Ezekiel 17:7

7 Il y avait un autre aigle, grand, aux longues ailes, au plumage épais. Et voici, du parterre où elle était plantée, cette vigne étendit avec avidité ses racines de son côté et dirigea ses rameaux vers lui, afin qu'il l'arrosât.

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 Et il prit un rejeton du pays, et le plaça dans un sol fertile; il le mit près d'une eau abondante, et le planta comme un saule.

6 Ce rejeton poussa, et devint un cep de vigne étendu, mais de peu d'élévation; ses rameaux étaient tournés vers l'aigle, et ses racines étaient sous lui; il devint un cep de vigne, donna des jets, et produisit des branches.

7 Il y avait un autre aigle, grand, aux longues ailes, au plumage épais. Et voici, du parterre où elle était plantée, cette vigne étendit avec avidité ses racines de son côté et dirigea ses rameaux vers lui, afin qu'il l'arrosât.

8 Elle était plantée dans un bon terrain, près d'une eau abondante, de manière à produire des branches et à porter du fruit, à devenir une vigne magnifique.

9 Dis: Ainsi parle le Seigneur, l'Eternel: Prospérera-t-elle? Le premier aigle n'arrachera-t-il pas ses racines, n'enlèvera-t-il pas son fruit, afin qu'elle se dessèche, afin que toutes les feuilles qu'elle a poussées se dessèchent? Et il ne faudra ni beaucoup de force ni un peuple nombreux pour la séparer de ses racines.