Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Under the parable of the cedar, he describes the glory and pride of the Assyrian, that is, the Egyptian king, and, at verse 10, his fall and disasters.
Vulgate Text: Ezekiel 31:1-18
1. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2. Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his people: To whom are you like in your greatness? 3. Behold, Assyria was like a cedar in Lebanon, fair in branches, and thick with foliage, and lofty in height, and its top was raised among the thick boughs. 4. The waters nourished it, the deep made it grow tall: its rivers flowed round about its roots, and it sent its streams to all the trees of the region. 5. Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the region: and its branches were multiplied, and its boughs were raised up because of the many waters. 6. And when it had spread its shade, all the birds of the sky made their nests in its branches, and under its foliage all the beasts of the forests brought forth their young, and under its shadow dwelt the assembly of very many nations. 7. And it was most beautiful in its greatness and in the spreading of its branches: for its root was beside many waters. 8. The cedars were not taller than it in the paradise of God, the fir trees did not equal its summit, and the plane trees were not equal to its foliage: no tree in the paradise of God was comparable to it and its beauty. 9. For I made it beautiful, with many and thick branches: and all the trees of pleasure that were in the paradise of God envied it. 10. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it was exalted in height, and set its top green and thick, and its heart was lifted up in its height: 11. I delivered it into the hand of the mightiest of the nations; he shall surely deal with it: according to its wickedness I cast it out. 12. And strangers shall cut it down, the most cruel of nations, and they shall cast it upon the mountains, and in all the valleys its branches shall fall, and its boughs shall be broken upon all the rocks of the land: and all the peoples of the earth shall depart from its shadow, and shall leave it. 13. Upon its ruin all the birds of the sky dwelt, and among its branches were all the beasts of the region. 14. For which reason none of the trees by the waters shall exalt themselves in their height, nor set their top among the thick and leafy boughs; nor shall any that are watered stand up in their height: because they are all delivered unto death, to the lowest parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down into the pit. 15. Thus says the Lord God: In the day when it went down to hell, I brought about mourning, I covered it with the deep: and I held back its rivers, and restrained the many waters: Lebanon was saddened for it, and all the trees of the field trembled. 16. At the sound of its fall I moved the nations, when I brought it down to hell with those who descend into the pit: and all the trees of pleasure, excellent and renowned in Lebanon, all that were watered, were comforted in the lowest parts of the earth. 17. For they also went down with it to hell, to those slain by the sword, and the arm of each one sat under its shadow in the midst of the nations. 18. To whom are you likened, O renowned and lofty one among the trees of pleasure? Behold, you are brought down with the trees of pleasure to the lowest parts of the earth: you shall sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword: this is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
Verse 1: In The Eleventh Year
1. IN THE ELEVENTH YEAR — from the capture and deportation of Jeconiah. IN THE THIRD MONTH. — Therefore Ezekiel received this prophecy two months after the preceding one. ON THE FIRST (that is, the first day) OF THE MONTH.
eternity. And so they even made images of the gods from it. There is in Rome, in the shrine, an Apollo of cedar made by Sosianus, brought from Seleucia." And Virgil in Aeneid VII: "Indeed, the images of ancient ancestors in order, from ancient cedar." Pharaoh aspired to this eternity. Fourth, cedar was used in sacred rites. For, as Pliny says, book XIII, chapter 1: "In the times of the Trojan War, not even frankincense was used in worship; they knew only the scent of cedar and citron in sacred rites, rolled up in smoke, more properly a stench than a fragrance." Again, cedar loves mountains, as he says in book XVI, chapter 18. Moreover, the leaves of cedar do not fall, as he says in the same place, chapter 21, and in chapter 24 he asserts they are hairy. Fifth, cedar produces pitch, as he says in book XIV, chapter 19. Moreover, "in Egypt and Syria, kings, for want of fir, are said to have used cedar for their fleets," says the same author in book XVI, chapter 11. Therefore Pharaoh abounded in cedar and boasted of cedar fleets. Sixth, cedar bears sweet fruit, "and a new fruit hangs on it alongside the previous year's," says Pliny, book XVI, chapter 26. So Pharaoh displayed the crops of Egypt to the whole world. Seventh, cedar pitch relieves toothache. "It is certain that serpents are driven away by cedar seeds. Cedrides, that is, the fruit of cedar, cure coughs, promote urine, and stop diarrhea," says Pliny, book XXIV, chapter 5. So Pharaoh boasted that he would heal the weakness and calamities of the Jews.
Verse 2: TO WHOM ARE YOU LIKE?
2. TO WHOM ARE YOU LIKE? — both in reality and in your own opinion, as if to say: To whom have you compared yourself, O Pharaoh? IN YOUR GREATNESS. — The Chaldean reads, in your strength; the Septuagint, in your loftiness.
Verse 3: Behold Assyria
3. BEHOLD ASSYRIA — as if to say: Behold, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians was glorious like you, O Pharaoh! Yet afterward he was slain by his own sons: so therefore you too will be struck down by God. So says Maldonatus. Or, as St. Jerome says: It is not surprising if you, O Pharaoh, are to be conquered and devastated by the Chaldeans, since the Assyrians, who were more powerful than you, were conquered and subdued by the same. But it is more true that Pharaoh himself and the Egyptians are here called Assyria, as also in Isaiah 52:4; and this because the Egyptians were descended from the Assyrians; or rather, because they boasted of being equal in glory, power, and kingdom to the Assyrian kings; and because they were to be devastated by the Chaldeans just as the Assyrians were. For Assyria was the model of tyrants, and therefore signifies any tyrants, as I said on Isaiah 8:4. Moreover, that Pharaoh is meant here by Assyria is clear from the fact that throughout this entire chapter, prophesying against Pharaoh, he continuously speaks of this Assyria: therefore Assyria is Pharaoh.
Secondly, after having spoken at length about Assyria, he does not explain or compare it with Pharaoh; therefore he leaves what he says about Assyria to be understood of Pharaoh. Thirdly, because he does not so much compare Pharaoh to the Assyrian as to the cedar, as is clear from what follows. Whence, concluding at verse 18: "To whom," he says, "are you likened, O renowned and lofty one! among the trees of pleasure? Behold, you are brought down with the trees of pleasure to the lowest parts of the earth." Therefore he calls Pharaoh both Assyria and the cedar, by that same figure by which in chapter 28:14 he called the king of Tyre a Cherub; and Isaiah, chapter 14:12, called Belshazzar Lucifer. Therefore this figure is to be explained in the same way as I explained it there.
BEHOLD ASSYRIA LIKE A CEDAR IN LEBANON — just as the cedar surpasses other trees of Lebanon in height, so Assyria, that is, Pharaoh, surpassed all in glory, riches, and power. By a similar comparison, Daniel, chapter 4:7, compares Nebuchadnezzar to a very tall and great tree. He compares Pharaoh to the cedar, first, because of the breadth of its branches, that is, its provinces; and also because of the loftiness and pride of spirit; for from this the cedar is called "lofty" by the Poet. Secondly, because the cedar is fragrant. Whence Virgil, Georgics III: "Learn also to burn fragrant cedar in your stables." And in Aeneid VII: "And in his proud palace he burns fragrant cedar for nighttime lights." Pharaoh sought after these fragrances and honors. Thirdly, because the cedar is not subject to decay: whence things are said to be "worthy of cedar" which deserve immortality and are to be consecrated to eternal posterity. Hence also they used to coat books with cedar oil, so they would not be eaten by moths; Pliny, book XIII, chapter 13, calls these books "cedrated," and in chapter 5 he says: "The wood itself (of the cedar)
FAIR IN BRANCHES (that is, adorned with sons), AND THICK WITH FOLIAGE — that is, with many nobles and princes. He calls the king a cedar, his sons branches, his princes leaves, or rather he calls the branches the extent and breadth of his empire, and its wealth and power; and the leaves, its glory and pomp. Whence under its branches, he says in verse 6, all the birds of heaven nested.
Verse 4: THE WATERS NOURISHED IT (that is, her, namely the cedar
4. THE WATERS NOURISHED IT (that is, her, namely the cedar: but he says "it" [masculine] because he means the Assyrian: and) THE DEEP. — By the waters, the deep, and the rivers, he means the Nile, which, channeled into streams and ditches, irrigates and fertilizes all the fields of Egypt. But under these he symbolically understands the abundance of riches and soldiers, which flowed from the king to the neighboring trees, that is, not only to Pharaoh's subjects, even the lowly and common people, but also to the Jews and other neighboring and friendly nations.
Verse 5: Above All The Trees Of The Region
5. ABOVE ALL THE TREES OF THE REGION — as if to say: Pharaoh became more powerful than other kings. ITS BRANCHES WERE MULTIPLIED (that is, as the Hebrew and Septuagint read, its boughs), AND ITS BOUGHS WERE RAISED UP — that is, the borders of his empire were extended, spread far and wide, that is, his kingdom was extended and exalted. Others say: His sons and grandsons were multiplied and exalted in wealth and glory; and this "because of the many waters," that is, because of the waters of the Nile, namely the abundance of wealth and troops already mentioned.
Verse 6: THE BIRDS (Note: By birds he means the nobles
6. THE BIRDS (Note: By birds he means the nobles;
by the beasts of the forest, the common people and the most wild and barbarous nations, which Pharaoh subdued and subjected: whence they nested, that is, dwelt) IN ITS BRANCHES — that is, under his power and protection. A similar passage is Daniel, chapter 4:18.
Verse 7: And It Was Most Beautiful
7. AND IT WAS MOST BEAUTIFUL — that is, a most beautiful cedar; but he says in the masculine "most beautiful" because by this cedar he means the Assyrian, that is, Pharaoh. 8. THE CEDARS WERE NOT TALLER THAN IT IN THE PARADISE OF GOD. — That is, no king was equal in power to the Assyrian, that is, to Pharaoh; no king, I say, even if he seemed to be in the paradise of God, that is, in the abundance of all delights, pleasures, and riches. FIR TREES, ETC., PLANE TREES, ETC., EVERY TREE. — By these he means princes, citizens, and powerful men, none of whom was equal to Pharaoh in the greatness and glory of his empire. For these are compared, first, to the plane tree, because the plane tree spreads its branches widely, and hence is called platanus, as it were πλατύς, that is, broad: hence under it, being shady and shade-giving, people used to feast: whence by Ovid, Metamorphoses X, the plane tree is called genial. And Virgil, Georgics IV: "And the plane tree already serving shade to the drinkers."
The plane tree therefore represents the rich, splendid, and festive. Secondly, Pliny, book XII, chapter 1 says: "Who would not rightly marvel at a tree sought from a foreign land solely for the sake of its shade! This is the plane tree, first brought across the Ionian Sea to the island of Diomedes for the sake of his tomb, then passing over to Sicily, and among the first trees given to Italy. Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Sicily, transported them to the city of Rhegium, as a wonder for his house." He adds: "And so great has its honor since grown, that they are nourished with pure wine poured upon them: it has been found to be most beneficial for the roots." Indeed, "nations pay tribute for the shade of the plane tree." The consul Licinius feasted within a plane tree with eighteen guests, "the tree generously providing couches with its foliage, sheltered from every breeze, wishing for the patter of rain through the leaves, more delighted than by the gleam of marble, the variety of paintings, or the gold of paneled ceilings, reclining in the same tree." So too the prince Gaius in the country estate at Velitrae dined with fifteen guests in a plane tree, "which dinner he called a nest. No greater commendation of the plane tree exists than that it keeps out the sun in summer and admits it in winter."
Moreover, the shade of the plane tree is pleasant, though dense, says the same author in book XVII, chapter 12. The same, in book XV, chapter 7, reports that from the berries of the plane tree, soaked in water and salt, oil is made for lamps. The same, in book XVI, chapter 44, says: "There are authors who assert that the Delphic plane tree was planted by the hand of Agamemnon." Indeed, the foolish Persian king Xerxes, when he saw a tall plane tree in Lydia, spent an entire day beside it, and pitched his whole camp around it; he even venerated its branches, hanging necklaces and bracelets from them: finally he left a guardian for it, as it were a custodian and defender. So Aelian, book II, chapter 14. Themistocles com-
pared himself with plane trees, to which travelers flee when rain comes, but which, when fair weather returns, they pluck and damage. The plane tree is a powerful man; the storm, calamity; fair weather, prosperity; the plucking of the plane tree, the harassment of the man whom we have served well. So Causinus, book X of Parallel Histories, chapter 62.
Again, he compares Pharaoh to the fir tree, which is commonly called the sapin, whose leaves are shaped like combs, says Pliny, and never fall, and it is the tallest of trees, strongly bearing weight, and useful for ship masts. Again, "the fir is the strongest for roofing. It serves for door bars, and is most suitable for whatever interior work you please, whether of Greek, Campanian, or Sicilian craftsmanship, always turning its shavings in vine-leaf-like curls at the rapid movement of the planes. It is also highly compatible with glue for carriages, to such a degree that it splits before it comes unglued." So Pliny, book XVI, chapter 13. For the fir is tall, knotless, curly-grained, long, and loves heights; whence Virgil, Eclogue 7: "The poplar in the rivers, the fir on the lofty mountains." Hence in the Fables, the bramble teaches the fir tree, which was boasting too intemperately of its tall stature and beauty: "Now, content, you acknowledge only your own goods, and imperiously enjoy our misfortunes: but when the threatening axe cuts down your beautiful limbs, how you would wish then to have had my thorns!" So Avianus, Fable 19. Therefore the fir is a symbol of the ambitious and boastful, whose pride and pomp are soon laid low and vanish. From the fir are made long spears, and also ships; whence Claudian: "The fir suited for seas, the cornel suited for wars." Hence the epithet of the fir is "bold." Hear Statius, Thebaid VI: "Here bold fir, and pine with its fragrant wound."
For what is bolder than ships, which are made from fir? Therefore Virgil, Georgics II, says: "The fir destined to see the perils of the sea." For these reasons the fir is a delight to princes and magnificent cities. Thus near Nuremberg, I myself viewed with pleasure a dense forest of fir trees, which extends for several miles.
These fir trees, plane trees, etc., he says could not equal the cedar, that is, Pharaoh, both for the reasons already mentioned, and because it is a property of the cedar that it "does not hold a nail" if one is driven into it, says Pliny, book XVI, chapter 40. So Pharaoh, protected by the Nile, repelled all the force of enemies, and as if secure, eluded and drove back the weapons of all kings.
Again Pliny, book XXIV, chapter 5: "Cedar," he says, "preserves dead bodies incorrupt for ages, but corrupts living things: a marvelous difference, since it takes away life from the living, while for the dead it serves as life: it corrupts garments
and kills animals." So Pharaoh was the plague and destruction of princes: but of the dead, that is, of those subjected to him, he was the life and abundance of goods. Add that the Egyptians preserved cadavers from corruption, as their mummies testify.
Symbolically and antitypically, he touches here on the beauty and glory of Lucifer, who was in paradise, that is, in heaven, with whom no cedars, fir trees, and plane trees, that is, no angels in knowledge, grace, and power, could be compared. So St. Gregory, Moralia XXXII, chapter 18. Likewise Rupert, book I of The Victory of the Word of God, chapter 8, takes the cedars, fir trees, and plane trees to represent the remaining ranks of angels, as if in those three hierarchies of heavenly spirits, nothing could be compared with Lucifer's sublimity. By a similar reasoning, you may apply these things to the endowments and graces of Adam, which he had in the state of innocence and paradise.
Verse 9: ALL THE TREES ENVIED IT (all kings and princes envied
9. ALL THE TREES ENVIED IT (all kings and princes envied him, who) WERE IN THE PARADISE OF GOD — that is, who flourished in riches and honors, and every happiness and glory, as if they had been in paradise. It is a catachresis. So Vatablus.
Verse 10: And Set Its Top Green And Thick
10. AND SET ITS TOP GREEN AND THICK — that is, as Vatablus translates: He placed, namely out of pride, his summit among the dense things, that is, he was attended by a dense multitude of kings and nobles.
Verse 11: I DELIVERED (that is, I will deliver) IT INTO THE
11. I DELIVERED (that is, I will deliver) IT INTO THE HAND OF THE MIGHTIEST OF THE NATIONS — that is, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. HE SHALL SURELY DEAL WITH IT — that is, he will do to it whatever he pleases; for it will be in his hand and power.
Verse 12: Strangers Shall Cut It Down, The Most Cruel Of Nations
12. STRANGERS SHALL CUT IT DOWN, THE MOST CRUEL OF NATIONS — namely, the Chaldeans, who are cruel beyond other nations: wherefore in Scripture they are designated by the epithet of cruelty. Isaiah also has these and more, in chapter 19:4. See what was said there. ALL THE PEOPLES SHALL DEPART FROM ITS SHADOW — as if to say: The peoples formerly subject to or allied with Pharaoh, now seeing him struck down, will withdraw from him and his empire.
Verse 13: UPON ITS RUIN (upon the trunk of this prostrate cedar)
13. UPON ITS RUIN (upon the trunk of this prostrate cedar) ALL THE BIRDS (that is, nobles and princes subject to or allied with Pharaoh) SHALL DWELL (that is, will dwell), AND AMONG ITS BRANCHES THE BEASTS — that is, the common people and populace of the same, as if to say: Previously the birds and beasts were under its branches; but after it has fallen, they will sit upon it, that is, trample it. This signifies that the nations which were formerly under Pharaoh's protection, once he is laid low by the Chaldeans, will turn against him and despoil him. He always persists in the metaphor of the cedar tree. So Maldonatus.
Verse 14: For Which Reason
14. FOR WHICH REASON — as if to say: Struck by this example of Pharaoh, other princes will be wise enough not to be proud, lest they be cast down by God in like manner. ALL THE TREES BY THE WATERS — which abound in water, that is, all princes abounding in riches. FOR THEY ARE ALL DELIVERED UNTO DEATH, TO THE LOWEST PARTS OF THE EARTH. — In Hebrew, the lowest, that is, they are banished to the grave and hell. Whence, explaining, he adds:
IN THE MIDST OF THE CHILDREN OF MEN — that is, with others, or like other common, plebeian, and ignoble men. See what was said in chapter 29:11. For the Hebrews call the sons of a man (vir) nobles: but the sons of men (hominum) they call plebeians and commoners. WITH THOSE WHO GO DOWN INTO THE PIT — that is, into hell.
Verse 15: IN THE DAY WHEN IT WENT DOWN (that is, will
15. IN THE DAY WHEN IT WENT DOWN (that is, will go down) TO HELL, I BROUGHT ABOUT (that is, I will bring about) MOURNING — as if to say: Because of the slaughter of Pharaoh, I will bring lamentation upon all his friends and his entire kingdom. I COVERED IT WITH THE DEEP — that is, with a multitude of calamities, and with the deep itself, that is, hell. The Hebrews and Vatablus translate: I covered the deep over him, as if to say: That deep of waters which in verse 4 exalted the cedar, that is, Pharaoh, mourned at his fall, that is, those riches deprived of their king will seem to mourn, as if to say: When the king dies, his treasury will be exhausted, so that it itself will seem to be desolate and mourning. Whence it fittingly follows: "I held back its rivers." The Septuagint translates: The deep mourned for him, that is, the multitude of nations subject to Pharaoh.
I HELD BACK ITS RIVERS — those of verse 4, so that they would not water this cedar, as if to say: I will dry it up, I dried it out and deprived it of all goods. LEBANON WAS SADDENED FOR IT. — In Hebrew it is אקדיר ardir, that is, I clothed Lebanon in dark and mourning garments. By Lebanon he means Judea, Phoenicia, and Syria, regions neighboring Egypt and allied with it, as if to say: These regions will mourn the disaster of Pharaoh and Egypt, and "all the trees of the field," that is, all peoples, upon hearing of this slaughter, will be shaken with fear.
Verse 16: AND ALL THE TREES WERE COMFORTED IN THE LOWEST PARTS
16. AND ALL THE TREES WERE COMFORTED IN THE LOWEST PARTS OF THE EARTH (that is, in hell they received, that is, will receive, consolation) — that is, nobles and kings already dead, who in this life and world excelled like cedars in Lebanon: because, namely, they will rejoice that they now have Pharaoh as a companion in disaster and punishment.
Verse 17: FOR THEY ALSO (Vatablus and Emmanuel Sa read: but they
17. FOR THEY ALSO (Vatablus and Emmanuel Sa read: but they also) WENT DOWN WITH HIM. — Some read, had gone down. For so the Hebrew has it. Both are true: for past tyrants went down, and future ones will go down to the underworld. AND THE ARM OF EACH ONE SAT UNDER ITS SHADOW — as if to say: Just as the weary sit under a shady tree and are refreshed there, leaning on their arm, that is, their elbow: so other kings and princes in hell will be, as it were, refreshed under the punishment of Pharaoh, seeing themselves punished less and him more heavily. Vatablus and others explain differently: But they also went down with him to hell, who sat under the shadow of his arm in the midst of nations, that is, the allies and helpers of Pharaoh, who dwelt securely among other nations because Pharaoh favored and protected them. And so some take our Interpreter, so that "shall sit" means the same as "was sitting."
Verse 18: TO WHOM ARE YOU LIKENED?
18. TO WHOM ARE YOU LIKENED? — as if to say: You wished, O Pharaoh, to liken yourself to the Assyrian and to the cedar: but of neither
did you attain the glory, and with both falling, you fell. WITH THE TREES OF PLEASURE — with other kings. IN THE MIDST OF THE UNCIRCUMCISED (that is, in the manner of the unfaithful; the Chaldean reads, of sinners) YOU SHALL SLEEP — in death, an eternal sleep among the denizens of hell. THIS IS PHARAOH — as if to say: What I have said up to now, I mean of Pharaoh and his people. Or: this will be the end and sad outcome of Pharaoh, of his princes, and of all his people. So Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, verse 13, concludes his discourse on the vanity of all things in the world, saying: "For this is the whole of man." So also Virgil, Aeneid II, concludes the fall of Troy, saying: "This was the end of Priam's destiny, this the lot that befell him."
See here again the inconstancy of the world. Hear Ovid, Metamorphoses X: "And having lingered a little, sooner or later we hasten to one abode. We all tend hither. This is our final home, and you, (O shades of the underworld), hold the longest-lasting kingdoms of the human race." The same, Metamorphoses XV: "Devouring time, and you, envious old age, you destroy all things, and corrupted by the teeth of time, you gradually consume everything by slow death." The same, Metamorphoses III: "Be mindful, I pray, of the stock from which you are sprung." And again in book XV: "Nothing in the whole world endures: all things flow, time itself also slips by with constant motion, no differently than a river: but as wave is driven by wave, and the same coming wave is pushed and pushes the one before: so times flee equally, and equally follow, and are always new."