Ezekiel 17:23

I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel to the exiled community, concluding His parable of the cedar shoot to demonstrate His sovereign control over Judah’s political fate.

The words — The Hebrew terms אֶשְׁתֹּלֶנּוּ ('esh.to.Le./nu, "I will plant it"), עָנָף ('a.Naf, "branch"), and פֶרִי (Fe.ri, "fruit") anchor the imagery of deliberate cultivation and mature provision.

The thread — The motif of a planted tree bearing fruit and providing shelter for birds recurs in Matthew 13:32 and Ezekiel 31:6, while the exalted mountain setting echoes Isaiah 2:2.

Why it lands — The text describes God’s direct action in establishing a thriving cedar that sustains all life, demanding recognition of His power to humble the proud and elevate the low.

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

In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

Cross-references

Matthew 13:32 Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Ezekiel 31:6 All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade.
Isaiah 2:2 In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
Hosea 14:7 They will return and dwell in his shade; they will grow grain and blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
John 15:5 I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.
Psalms 22:27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
Psalms 92:12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Isaiah 27:6 In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.
Daniel 4:10 In these visions of my mind as I was lying in bed, I saw this come to pass: There was a tree in the midst of the land, and its height was great.
Daniel 4:21 whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested—