Ezekiel 17:5

5 And he took of the seed of the land, and put it in the ground for seed, that it might take a firm root over many waters: he planted it on the surface of the earth.

Ezekiel 17:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 17:5

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; 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 observes ^F20.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F19 (wmv hpupu) "circumspectissime posuit illud, Junins & Tremellius, Polanus; "cum magna circumspectione", Piscator; "circumspecte, Cocceius, Starckius.
F20 And 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, (epiblepomenon) , "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.

Ezekiel 17:5 In-Context

3 And say: Thus saith the Lord God; A large eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers, and of variety, came to Libanus, and took away the marrow of the cedar.

4 He cropped off the top of the twigs thereof: and carried it away into the land of Chanaan, and he set it in a city of merchants.

5 And he took of the seed of the land, and put it in the ground for seed, that it might take a firm root over many waters: he planted it on the surface of the earth.

6 And it sprung up and grew into a spreading vine of low stature, and the branches thereof looked towards him: and the roots thereof were under him. So it became a vine, and grew into branches, and shot forth sprigs.

7 And there was another large eagle, with great wings, and many feathers: and behold this vine, bending as it were her roots towards him, stretched forth her branches to him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.