Ezekiel 17:1-7

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.

[17:2]  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.