Ezequiel 17:18

18 "Pues ha despreciado el juramento al romper el pacto; he aquí, juró fidelidad pero hizo todas estas cosas. No escapará."

Ezequiel 17:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 17:18

Seeing he despised the oath, by breaking the covenant
This is repeated again, to show the heinousness of the sin Zedekiah had been guilty of, and what was the cause of his ruin: when, lo, he had given his hand;
to the king of Babylon, to testify his hearty agreement with him, and that he might depend upon the oath and covenant being sacredly observed by him. This was a rite for custom frequently and early used in different nations, when covenants and agreements were entered into; we find it used in the times of Homer {z}; and among the Romans. When Antoninus, Lepidus, and Octavius made peace, the historian says ^F1, they joined their hands together. Virgil

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 speaks of the same ceremony used by Anchises to Achaemenides, for confirmation of friendship. Though some understand this of his giving the hand to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and entering into an alliance with him, and broke the covenant and oath made to the king of Babylon; and so the Targum,

``and, lo, he stretched out his hand to Pharaoh:''

and hath done all these [things];
been guilty of such and so many crimes, as ingratitude, perjury, covenant breaking, and vain confidence: he shall not escape;
divine vengeance, just and proper punishment for his sins.
F26 (ceirav t' allhlwn labethn kai pistwsate) , Iliad. 6.
F1 Florus, Hist. Rom. Gest. l. 4. c. 5.
F2 "Ipse pater dextram Anchises, haud malta moratur, Dat juveni atque animum praesenti pignore firmat". Aeneid. l. 3. prope finem.

Ezequiel 17:18 In-Context

16 "Vivo yo"declara el Señor DIOS"que ciertamente en la tierra del rey que lo puso en el trono, cuyo juramento despreció y cuyo pacto rompió, allí, en medio de Babilonia, morirá.

17 "Ni con poderoso ejército ni con gran compañía lo ayudará Faraón en la guerra, cuando levanten terraplenes y construyan muros de asedio para cortar muchas vidas.

18 "Pues ha despreciado el juramento al romper el pacto; he aquí, juró fidelidad pero hizo todas estas cosas. No escapará."

19 Por tanto, así dice el Señor DIOS: Vivo yo, que ciertamente mi juramento que él despreció, mi pacto que él rompió, lo haré recaer sobre su cabeza.

20 Y tenderé sobre él mi red y será atrapado en mi trampa. Entonces lo llevaré a Babilonia y allí entraré en juicio con él por la infidelidad que ha cometido contra mí.