Ezekiel 17:3

and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh commands Ezekiel to address the house of Israel with a spoken riddle. The prophet delivers this opening line as a direct declaration from the Lord GOD within an established parabolic frame.

The words — הַנֶּשֶׁר הַגָּדוֹל (ha./Ne.sher ha./ga.dOl) translates literally as "the great eagle." It establishes the primary agent of the vision that immediately follows.

The thread — The same avian symbol of sudden judgment appears in Jeremiah 48:40 against Moab and Hosea 8:1 over the house of the LORD. Ezekiel 17:7 continues the sequence by introducing a second great eagle.

Why it lands — The text records a decisive removal from Lebanon without explaining its purpose. It requires the listener to identify the source of the action and prepare for the parable’s political explanation.

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 say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:

Cross-references

Jeremiah 48:40 For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab.
Hosea 8:1 Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
Ezekiel 17:7 But there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him. It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed, so that he might water it.
Daniel 4:22 you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.
Deuteronomy 28:49 The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
2 Kings 24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.
2 Chronicles 36:9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
Jeremiah 4:13 Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
Jeremiah 22:23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”
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.