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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Ezekiel addresses the exiled Judahite community, explaining the metaphor of a transplanted vine that shifts its allegiance from Babylon to Egypt during the Babylonian siege.

The words — נֶשֶׁר (ne.sher) = an eagle and גָּדוֹל (ga.dol) = great, which frame the political powers as massive, predatory forces in the parable.

The thread — The vine metaphor extends to Ezekiel 17:15, where the king’s rebellion to Egypt is condemned, and to Ezekiel 31:4, where waters sustain growth, while 2 Kings 24:20 records the historical outcome of divine banishment.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to see that shifting political loyalties cannot override sovereign judgment, and that survival depends on remaining in the provision where God has placed the people.

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

There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 17:15 But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’
Ezekiel 31:4 The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field.
2 Kings 24:20 For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.
2 Chronicles 26:13 Under their authority was an army of 307,500 trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies.
Jeremiah 37:5 Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.