Ezekiel 17:7 | |
7. 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. | 7. Et fuit aquila una1 magna, magnis alis, et copiosa plumis: et ecce vitis ista collegit radices suas ad eam,2 et palmites suos emisit ad eam, ut irrigaret ipsam alveis3plantationis suae.4 |
He now detects, under a figure, the perfidy of Zedekiah, since he very soon applied himself to the king of Egypt, and bent his roots and branches towards him, that they might be irrigated. I do not disagree with the opinion of those who think that the Prophet alludes to an Egyptian custom; for we know that they dug furrows through which water flowed through the whole region: hence the fruitfulness of the soil; and thus Egypt is elsewhere compared to a garden. (Deuteronomy 11:10.) Whatever the meaning is, the Prophet shows that Zedekiah was deceived by a foolish confidence when he thought himself safe under the protection of the king of Egypt; for he had said that the seed was so planted that the vine did not rise to a great height, but spread itself under the wings of the eagle. But Zedekiah despised the king of Babylon, thinking that he should improve his condition by entering into a treaty with the king of Egypt. It now follows --
1 That is, "another eagle." -- Calvin.
2 That is, "applied." -- Calvin.
3 Or, "beds, or rows or furrows,"
4 Or, "in its plantation," to make the sense clearer. -- Calvin.