Ezekiel 17
24 verses
God presents an allegory of a great eagle carrying vine cuttings to a well-watered land, establishing a covenant with a young man who later seeks another great eagle, violating the covenant and causing withering. This political allegory represents Nebuchadnezzar (first eagle) bringing Judean royalty into Babylon, the Judean king attempting alliance with Egypt (second eagle), and the inevitable catastrophic failure of attempting to escape Babylonian dominance. The allegory establishes that rebellion against the Babylonian overlord violates the covenant arrangement and invites judgment. However, God promises to take a tender shoot from the cedar, plant it on a high mountain, and make it prosper—a promise of future restoration through God's direct action rather than human initiative. This chapter's vegetal and arboreal imagery connects to broader Israel tradition while establishing that true growth depends on divine action. The theological problem of submission to foreign powers is resolved by establishing that the Babylonian arrangement is divinely permitted, even commanded; rebellion against it constitutes rebellion against God. This chapter's historical application to Zedekiah's failed rebellion against Babylon illustrates prophetic specificity while maintaining theological universality about covenant violation and judgment. The restoration promise—God's personal action to plant and establish—foreshadows the messianic promise and establishes that future leadership will emerge from God's direct action, not human achievement.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
1
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
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2
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
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3
And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
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4
He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
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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.
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6
And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
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7
There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
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8
It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
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9
Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
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10
Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
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11
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
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12
Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
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13
And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:
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14
That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
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15
But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
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16
As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
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The Hebrew word used here carries a richness that English can't fully capture. There's something deeply comforting about...
17
Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
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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.
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19
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
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20
And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
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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.
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22
Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
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23
In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
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24
And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.
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