Ezekiel 17:12-15

17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: 1  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ 2  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem 3  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon. 17:13 He took one from the royal family, 4  made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. 5  He then took the leaders of the land 17:14 so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand. 17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family 6  rebelled against the king of Babylon 7  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

1 tn The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.

sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).

2 sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.

3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

4 tn Or “descendants”; Heb “seed” (cf. v. 5).

5 tn Heb “caused him to enter into an oath.”

6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

7 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.