Ezekiel 31:12

12. The tenses in Eze_31:12-13 are perfects of threatening: the fut. would be plainer in Eze_31:12 as A.V. Eze_31:13. On “terrible” cf. Eze_28:7.

have left him] cast him down, ch. Eze_32:4; Amo_5:2. His great trunk covers the land and fills the watercourses. The nations who dwelt under his shadow, seeking his protection, have fled away from him (Dan_4:11). For people, peoples.

have left him] and (or, for) they have cast him down. The words seem emphatic repetition from the beginning of the verse.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 31:12 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.

Ver. 12. And strangers have cut him off.] The greater 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 vassals, homagers, and auxiliaries.

And all the people of the earth.] Who once sheltered under his shadow. But the rule is,

“ Arbor honoretur cuius nos umbra tuetur. ”

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

“ Sic cum fortuna statque caditque fides. ” - Ovid.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31:12-14 Egypt’s fate would teach the other nations that however high they set themselves, eventually they were all doomed to die and go down to the pit.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hereby is signified the destruction of the power of the Assyrians by the Babylonians.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(12) Gone down.—Because the cedar is represented as growing upon the height of Lebanon. Yet “the people of the earth” is literal.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off,.... Cut off the boughs and branches of this cedar, and cut him down to the ground; that is, utterly destroyed him, his empire and monarchy: these "strangers" were the Medes, who lived in a country distant from Assyria; and "the terrible of the nations", the cruel and merciless Chaldeans, the soldiers of the king of Babylon's army; see Eze 30:11,

and have left him upon the mountains, like a tree cut down there, and its boughs and branches lopped off, which roll down from thence into the valleys, and by the rivers of water signifying his depression from a high and exalted state to a very low one, as follows:

and in all the valley his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; signifying that many provinces and countries under his dominion were broken off, and by force taken away from him; or they broke off and revolted of themselves, and either set up for themselves, and recovered their former power and authority; or gave up themselves to the conqueror. The Targum is,

"and in all valleys his army fell, and his auxiliaries were scattered by all the rivers of the land:''

and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him: those that joined themselves to his empire, put themselves under his protection, or sought his friendship and alliance, now withdrew themselves from him, and left him alone to shift for himself; as frightened birds and beasts will do, when a tree is cut down and fallen, in the boughs or under the shadow of which they dwelt. The Targum paraphrases it,

"from the shadow of his kingdom.''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Strangers; revolted Assyrians. See Psalm xvii. 46.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Strangers; foreigners, who regard neither justice nor mercy, such were those who made up his army of Arbaces the Mede.

The terrible; so these were for their strength and valour much, but for their numbers and barbarity more, to be dreaded.

Have cut him off; not shall, for it was done before Ezekiel’s time, about the time Hezekiah was born, and about two hundred and forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonish captivity.

Left him; revolted or forsaken Sardanapalus.

Upon the mountains: as a tree, 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 repel his adversaries or escape out of their hands.

Have left him; 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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Compare Eze_31:6; Eze_28:7; Eze_30:11. The people who once humbly dwelt under its branches have now left the shadowless trunk and broken limbs or else walk over them without honor or fear (Eze_31:13).

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Strangers, the terrible of the nations. We note the recurrence of the phrase of Eze_30:11, as pointing, here as there, to the Chaldean invaders. The branches of the tree were broken, the people of the earth no longer dwelt under its shadow. (Dan_4:11)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Strangers - Foreigners.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Yahweh's parable about the cedar continues.

who were the terror of all the nations

The abstract noun "terror" can be stated as "afraid." And here "nations" represents the people of the nations. AT: "who made the people of all the nations afraid" (See: Abstract Nouns and Metonymy)

cut it off

"cut the cedar down"

its boughs lay broken

"the foreigners broke the boughs of the cedar"

boughs

Boughs are very large branches that grow on trees. Usually, many smaller branches grow on the boughs.

came out from under its shade

"left the shade of the cedar"

translationWords

alien

terror

cut off

earth

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

cast it down [Heb. וַיִטְשֻּׁהוּ,] and they cast it down to the earth, like (Num. 11:31): “and let them down (וַיִטשּׁ) upon the camp.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.