Ezekiel 17:18 Komentář

God was, in the foregoing chapter, reckoning with the people of Judah, and bringing ruin upon them for their treachery in breaking covenant with him; in this chapter he is reckoning with the king of Judah for his treachery in breaking covenant with the king of Babylon; for when God came to contend with them he found many grounds of his controversy. The thing was now in doing: Zedekiah was practising with the king of Egypt underhand for assistance in a treacherous project he had formed to shake off the yoke of the king of Babylon, and violate the homage and fealty he had sworn to him. For this God by the prophet here, I. Threatens the ruin of him and his kingdom, by a parable of two eagles and a vine (Eze 17:1-10), and the explanation of that parable (Eze 17:11-21). But, in the close, II. He promises hereafter to raise the royal family of Judah again, the house of David, in the Messiah and his kingdom (Eze 17:22-24).

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, Eze 17:1. The riddle or parable is concerning two eagles and a vine, which is delivered, Eze 17:3; and the explanation of it is in Eze 17:11; and then the destruction of the Jews is threatened for their treachery to the king of Babylon, Eze 17:16; and the chapter is closed with a promise of the Messiah, and the prosperity of his kingdom, Eze 17:22.

And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare,.... See Gill on Eze 12:13; where the same words are used, and of the same person: and I will bring him to Babylon; though, as it is said in the place referred to, he should not see it, his eyes being put out before he was brought thither: and I will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me; for though it was breaking covenant and oath with a Heathen prince, yet it was a trespass against God, in whose name they were made; and his being laid in prison at Babylon, and kept there to the time of his death, was the Lord's pleading with him, and judging of him; it was a reproof for his sins, and a condemnation of him and them.

(Verse 11 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Say to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things mean? Say: Behold, the king of Babylon is coming to Jerusalem. He will take the king and his princes and bring them to Babylon. And he will take one of the royal offspring, make a covenant with him, and take an oath from him. He will also take away the mighty of the land, so that the kingdom will be humble and not exalted, but will keep his covenant and obey it. When he departs from there, he sends messengers to Egypt, to give him horses and a great population. Will he prosper? Will he escape the one who does these things? Can anyone who breaks a covenant escape? As I live, declares the Lord God, surely in the place where the king who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. For he despised the oath to break the covenant. And behold, he stretched out his hand, and when he has done all these things, he shall not escape. This is the riddle, this is the parable, which the Scripture showed under the two eagles and the vine, the two kings of Babylon and Egypt; and King Zedekiah, who, against his oath, abandoned the friendship of Nebuchadnezzar and transferred himself to the king of Egypt. He shall strike a covenant with him, and he shall take an oath to him, to keep his pact and observe it. He who breaks a covenant, it is said, will not escape. From this we learn that even amongst enemies, faith must be kept, and it is not important to whom you swore, but through whom. For he who believed in you because of the name of God, and was deceived by you, who, taking advantage of the divine majesty, plotted against your enemy, or rather your friend, has proven to be much more faithful. For, as it is said, in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he made void, and broke the covenant he had with him, he will die in the midst of Babylon. For we read that Sedecias was captured, brought to Reblatha, and there his sons were killed and he was blinded like a wild animal enclosed in a cage, and then taken to Babylon (4 Kings 25). Therefore, Scripture, although it may seem contradictory to itself, is nonetheless very true in both instances. For it had been said to Sedecias: 'And thou shalt enter into Babylon, and thou shalt not see it' (Jeremiah 34:4). He entered indeed, for he was brought to Babylon, but he did not see it because he was blind. But what follows is understood in two ways: either the Egyptian king coming against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon will not be able to fight or resist with a small army against such a great multitude, or King Zedekiah will be conquered by Pharaoh, from whom he hoped for help. Not that Pharaoh himself conquered him, or that Scripture testifies to this anywhere, but rather that the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar was opportune for the Egyptian king. And it was not the one who was besieging Jerusalem who appeared to conquer it, but the one in whom Zedekiah had vainly hoped. Behold, he said, he gave his hand to the king of Egypt and sold himself; and he committed perjury and sacrilege against God. Will it benefit him, he said? And when he has done all these things, he will not escape.

This chapter begins with a new allegory or parable, Eze 17:1-10; to which an explanation is immediately subjoined, Eze 17:11-21. In the remaining verses the prophet, by a beautiful metaphor, makes an easy and natural transition to the Messiah, and predicts the security, increasing prosperity, and ultimate universality of his kingdom, Eze 17:22-24. From the beauty of its images, the elegance of its composition, the perspicuity of its language, the rich variety of its matter, and the easy transition from one part of the subject to another, this chapter forms one of the most beautiful and perfect pieces of its kind that can possibly be conceived in so small a compass; and then the unexpected change from objects that presented nothing to the view but gloom and horror, to a prospect of ineffable glory and beauty, has a most happy effect. Every lowering cloud is dispelled, and the fields again smile in the beams of midday. The traveler, who this moment trembled as he looked around for shelter, now proceeds on has way rejoicing.

Seeing he despised the oath - This God particularly resents. He had bound himself by oath, in the presence of Jehovah, to be faithful to the covenant that he made with Nebuchadnezzar, and he took the first opportunity to break it; therefore he shall not escape.

PARABLE OF THE TWO GREAT EAGLES, AND THE CROPPING OF THE CEDAR OF LEBANON. JUDAH IS TO BE JUDGED FOR REVOLTING FROM BABYLON, WHICH HAD SET UP ZEDEKIAH INSTEAD OF JEHOIACHIN, TO EGYPT; GOD HIMSELF, AS THE RIVAL OF THE BABYLONIAN KING, IS TO PLANT THE GOSPEL CEDAR OF MESSIAH. (Eze. 17:1-24) riddle--a continued allegory, expressed enigmatically, requiring more than common acumen and serious thought. The Hebrew is derived from a root, "sharp," that is, calculated to stimulate attention and whet the intellect. Distinct from "fable," in that it teaches not fiction, but fact. Not like the ordinary riddle, designed to puzzle, but to instruct. The "riddle" is here identical with the "parable," only that the former refers to the obscurity, the latter to the likeness of the figure to the thing compared.

given his hand--in ratification of the oath (Kg2 10:15; Ezr 10:19), and also in token of subjection to Nebuchadnezzar (Ch1 29:24, Margin; Ch2 30:8, Margin; Lam 5:6).