Ezekiel 17:7

7 Now there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage. This vine bent its roots and turned its branches toward him so that it might draw more water from him than from its own bed,

Ezekiel 17:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 17:7

There was also another great eagle
Hophra king of Egypt, a very powerful prince, whom Herodotus ^F21 calls Apries; and says he was the most happy and fortunate, after Psammitichus, of all the kings that were before; though not so mighty as the king of Babylon; therefore all the same things are not said of the one as of the other: with great wings and many feathers:
had large dominions, but not go extensive as the former, and therefore is not said to be "longwinged" as he; and had "many feathers", but not "full" of them, nor had it such a variety; he had many people, and much wealth, and a large army, but not equal to the king of Babylon: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots towards him;
Zedekiah, and the people of the Jews under him; inclined to an alliance with the king of Egypt, and gave him some private intimations of it: and shot forth her branches towards him;
sent ambassadors to acquaint him with it, ( Ezekiel 17:15 ) ; that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation;
Nebuchadnezzar had planted this vine, and made furrows for the watering of it, and by his means it was become prosperous and flourishing; but Zedekiah, not content with the greatness and glory he had raised him to, sought to the king of Egypt to help him with horses and people, in order to free himself from subjection to the king of Babylon, and to increase his lustre and glory: the allusion is thought to be to the trenches and canals of the river Nile, by which the land of Egypt was watered: the words may be rendered, "out of the rivulets of her plantation" ^F23 which best agrees with watering.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 L. 2. sive Euterpe, c. 161.
F23 (hejm twgrem) "ex rivulis [loci in quo] plantata est", Gussetius, p. 642. such as run between beds in gardens, of which this word is sometimes used; hence some render it "ex areolis", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Polanus, so Ben Melech; or ditches and canals, such as were made out of the river Nile to water the land; "a fossa plantarii sui", Texelius, ut supra, p. 209.

Ezekiel 17:7 In-Context

5 He took a native seed and planted it in a prepared field, placing it like a willow beside plentiful water.

6 It grew and became a low-spreading vine. Its foliage turned toward him, and its roots developed under him. And so it became a vine, and it produced branches and sent out its shoots.

7 Now there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage. This vine bent its roots and turned its branches toward him so that it might draw more water from him than from its own bed,

8 a good field with plentiful water where it was planted to grow branches, bear fruit, and become a splendid vine.

9 Say, The LORD God proclaims: Will it thrive? Won't he tear out its roots, strip its fruit, and cause all the leaves of its branches to wither? It will dry up, and no one will need a strong arm or a mighty army to uproot it.