Ezekiel 31:16

I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord GOD declares this to Ezekiel on the day a great tree is brought down to the grave. The statement follows a description of divine mourning and the restraint of waters.

The words — מַפַּלְתּוֹ (ma.pal.T/o) = its downfall, and שְׁאֹלָה (she.'o.la/h) = Sheol. These terms anchor the verse's focus on a violent descent and the realm of the dead.

The thread — The text records nations trembling at a ruler's collapse and trees being consoled in the earth below. Isaiah 14:15 describes a similar descent to Sheol, while Ezekiel 26:15 notes coastlands quaking at a city's downfall.

Why it lands — The text reports divine judgment that triggers national and natural reaction to a leader's descent, then asks the reader to acknowledge that earthly power terminates in the grave regardless of former stature.

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

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.

Cross-references

Isaiah 14:15 But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
Isaiah 14:8 Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
Ezekiel 26:15 This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst?
Ezekiel 27:28 The countryside will shake when your sailors cry out.
Ezekiel 31:9 I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’
Habakkuk 2:17 For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of animals will terrify you, because of your bloodshed against men and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.
Haggai 2:7 I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.
Ezekiel 14:22 Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—all that I have brought upon it.
Ezekiel 26:10 His multitude of horses will cover you in their dust. When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots.
Ezekiel 31:14 This happened so that no other trees by the waters would become great in height and set their tops among the clouds, and no other well-watered trees would reach them in height. For they have all been consigned to death, to the depths of the earth, among the mortals who descend to the Pit.’