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1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness? 3 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. 4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. 5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. 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. 7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. 9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. 10 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; 11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness. 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. 13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: 14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, 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. 15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. 16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. 17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. 18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
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[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 20:35-36:38
(Verse 35, 36, and following) And I will bring you into a desert of peoples, and there I will judge you face to face. Just as I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, says the Lord. And I will subject you to my scepter, and I will bring you into the bonds of the covenant, and I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked: from their place of residence I will bring them out, and they will not enter the land of Israel, and you will know that I am the Lord. Thus says the Lord: I will do for you who are in Babylon, and now serve idols, what I did for your ancestors in Egypt. I will lead you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will judge you face to face, just as I contended with them in judgment when they came out of Egypt. And after I have judged you, I will subject you to my scepter and rule, and I will make a covenant with you and bring you into your land with the bonds of love, so that bound by my love, you will never be able to depart from me. But I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked, who persist in the hardness of their hearts in evil deeds, not for possession, but for rejection. And I will indeed bring them out of the land of their dwelling, so that when they are brought out, they will not enter the land of Israel; but they will perish in various regions. And by the distinction between good and evil, you shall know that I am the Lord, who judges all things. The rest of the discourse hastens, and we briefly go through each point, in order to provide only the meaning to the readers.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 31:1-18
(Chapter 31.) And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his people: Whom are you like in your greatness? Behold, Assyria was like a cedar (or cypress) in Lebanon, beautiful in branches and dense with foliage, towering in height, and its top was among the thick foliage (or in the midst of clouds). The waters nourished him: the abyss lifted him up; his rivers flowed round about his roots, and he sent forth his channels to all the trees of the region. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the region, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches were elevated above many waters. And when he had stretched forth his shadow, all the fowls of the air made their nests in his branches: and under his branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all the multitude of nations. And it was most beautiful in its magnificence, and in the spreading (or multitude) of its shrubs (or branches): for its roots were near the waters. The cedars (or cypresses) were not taller than it in the paradise of God, and the firs (or pines) did not reach its summit, and the plane trees (or firs) were not equal (or similar) to its foliage (or branches). Every tree of the paradise of God (or in the paradise of God) was not like it and its beauty, because I made it beautiful (Vulg. made him beautiful), and with many thick branches, and all the trees of delight (or pleasure) that were in the paradise (Vulg. adds of God) envied it. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it has exalted itself to the height, and has set its top among the thick clouds, and its heart is proud of its height, I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out for its wickedness. Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land, and all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. In its ruins all the birds of the sky made their homes or found rest, and all the beasts of the field dwelt among its branches. Therefore, all the watered trees will not be lifted up to their full height, nor will they set their lofty tops among the thickly leaved trees or in the clouds. Nor will all those irrigated by water stand tall, for they have all been delivered to death, to the farthest depths of the earth, in the midst of the sons of men, to those who descend to the pit. Thus says the Lord God: on the day when he descended to the underworld, I proclaimed mourning (or the abyss mourned for him): I covered him with the abyss, and I held back its rivers and restrained its many waters. Lebanon was shattered (or darkened) over him, and all the trees of the field withered (or failed). At the sound of his downfall, nations were shaken (or trembled), when I brought him (or her) down to the underworld with those who descend (or descend) into the pit; and on the weak earth the splendid and magnificent trees of delight (or luxury) in Lebanon were consoled: and all were watered by the waters. For they themselves, whether with her or with him, went down to the underworld to the slain or wounded with a sword, and the arm or seed of each dwelled beneath her shadow, perished in the midst of the nations or their own lives. To whom have you likened yourself, O illustrious one, and sublime among the trees of pleasure! Behold, you are brought down with the trees of pleasure to the lowest earth, you will sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. So Pharaoh and all his crowd, says the Lord God. I combined both editions in the usual way, however, where they disagreed the most, so as not to increase the size of the books with a double proposition. And first it must be understood that whatever is said about the future Assyrian king is mentioned in the Septuagint as if already fulfilled, and thus it speaks of the tree or the prince of the Assyrians, so that both the masculine and feminine genders are understood to refer to one person, while the tree is related to the Assyrian and the Assyrian is called the tree. And there is no mention in the present discourse of the Babylonian king, lest it seem to provoke the anger of the lords and rulers against the captive people placed in Chaldea, but it is said of the king of the Assyrians, who at that time had already been captured by the Chaldeans, and all the strength of the Assyrians was subject to the Babylonian yoke. Therefore, the ten tribes, that is, Israel, are captured by the Assyrians; but the Chaldeans overpower the two tribes, that is, Judah and Benjamin, and they overthrow the city of Jerusalem. Therefore, in order to speak against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his people, God used the following divine words in the beginning: 'To whom have you become similar in your greatness? Behold, Assyria is like a cedar in Lebanon, and so on.' And the meaning is: Do not be surprised if you are to be defeated and destroyed by the Babylonians, and if your empire is to be destroyed, and if all the wealth of Egypt is to be destroyed, since Assyria, much stronger than you, was destroyed by the same Chaldeans who conquered you. And he described the power of the king of Assyria under the figure of a cedar tree, according to the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and the Cypress, which was planted on Mount Lebanon, which is beautiful with branches and dense with foliage, and it reaches up to the clouds, and it grew so much because it was irrigated not by water, but by the abyss, that is, by very abundant waters. For the abyss is the multitude of the sound of waters: so that all birds have made their nests in its branches, and all the beasts of the field have given birth under its foliage. And so that we would not doubt what were the flying creatures of the sky, and what were the beasts of the woods, he explained more clearly: And under its shade dwelled a multitude of diverse peoples. Cedars, he said, and cypresses, firs or pines, and plane trees or cypresses were not equal to its branches. And so that he would not speak separately about all the trees, he said, all the trees of the paradise of God are not likened to it, and to its beauty. Through these things, some understand that it is not spoken about the Assyrian king, but about an opposing strength, which is said to be generated in the speech of Tyre among the Cherubim, and distinguished by precious stones, and afterwards to have fallen to earthly matters because of his own fault, who is also called Lucifer when he is falling in Isaiah (Isaiah XIV), and is signified in the Gospel by the Lord: I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven (Luke X, 12). But we should understand all these things as hyperbolic statements made in history, that Assyria had such great power, and it oppressed all nations so that it compared itself to the strength of angels. However, everything metaphorically is said to be under the highest cedar or cypress, referring to Assyria, and the killing of it is called its destruction. And what follows: I have given it into the hand of the mightiest nations, it calls the king of Babylon, so that what conquered Assyria, it understands was not its own strength, but of divine power. According to him, I expelled her because of her impiety, so that secretly she might warn Babylon that it should not be cruel or oppress the people of God, who have been handed over to her, lest she suffer the same fate as Assyria, which was cruel and impious. And strangers will cut her down, the most cruel of nations; or, according to the Septuagint, the pestilent: which he would never say (or rather, wanted to say) while he was in Chaldea, so as not to arouse them against his nation. She is also cast upon the mountains, and her branches fall swiftly in the valleys, and they are shattered against the rocks, and she is abandoned by all the peoples, that is, by the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field, and she will come to such destruction that all the trees that were considered tall in comparison to the tree of Assyria will be raised up by her example and lifted up on high; and they will no longer stand at their height, but they will be cut down along with her in fear. And what was said through the translation becomes clearer. All, he says, were handed over (understood: kings to death) to the deepest land (that is, to the underworld), in the midst of the sons of men (by no means among the trees) to those who descend into the lake. There is no doubt that it signifies the underworld. After the cutting down of the Assyrian tree, or on the day when the Assyrian descends to the underworld, and the Lord inflicted mourning (or commanded mourning), again through the translation he speaks about him being covered by the abyss, according to what is written: 'I went down to the depths of the sea, and the storm engulfed me' (Psalm 68:3); and all the rivers, that is, all the nations, ceased to flow beyond him, and he was grieved, or darkened over it, that is, the tree, or him, that is, the Assyrian, Lebanon. So that we may not think that the tree has speech, it follows: I moved the nations by the sound of its falling. For what great ruin of one tree can there be, that all nations are moved by its sound? 'When I brought it down to the underworld,' he says, 'according to the letter, a tree cannot be brought down to the underworld with others who were descending into the pit, that is, to the underworld.' And the lowest parts of the earth, namely the heart of the earth, were consoled, because all the trees of pleasure, or delights, which in Hebrew is called Eden, were there, signifying delightful and excellent groves and forests that were in Lebanon and were watered by streams. For even the trees themselves, along with him, that is, the Assyrian, descend into the underworld, to the dead or wounded by the sword. The trees are not wounded by swords, but they are cut down, and they do not descend into the underworld. And the arm, he says, or the offspring (since in Hebrew the word 'Zara' means both), will rest in its shade among the nations, not of forests but of peoples. In the end, there is an apostrophe to the Assyrian himself, or to Pharaoh. To whom have you been compared, O illustrious and sublime among the trees of pleasure? None was your equal, they say, but you surpassed all kings in power. And yet, when you were led with the other kings, who were in your company to the farthest lands, that is, to the depths below, as Scripture says: They shall go to the ends of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hand of the sword, they shall be the portion of foxes. (Ps. LXII, 10, 11). In the midst, it is said, you will lie with the uncircumcised, with those who have been slain by the sword. He showed what were the trees, what cedar, or cypress, wounded by swords, and lying with the uncircumcised. And yet he would join the extremities to the preceding ones, because he had said above: To whom are you like in your greatness: behold the Assyrian as a cedar in Lebanon, fair in branches and leaves, and the rest, now it is brought forth: Thus is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, says the Lord. How, he says, is the Assyrian, the cedar and cypress, fallen by the Babylonian, thrown down: thus Pharaoh and his people, that is the very tree and its branches, will be thrown down by the Babylonian. In the meantime, let these things be said according to history, which most people understand will happen at the end of the world, and let the king of Pharaoh, that is, the power to which Egypt is subject, be compared to the most powerful king of the Assyrians, that is, the antichrist: if he falls, surely the other rulers of these darknesses and the princes of the world will fall more easily. Let us therefore briefly touch on each one, so that we do not so much discuss and explain obscure things, but rather seem to have given material to those who desire to explain. And first it must be discussed why, in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, saying: Son of man, speak to Pharaoh of Egypt and his multitude. When speaking to Pharaoh, in the eleventh year the word of the Lord was spoken, for it had not yet come to the twelfth year, which is the number of full and complete power. Hence, there are also twelve sons of Jacob (Genesis 35), from whom later the twelve names of the prophets are contained in one volume. And there are twelve Apostles (Luke 6), of whom one, Judas the traitor, is replaced by Matthias. And the daughter of the synagogue official, who is twelve years old, is raised by the Lord (Mark 5). The woman with the issue of blood is also healed in the twelfth year. But because Pharaoh is rebuked and mourned later, therefore the third month and the eleventh day of the twelfth year are linked together. Hence, in the subsequent twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel, saying: Son of man, lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him. For the one who mourns, mourns in order to understand how many goods he has lost; and yet, because Pharaoh was there, and his arm had not yet been bound, nor had he regained his former strength: therefore, in the twelfth year and month, there are still twenty-nine days remaining, in order to complete the number of twelve years. Therefore, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to the Prophet, and he was commanded to speak to the king of Egypt and his people. It is remarkable that the four interpreters did not say 'people' but 'multitude'. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). And in the law it is written: 'You shall not be with the multitude in evil.' And it is said to the king of Egypt: 'To whom have you likened yourself in greatness or in height?' For he himself will be exalted and subject to this sentence: 'Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled' (Luke 14:11). But let him not be like him in height, who has been like a cedar or a cypress in Lebanon, beautiful with branches and leafy; and raised his head in height, even to the clouds, to which, according to David, the truth of God reaches (Psalm 36), and to which they are commanded not to rain upon Israel. Beauty is also praised, which, when turned by wicked will into ugliness, so that it can be said of him: The Lord will break the cedars of Lebanon: and he himself, being exalted on the highest mountains of Lebanon, the higher he had been, would fall even more forcefully. The holy Scripture, desiring to demonstrate his majesty, calls him the great cedar, which was nourished by waters, not the waters of Siloam that flow silently, but the waters of Rasin and the waters of Egypt, of which it is written: Why do you want to drink the waters of Geon, or Sion? which is said to sound the turbid waters. The abyss also exalted him above which at the beginning of the world darkness was carried (Gen. I), and to which in the Gospel the demons beg not to be sent (Luke VIII). The rivers of the same abyss were around its roots, of which it is said: What do you have with the ways of the Assyrians, to drink the waters of the rivers (Jer. II, 18)? And in another place: Behold, the Lord will bring upon you strong and abundant river water, the king of the Assyrians and all his glory (Isa. VIII, 7). The abyss also sent forth its streams to all the trees of the region, in order to irrigate not only the prince of this world, but also his companions. Therefore, it was elevated and grew above all the tallest trees, and its bushes multiplied, and it possessed the empire of the whole world, saying: 'All these things have been handed over to me' (Matthew 4:9). And its branches were elevated, because they were watered by the abyss. It spread out and extended its shade, in order to subject everyone to its dominion. All the birds of the sky made their nests in its branches. For everyone who sins is born of the devil, and is counted among its branches. But those birds made their nests in its branches, which, according to the Gospel, devour the seed by the wayside. Either because all have sinned and are in need of God's mercy, as it is said: All have turned aside, they have become altogether useless. Therefore, they made their nests in its branches. It follows: And under its branches all the beasts of the forest, who have lost Christ's gentleness, were born, and under its shade dwelt a multitude of nations, so that there was no one who was not covered by its shade, except for him who said: Behold, the prince of this world is coming: and he will find nothing in me (John 14:30). For by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death (Romans 5:12); and thus death passed unto all men, in whom all have sinned, and in Adam all die, and we all have sinned, and we are in need of the glory of God (1 Corinthians 15). And yet, even within this dwelling, there is a diverse condition. Some dwell in its branches like birds, boasting knowledge of philosophy and the teachings of heretics. Others are like wild beasts, fierce and cruel. Others are like a multitude of many nations, symbolizing a mixture of different vices and sins. Now, Assur was most beautiful in its size and in the spreading of its foliage, for its roots were nourished by many waters. It was so tall in the garden of God that no cedar or cypress could surpass it, nor could fir trees and pine trees match its height, nor were plane trees equal in foliage to it. Therefore, no tree of the plants in paradise was equal to it, because every wood of the paradise of God is not similar to it and its beauty. For they were not raised up by pride, but they knew their humility, nor did they attempt to claim the likeness of God in their sacrilegious mind. And what follows: And all the trees of delight that were in paradise envied it, we shall explain as follows: The trees of paradise envied the abundance of its branches: For many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. XX, 16). And; The broad and spacious way that leads to death (Ibid. VII, 13) . For he desires to have as many for salvation as Assur had for destruction. Therefore, because Assur was exalted in height; and he gave his flourishing and dense height, even to the highest clouds, and his heart was lifted up to say: I will be like the Most High (Isa. XIV, 14) , therefore he was delivered into the hand of the strongest of nations: which we understand as another detestable power, to which he is delivered for punishment: for he himself is an enemy and avenger; so that Assur may be understood as Antichrist, and the strongest of nations to which he is delivered, Satan, according to the saying of the Apostle: Whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (I Tim. II, 20) : Who will perform for him whatever has been commanded to him by the Lord. But this cypress was expelled from the paradise of God because of its impiety; and strangers and cruel, or pestilent, people will cut it down among the nations, so that what is written may be fulfilled: The fool, when scourged, will become wiser (Proverbs 19:25). And again: The axe is already laid to the root of the trees (Matthew 3:10); those who cut it down on the mountains, so that it may fall in its pride. However, in all the valleys, its branches will fall, so that all those who were in its company are led down to Tartarus, and they will leave its shadow and abandon it, so that the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, which were previously under it and protected by its shadow, will then share in its punishment. And when they see the other trees of the forest, or of Paradise, they will not be elevated in pride, nor consider themselves to be anything, nor will they regard the abundance of their own water as riches: because all the branches and birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, which were under the dominion of Assyria, will be brought down in death to the lowest earth. Of which it is written: In his sight all who go down to the earth will fall (Psalm 21:30). And in another place: They shall go to the outermost parts of the earth (Ps. LXII, 10): and they shall in no wise be with the Angels, but with the sons of men, who descend into the lake, or into the eternal pit. But when he shall descend to the outermost parts of the earth, and a part of the foxes shall be from whom he will be torn: then there shall be mourning either of all his companions, or of the holy fortitudes, which will grieve for him having descended to the underworld. Hence the Lord says: I have covered him in the deep, whose waters he had been nourished by before; and I have stopped his rivers, that is, the depths, and I have restrained many waters, so that they would not irrigate him, but rather oppress him. Lebanon was grieved over him, in which he had been exalted, and all the trees of the field were shaken, fearing a similar destruction. From the sound of its downfall, nations were moved, so that no one would be ignorant of its ruin and descent to the underworld with its companions. And all the trees of pleasure, that is, of paradise, received consolation, while they saw evil punished with evils, and good restored to the good. But these trees of Lebanon are watered by the streams of the Lord, in which that fallen tree had also been watered. Whether all the trees that were once good and irrigated by waters, and dwelt in the height of Lebanon, will receive consolation when they see their prince endure similar torments. For they themselves will descend to hell, to the dead killed by the sword of the Lord, and all the might of the trees will dwell under its shadow, that is, in punishment, amidst all the nations that will be held captive in the prisons of hell. After this, the discourse turns to Pharaoh himself, to whom it was said in the beginning, to whom have you been likened in your greatness? And he said to him: To whom have you been compared, O renowned and lofty one, among the trees of pleasure? Surely to the Assyrian who fell. And you were renowned and lofty among the trees of Eden, which is to say, of delights and paradise. And behold, you have been brought down like the Assyrian, with all the trees that were once in delight, to the lowest earth and to the underworld, and you will not sleep in peace, but in torment amidst the uncircumcised, that is, the unclean, and with those who have fallen by the sword of the Lord. And so that we may know who is the one to whom he said: O illustrious and lofty among the trees of pleasure, he puts it more clearly: He is Pharaoh, and all his multitude. Or according to the Septuagint, it is thus Pharaoh, and all his multitude, so that just as the Assyrian was cut down and fell, so may the Egyptian be overthrown.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel