Ezekiel 17:21

And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it. ALL HIS FUGITIVES ... SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD - the soldiers that accompany him in his flight....

The Prophet now descends to the whole people, especially to the soldiers, whom Zedekiah himself thought would be fit guardians of the city. He says, then, _thus shall all his forces be dissipated, so that they shall be dispersed hither and thither and all by the sword_. By these words he means the slaughter of the army, since as long as soldiers stand in their own ranks they sustain and repel a hostile attack; but when they are dispersed, every one is subject to the enemy, and hence a promiscuous slaughter arises. He says, therefore, that Zedekiah’s soldiers _would be fugitives amidst all their bands: _that is, although he had a large army, yet all his forces should be dispersed, and while each should consult his own advantage, he should fall into the enemy’s hands: thus, _all shall fall by the sword; then those who remain shall be dispersed towards every wind. _We saw the same thing bef...

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 17:21. _ALL HIS FUGITIVES_] All who attempted to escape with him, and all that ran to Egypt, c., shall fall by the sword....

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

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 of the Chaldeans, Jeremiah 52:7; AND THEY THAT REMAIN SHALL BE SCATTERED TOWARDS ALL WINDS; and so it was, that such that escaped the sword were either carried captive into Babylon, or fled some one way, and some another, even into all parts, east, west, north, and south: AND YE SHALL KNOW THAT I THE LORD HAVE SPOKEN [IT]; the Targum adds, by my word, and will do it; who is the Lord God omniscient and omnipotent, just and righteous; faithful and true, as to his word of promise, so of threatening....

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

ALL HIS FUGITIVES. Compare Ezekiel 12:14. YE SHALL KNOW, &c. See note on Ezekiel 6:7....

_all his fugitives_ The form of word does not otherwise occur, but has been so understood by some ancient versions. Others as Targ., Syr., assume a transposition of two letters and render: _his choice men_; and so many moderns (cf. ch. Ezekiel 23:7; Daniel 11:15). This last reading is found in a number of MSS. Cf. ch. Ezekiel 5:2; Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 6:10; Ezekiel 6:13; Ezekiel 12:12...