Saturday, March 26, 2022

Paul M. Joyce on Ezekiel 17:1-21

 

The Eagles and the Vine (17:1-21)

 

“the great eagle” (v. 3) represents Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. “Lebanon” is where cedars are famously found, as well as being on the normal route from Babylon to Jerusalem. “the crest of the cedar” is an allusion to the Davidic dynasty (cf. Jer 22:6-7) and “its topmost branch” to Jehoiachin, exiled in 597 to Babylonia, “a land of merchants” (v. 4; cf. 16:29). The “native seed” (v. 5) is Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, put in place after Jehoiachin’s removal. This shoot becomes a vine (v. 6; cf. 15:6; 19:10-14). Zedekiah is at first loyal to Nebuchadnezzar but soon turns to “another great eagle” (v. 7), representing the pharaoh of Egypt, probably Psammetichus II (594-588). The vine is transplanted (v. 8) but will not thrive when the “east wind” (v. 10; another image for Nebuchadnezzar) strikes it. Verses 11-21 spell out the interpretation.

 

There is recurrent reference to “covenant” (Hebrew berith; vv. 13, 15, 19). At first the allusion is to the political treaty with Nebuchadnezzar, but in verse 19 the LORD speaks of “my covenant which he broke,” equating Zedekiah’s reneging on that treaty with breaking the divine covenant, probably on the understanding that Zedekiah swore his oath as a vassal in the name of his own god. Zedekiah is to die “in the house of the king who set him up to rule” (v. 16). The Babylonian suzerain has created the vassal king; the LORD had not installed Zedekiah elsewhere always called merely nāsî’, “prince.” Zedekiah was, in fact, first judged at Riblah before being taken to Babylon (v. 20; cf. 2 Kgs 25:6-7). (Paul M. Joyce, “Ezekiel,” in The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, ed. John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, and Donald Senior [3d ed.; London: T&T Clark, 2022], 987)