Bible Strands
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.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to declare the fate of the proud tree that set its top among the clouds. The declaration follows a description of its unmatched beauty and precedes the announcement of its downfall.
The words — יָפֶה (ya.Peh) translates literally as “beautiful,” describing the divine craftsmanship. וַיְקַנְאֻהוּ (va/y.kan.'U./hu) means “and they envied it,” noting the reaction of the surrounding trees.
The thread — The garden of Eden motif recurs in Genesis 13:10 and Isaiah 51:3 as a symbol of divine blessing and restoration. The warning against exaltation aligns with Psalm 75:6, which denies that pride originates from human direction.
Why it lands — The text states that God alone determines beauty and height, and that these gifts provoke envy rather than warrant pride. It demands recognition that exaltation is divinely granted, not self-achieved, and that height invites scrutiny, not self-glorification.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Genesis 13:10 And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
- Psalms 75:6 For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,
- Isaiah 51:3 For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
- Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
- Daniel 2:37 You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.
- Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- Genesis 26:14 He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
- Genesis 37:11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
- Exodus 9:16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
- Judges 9:8 One day the trees set out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’