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1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:

4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.

6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.

8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.

10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;

13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:

14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.

15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?

16 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:

18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.

20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.

21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.

22 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:

23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.

<html><b>propound a riddle</b> The prophecy in this chapter is expressed as a riddle, [in] which he compares Nebuchadnezzar to an eagle and the kings of Judah to the lofty top of cedars.</html>

<html><b>long pinions</b> Heb. אֵבֶר like כָּנָף, wing, aile in French. Another explanation: as its apparent meaning, an expression of actual limbs. <b>diverse colors</b> Heb. קָרְמָה [lit. embroidered]. Its feathers are beautiful and ornate. <b>the lofty top of the cedar</b> Heb. צַמֶרֶת, all the foliage of the tree, cime in French. This is a parable representing Jehoiakim and his mighty men.</html>

<html><b>He plucked the top of its branches</b> Heb. יְנִיקוֹתָיו. He humbled his [Jehoiakim’s] greatness and his monarchy. יְנִיקוֹתָיו is like עַנָפָיו, its branches. <b>and brought to a land of merchants</b> Heb. כְּנַעַן, to a land of merchants; that is Babylon.</html>

<html><b>Then he took of the seed of the land</b> Zedekiah his son. <b>in a fertile field</b> [lit. in a field of seed.] In Jerusalem, in the capital city. <b>it took [root] beside abundant waters</b> Heb. קַח, it took. It became rooted beside abundant waters, i.e., he gave him greatness and dominion over his surroundings. <b>a mountain willow he made it</b> Heb. צַפְצָפָה, a species of willow tree which has many branches, saice in Old French, a willow.</html>

<html><b>spreading</b> Heb. סוֹרַחַת, like (Exod. 26:12): “And the overhanging length (וְסֶרַח),” large. <b>of low stature</b> to serve the king of Babylon. <b>its tendrils</b> Heb. דָּלִיוֹתָיו, its branches. <b>to him</b> to the king of Babylon. <b>under him</b> under the king of Babylon <b>branches</b> Heb. בַּדִים,staves. <b>and sent forth</b> It grew. <b>boughs</b> many leaves.</html>

<html><b>Now there was one…eagle</b> The king of Egypt. <b>gathered its roots</b> Heb. כָּפְנָה, an expression of hunger, like (Job 5:22): “plunder and famine (וּלְכָפָן).” The roots of this vine hungered and longed for that eagle. (Addendum:) Some explain כָּפְנָה like אָסְפָה, gathered, the letters [of כָּפְנָה] being transposed. In the words of our Sages there is something similar to it, for they call a public gathering כְּנוּפְיָא. כָּפְנָה is like כָּנְפָה, amassa in French, brought in, gathered. <b>and its tendrils it sent forth to him</b> And her emissaries she sent to him, to come to her and water her. <b>from the furrows of its planting</b> From the water ditches that the first eagle had made for it.</html>

<html><b>In a good field, etc.</b> i.e., she did this for no purpose, because she had been planted in a good field. <b>a sturdy vine</b> Heb. אַדָרֶת, a sturdy vine.</html>

<html><b>Say</b> The entire Hebrew alphabet is found in this verse, and I am puzzled that it is not listed in the Masorah. <b>[Will he not] pull up its roots</b> The first eagle. <b>and cut off its fruits</b> Heb. יְקוֹסֵס, like יְקוֹצֵץ, will cut off. They are Zedekiah’s sons, whom he slaughtered before his eyes. <b>the leaves of</b> Heb. טַרְפֵי, leaves, feuilles in French. <b>And not with great power and many people</b> will the second eagle come to their assistance. <b>against those who rip it out by its roots</b> Against those who uproot and pull it out by its roots.</html>

<html><b>And behold</b> now it is planted as they wished. <b>will it prosper</b> Is it possible that it will prosper, this one that betrayed the one who planted it originally?</html>

<html><b>what these are</b> What this riddle is, and he explained it to them. <b>took away its king and its princes</b> They are the “lofty top of the cedar,” Jehoiakim and his princes. <b>to Babylon</b> That is the “city of traffickers.”</html>

<html><b>of the royal seed</b> Zedekiah. <b>the mighty of the land</b> The princes of the land.</html>

<html><b>that it might stand</b> That it might endure.</html>

<html><b>when he cast up mounds</b> When Nebuchadnezzar comes and casts up mounds against Jerusalem. <b>to cut off many souls</b> To slay the people of the city.</html>

<html><b>he gave his hand</b> He promised in good faith and raised his hand in a covenant.</html>

<html><b>I will bring it upon his head</b> [lit. put it in his head.] That is the blinding of his eyes.</html>

<html><b>And I will spread My net over him</b> as I explained above at the beginning of the Book (12:13): that He set up a deer to walk on the roof of the cave. <b>and contend</b> And I will debate with him.</html>

<html><b>And all his fugitives</b> Heb. מִבְרָחָיו. According to Targum, and all his mighty men. But Menachem (p. 48) associated it with (Song 8:10): “Flee (בְּרַח) my beloved,” and this is its interpretation: and all those who fled. <b>with all his wings</b> Heb. אַגַפָּיו with all their wings, i.e., with all their strength they will fall by the sword. <b>will disperse</b> Seront repandus, will be scattered.</html>

<html><b>and I will place [it]</b> As the Targum renders: and I will establish him. <b>And I Myself will take</b> And I will take the King Messiah. <b>a tender one</b> It is customary to graft only from the tender [sprigs] that grew the previous year, called grayfe in Old French, a shoot, graft. <b>and lofty</b> Heb. וְתָלוּל, from the word mound, תֵּל, for a mound is usually high and lofty; amonceler in French, to heap up.</html>

<html><b>shall they dwell</b> Heb. תִּשְּׁכֹּנָה. The ‘dagesh’ in the ‘nun’ serves instead of a second ‘nun,’ as though it were written תִּשּׁכֹּנְנָה.</html>

<html><b>I…have lowered the high tree</b> The nations that were ruling over Israel. <b>I have dried up the green tree</b> Zedekiah and his seed. <b>and have made the dry tree blossom</b> Jehoiachin, who was exiled without children, will beget Zerubbabel in Babylon, and he will be the governor of Judea, [appointed] to rule.</html>