Ezekiel Chapter 17

At a Glance

  • Ezekiel 17 presents a parable-parable: a great eagle with a cedar plant and later a vine that seeks water from another great eagle.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Chapter 17 is a quintessential Ezekiel oracle employing a striking animal-and-tree parable typical of prophetic literature.
  • - Divine sovereignty over nations: God’s plans prevail beyond human schemes.
  • - The futility of human power: Reliance on political maneuvers does not guarantee security.

Chapter Overview

Ezekiel 17 presents a parable-parable: a great eagle with a cedar plant and later a vine that seeks water from another great eagle. The allegory describes judgment and political strategy, focusing on Babylon’s conquest of Jerusalem and the exile of princes and the king’s seed. The first part shows how a captured branch is placed in a foreign land, and a new vine is watered to take root, symbolizing the exile’s leaders, arguably emphasizing how human schemes—alliances, loyalties, and political maneuvering—often fail to yield lasting fruit. God invites judgment on those who cling to human power rather than remaining faithful to Him. The second half addresses the rebellious house of Israel, instructing them to recognize what these events mean: Babylon’s rising power and the consequences of unfaithfulness. The passage ends with a call to understand the symbolic meaning of the riddle and to respond with repentance and obedience.

Historical & Literary Context

Chapter 17 is a quintessential Ezekiel oracle employing a striking animal-and-tree parable typical of prophetic literature. The narrative uses multiple symbolic layers to critique Israel’s political naivety and to predict Babylonian influence. The “great eagle” imagery is a standard Near Eastern symbol for imperial powers (Babylon) exercising control, while the “vine” represents Jerusalem’s political ambitions and its leadership. This complex, multi-stage parable uses vivid imagery to press the reader toward recognizing God’s sovereignty over nations and the futility of trusting in human political arrangements. As with much of Ezekiel, the piece sits within the exile, a moment when readers must interpret political upheaval as a teacher about faithfulness to God.

Key Themes

- Divine sovereignty over nations: God’s plans prevail beyond human schemes.

- The futility of human power: Reliance on political maneuvers does not guarantee security.

- The call to discernment and repentance: Recognizing meaning in God’s symbolic judgments.

- Covenant faithfulness amid exile: The need to trust God in uncertainty.

Modern Application

Ezekiel 17 invites contemporary readers to reflect on where they place their trust in times of national or personal upheaval. Do we lean on political alliances, economic security, or personal status, or do we seek first the Kingdom of God? The parable warns against assuming that clever strategy will secure the future, urging a posture of humble dependence on God. In personal life, it calls for discernment about loyalties and the sources of authority we grant to our own “great eagles.” It also prompts a thoughtful reading of leadership: leaders who fear the Lord may rightly guide a community through change, while those who chase worldly power may lead others astray.

- Daniel 4 (divine sovereignty over kingdoms)

- Jeremiah 27 (prophetic critique of foreign alliances)

- Isaiah 30 (trust in the Lord vs. reliance on Egypt)

Recommended Personas

- Moses (leadership and sovereignty of God)

- Jesus (trust in the Father’s plan over political maneuvering)

- Daniel (interpretation and discernment under foreign rule)

Chapter Text

1

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2

Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

11

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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;

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:

14

That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.

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?

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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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