Ezekiel 17:6

6 and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine, and brought forth branches and put forth foliage.

Ezekiel 17:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 17:6

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 ) .

Ezekiel 17:6 In-Context

4 he broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade, and set it in a city of merchants.

5 Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil; he placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig,

6 and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine, and brought forth branches and put forth foliage.

7 "But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him that he might water it. From the bed where it was planted

8 he transplanted it to good soil by abundant waters, that it might bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and become a noble vine.