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)