XVII.
This chapter contains a “riddle” or “parable “(Ezekiel 17:3-10), with its explanation (Ezekiel 17:11-21), closing with a clear Messianic prophecy couched in language taken from the parable (Ezekiel 17:22-24). While it is a distinct communication, it belongs to the same series of prophecies which began with the vision of Ezekiel 8-11, and is continued through Ezekiel 19. The meaning of the parable is made entirely clear by the explanation the first eagle (Ezekiel 17:3-6) is Nebuchadnezzar; “the top of his young twigs” is Jehoiachin, carried to Babylon; the “vine of low stature” is Zedekiah; the second eagle is Pharaoh (Ezekiel 17:7). The historical facts on which the parable is based are recorded in 2 Kings 24:8-20; 2 Chronicles 36:9-13; Jeremiah 37 and Jeremiah 52:1-7.