Bible Strands
Ezekiel 17:14
so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to lift itself up, surviving only by keeping his covenant.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Ezekiel delivers this declaration concerning a captured royal family member who was bound by oath to a foreign ruler, immediately preceding a warning about that king’s subsequent rebellion to Egypt.
The words — The text centers on שְׁפָלָ֔ה (she.fa.Lah), meaning "lowly," and לִ/שְׁמֹ֥ר (li/sh.Mor), meaning "to keep," describing a kingdom reduced to weakness that can only endure by maintaining its sworn agreement.
The thread — This theme of divine lowering and exalting appears in 1 Samuel 2:7, while the pattern of a nation sinking as another rises echoes Deuteronomy 28:43. The restoration of a humbled Egypt in Ezekiel 29:14 further illustrates the cycle of national reduction and recovery.
Why it lands — The passage plainly states that political survival depends on covenant faithfulness rather than military alliances, demanding that readers recognize the limits of human power and the necessity of keeping sworn commitments.
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
That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 29:14 I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.
- Deuteronomy 28:43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
- 1 Samuel 2:7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
- 1 Samuel 2:30 Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
- Nehemiah 9:36 So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves!
- Jeremiah 27:12 And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!
- Jeremiah 38:17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.
- Lamentations 5:10 Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
- Ezekiel 17:6 It sprouted and became a spreading vine, low in height, with branches turned toward him; yet its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and yielded branches and sent out shoots.
- Matthew 22:17 So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”