2. pose a riddle and frame a parable. There is a semantic overlap between the two nouns here, ḥidah and mashal, and the bracketing of them at the beginning of the Book of Proverbs suggests that sometimes they were nearly synonymous. Ḥidah, as in the Samson story, does point to an enigmatic saying that requires deciphering. Mashal has a wider range of meanings, from allegorical “parable,” as here, to “proverb” and to “poetic burden,” as in Balaam’s oracles. Some scholars view the text that follows as formal verse, but it doesn’t scan very well, though it does employ a good many loosely parallel sentence structures. The poetic function, as is often the case in Ezekiel, would appear to be manifested not prosodically but chiefly in the use of allegorical imagery, the vehicle of the mashal.

3. The great eagle . . . came to Lebanon. The eagle is Nebuchadnezzar. Lebanon with its lofty cedars is, perhaps somewhat confusingly, Zion.

richly colored. The Hebrew uses the term that usually means “embroidered cloth.”

4. Its topmost tendril he plucked. This is the Judahite king Jehoiachin, taken captive and exiled by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylonia in 597 B.C.E.

brought it to the land of Canaan. Like “Lebanon,” this is a confusing reference because “Canaan” in the historical allegory has to mean Babylonia. Ezekiel is probably punning on the secondary meaning of “Canaanite” as “merchant,” making this phrase semantically parallel with “the city of traders.”

5. the seed of the land. The phrase indicates the royal seed, and the reference is to Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar installs as a vassal king.

a slip. The noun qaḥ occurs only here, but it is attested in three Semitic languages as a tree growing alongside streams, perhaps a variety of willow.

6. its branches turned toward him and its roots to be beneath him. Both these details are tokens of Zedekiah’s vassal status.

7. another great eagle. “Another,” aḥer, is the plausible reading of the Septuagint instead of the Masoretic eḥad, “one.” The second eagle is the Egyptian Pharaoh. The vine wrapping its roots around him indicates Zedekiah’s seeking an alliance with Egypt.

8. In the goodly field, by many waters it was planted. Nebuchadnezzar had seen to it that his vassal would enjoy comfortable circumstances and the majesty of kingship.

9. Will he not break off its roots. The “he” is Nebuchadnezzar, and we may assume that this prophecy antedates the actual destruction of Judah in 586 B.C.E.

not with great power. Ezekiel assumes that the Babylonians will not require a massive force to overwhelm Jerusalem.

10. the east wind. In biblical literature, the east wind, blowing from the desert, brings trouble. Nebuchadnezzar comes from the east.

12. Do you know what these are? Now the meaning of the parable, the nimshal of the mashal, is spelled out.

the king of Babylonia has come to Jerusalem. These are the events of 597 B.C.E., so now it is clear that “Lebanon” is Zion.

13. And he has taken one of the royal seed. This is Zedekiah.

made him swear an oath. The particular category of oath, ʾalah, is one in which a curse is pronounced on the party of the oath should he violate it.

14. that it might endure. There is an ambiguity as to whether “it” refers to the pact or the kingdom.

16. within Babylonia he shall surely die. This will prove to be the fate of Zedekiah, first blinded by Nebuchadnezzar and then brought captive to Babylonia. This is a reasonable prediction in light of Ezekiel’s understanding that it is folly to rebel, so one need not construe this as an ex eventu prophecy.

17. And not with a great force nor with a large assembly shall Pharaoh deal with him in battle. The ostensible historical reference is puzzling, and many critics assume that “Pharaoh” is a mistaken addition, the original reference being to Nebuchadnezzar, as in the parallel statement in verse 9.

19. My pact that he has broken. The Hebrew brit can mean either “pact,” which seems the appropriate sense for the political context of the verses above, or the more theological “covenant.” To preserve the parallelism of this passage with the preceding one, “pact” is again used here in the translation. However, the clear implication is that just as Zedekiah has broken his pact with Nebuchadnezzar, he has violated his covenant with God, and hence the punishment inflicted on him by Babylonia is also God’s punishment.

22. I Myself will take from the lofty crown of the cedar . . . and I Myself will plant it on a high and steep hill. God performs the same figurative action as the conquering Nebuchadnezzar, but now it is an act of restoring the kingdom of Judah.

23. put forth fruit. The cedar does not bear fruit, so this is a miraculous fulfillment.