All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, to the world below, among the children of man, with those who go down to the pit.
Pride climbs with every coin and crown, one carnal heart teaches another the same fatal lesson. Pharaoh grew great and his heart rose with him; so did Assyria's king, who set God Himself at defiance. Rare is the humble spirit in high places, and rarer still the escape from the fall that waits on such arrogance.
AI summary
Commenting on Ezekiel 31:10-18
To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height,.... The end proposed by the Lord in the destruction of the king of Assyria, and the use to be made of it, is this; that the kings of the earth take warning hereby, who rule over a multitude of people, comparable to waters, and who abound in riches...
trees by the waters--that is, that are plentifully supplied by the waters: nations abounding in resources. stand up in their height--that is, trust in their height: stand upon it as their ground of confidence. FAIRBAIRN points the Hebrew differently, so as for "their trees," to translate, "(And that none that drink water may stand) on themselves, (because of their greatness)." But the usual reading is...