Ezekiel 17:15

Cf. 2 Kings 24:20. The king of Egypt referred to was Pharaoh Hophra, Jeremiah 44:30; Jeremiah 37:5 seq. The indignation of Ezekiel against Zedekiah arises greatly from his regarding the subjection of Jerusalem to Babylon as a thing determined by Jehovah. Hence the covenant broken by Zedekiah is not merely the covenant of the king of Babylon but that of Jehovah (Ezekiel 17:19). The prophet follows Jeremiah. He had possibly read the words of the latter spoken in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, ch. Ezekiel 27:9-17, "serve the king of Babylon and live;" and probably he had heard his words to the same effect spoken in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, ch. 25. His advice to the exiles also was no doubt known to him, ch. Ezekiel 29:4.