Ezekiel 17:3-10

17:3 Say to them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: ¹ 

“‘A great eagle ²  with broad wings, long feathers, ³ 

with full plumage which was multi-hued, ⁴ 

came to Lebanon ⁵  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 ⁶  of the land,

placed it in a cultivated plot; ⁷ 

a shoot by abundant water,

like a willow he planted it.

17:6 It sprouted and became a vine,

spreading low to the ground; ⁸ 

its branches turning toward him, ⁹  its roots were under itself. ¹⁰ 

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

17:7 “‘There was another great eagle ¹¹ 

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 ¹²  and wither?

All its foliage ¹³  will wither.

No strong arm or large army

will be needed to pull it out by its roots. ¹⁴ 

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?’”

Ezekiel 17:22-24

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

“‘I will take a sprig ¹⁵  from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. ¹⁶ 

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!’”

Ezekiel 19:10

19:10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, ¹⁷  planted by water.

It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.

Romans 11:17-24

11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in ¹⁸  the richness of the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! ¹⁹  They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 11:22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but ²⁰  God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; ²¹  otherwise you also will be cut off. 11:23 And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?

[17:3]  ¹ tn The parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.

[17:3]  ² sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).

[17:3]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.

[17:3]  ⁵ sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).

[17:5]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “a field for seed.”

[17:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “short of stature.”

[17:6]  ⁹ tn That is, the eagle.

[17:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “him,” i.e., the eagle.

[17:7]  ¹¹ sn The phrase another great eagle refers to Pharaoh Hophra.

[17:9]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “all the טַרְפֵּי (tarpey) of branches.” The word טַרְפֵּי occurs only here in the Bible; its precise meaning is uncertain.

[17:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “there will be no strong arm or large army when it is pulled up by the roots.”

[17:22]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tc The LXX lacks “and plant it.”

[19:10]  ¹⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads “in your blood,” but most emend to “in your vineyard,” assuming a ב-כ (beth-kaph) confusion. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. Another attractive emendation assumes a faulty word division and yields the reading “like a vine full of tendrils, which/because…”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:607, n. 68.

[11:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “became a participant of.”

[11:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”

[11:22]  ²⁰ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[11:22]  ²¹ tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”