Bible Strands
Ezekiel 31:15
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘On the day it was brought down to Sheol, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it; I held back its rivers; its abundant waters were restrained. I made Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel on the day a great tree is brought down to Sheol. The prophecy addresses the surrounding nations by detailing the cosmic mourning triggered by this descent.
The words — The Hebrew כֹּֽה־אָמַר יְהוָה יְהוִה (koh amar Adonai YHWH) literally renders "thus says the Lord GOD," establishing the speaker's authority. The verb הֶאֱבַלְתִּי (he'eValti) means "I caused mourning," directly attributing the subsequent grief to divine action.
The thread — The pattern of God draining waters and provoking lament for a fallen power runs through Nahum 2:8, where Nineveh's lifeblood drains away, and Revelation 18:9, where earth's kings weep at the collapse of a corrupt system. These passages parallel Ezekiel's depiction of restrained waters and orchestrated mourning.
Why it lands — The text states that God personally restrains rivers and commands the natural world to mourn when a proud entity falls to Sheol. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment operates through universal consequence rather than isolated punishment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Nahum 2:8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
- Malachi 3:4 Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.
- Revelation 18:9 Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
- Revelation 18:18 and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.