Ezekiel 17:3-6

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.

[17:3]  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.