Ezekiel 17:6

6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him and the roots thereof were under him. So it became a vine, and brought forth branches and shot forth sprigs.

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 cropped off the top of it young twigs and carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.

5 He took also of the seed of the land and planted it in a fruitful field. He placed it by great waters and set it as a willow tree.

6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him and the roots thereof were under him. So it became a vine, and brought forth branches and shot forth sprigs.

7 "`There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her planting.

8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.'