Ezekiel 17:5

5 He also took a seedling from the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside a broad river, where it could grow like a willow tree.

Ezekiel 17:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 17:5

He took also of the seed of the land
Of the land of Judea, a native of it, not a stranger; not one of another country, a Babylonian; not one of his own nobles or princes, did Nebuchadnezzar, the eagle, take and set upon the throne of Judea, but one of their own, even one of the king's seed, of the blood royal, as it is explained, ( Ezekiel 17:13 ) , Mattaniah, the uncle of Jeconiah, whom the king of Babylon called Zedekiah, and made him king in his room: and planted it in a fruitful field;
in the land of Judea, and in Jerusalem the royal city: he placed [it] by great waters;
many people, ( Revelation 17:15 ) ; over whom he ruled, and by whom he was supported in his royal dignity: [and] set it [as] a willow tree;
which loves moist places, and grows up thick: unless it should be rendered, "he set it with great circumspection" ^F19; took a great deal of care and caution in placing him upon the throne; he made a covenant with him, took an oath of him, and hostages for the performance of it, ( Ezekiel 17:13 ) . The Targum is,

``a planted vine he set it,''

to make it agree with what follows; but the word in the Chaldee and Arabic languages signifies a kind of willow, as we render it, as Ben Melech observes ^F20.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (wmv hpupu) "circumspectissime posuit illud, Junins & Tremellius, Polanus; "cum magna circumspectione", Piscator; "circumspecte, Cocceius, Starckius.
F20 And so it does; see Castel, col. 3220, 3221. and in this way Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the word, in which they are followed by many; so R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 73. 1. nevertheless, the sense of it here is disapproved of by Castel, who observes, what has a willow to do with a vine? col. 3222. and commends the Greek version, which renders it, (epiblepomenon) , "conspicuous", to be seen; and so others translate it, "in superficie", V. L. Grotius; yet the "safsaf" of the Arabs is a tree by which they understood the "abeile" or poplar tree; see Shaw's Travels, p. 432. Ed. 2.

Ezekiel 17:5 In-Context

3 Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD : “A great eagle with broad wings and long feathers, covered with many-colored plumage, came to Lebanon. He seized the top of a cedar tree

4 and plucked off its highest branch. He carried it away to a city filled with merchants. He planted it in a city of traders.

5 He also took a seedling from the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside a broad river, where it could grow like a willow tree.

6 It took root there and grew into a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned up toward the eagle, and its roots grew down into the ground. It produced strong branches and put out shoots.

7 But then another great eagle came with broad wings and full plumage. So the vine now sent its roots and branches toward him for water,