Ezekiel 17:14

14 ut sit regnum humile et non elevetur sed custodiat pactum eius et servet illud

Ezekiel 17:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 17:14

That the kingdom might be base
Low or humble; its king but a viceroy, a tributary to the king of Babylon; and the subjects obliged to a tax, payable to him; and this is intended by the vine being of "low stature", ( Ezekiel 17:6 ) ; that it might not lift up itself;
above other neighbouring kingdoms and states; and particularly that it might not rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, but be kept in a dependence on him, and subjection to him: [but] that by keeping of his covenant it might stand;
continue a kingdom, and Zedekiah king of it; so that it was for their good that such a covenant was made, and it was their interest to keep it; for, had it not been made, it would have ceased to have been a kingdom, and would have become a province of the Babylonian monarchy, and have been put under the government of one of Nebuchadnezzar's princes or captains; and, should they break it, would endanger the ruin of their state, as the event showed. In the Hebrew text it is, "to keep his covenant, to make it stand"; or, "to stand to it" F25; that is, as it should seem, to make the covenant stand firm. The Targum is,

``that it might keep his covenant, and serve him;''
Nebuchadnezzar.
FOOTNOTES:

F25 (hdmel wtyrb ta rmvl) "ad custodiendum pactum ejus, ad astandum ei", Montanus; "ad servandum foedus suum, ad consistendumm", Starckius.

Ezekiel 17:14 In-Context

12 dic ad domum exasperantem nescitis quid ista significent dic ecce venit rex Babylonis Hierusalem et adsumet regem et principes eius et adducet eos ad semet ipsum in Babylonem
13 et tollet de semine regni ferietque cum eo foedus et accipiet ab eo iusiurandum sed et fortes terrae tollet
14 ut sit regnum humile et non elevetur sed custodiat pactum eius et servet illud
15 qui recedens ab eo misit nuntios ad Aegyptum ut daret sibi equos et populum multum numquid prosperabitur vel consequetur salutem qui fecit haec et qui dissolvit pactum numquid effugiet
16 vivo ego dicit Dominus Deus quoniam in loco regis qui constituit eum regem cuius fecit irritum iuramentum et solvit pactum quod habebat cum eo in medio Babylonis morietur
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.