(6) A spreading vine of low stature.--Had Zedekiah been faithful to his oath and allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar and to his higher allegiance to God, Israel might have been fruitful and prosperous as a dependent kingdom.
Whose branches turned towards him.--Better, That its branches might turn towards him, and its roots might be under him. This was Nebuchadnezzar's object--to make of Israel a flourishing kingdom, which should yet be entirely dependent upon himself and helpful to him in his great struggle with the power of Egypt; and hence his especial rage when his politic arrangements were frustrated by Zedekiah's treachery and folly.
17:1-10 Mighty conquerors are aptly likened to birds or beasts of prey, but their destructive passions are overruled to forward God's designs. Those who depart from God, only vary their crimes by changing one carnal confidence for another, and never will prosper.
And it grew,.... King Zedekiah reigned and prospered, and the kingdom flourished under him:
and became a spreading vine of low stature; not so flourishing as it had been heretofore, in former reigns; it did not rise up to a cedar, as it had been, but was like a vine, which, though flourishing, does not rise up high, but runs upon the ground, and is dependent on something else; so the king and kingdom of Judah, though in tolerable circumstances, yet were humble and dependent on the king of Babylon:
whose branches turned towards him; the eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, to whom the people of the Jews were tributary:
and the roots thereof were under him; they were rooted and settled in their own land, yet under the power, and at the dispose, of the Babylonish monarch:
so it became a vine; a flourishing kingdom in some measure, though attended with some degree of weakness and dependence as a vine:
and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs; increased in people and in riches; particularly the king had many children, so that there was a prospect of a succession, and of a more flourishing estate, and a continuance of it, Jeremiah 52:10.
Whose branches turned towards him.--Better, That its branches might turn towards him, and its roots might be under him. This was Nebuchadnezzar's object--to make of Israel a flourishing kingdom, which should yet be entirely dependent upon himself and helpful to him in his great struggle with the power of Egypt; and hence his especial rage when his politic arrangements were frustrated by Zedekiah's treachery and folly.
and became a spreading vine of low stature; not so flourishing as it had been heretofore, in former reigns; it did not rise up to a cedar, as it had been, but was like a vine, which, though flourishing, does not rise up high, but runs upon the ground, and is dependent on something else; so the king and kingdom of Judah, though in tolerable circumstances, yet were humble and dependent on the king of Babylon:
whose branches turned towards him; the eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, to whom the people of the Jews were tributary:
and the roots thereof were under him; they were rooted and settled in their own land, yet under the power, and at the dispose, of the Babylonish monarch:
so it became a vine; a flourishing kingdom in some measure, though attended with some degree of weakness and dependence as a vine:
and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs; increased in people and in riches; particularly the king had many children, so that there was a prospect of a succession, and of a more flourishing estate, and a continuance of it, Jeremiah 52:10.