Ezekiel 17:3 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

A great eagle; Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as Ezekiel 17:12, compared to a great eagle, king of birds, swift, strong, rapacious, and of a lofty flight. With great wings; mighty provinces on each side of his kingdom. Long-winged; his kingdom was vastly extended, as Daniel 3:3, Daniel 4:1; the greatest king then living. Full of feathers; his kingdom was very full of people. Which had divers colours; were of divers nations, languages, and manners, so that this eagle, nay be well thought to be that sort which is greatest in the kind, and best resembleth him, who was the greatest monarch in the world at that time. Came; invaded with a mighty army; he came not as a traveller to please his curiosity, but as an invader to enlarge his dominion. Unto Lebanon; either the temple built with cedars of Lebanon; or Jerusalem, the chief city of the country where this great, fruitful, and pleasant hill was; or the whole country set forth by its chiefest hill, which runs about a hundred and twenty-five miles in length, and encloseth the land of Judea on the north side. Took; took captive and carried away with him. The highest branch; the king of Judah, Jehoiachin. Of the cedar; either the royal family, or rather, the whole nation of the Jews.