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Ezekiel 17

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The Riddle of the Two Eagles and the Vine 1–10

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And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; ​
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and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar: ​
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he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it unto a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants. ​
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He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow-tree. ​
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And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. ​
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There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it. ​
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It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
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Say thou, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from the roots thereof. ​
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Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew. ​

Interpretation: Judgment on the Covenant Breaker 11–21

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Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
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Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon. ​
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And he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land; ​
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that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
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But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape? ​
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As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. ​
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Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons. ​
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For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet hath done all these things; he shall not escape.
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Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, I will even bring it upon his own head. ​
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And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. ​
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And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it.

The Prophecy of the Tender Twig (Messianic Hope) 22–24

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Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain: ​
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in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches thereof shall they dwell. ​
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And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 17

Verse 2

put forth a riddle, and speak a parable — Chud and chidah, the verb and noun of Samson's riddle (Judg 14:12–14); Ezekiel 17:2 is the only place where a riddle is put to 'the house of Israel'. Mashal is the common word for a parable or proverb. The prophet is to set it before Israel and then explain it, as vv.11–21 do.

Verse 3

A great eagle — Nesher, with 'great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours' (riqmah, variegated work). The eagle comes 'unto Lebanon' and takes 'the highest branch of the cedar' (tsammeret, the cedar's crown). The king of Babylon is named in v.12; Jeremiah also says of an invader that 'he shall come up and fly as the eagle' (Jer 49:22).

Verse 4

a land of traffick — The Hebrew is literally 'a land of Canaan', Kenaan, the word that also means trader. The LORD says elsewhere, 'multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea' (Ezek 16:29). The twig cropped from the cedar's top is Jehoiachin, whom 'the king of Babylon took … in the eighth year of his reign' (2 Kgs 24:12); v.12 gives the key.

Verse 5

the seed of the land — This is Zedekiah: Nebuchadnezzar 'made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah' (2 Kgs 24:17), and v.13 says the king of Babylon 'hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him'. He is set in 'a fruitful field' and 'by great waters' like 'a willow tree' (tsaftsafah, a word found only here).

Verse 6

a spreading vine of low stature — Israel is the LORD's vine in Ps 80:8 and Isa 5:7, and Ezek 19:10 says 'Thy mother is like a vine'. Here it 'grew' wide and low, with branches 'turned toward him' and roots 'under him'. 'Low' is shaphal, the word of v.24: 'have exalted the low tree'.

Verse 7

another great eagle — The second eagle is Egypt (v.15), whose Pharaoh is named in v.17. The vine 'did bend her roots toward him' (kaphan, a word found only here) and 'shot forth her branches', asking to be watered 'by the furrows of her plantation' — from a source other than the one that planted her. Jeremiah describes Pharaoh's army coming out (Jer 37:5).

Verse 9

Shall it prosper? — Tsalach, to prosper, asked here, in v.10, and in v.15 of the king: 'Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things?' 'Wither' is yavesh (the verb of Joel 1:10–12), used five times in vv.9–10. The vine is pulled up 'without great power or many people'.

Verse 10

the east wind — Qadim, the wind that blows out of the east and parches. It 'dried up her fruit' of Judah's vine in Ezek 19:12, and in Hos 13:15 'the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry'. The vine withers 'in the furrows where it grew', where she had been planted.

Verse 12

Know ye not what these things mean? — The 'rebellious house' (beit meri) is Ezekiel's name for Israel from 2:5–8 on. The interpretation begins with the first eagle: 'the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof'. Jehoiachin 'went out to the king of Babylon' (2 Kgs 24:12).

Verse 13

made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him — The oath (alah) is sworn by God: Nebuchadnezzar 'had made him swear by God' (2 Chr 36:13). The king also took 'the mighty of the land' (elim, the strong ones), and the 'covenant' (berith) is the one the LORD names in vv.16 and 19.

Verse 15

sending his ambassadors into Egypt — Judah's king asked Egypt for 'horses and much people', though the law said of the king, 'he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt' (Deut 17:16), and Isaiah had said, 'Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses' (Isa 31:1).

Verse 16

As I live, saith the Lord GOD — The LORD swears by his own life. The sentence names the place of death before it is reached: 'in the midst of Babylon he shall die'. Zedekiah's sons were slain before his eyes, he was blinded and 'carried to Babylon' (2 Kgs 25:7), and he was put 'in prison till the day of his death' (Jer 52:11).

Verse 17

casting up mounts, and building forts — The siege-works are solelah (a mound) and daiq (a fort), the pair of Ezek 4:2 and 21:22; they are what the Chaldeans had done to Jerusalem (2 Kgs 25:1). Pharaoh's army did come out, and the Chaldeans left Jerusalem when they heard of it (Jer 37:5), but the LORD's word was, 'Pharaoh's army… shall return to Egypt' (Jer 37:7).

Verse 19

mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken — The LORD calls the oath sworn by God 'mine oath' and the covenant 'my covenant'. Ezek 16:59 uses the same pair against Jerusalem: 'despised the oath in breaking the covenant'. 'Despised' is bazah, to hold in contempt, and the recompense falls 'upon his own head'.

Verse 20

I will spread my net upon him — The same words are spoken of Zedekiah in Ezek 12:13: 'My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon… yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.' 'Plead' is shaphat, to judge, and 'trespass' is ma'al.

Verse 22

a tender one — The LORD himself takes 'the highest branch of the high cedar' (tsammeret, as in v.3), where in v.3 the eagle took it, and crops 'a tender one' (rak, soft) from its young twigs. He plants it 'upon an high mountain and eminent'. It is the same figure as 'a rod out of the stem of Jesse' (Isa 11:1) and 'a righteous Branch' raised to David (Jer 23:5).

Verse 23

the mountain of the height of Israel — The phrase occurs also in Ezek 20:40, where it is the place where 'all the house of Israel' will serve the LORD. The cedar becomes 'a goodly cedar'. 'All fowl of every wing' dwell in its shadow, the figure of Dan 4:12 and of the mustard tree in which 'the birds of the air come and lodge' (Matt 13:32).

Verse 24

the high tree… the low tree — The 'low' tree is the vine 'of low stature' (v.6), and the 'dried up' green tree is yavesh again, the verb of vv.9–10. 'I the LORD have spoken and have done it' matches 'I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it' (Ezek 37:14). Christ's 'in a green tree… in the dry' (Luke 23:31) uses the same figure.