Ezekiel 17:5

He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. HE TOOK ALSO OF THE SEED OF THE LAND - not a foreign production, but one native in the region; a son of the soil, not a foreigner: Zedekiah, uncle of Jehoiachin, of David's family. PLANTED IT IN A FRUITFUL FIELD - literally, a field of seed; i:e., fit for propagating and continuing the seed of the royal family. SET IT AS A WILLOW - [ tsaptsaapaah (H6851), derived from a Hebrew root, tsuwp (H6687), 'to overflow'] from its fondness for water (Isaiah 44:4). Judea was "a land of brooks of water and fountains" ...

After Ezekiel has narrated that Jehoiacin was carried away with his counselors and the flower of the whole people, and was so deprived of his native country as to be without hope of return, he now says, _that the eagle took up the seed in Judea, and placed it in a fertile land_; for he calls it a land of seed, since it was cultivated and produced fruit abundantly. He says, that the seed was afterwards hidden in the soil, that it grew immediately, and became a luxuriant vine. He says also, _that its roots were irrigated, like a willow planted by a river’s bed. _The Prophet afterwards explains himself: hence it is sufficient to state briefly what he means. The seed, then, which he here means is Zedekiah, the last king. It is said _to have been planted beside the waters_; for his condition was tolerable, since the royal name and dignity and wealth was left to him. For although he was tribut...

1-10 Mighty conquerors are aptly likened to birds or beasts of prey, but their destructive passions are overruled to forward God's designs. Those who depart from God, only vary their crimes by changing one carnal confidence for another, and never will prosper....

Verse Ezekiel 17:5. _THE SEED OF THE LAND_] Zedekiah, brother of Jehoiachin. _PLANTED IT IN A FRUITFUL FIELD_] Made him king of Judea in place of his brother. _PLACED_ IT _BY GREAT WATERS_] Put him under the protection of Babylon, situated on the confluence of the _Tigris_ and _Euphrates_. And _SET IT AS A WILLOW TREE_] Made him _dependent_ on this city of great waters, as the _willow_ is on humidity....

HE TOOK ALSO OF THE SEED OF THE LAND - Zedekiah the king’s uncle, not a Babylonian satrap, was made king....

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

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 the blood royal, as it is explained, Ezekiel 17:13, Mattaniah, the uncle of Jeconiah, whom the king of Babylon called Zedekiah, and made him king in his room: AND PLANTED IT IN A FRUITFUL FIELD; in the land of Judea, and in Jerusalem the royal city: HE PLACED [IT] BY GREAT WATERS; many people, Revelation 17:15; over whom he ruled, and by whom he was supported in his royal dignity: [AND] SET IT [AS] A WILLOW TREE; which loves moist

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

THE SEED OF THE LAND. Zedokiah. See Ezekiel 17:6 and Ezekiel 17:13. Nebuchadnezzar did not set up. Chaldean king over Judah, but nourished Zedekiah, as verses: Ezekiel 17:5; Ezekiel 17:6 show....