Ezekiel 17:6

6 And when it had grown, it increased into a larger vinery, in low stature; for the boughs thereof beheld to that eagle, and the roots thereof were under that eagle; therefore it was made a vinery, and it made fruit into scions, and sent out boughs. (And when it had grown, it increased into a long spreading vine, on the ground; for its branches looked upward to that eagle, and its roots were under that eagle; and so it was made a vine, and it made its fruit among the leaves, and sent out its branches.)

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 pulled away the highness of (the) boughs thereof, and bare it over into the land of Canaan, and setted it in the city of merchants. (He pulled away the highness of its branches, and carried it into the land of merchandising, and put it in the city of merchants.)

5 And he took of the seed of the land, and setted it in the land for seed, that it should make steadfast root on many waters (so that it would make a steadfast root by many waters); and he setted it in the higher part.

6 And when it had grown, it increased into a larger vinery, in low stature; for the boughs thereof beheld to that eagle, and the roots thereof were under that eagle; therefore it was made a vinery, and it made fruit into scions, and sent out boughs. (And when it had grown, it increased into a long spreading vine, on the ground; for its branches looked upward to that eagle, and its roots were under that eagle; and so it was made a vine, and it made its fruit among the leaves, and sent out its branches.)

7 And another great eagle was made, with great wings, and many feathers; and lo! this vinery as sending his roots to that eagle, stretched forth his scions to that eagle, that he should moist it (out) of the cornfloors of his seed. (And another great eagle was made, with great wings, and many feathers; and lo! this vine sending its roots toward that eagle, stretched forth its leaves toward that eagle, so that it could water itself from the threshing floors of its seed.)

8 Which is planted in a good land on many waters, that it make boughs, and bear fruit, that it be into a great vinery. (Which is planted in a good land by many waters, so that it can make branches, and bear fruit, and so that it be a great vine.)