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The Prophets · Old Testament

Ezekiel 17

Ezekiel 17: the riddle of the two eagles, the vine and the broken oath

General context

The prophet is told to "put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel." A great eagle of divers colours comes to Lebanon, takes the highest branch of the cedar and carries it "into a land of traffick," setting it "in a city of merchants." He also plants seed of the land by great waters, and it becomes "a spreading vine of low stature" whose branches turn toward him. Another great eagle appears, and the vine bends its roots and branches toward him to be watered. The Lord asks whether it will prosper, whether he will not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, and says the east wind will wither it. A second word explains: "the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem," has taken its king and princes to Babylon, taken "of the king’s seed," made a covenant with him under oath, and taken the mighty of the land so the kingdom would be base and stand only by keeping the covenant. But he rebelled by sending ambassadors into Egypt for horses and people. The Lord swears he will die "in the midst of Babylon" with the king who made him king; Pharaoh's army will not help him. Calling the oath "mine oath" and the covenant "my covenant," the Lord will spread his net on him, bring him to Babylon and plead with him there; his fugitives will fall by the sword. A third word promises that the Lord himself will take a tender twig from the top of the high cedar and plant it "in the mountain of the height of Israel," where it will become a goodly cedar sheltering every bird, and all the trees will know that the Lord brings down the high tree and exalts the low.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 17:2, Ezekiel 17:3, Ezekiel 17:4, Ezekiel 17:6, Ezekiel 17:7, Ezekiel 17:9, Ezekiel 17:10, Ezekiel 17:12, Ezekiel 17:13, Ezekiel 17:14, Ezekiel 17:15, Ezekiel 17:16, Ezekiel 17:17, Ezekiel 17:19, Ezekiel 17:20, Ezekiel 17:21, Ezekiel 17:22, Ezekiel 17:23, Ezekiel 17:24

Ezekiel 17 (KJV)

1And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

3And 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:

4He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

5He 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.

6And 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.

7There 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.

8It 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.

9Say 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.

10Yea, 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.

11Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

12Say 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;

13And 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:

14That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.

15But 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?

16As 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.

17Neither 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:

18Seeing 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.

19Therefore 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.

20And 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.

21And 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.

22Thus 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:

23In 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.

24And 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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Historical context

The text supplies its own decoding of the parable in 17:12 to 21 but names only two parties: "the king of Babylon" and "Pharaoh" with Egypt. The Jerusalem king who was taken, the man "of the king’s seed" who was set up under covenant and then rebelled, and the first and second eagles are all left unnamed; the reader can match the first eagle to the king of Babylon and the second to Egypt from the parallel between riddle and explanation, but the text never labels either eagle by name. The covenant is described as made by the king of Babylon, with an oath taken from the vassal, yet the Lord calls it "mine oath" and "my covenant," so breaking a treaty with Babylon is treated as trespass "against me." The chapter says the rebel "shall die" in Babylon and be brought there in the Lord's net; it does not narrate that outcome. The closing promise uses the same cedar image, but the planter is now the Lord and the place is "the mountain of the height of Israel"; the text does not identify the tender twig. No date is given. "Lebanon," "a land of traffick" and "a city of merchants" are the parable's own terms for places and are not identified in the chapter.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 17:12, Ezekiel 17:15, Ezekiel 17:18, Ezekiel 17:20, Ezekiel 17:16, Ezekiel 17:22, Ezekiel 17:5

Literary context

The chapter is in three parts marked by "the word of the Lord came unto me" and "Thus saith the Lord God": the riddle, its explanation, and a counter-image. The riddle is told as a story about plants and birds and then interrogated with questions, "Shall it prosper?", which the explanation repeats in the same form, "Shall he prosper? shall he escape?" The vine's turning is the hinge in both tellings: in the riddle its branches "turned toward him" and then "bend her roots toward" the other eagle; in the explanation this is "sending his ambassadors into Egypt." Words are carried across the two halves, "the seed of the land" and "the king’s seed," "without great power or many people" and "his mighty army and great company," and the net and snare that close the explanation repeat 12:13, "My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare." The third part reuses the opening move, a twig cropped from the top of the cedar, but with the Lord doing the cropping and a mountain instead of a merchant city, and it ends on four reversals, high and low, green and dry, sealed by "I the Lord have spoken and have done it." The chapter says nothing about the house of Israel's response to the riddle.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 17:11, Ezekiel 17:9, Ezekiel 17:7, Ezekiel 17:13, Ezekiel 17:20, Ezekiel 17:24, Ezekiel 17:5, Ezekiel 17:17, Ezekiel 12:13

Key moments

  1. A riddle and a parable (Ezekiel 17:2). The prophet is told to put a riddle to the house of Israel.
  2. The first eagle takes the cedar top (Ezekiel 17:3). A great eagle carries the highest branch of the cedar to a city of merchants.
  3. The vine turns to a second eagle (Ezekiel 17:7). The low vine bends its roots and branches toward another eagle.
  4. The king of Babylon explained (Ezekiel 17:12). The riddle is decoded as Babylon's king taking Jerusalem's king and princes.
  5. Ambassadors into Egypt (Ezekiel 17:15). The covenant king rebels by seeking horses and people from Egypt.
  6. Mine oath that he hath despised (Ezekiel 17:19). The Lord treats the broken oath as his own and will recompense it.
  7. A tender twig on the mountain (Ezekiel 17:22). The Lord will plant a twig from the cedar top on Israel's high mountain.

For reflection

The Lord calls a treaty sworn to the king of Babylon "mine oath" and "my covenant." What does it mean for a promise made to an enemy to be counted as a promise made to God?

People in this chapter

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