“And say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which was many-coloured, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar. He cropped off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it into a land of trading (cana‘an). He took it into a city of merchandise. He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a field prepared for seed, he placed it beside many waters. He set it as a willow tree. And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned towards him, and its roots were under him. So it became a vine, and sprouted out its branches, and produced sprigs.”
The eagle is portrayed as powerful (a great eagle with great wings), ferocious and threatening (long of pinion), and splendid (a full array of many-coloured feathers). Compare for the eagle as such a harbinger of judgment Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 28:40; Jeremiah 49:22; Lamentations 4:19; Habakkuk 1:8; Ezekiel 17:12 tells us that it represented the king of Babylon.
The tall cedar represents the rebel confederacy against him in Syria and Palestine, in ‘Lebanon', a term regularly used of the area (compare Jos 1:4; 2 Kings 14:9; 2 Kings 19:23; Isaiah 10:34; Isaiah 37:24; Zechariah 11:1-3), proud and upstanding. The cedars of Lebanon were famous as an example of what was tall and majestic (Isaiah 2:13; 1Ki 4:33; 2 Kings 14:9; Psalms 104:16; Ezekiel 31:3). Thus in Judges 9:15 to ‘devour the cedars of Lebanon' was to wreak havoc on a variety of tall trees.
The top of the cedar represents their aristocracy. The ‘topmost of the young twigs' is probably Jehoiachin, king of Judah, seen from a patriotic viewpoint. He may have been the leader of the confederacy that united to oppose Nebuchadnezzar.
Babylonia was at this time famous for its trade, Many imported goods came from Babylon (compare Joshua 7:21; Revelation 18:11-15) and so it is described as ‘the land of trade', and Babylon itself as the city of merchants. They were seen by Israel at the time as the trade centre of their world. The word for ‘trade' is cana‘an, but the land of Canaan would not be called by this name at that time, and the word can also mean ‘trade', which it almost certainly indicates here.
The ‘seed of the land' refers to Zedekiah (Ezekiel 17:13, compare 2 Kings 24:17), who replaced Jehoiachin as king when Jehoiachin was transported, planted in fertile ground as though in a land where water did not depend on the rain but came from its many rivers. Thus he was dependent for his growth on Babylon. The ‘many waters' of the Euphrates and Tigris with their tributaries are compared later with the ‘many waters' of Egypt and the Nile and thus refer to Babylon. He was set ‘like a willow twig', one that delights in water, and grew into a luxuriant vine (Compare Isaiah 44:4). Nebuchadnezzar was concerned to gain his support and loyalty, and watered him. But it was a vine of low stature, completely subservient and of limited power. Its branches bent towards the king of Babylon and its roots were under him. But in this way Zedekiah prospered and was fruitful.