Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 17:1-21
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 God from them in obscurity, or to leave them in uncertainty about it, one advancing one conjecture and another another, as is usual in expounding riddles; no, he is immediately to tell them the meaning of it. Let him that speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret, Co1 14:13. But he must deliver this message in a riddle or parable that they mig…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezekiel 17:10
being planted--that is, "though planted."
east wind--The east wind was noxious to vegetation in Palestine; a fit emblem of Babylon, which came from the northeast.
wither in . . . furrows where it grew--Zedekiah was taken at Jericho, on Jewish soil (Jer 52:8). "It shall wither, although it has furrows from which it expects continual waterings" [CALVIN], (Eze 19:12; Hos 13:15).
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 17:10
Shall - utterly whither - The regal government shall be no more restored. Zedekiah shall be the last king, and the monarchy shall finally terminate with him.
John Gill on Ezekiel 17:10
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 Babylon:
shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? which is very hurtful to vines, and by which is meant the Chaldean army; for Babylon, as Kimchi observes, lay northeast of the land of Israel; and it signifies how easily the destruction would be brought about, it would be only a touch of the east wind, and this vine would wither away at…