Ezekiel 17:16

Eze 17:16 [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.

Ver. 16. As I live.] So surely will I punish perjury and treachery. Histories are full of examples in this kind, and I have elsewhere recited some of them. That of Henry III of France, related by a reverend man, {a} deserves to be memorised: After great differences between him, the Cardinal, and Duke of Guise, he was reconciled unto them, confirmed the reconciliation with many oaths, took the sacrament upon it, and gave himself to the devil, body and soul, in case he meant or should attempt anything against them. Yet, saith the story, he caused the Duke to be killed in his own presence, and the Cardinal, his brother, the next day after. Here was breach of covenant; but did he prosper, escape, do such things, and have deliverance? No; within eight months after, he was slain by a friar in the midst of his army.

{a} Mr Greenhill.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 17:16-21. As I live, saith the Lord, &c. — This intimates how highly God resented the crime, and how sure and severe the punishment of it would be. He swears in his wrath, as he did, Psa 95:11. Observe, reader, as God’s promises are confirmed with an oath, for comfort to the saints, so are his threatenings, for terror to the wicked. Surely in the place where the king dwelleth — In Babylon, where Nebuchadnezzar dwells, who made him king, when he might have as easily made him a prisoner. Whose oath he despised — Made light of, and perfidiously violated. Even with him he shall die — Shall be a prisoner in Babylon the rest of his days, and shall die there. Neither shall Pharaoh make for him — See Jer 37:7. But the Hebrew, יעשׂה אותו במלחמה, may be properly rendered, as indeed it is by Bishop Newcome, Pharaoh shall not deal with him, namely, with Nebuchadnezzar, in war: or, shall not make war with him. Accordingly the Vulgate translates the clause, “Et non in exercitu grandi, neque in populo multo faciet contra eum Pharaoh prælium:” neither with a great army, nor with much people, shall Pharaoh fight a battle against him. By casting up, &c. — Or rather, When he hath cast up mounts, &c., that is, when Nebuchadnezzar has raised mounts and builded forts to annoy Jerusalem, and destroy its inhabitants, Pharaoh shall not bring any assistance to it. Seeing he despised, &c., when lo, he had given his hand — In token of entering into a mutual league and covenant. It was a ceremony used especially when an inferior made profession of his subjection to a superior. My covenant that he hath broken — God calls it his covenant, because it was entered into, or promised to be observed, by taking an oath in his name. Even it will I recompense upon his own head — I will punish it as it deserves, and it shall appear by the punishment that my hand doth execute it. And I will spread my net, &c. — See on Eze 12:13, where this clause occurs word for word. And will plead with him there — God is said to plead with men when he places their sins before their eyes, and convinces them of their disobedience by manifest tokens of his vengeance. And all his fugitives — All the companions of his flight; with all his bands shall fall by the sword — Every thing here denounced by the prophet against Zedekiah exactly came to pass, as the reader may see by comparing these threatenings with the account given Jer 52:8-11; 2Ki 25:5-7.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

in the place where the king dwelleth--righteous retribution. He brought on himself in the worst form the evil which, in a mild form, he had sought to deliver himself from by perjured treachery, namely, vassalage (Eze 12:13; Jer 32:5; Jer 34:3; Jer 52:11).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 16. In the midst of Babylon he shall die.] His eyes were put out; he was carried to Babylon, and never returned.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

It now follows, As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, in the dwelling of the king who placed him on a throne, shall he die. Although the Prophet had sufficiently shown that Zedekiah could not escape the penalty of his revolt, yet God here again comes forward, and swears by himself, or by his life, that he would punish Zedekiah. Hence the great stupidity of the people appears, for God never acts falsely by his own name, or brings it forward in vain, but when necessity demands it, he swears by himself. And by his own example he prescribes to us, that we should not rush rashly upon an oath, but be sober in this respect. But God swears that Zedekiah should die on the spot, that is, at the capital of the king who put him on the throne; that is Babylon, where he died: and yet he did not see Babylon, because his eyes were put out at Riblath, as we saw elsewhere. (Jeremiah 39:7; Jeremiah 52:11.) But the Prophet simply denounces the penalty, that he should die in exile, and in the dwelling of the king who had placed him on his throne, and from whose covenant he had departed, and whose oath he had despised.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(16) In the place . . . he shall die.—The distinct prophecy of the death of Zedekiah at Babylon is here given in a form to bring out in the strongest light the fitness and justice of his punishment. It was to be in the place of the king to whom he owed his crown, and to whom he had given his fealty, yet against whom he had rebelled. The tense here changes to the future, because the events of this and the following verse were yet to be fulfilled.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. Zedekiah, being carried to Babylon, shall die there.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Seeing he despised the oath, by breaking the covenant,.... This is repeated again, to show the heinousness of the sin Zedekiah had been guilty of, and what was the cause of his ruin:

when, lo, he had given his hand; to the king of Babylon, to testify his hearty agreement with him, and that he might depend upon the oath and covenant being sacredly observed by him. This was a rite for custom frequently and early used in different nations, when covenants and agreements were entered into; we find it used in the times of Homer (z); and among the Romans. When Antoninus, Lepidus, and Octavius made peace, the historian says (a), they joined their hands together. Virgil (b) speaks of the same ceremony used by Anchises to Achaemenides, for confirmation of friendship. Though some understand this of his giving the hand to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and entering into an alliance with him, and broke the covenant and oath made to the king of Babylon; and so the Targum,

"and, lo, he stretched out his hand to Pharaoh:''

and hath done all these things; been guilty of such and so many crimes, as ingratitude, perjury, covenant breaking, and vain confidence:

he shall not escape; divine vengeance, just and proper punishment for his sins.

(z) ' , Iliad. 6. (a) Florus, Hist. Rom. Gest. l. 4. c. 5. (b) "Ipse pater dextram Anchises, haud malta moratur, Dat juveni atque animum praesenti pignore firmat". Aeneid. l. 3. prope finem.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Die. He had sworn fidelity, and was justly punished, dying blind, and in prison, chap. xii. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

As sure as I am God, and live, I will punish this perjury: and here is a particular account of the punishment.

In the place; Babylon. The king; Nebuchadnezzar.

Made him king; Zedekiah.

Whose oath; the oath Nebuchadnezzar imposed.

He despised; contemptuously, without any just cause given; and therefore this perfidious prince could never expect more favour, but must in reason fear the greatest severities. Under this fear Zedekiah shall spend the rest of his days. He shall rather be always dying, for though he lived a natural life, yet it was in such sadness, it is more properly styled a dying; in blindness, under the memorial of the most afflictlye sight, the murder of his children, which was the last thing his eye ever beheld.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. In the midst of Babylon he shall die — See Eze_19:9.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezekiel repeats the prediction of Eze_12:13. The prison in Babylon, under the eye of the king against whom he had rebelled; this was to be the outcome-of the alliance with Egypt. The prophecy was probably written when the hopes of Zedekiah and his counsellors were at their highest point, when the Chaldeans had, in fact. raised the siege in anticipation of the arrival of the Egyptian army. (Jer_37:5-11) Ezekiel, like Jeremiah (loc. cit.), declared that the relief would be but temporary.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.