INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 17 Under the simile of two eagles and a vine are represented the kings of Babylon and Egypt, and the condition of the Jews, who are threatened with ruin for their perfidy; and yet a promise is made of the raising up of the house of Judah, and family of David, in the Messiah.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING. After the prophet had been sent to charge the Jews with breaking the covenant with God, he is sent to rebuke and threaten them for breaking covenant with men, even with the king of Babylon; by whom they were in part carried into captivity, and another p... [ Continue Reading ]
SON OF MAN, PUT FORTH A RIDDLE,.... A dark saying, but a smart one: "whet a whetting" k, as in the Hebrew; something at first sight difficult to be understood, yet amusing and entertaining; and, when solved, very useful and instructive: AND SPEAK A PARABLE UNTO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL; or, "concerning... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAY, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... The riddle is not the prophet's, nor the parable his, but the Lord God's; and exceeding beautiful and apt it is, to signify the things designed by it; the wisdom of God is greatly displayed in it: A GREAT EAGLE; which is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as it is... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CROPPED OFF THE TOP OF HIS YOUNG TWIGS,.... By which are meant the princes of the land, or the several branches of the royal family; the top of which was King Jeconiah, who was but young and tender, being but eighteen years of age when he began his reign, and this was within three months after; a... [ Continue Reading ]
HE TOOK ALSO OF THE SEED OF THE LAND,.... Of the land of Judea, a native of it, not a stranger; not one of another country, a Babylonian; not one of his own nobles or princes, did Nebuchadnezzar, the eagle, take and set upon the throne of Judea, but one of their own, even one of the king's seed, of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT GREW,.... King Zedekiah reigned and prospered, and the kingdom flourished under him: AND BECAME A SPREADING VINE OF LOW STATURE; not so flourishing as it had been heretofore, in former reigns; it did not rise up to a cedar, as it had been, but was like a vine, which, though flourishing, does... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WAS ALSO ANOTHER GREAT EAGLE,.... Hophra king of Egypt, a very powerful prince, whom Herodotus u calls Apries; and says he was the most happy and fortunate, after Psammitichus, of all the kings that were before; though not so mighty as the king of Babylon; therefore all the same things are not... [ Continue Reading ]
IT WAS PLANTED IN, A GOOD SOIL, BY GREAT WATERS,.... As is expressed in Ezekiel 17:5; this was done by the king of Babylon, who had raised Zedekiah from a low estate to a high one, and set him on the throne of Judah, over many people; and put him in such a condition, and in such circumstances, that... [ Continue Reading ]
SAY THOU, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... Tell Zedekiah and his people, in the name of the Lord, what will be the issue of his ingratitude and treachery to the king of Babylon, and his vain confidence in the king of Egypt: SHALL IT PROSPER? the vine, the kingdom of Judah, and Zedekiah the king of it;... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, BEHOLD, [BEING] PLANTED,.... Supposing it ever so well planted, as first by Nebuchadnezzar; and still put into a better condition by the assistance of the king of Egypt, as was imagined: SHALL IT PROSPER? it shall not; their own strength, with the help of the king of Egypt, will not be able to... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING. Here follows the explanation of the above riddle and parable, which the prophet from the Lord had orders to deliver.... [ Continue Reading ]
SAY NOW TO THE REBELLIOUS HOUSE,.... It had been a rebellious house to God, and to his prophets, before; see Ezekiel 2:5 and Ezekiel 2:5; and now, besides this was rebellious to the king of Babylon, to whom they were in some measure subject, Ezekiel 17:15; KNOW YE NOT WHAT THESE [THINGS MEAN]? the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HATH TAKEN OF THE KING'S SEED,.... One of the royal family, signified by the seed of the land, Ezekiel 17:5. Mattaniah, son of King Josiah, and uncle to King Jeconiah; whom Nebuchadnezzar took and made king of Judea, and called him Zedekiah, which signifies the "justice of the Lord": to put him... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE KINGDOM MIGHT BE BASE,.... Low or humble; its king but a viceroy, a tributary to the king of Babylon; and the subjects obliged to a tax, payable to him; and this is intended by the vine being of "low stature", Ezekiel 17:6; THAT IT MIGHT NOT LIFT UP ITSELF; above other neighbouring kingdom... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE REBELLED AGAINST HIM,.... Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, broke the covenant he entered into, and violated his oath: IN SENDING HIS AMBASSADORS INTO EGYPT; to form an alliance with the king of it, and obtain help from him to break off the Babylonian yoke; this is signified by... [ Continue Reading ]
[AS] I LIVE, SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... This is the form of an oath, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; the Lord swears, in his wrath, by himself, by his life; this shows how much he resented, what Zedekiah had done, and how sure and certain his ruin was: SURELY IN THE PLACE [WHERE] THE KING [DWELLETH]... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER SHALL PHARAOH, WITH [HIS] MIGHTY ARMY AND GREAT COMPANY, MAKE FOR HIM IN THE WAR,.... The king of Egypt, to whom Zedekiah applied for horses and men to help him; though he should come with a great army, and a large multitude of people, yet should be of no use to Zedekiah, nor do any hurt to... [ Continue Reading ]
SEEING HE DESPISED THE OATH, BY BREAKING THE COVENANT,.... This is repeated again, to show the heinousness of the sin Zedekiah had been guilty of, and what was the cause of his ruin: WHEN, LO, HE HAD GIVEN HIS HAND; to the king of Babylon, to testify his hearty agreement with him, and that he might... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, [AS] I LIVE,.... A repetition of the oath of God as before, expressing his indignation at the king of Judah, and the certainty of his ruin: SURELY MINE OATH THAT HE HATH DESPISED, AND MY COVENANT THAT HE HATH BROKEN; the Lord calls it his oath, because it was made... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL SPREAD MY NET UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL BE TAKEN IN MY SNARE,.... Ezekiel 12:13; where the same words are used, and of the same person: AND I WILL BRING HIM TO BABYLON; though, as it is said in the place referred to, he should not see it, his eyes being put out before he was brought thither... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL HIS FUGITIVES WITH ALL HIS BANDS SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD,.... So those of his army that fled, and attempted to make their escape, when the city of Jerusalem was taken, as many as fell into the Chaldean army, which was round about the city, at least a great number of them, fell by the sword o... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... Lest it should be thought, by the above prophecies, that the tribe of Judah should be utterly lost, and the family of David extinct, and the promise to him void, that he should have one of his seed to sit upon his, throne for evermore, Psalms 132:11; it is here in a fig... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HEIGHT OF ISRAEL WILL I PLANT IT,.... In the highest part of the land of Israel, as Jerusalem is said to be by the Jewish writers; the land of Israel, they say, particularly Kimchi upon the place, was higher than all other lands, and Jerusalem was the highest part of that land... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE TREES OF THE FIELD SHALL KNOW,.... All the nations of the World, and the great ones, and the mighty men of the earth, shall know, own, and acknowledge, when the above things are accomplished: THAT I THE LORD HAVE BROUGHT DOWN THE HIGH TREE, HAVE EXALTED THE LOW TREE, HAVE DRIED UP THE G... [ Continue Reading ]