Bible Strands
Ezekiel 17:13
He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel addresses the exiled Judahite community, explaining the political maneuver behind the first deportation of King Jehoiachin and the royal court to Babylon.
The words — The text highlights בְּרִית (be.Rit), literally “covenant,” describing the formal treaty Babylon imposed on the vassal king.
The thread — The event aligns with 2 Kings 24:15, which records Jehoiachin’s deportation, and 2 Chronicles 36:13, which tracks the subsequent rebellion against that sworn treaty; Ezekiel 17:14 explains the treaty’s political purpose was to keep the kingdom subservient.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that Judah’s survival under Babylonian rule depended entirely on maintaining a politically imposed treaty, making future rebellion a direct breach of that sworn agreement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 36:13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.
- 2 Kings 24:15 Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
- Ezekiel 17:5 He took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil; he placed it by abundant waters and set it out like a willow.
- Jeremiah 5:2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”
- Jeremiah 24:1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 29:2 (This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)
- Jeremiah 37:1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.