Discovery BoxEzekiel 17:12-15 
Context17:12 “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.
