And he took one of the royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (the chief men of the land he had taken away),
We must take all these verses together, that we may have the parable and the explanation of it at one view before us, because they will illustrate one another. 1. The prophet is appointed to put forth a riddle to the house of Israel (Eze 17:2), not to puzzle them, as Samson's riddle was put forth to the Philistines, not to hide the mind of...
Commenting on Ezekiel 17:1-21
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 forth its branches towards another great...
the king's seed--Zedekiah, Jeconiah's uncle. taken . . . oath of him--swearing fealty as a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar (Ch2 36:13). also taken the mighty--as hostages for the fulfilment of the covenant; whom, therefore, Zedekiah exposed to death by his treason.