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Ezekiel 31:11

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Ezekiel 31:11 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness.
Ezekiel 31:11 — American Standard Version

Context — Ezekiel 31

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
8The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir-trees were not like its boughs, and the plane-trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto it in its beauty.
9I made it fair by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.
10Therefore thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thou art exalted in stature, and he hath set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12And 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 watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
13Upon his ruin all the birds of the heavens shall dwell, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches;
14to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, [even] all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.
← Ezekiel 31:10Ezekiel 31:12 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the Heathen, &c.] Or, into the hand of the mightiest of the nationsf562; the mightiest prince among them. Some understand this of Arbaces the Mede, by whom Sardanapalus had been defeated long before this time: others of Merodachbaladan king Babylon, by whom Esarhaddon the Assyrian monarch was vanquished; or rather Nebuchadnezzar, who was called Nabopolassar; who, in the first yearf563 of his reign, in conjunction with Cyaxares king of Media, took Nineveh, the metropolis of the Assyrian monarchy; and this was by the appointment of God, and under the direction of his providence, and through the success he gave to the arms of…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Here the literal supersedes the figurative. shall surely deal with him--according to his own pleasure, and according to the Assyrian's (Sardanapalus) desert. Nebuchadnezzar is called "the mighty one" (El, a name of God), because he was God's representative and instrument of judgment (Dan 2:37-38).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Assyria’s fall. Ezekiel 31:11 More accurately: Therefore I will deliver him, etc ... he shall surely deal with him. I have driven him out, etc. Ezekiel 31:14 Their trees - Rather, as in the margin, “standing unto themselves” meaning “standing in their own strength.” The clause will then run thus: “Neither all that drink water stand up” in their own strength. “All that drink water” means mighty princes to whom wealth and prosperity flow in. The Egyptians owed everything to the waters of the Nile. The substance is, that Assyria’s fall was decreed in order that the mighty ones of the earth might learn not to exalt themselves in pride or to rely on themselves, seeing that they must share the…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Him - The proud king of Assyria, Sardanapalus. The mighty one - Arbaces, who first struck at the root of this Cedar, might well be styled the mighty one of the heathen, since he could bring together four hundred thousand of Medes, Persians, Babylonians, and Arabians. Ezekiel 31:12”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“delivered: Eze 11:9, Eze 21:31, Eze 23:28; Jdg 16:23; Ti1 1:20 the mighty: Nebuchadnezzar, the subverter of the Assyrian empire. Eze 32:11, Eze 32:12; Jer 25:9; Dan 5:18, Dan 5:19 he shall surely deal with him: Heb. in doing he shall do unto him, Jdg 1:7; Mat 7:1, Mat 7:2; Jam 2:13 I have driven: Lev 18:24-28, Lev 20:22, Lev 20:23; Deu 18:12; Lam 1:21; Nah 3:18 Ezekiel 31:12”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification