Ezekiel 17:18

Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. SEEING HE DESPISED THE OATH ... WHEN, LO, HE HAD GIVEN HIS HAND - in ratification of the oath (; ), and also in token of subjection to Nebuchadnezzar (, margin, 'submitted themselves unto Solomon,' literally, 'gave the hand under Solomon;' , margin; )....

Ezekiel repeals again, that, even speaking, Zedekiah could not succeed, since he violated the treaty for we yesterday said that this persuasion is always fixed in men’s minds, that treaties are sacred, and cannot be broken with impunity. Since, therefore, the sacredness of treaties was always prevalent among men, Ezekiel here pronounces that the issue would be disastrous, because Zedekiah _despised his oath when he broke the treaty after stretching out his hand_. He describes a gesture, as I think, customary among men — that of stretching forth the hand when they wish to witness a covenant. The alliance, then, between the Egyptians and the Jews is here described by an outward gesture, because Zedekiah stretched forth his hand, and yet had violated it in this way: but since he perfidiously revolted from King Nebuchadnezzar, to whom he had pledged his faith_, he has done all this, says he,...

11-21 The parable is explained, and the particulars of the history of the Jewish nation at that time may be traced. Zedekiah had been ungrateful to his benefactor, which is a sin against God. In every solemn oath, God is appealed to as a witness of the sincerity of him that swears. Truth is a debt owing to all men. If the professors of the true religion deal treacherously with those of a false religion, their profession makes their sin the worse; and God will the more surely and severely punish it. The Lord will not hold those guiltless who take his name in vain; and no man shall escape the righteous judgment of God who dies under unrepented guilt....

Verse Ezekiel 17:18. _SEEING HE DESPISED THE OATH_] This God particularly resents. He had bound himself by oath, in the presence of Jehovah, to be faithful to the covenant that he made with Nebuchadnezzar, and he took the first opportunity to break it; therefore he shall not escape....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 17:2 PUT FORTH A RIDDLE, etc. Again there is an interval of silence, till another theme is suggested to the prophet's mind and worked out elaborately. This he describes as a "riddle" (same word as the "dark speeches" of Numbers 12:8, the "hard questions" of 1 Kings 10:1). It will task the ingenuity of his hearers or readers to interpret it, and so he subjoins (Ezekiel 17:12) the interpretation. That interpretation enables us to fix the occasion and the date of the prophecy. It was the time when Zedekiah was seeking to strengthen himself against Nebuchadnezzar by a

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 depend upon the oath and covenant being sacredly observed by him. This was a rite for custom frequently and early used in different nations, when covenants and agreements were entered into; we find it used in the times of Homer z; and among the Romans. When Antoninus, Lepidus, and Octavius made peace, the historian says a, they joined their hands together. Virgil b speaks of the same ceremony used by Anchises to Achaemenides, for confirmation of friendship. Though some understand this of his giving the hand to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and entering into an alliance with him, and broke the covena...

Ezekiel 17:1. The great eagle mentioned first is Nebuchadnezzar. (See Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22). He came to Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar, the symbol of the house of David, which was conquered by this eagle. Nebuchadnezzar made the youngest son of Josiah king over Judah and called him Zedekiah. This action is described in verse 5. The other great eagle is Hophra, the king of Egypt. To him Zedekiah turned for help. The interpretation and application of this parable is given in Ezekiel 17:11. The following passages should be read as helpful to the understanding of these verses:...

EZEKIEL 17. THE PERFIDIOUS KING. Jerusalem, as we have seen, is to be punished for her guilty past and her perfidious people (Ezekiel 17:16), but no less for her guilty present and her perfidious king. This truth is driven home in another allegory, here called a riddle and parable, set forth in Ezekiel 17:1 and expounded in Ezekiel 17:11; and thus for the second time (Ezekiel 12:1) Ezekiel shatters the illusion of the stability of the king and the monarchy. For a second time, too, the figure of Israel as a vine is presented (Ezekiel 17:15) b

LO. Figure of speech _Asterismos._ App-6. GIVEN HIS HAND. Put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Adjunct), App-6, for making. covenant (2 Kings 10:13.Ezra 10:19; Jeremiah 50:15)....

B. The Explanation of the Eagle Parable 17:11-21 TRANSLATION (11) Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me saying, Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things mean? Say: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king and its princes and brought them to him in Babylon. (13) And he took of the royal seed and made a covenant with him, and brought him under an oath; and the mighty of the land he took away; (14) that it might be a lowly kingdom, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. (15) But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors to Egypt that he might give to him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall the one who does these things escape? shall he break the covenant and escape? (16) As I live (oracle of the Lord GOD), surely in the place where the king caused him to reign, whose oath he desp...