Hebrew has it. Both are true: for the tyrants of the past descended, the future ones will descend into Tartarus. And the arm of each shall sit under the shadow thereof,—as if to say, Just as the weary sit under a shady tree, and there are refreshed leaning on their arm, that is, their elbow: so other kings and princes in hell under the punishment of Pharaoh will be as it were refreshed, seeing themselves less, him punished more severely. Otherwise Vatablus and others, as if to say, But they also descended with him to the infernal regions, those who sat under the shadow of his arm in the midst of the nations, that is, the allies and helpers of Pharaoh, who dwelt securely among other nations, because Pharaoh favored and protected them. And thus some understand our Interpreter, so that "shall sit" is the same as "sat."
31:18
18. To whom are you likened?—as if to say, You wished, O Pharaoh, to liken yourself to the Assyrian and the cedar: but you attained the glory of neither, and you were destroyed with both falling. With the trees of pleasure,—with other kings. In the midst of the uncircumcised (that is, after the manner of the unfaithful; the Chaldean, of sinners) you shall sleep—in death eternal sleep among the infernal regions. He is Pharaoh,—as if to say, What I have said thus far, I understand of Pharaoh and his people. Or, this will be the end and sad exit of Pharaoh, the princes and all his people. Thus Ecclesiastes, chapter xii, verse 13, concludes his discourse on the vanity of all things that are in the world, saying: "This is all man." Thus also Virgil, book II of the Aeneid, concludes the fall of Troy, saying: Here is the end of Priam's fates, here fate brought him this exit. You see here again the inconstancy of the world. Hear Ovid, book X of the Metamorphoses: And having delayed a little, sooner or later we hasten to one dwelling place. We all tend thither. This is the last home, and you, (O infernal regions), hold the longest kingdom of the human race. The same, book XV of the Metamorphoses: Time, devourer of things, and you, envious old age, destroy all things, and worn by the teeth of time, you gradually consume all things in slow death. The same, book III of the Metamorphoses: Be, I pray, mindful of what stock you were created. And again book XV: There is nothing in the whole world that persists: All things flow, and even time itself glides away in constant motion, not otherwise than a river: but as one wave is driven by another, and is urged by the same coming, and urges the one before: thus times flee equally, and equally follow, and are always new.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
31:1
… Ezekiel always receives the word of Yahweh on the recurrence of the n. (Ez. 26:1; 29:17; 31:1; 33:1).
31:2
In literature the metaphor "cedar of Lebanon" signifies power, beauty or inconsiderate pride (Zech. 11:1; Ezek. 31:2; 17:3, 22; Amos 2:9). With reference to the cedar of Lebanon the prevalence of the just is wished for (Ps. 91:13) or the pride of the wicked is condemned (Ps. 28:5; 36:35). The bridegroom …
31:3
poetic texts (cf. Iudc. 9, 15; Is. 2, 13; 60, 13; Jer. 22, 23; Ez. 17, 3; 27, 5; 31, 3; Zach. 11, 1; Ps. 28, 5; 91, 13, etc.) and in the historical ones (cf. I Reg. 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, etc.) already the Egyptians exploited the famous woods of Lebanon, which they came …
31:8
The memory of the extraordinary vegetation of the terrestrial paradise returns in the Bible as a term of hyperbolic comparison: Gen. 13:10; Is. 51:3; Ez. 28:13; 31:8 ff.; 36:35; Ioel 2:3; Eccli. 40:17.
31:15
Is. 14, 9; Ez. 31, 15. Others prefer to give the root ἐδ'ῶ the meaning popascit, which would indicate an insatiable abyss that devours men, or even a place of interrogation, as it were the dwelling …
"descends" or "plunges" (Is. 14:9-15; 57:9; Ez. 31:15-17; 32:21; Am. 9:2; Ps. 85:13; 138:8; Prov. 15:24). The deep f. is a synonym of "death" that sweeps away (Job 24:19; Ecclus. 14:12; 51:2-9; cf. Apoc. 1:18 and 20:13-14), and "to descend …
31:18
Circumcision (From Lat. circumcisio, «cutting around»; Gr. περιτομή; Heb. Milāh)
… From the time of Joshua circumcision was universally observed and became the sacred seal of the people of God: its absence was a cause of dishonor and ignominy (cf. Judg. 14:3; 15:18; I Sam. 14:6; 17:26, 36; Ezek. 28:10; 31:18; 32:19 ff.). …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.