1321 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And say, thus saith the Lord God,.... The riddle is not the prophet's, nor the parable his, but the Lord God's; and exceeding beautiful and apt it is, to signify the things designed by it; the wisdom of God is greatly displayed in it: a great eagle; which is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as it is explained, Ezekiel 17:12; who is compared to an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He cropped off the top of his young twigs,.... By which are meant the princes of the land, or the several branches of the royal family; the top of which was King Jeconiah, who was but young and tender, being but eighteen years of age when he began his reign, and this was within three months after; and who was no more able to withstand the force of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There was also another great eagle,.... Hophra king of Egypt, a very powerful prince, whom Herodotus (u) 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
It was planted in, a good soil, by great waters,.... As is expressed in Ezekiel 17:5; this was done by the king of Babylon, who had raised Zedekiah from a low estate to a high one, and set him on the throne of Judah, over many people; and put him in such a condition, and in such circumstances, that he and his people might have been very happy,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Say thou, thus saith the Lord God,.... Tell Zedekiah and his people, in the name of the Lord, what will be the issue of his ingratitude and treachery to the king of Babylon, and his vain confidence in the king of Egypt: shall it prosper? the vine, the kingdom of Judah, and Zedekiah the king of it; can it be thought that prosperity will attend such...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Yea, behold, [being] planted,.... Supposing it ever so well planted, as first by Nebuchadnezzar; and still put into a better condition by the assistance of the king of Egypt, as was imagined: shall it prosper? it shall not; their own strength, with the help of the king of Egypt, will not be able to protect them from the rage of the king of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Here follows the explanation of the above riddle and parable, which the prophet from the Lord had orders to deliver.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Say now to the rebellious house,.... It had been a rebellious house to God, and to his prophets, before; see Ezekiel 2:5 and [See comments on Ezekiel 2:5]; and now, besides this was rebellious to the king of Babylon, to whom they were in some measure subject, Ezekiel 17:15; know ye not what these [things mean]? the riddle and parable concerning...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And hath taken of the king's seed,.... One of the royal family, signified by the seed of the land, Ezekiel 17:5. Mattaniah, son of King Josiah, and uncle to King Jeconiah; whom Nebuchadnezzar took and made king of Judea, and called him Zedekiah, which signifies the "justice of the Lord": to put him in mind of doing justly, by observing the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That the kingdom might be base,.... Low or humble; its king but a viceroy, a tributary to the king of Babylon; and the subjects obliged to a tax, payable to him; and this is intended by the vine being of "low stature", Ezekiel 17:6; that it might not lift up itself; above other neighbouring kingdoms and states; and particularly that it might not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But he rebelled against him,.... Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, broke the covenant he entered into, and violated his oath: in sending his ambassadors into Egypt; to form an alliance with the king of it, and obtain help from him to break off the Babylonian yoke; this is signified by the vine "bending [its] roots, [and] shooting...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[As] I live, saith the Lord God,.... This is the form of an oath, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; the Lord swears, in his wrath, by himself, by his life; this shows how much he resented, what Zedekiah had done, and how sure and certain his ruin was: surely in the place [where] the king [dwelleth] that made him king; in Babylon, where...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Neither shall Pharaoh, with [his] mighty army and great company, make for him in the war,.... The king of Egypt, to whom Zedekiah applied for horses and men to help him; though he should come with a great army, and a large multitude of people, yet should be of no use to Zedekiah, nor do any hurt to Nebuchadnezzar, or hinder him from taking...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Seeing he despised the oath, by breaking the covenant,.... This is repeated again, to show the heinousness of the sin Zedekiah had been guilty of, and what was the cause of his ruin: when, lo, he had given his hand; to the king of Babylon, to testify his hearty agreement with him, and that he might depend upon the oath and covenant being sacredly...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, [as] I live,.... A repetition of the oath of God as before, expressing his indignation at the king of Judah, and the certainty of his ruin: surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken; the Lord calls it his oath, because it was made and taken in his name, 2 Chronicles 36:13; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare,.... [See comments on Ezekiel 12:13]; where the same words are used, and of the same person: and I will bring him to Babylon; though, as it is said in the place referred to, he should not see it, his eyes being put out before he was brought thither: and I will plead with him...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword,.... So those of his army that fled, and attempted to make their escape, when the city of Jerusalem was taken, as many as fell into the Chaldean army, which was round about the city, at least a great number of them, fell by the sword of the Chaldeans, Jeremiah 52:7; and they that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thus saith the Lord God,.... Lest it should be thought, by the above prophecies, that the tribe of Judah should be utterly lost, and the family of David extinct, and the promise to him void, that he should have one of his seed to sit upon his, throne for evermore, Psalms 132:11; it is here in a figurative manner signified, that of his seed the...