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?John Gill's Exposition of the Bible - Ezekiel (Ch.17~32)?(John Gill)

17 Chapter 17

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 17
Under the simile of two eagles and a vine are represented the kings of
Babylon and Egypt, and the condition of the Jews, who are threatened with
ruin for their perfidy; and yet a promise is made of the raising up of the
house of Judah, and family of David, in the Messiah. The prophet is bid to
deliver a riddle or parable to the house of Israel, Ezekiel 17:1. The
riddle or parable is concerning two eagles and a vine, which is delivered,
Ezekiel 17:3; and the explanation of it is in Ezekiel 17:11; and then the
destruction of the Jews is threatened for their treachery to the king of
Babylon, Ezekiel 17:16; and the chapter is closed with a promise of the
Messiah, and the prosperity of his kingdom, Ezekiel 17:22.
Verse 1
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. After the prophet had been
sent to charge the Jews with breaking the covenant with God, he is sent to
rebuke and threaten them for breaking covenant with men, even with the king
of Babylon; by whom they were in part carried into captivity, and another
part remained in the land, as will be hereafter seen.
Verse 2
Son of man, put forth a riddle,.... A dark saying, but a smart one: "whet a
whetting"F11??? ????, Heb. "acue acumen", Piscator. , as in the Hebrew;
something at first sight difficult to be understood, yet amusing and
entertaining; and, when solved, very useful and instructive:
and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; or, "concerning the house of
Israel"F12?? ??? ????? "de domo Israelis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. ;
as the Targum and Syriac version; something relating to them, and what
would aptly describe and represent their case; for the prophet was bid to
take such a method, not to hide things from them, but rather the more
strongly to represent them to them; seeing hereby their attention would be
excited, and things would be more fixed in their memories, and they would
be put upon studying the meaning of them; and when explained to them, and
understood, which was quickly done, they might be the more affected with
them.
Verse 3
And say, thus saith the Lord God,.... The riddle is not the prophet's, nor
the parable his, but the Lord God's; and exceeding beautiful and apt it is,
to signify the things designed by it; the wisdom of God is greatly
displayed in it:
a great eagle; which is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as it is explained,
Ezekiel 17:12; who is compared to an eagle for his power and authority,
that being the king of birds, and for his swiftness and voracity in
conquering and subduing kingdoms; see Jeremiah 48:40;
with great wings; so the Babylonish monarchy is signified by a lion with
eagle's wings, Daniel 7:4; and the two parts of the Roman empire, into
which it was divided at the death of Theodosius, are called two wings of a
great eagle, Revelation 12:14; and so here it may denote the large kingdoms
and provinces which belonged to the Babylonian monarchy; see Esther 1:1;
longwinged; or having a "long member"F13??? ???? "longa corpore", Castalio;
"longa membris", Munster, Grotius; "longo membororum ductu", Pradus. ;
meaning the body of the wing, which was long; and so, as the wings spread,
may signify the breadth of his dominion, this the length of them, and both
their extensiveness:
full of feathers; of cities, towns, people, armies, wealth, and riches:
which had divers colours; or an "embroidery"F14??? ?? ?????, Heb; "opus
phrygionicum", Piscator. ; like that of the weaver, only needle work,
consisting of various colours; and so it alludes to such eagles as are
called the golden eagle, and "asterias", from their golden colour, and
their being spotted like stars, and which are said to be of the largest
size, as Bochart, from AelianusF15Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 39. ,
observes; and may signify people of divers languages, customs, manners, and
circumstances, subject to the government of the king of Babylon:
came unto Lebanon; the northern border of the land of Judea, and invaded
it; where were the mountain and forest of Lebanon, famous for the cedars
that grew there, from whence the whole land may here take its name, as
being more apt for the allegory used: or the city of Jerusalem, where were
the temple built of the cedars of Lebanon, as many of its palaces and
houses also were; whither the king of Babylon came, and took it, and who
came northward, as Babylon was:
and took the highest branch of the cedar; by the "cedar" is meant, either
the nation in general, or the royal family in particular; and by the
"highest branch" the then reigning king, Jeconiah with the princes and
nobles of the land, who were taken and carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar;
see 2 Kings 24:14.
Verse 4
He cropped off the top of his young twigs,.... By which are meant the
princes of the land, or the several branches of the royal family; the top
of which was King Jeconiah, who was but young and tender, being but
eighteen years of age when he began his reign, and this was within three
months after; and who was no more able to withstand the force of the king
of Babylon, than a tender twig so ravenous a bird as an eagle, 2 Kings
24:8; whose superior power and strength is signified by the cropping off of
a tender twig:
and carried it into a land of traffic; not into the land of Canaan, as the
Septuagint, and some other versions, literally render it; but into Babylon,
which was become a place of great merchandise, through the great concourse
of people to it, and the large additions made to the empire:
he set it in a city of merchants; meaning the city of Babylon, perhaps in
particular, as distinct from the country before mentioned: the word for
"merchants" signifies "apothecaries" or "druggists"F16??????
"aromatariorum", Junius & Tremellius, Polinus. So Stockius, p. 1017. ; and
may design such merchants as traded in sweet spices and aromatic drugs. The
words may be rendered, "and brought it out of the land of Canaan"F17?? ???
???? "tetra Chanaan", Texelius, Phoenix, l. 3. c. 4. sect. 6. p. 205. ; out
of which Jeconiah and his nobles were carried by the king of Babylon; so
the particle ?? sometimes signifies "from", or "out of", as in 1 Kings
8:30; and othersF18Vid. Noldii Concord. Part. Ebr. p. 56. , "and in a city
of merchants he set it"; in Babylon, famous for merchants; whom the Jews,
being captives, were obliged to attend in a servile manner.
Verse 5
He took also of the seed of the land,.... Of the land of Judea, a native of
it, not a stranger; not one of another country, a Babylonian; not one of
his own nobles or princes, did Nebuchadnezzar, the eagle, take and set upon
the throne of Judea, but one of their own, even one of the king's seed, of
the blood royal, as it is explained, Ezekiel 17:13, Mattaniah, the uncle of
Jeconiah, whom the king of Babylon called Zedekiah, and made him king in
his room:
and planted it in a fruitful field; in the land of Judea, and in Jerusalem
the royal city:
he placed it by great waters; many people, Revelation 17:15; over whom he
ruled, and by whom he was supported in his royal dignity:
and set it as a willow tree; which loves moist places, and grows up thick:
unless it should be rendered, "he set it with great circumspection"F19?????
??? "circumspectissime posuit illud, Junins & Tremellius, Polanus; "cum
magna circumspectione", Piscator; "circumspecte, Cocceius, Starckius. ;
took a great deal of care and caution in placing him upon the throne; he
made a covenant with him, took an oath of him, and hostages for the
performance of it, Ezekiel 17:13. The Targum is,
"a planted vine he set it,'
to make it agree with what follows; but the word in the Chaldee and Arabic
languages signifies a kind of willow, as we render it, as Ben Melech
observesF20And so it does; see Castel, col. 3220, 3221. and in this way
Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the word, in which they are followed by many;
so R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 73. 1. nevertheless, the sense of it here
is disapproved of by Castel, who observes, what has a willow to do with a
vine? col. 3222. and commends the Greek version, which renders it,
?????????????, "conspicuous", to be seen; and so others translate it, "in
superficie", V. L. Grotius; yet the "safsaf" of the Arabs is a tree by
which they understood the "abeile" or poplar tree; see Shaw's Travels, p.
432. Ed. 2. .
Verse 6
And it grew,.... King Zedekiah reigned and prospered, and the kingdom
flourished under him:
and became a spreading vine of low stature; not so flourishing as it had
been heretofore, in former reigns; it did not rise up to a cedar, as it had
been, but was like a vine, which, though flourishing, does not rise up
high, but runs upon the ground, and is dependent on something else; so the
king and kingdom of Judah, though in tolerable circumstances, yet were
humble and dependent on the king of Babylon:
whose branches turned towards him; the eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, to whom the
people of the Jews were tributary:
and the roots thereof were under him; they were rooted and settled in their
own land, yet under the power, and at the dispose, of the Babylonish
monarch:
so it became a vine; a flourishing kingdom in some measure, though attended
with some degree of weakness and dependence as a vine:
and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs; increased in people and
in riches; particularly the king had many children, so that there was a
prospect of a succession, and of a more flourishing estate, and a
continuance of it, Jeremiah 52:10.
Verse 7
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