Ezekiel 17

13. the king's seed--Zedekiah, Jeconiah's uncle.
taken . . . oath of him--swearing fealty as a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar ( 2 Chronicles 36:13 ).
also taken the mighty--as hostages for the fulfilment of the covenant; whom, therefore, Zedekiah exposed to death by his treason.

14. That the kingdom might be base--that is, low as to national elevation by being Nebuchadnezzar's dependent; but, at the same time, safe and prosperous, if faithful to the "oath." Nebuchadnezzar dealt sincerely and openly in proposing conditions, and these moderate ones; therefore Zedekiah's treachery was the baser and was a counterpart to their treachery towards God.

15. he rebelled--God permitted this because of His wrath against Jerusalem ( 2 Kings 24:20 ).
horses--in which Egypt abounded and which were forbidden to Israel to seek from Egypt, or indeed to "multiply" at all ( Deuteronomy 17:16 , Isaiah 31:1 Isaiah 31:3 ; compare Isaiah 36:9 ). DIODORUS SICULUS [1.45] says that the whole region from Thebes to Memphis was filled with royal stalls, so that twenty thousand chariots with two horses in each could be furnished for war.
Shall he prosper?--The third time this question is asked, with an indignant denial understood ( Ezekiel 17:9 Ezekiel 17:10 ). Even the heathen believed that breakers of an oath would not "escape" punishment.

16. in the place where the king dwelleth--righteous retribution. He brought on himself in the worst form the evil which, in a mild form, he had sought to deliver himself from by perjured treachery, namely, vassalage ( Ezekiel 12:13 , Jeremiah 32:5 , 34:3 , 52:11 ).

17. Pharaoh--Pharaoh-hophra ( Jeremiah 37:7 , 44:30 ), the successor of Necho ( 2 Kings 23:29 ).
Neither . . . make for him--literally, "effect (anything) with him," that is, be of any avail to Zedekiah. Pharaoh did not act in concert with him, for he was himself compelled to retire to Egypt.
by casting up mounts, &c.--So far from Pharaoh doing so for Jerusalem, this was what Nebuchadnezzar did against it ( Jeremiah 52:4 ). CALVIN MAURER, &c., refer it to Nebuchadnezzar, "when Nebuchadnezzar shall cast up mounts."

18. given his hand--in ratification of the oath ( 2 Kings 10:15 , Ezra 10:19 ), and also in token of subjection to Nebuchadnezzar ( 1 Chronicles 29:24 , Margin; 2 Chronicles 30:8 , Margin; Lamentations 5:6 ).

19. mine oath--The "covenant" being sworn in God's name was really His covenant; a new instance in relation to man of the treacherous spirit which had been so often betrayed in relation to God. God Himself must therefore avenge the violation of His covenant "on the head" of the perjurer (compare Psalms 7:16 ).

20. my net--( Ezekiel 12:13 , 32:3 ). God entraps him as he had tried to entrap others ( Psalms 7:15 ). This was spoken at least upwards of three years before the fall of Jerusalem (compare Ezekiel 8:1 , with Ezekiel 20:1 ).

21. all his fugitives--the soldiers that accompany him in his flight.

22. When the state of Israel shall seem past recovery, Messiah, Jehovah Himself, will unexpectedly appear on the scene as Redeemer of His people ( Isaiah 63:5 ).
I . . . also--God opposes Himself to Nebuchadnezzar: "He took of the seed of the land and planted it ( Ezekiel 17:3 Ezekiel 17:5 ), so will I, but with better success than he had. The branch he plucked (Zedekiah) and planted, flourished but for a time, to perish at last; I will plant a scion of the same tree, the house of David, to whom the kingdom belongs by an everlasting covenant, and it shall be the shelter of the whole world, and shall be for ever."
branch--the peculiar title of Messiah ( Zechariah 3:8 , 6:12 , Isaiah 11:1 , 4:2 , Jeremiah 23:5 , 33:15 ).
a tender one--Zerubbabel never reigned as a universal ( Ezekiel 17:23 ) king, nor could the great things mentioned here be said of him, except as a type of Messiah. Messiah alone can be meant: originally "a tender plant and root out of a dry ground" ( Isaiah 53:2 ); the beginning of His kingdom being humble, His reputed parents of lowly rank, though King David's lineal representatives; yet, even then, God here calls Him, in respect to His everlasting purpose, "the highest . . . of the high" ( Psalms 89:27 ).
I . . . will plant it upon an high mountain--Zion; destined to be the moral center and eminence of grace and glory shining forth to the world, out-topping all mundane elevation. The kingdom, typically begun at the return from Babylon, and the rebuilding of the temple, fully began with Christ's appearing, and shall have its highest manifestation at His reappearing to reign on Zion, and thence over the whole earth ( Psalms 2:6 Psalms 2:8 , Isaiah 2:2 Isaiah 2:3 , Jeremiah 3:17 ).

23. under it . . . all fowl--the Gospel "mustard tree," small at first, but at length receiving all under its covert ( Matthew 13:32 ); the antithesis to Antichrist, symbolized by Assyria, of which the same is said ( Ezekiel 31:6 ), and Babylon ( Daniel 4:12 ). Antichrist assumes in mimicry the universal power really belonging to Christ.

24. I . . . brought down the high--the very attribute given to God by the virgin mother of Him, under whom this was to be accomplished.
high . . . low tree--that is, princes elevated . . . lowered. All the empires of the world, represented by Babylon, once flourishing ("green"), shall be brought low before the once depressed ("dry"), but then exalted, kingdom of Messiah and His people, the head of whom shall be Israel ( Daniel 2:44 ).