Behold the day, behold, it is come
That is, the day of trouble and distress, said to be near, ( Ezekiel 7:3 ) ; the morning is gone forth; (See Gill on Ezekiel 7:7); the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded;
both these phrases may be understood of Nebuchadnezzar; he was the rod, with which the Lord smote his people, as the Assyrian monarch is called the rod of his anger, ( Isaiah 10:5 ) : and was a very proud prince, and had budded and blossomed, and had brought forth much bad fruit of that kind; see ( Daniel 3:15 ) ( Daniel 4:30 Daniel 4:37 ) ; or these may be separately considered; the rod may be interpreted of Nebuchadnezzar, which had been growing up, and preparing for the chastisement of the people of the Jews, and now was just ready to be made use of; and "pride" may respect the sin of that people, which was the cause of their being smitten with this rod, as the following words seem to indicate. The Targum is,
``a ruler hath budded, a wicked one hath appeared.''