Ezekiel 31:13

13 All the birds perched on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived in its branches.

Ezekiel 31:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 31:13

Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain
Or, "on his fall" ^F19; the fall of this tree: and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches as when a tree is cut down, and its lopped off branches and boughs lie here and there, either the birds and beasts that before dwelt in it or under it, though for a while frightened away, return unto it; or others come: the birds come and sit upon the boughs, and pick up what they can find on them; and the beasts browse upon the branches: this may signify that even those people who before put themselves under the protection of this monarch, or sought alliance with him, now preyed upon his dominions; or the Medes and Babylonians, the conquerors, seized on the provinces of the empire, and plundered them of their riches, The Targum understands it literally of the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, feeding upon the carcasses of the slain; which is no bad sense of the passage; thus,

``upon the fall of his slain all the fowls of heaven have dwelt, and upon the carcasses of his army all the beasts of the field have rested.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (wtlpm le) "super prolapse ejus", Cocceius; "super cadivum truncum ejus", Junius & Tremellius.

Ezekiel 31:13 In-Context

11 So I handed it over to a mighty ruler among the nations, and he surely dealt with it. I forced it out because of its wickedness.

12 Foreigners from the most ruthless nation cut it down and threw it away. Its branches fell on the mountains and in every valley. Its broken branches fell in every ravine in the land. All the nations in the world came out from under its shade and left.

13 All the birds perched on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived in its branches.

14 Then all the other trees growing by the water were kept from becoming arrogant because of their height, and their tops were no longer allowed to reach the clouds. So no tree, even if it is well-watered, will ever stand that tall. Every tree is going to die and go below the earth to join those who have died and gone down to the pit.

15 "'This is what the Almighty LORD says: When the tree went down to the grave, I made people mourn. I covered the underground springs and held back the rivers. The many water sources stopped flowing. I made Lebanon mourn for the tree, and all the trees in the field fainted as they grieved over it.