Ezekiel 17:1-24

A Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

17:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 17:2 “Son of man, offer a riddle, ¹  and tell a parable to the house of Israel. 17:3 Say to them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: ² 

“‘A great eagle ³  with broad wings, long feathers, ⁴ 

with full plumage which was multi-hued, ⁵ 

came to Lebanon ⁶  and took the top of the cedar.

17:4 He plucked off its topmost shoot;

he brought it to a land of merchants

and planted it in a city of traders.

17:5 He took one of the seedlings ⁷  of the land,

placed it in a cultivated plot; ⁸ 

a shoot by abundant water,

like a willow he planted it.

17:6 It sprouted and became a vine,

spreading low to the ground; ⁹ 

its branches turning toward him, ¹⁰  its roots were under itself. ¹¹ 

So it became a vine; it produced shoots and sent out branches.

17:7 “‘There was another great eagle ¹² 

with broad wings and thick plumage.

Now this vine twisted its roots toward him

and sent its branches toward him

to be watered from the soil where it was planted.

17:8 In a good field, by abundant waters, it was planted

to grow branches, bear fruit, and become a beautiful vine.

17:9 “‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Will it prosper?

Will he not rip out its roots

and cause its fruit to rot ¹³  and wither?

All its foliage ¹⁴  will wither.

No strong arm or large army

will be needed to pull it out by its roots. ¹⁵ 

17:10 Consider! It is planted, but will it prosper?

Will it not wither completely when the east wind blows on it?

Will it not wither in the soil where it sprouted?’”

17:11 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ¹⁶  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ¹⁷  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ¹⁸  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon. 17:13 He took one from the royal family, ¹⁹  made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. ²⁰  He then took the leaders of the land 17:14 so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand. 17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family ²¹  rebelled against the king of Babylon ²²  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

17:16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ²³  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die! 17:17 Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help ²⁴  him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people. 17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note ²⁵  – he gave his promise ²⁶  and did all these things – he will not escape!

17:19 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him ²⁷  for despising my oath and breaking my covenant! 17:20 I will throw my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there because of the unfaithfulness he committed against me. 17:21 All the choice men ²⁸  among his troops will die ²⁹  by the sword and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken!

17:22 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will take a sprig ³⁰  from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. ³¹ 

I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs;

I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

17:23 I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel,

and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar.

Every bird will live under it;

Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.

17:24 All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord.

I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree.

I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout.

I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”

[17:2]  ¹ sn The verb occurs elsewhere in the OT only in Judg 14:12-19, where Samson supplies a riddle.

[17:3]  ² tn The parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.

[17:3]  ³ sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).

[17:3]  ⁴ tn Hebrew has two words for wings; it is unknown whether they are fully synonymous or whether one term distinguishes a particular part of the wing such as the wing coverts (nearest the shoulder), secondaries (mid-feathers of the wing) or primaries (last and longest section of the wing).

[17:3]  ⁵ tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.

[17:3]  ⁶ sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).

[17:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “took of the seed of the land.” For the vine imagery, “seedling” is a better translation, though in its subsequent interpretation the “seed” refers to Zedekiah through its common application to offspring.

[17:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “a field for seed.”

[17:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “short of stature.”

[17:6]  ¹⁰ tn That is, the eagle.

[17:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “him,” i.e., the eagle.

[17:7]  ¹² sn The phrase another great eagle refers to Pharaoh Hophra.

[17:9]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew root occurs only here in the OT and appears to have the meaning of “strip off.” In application to fruit the meaning may be “cause to rot.”

[17:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the טַרְפֵּי (tarpey) of branches.” The word טַרְפֵּי occurs only here in the Bible; its precise meaning is uncertain.

[17:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “there will be no strong arm or large army when it is pulled up by the roots.”

[17:12]  ¹⁶ tn The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.

[17:12]  ¹⁷ sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.

[17:12]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[17:13]  ¹⁹ tn Or “descendants”; Heb “seed” (cf. v. 5).

[17:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “caused him to enter into an oath.”

[17:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ²² tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:16]  ²³ tn Heb “place.”

[17:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “deal with” or “work with.”

[17:18]  ²⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.

[17:18]  ²⁶ sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).

[17:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “place it on his head.”

[17:21]  ²⁸ tc Some manuscripts and versions read “choice men,” while most manuscripts read “fugitives”; the difference arises from the reversal, or metathesis, of two letters, מִבְרָחָיו (mivrakhyv) for מִבְחָריו (mivkharyv).

[17:21]  ²⁹ tn Heb “fall.”

[17:22]  ³⁰ sn The language is analogous to messianic imagery in Isa 11:1; Zech 3:8; 6:4 although the technical terminology is not the same.

[17:22]  ³¹ tc The LXX lacks “and plant it.”