Ezekiel 17:23

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

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 birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches of it shall they dwell.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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עָנָף֙

ʻânâph

H6057

“branch”

Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 7× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Leviticus 23:40

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from an unused root meaning to cover

TWOT: 1657a

bough, branch

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

20: words
18: distinct lemmas
Prophets: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is עָנָף֙ branch H6057 — appearing just 7 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

עָנָף֙ branch H6057 occurs in 7 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

6 verbs
12 nouns
1 adjective
1 preposition

Verb forms

אֶשְׁתֳּלֶ֔נּוּ Qal · Imperfect
וְנָשָׂ֤א Qal · Sequential Perfect
וְעָ֣שָׂה Qal · Sequential Perfect
וְהָיָ֖ה Qal · Sequential Perfect
וְשָׁכְנ֣וּ Qal · Sequential Perfect
תִּשְׁכֹּֽנָּה Qal · Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וְשָׁכְנ֣וּ to dwell H7931 ×2
כֹּ֚ל all H3605 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 47 words from the Hebrew and 53 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 20 Hebrew tokens and 37 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Ezekiel 17:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Matthew 13:32 which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."
Ezekiel 31:6 All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches did all the animals of the field bring forth their young; and under its shadow lived all great nations.
Isaiah 2:2 It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be raised above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.
Hosea 14:7 Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, And blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
John 15:5–8 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Psalms 22:27–30 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
Psalms 92:12–13 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Isaiah 27:6 In days to come shall Jacob take root; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the surface of the world with fruit.

Daniel 4:10–14 Thus were the visions of my head on my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height of it was great.
Daniel 4:21–23 whose leaves were beautiful, and the fruit of it much, and in it was food for all; under which the animals of the field lived, and on whose branches the birds of the sky had their habitation:
John 12:24 Most assuredly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Isaiah 11:6–10 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
Acts 10:11–12 He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth,
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 3:11 where there can't be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.

Psalms 72:8–11 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, From the River to the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 49:18 Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says Yahweh, you shall surely clothe you with them all as with an ornament, and gird yourself with them, like a bride.
Isaiah 60:4–12 Lift up your eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms.
Matthew 13:47–48 "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind,
Luke 14:21–23 "That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.'
Revelation 11:15 The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!"

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Ezekiel 17:23 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

בְּהַ֨ר מְר֤וֹם יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶשְׁתֳּלֶ֔נּוּ וְנָשָׂ֤א עָנָף֙ וְעָ֣שָׂה פֶ֔רִי וְהָיָ֖ה לְאֶ֣רֶז אַדִּ֑יר וְשָׁכְנ֣וּ תַחְתָּ֗יו כֹּ֚ל צִפּ֣וֹר כָּל כָּנָ֔ף בְּצֵ֥ל דָּלִיּוֹתָ֖יו תִּשְׁכֹּֽנָּה

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 birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches of it shall they dwell.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Ezekiel 17:23 Septuagint · lemma form

ἐν ὄρος μετέωρος ὁ ἰσραήλ καί καταφυτεύω καί ἐκφέρω βλαστός καί ποιέω καρπός καί εἰμί εἰς κέδρος μέγας καί ἀναπαύω ὑποκάτω αὐτός πᾶς θηρίον καί πᾶς πετεινόν ὑπό ὁ σκιά αὐτός ἀναπαύω ὁ κλῆμα αὐτός ἀπο καταἵστημι

and I will hang it on a lofty mountain of Israel: yes, I will plant it, and it shall put forth shoots, and shall bear fruit, and it shall be a great cedar: and every bird shall rest beneath it, even every fowl shall rest under its shadow: its branches shall be restored.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

בְּטוּר קוּדְשָׁא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֲקַיְמִינֵיהּ וְיַכְנֵישׁ מַשִׁרְיָן וְיַעְבֵיד סוּמְכְוָן וִיהֵי לְמֶלֶךְ תַּקִיף וְיִסְתַּמְכוּן עֲלוֹהִי כָּל צַדִיקַיָא וְכָל עִנְוְתָנַיָא בִּטְלַל מַלְכוּתֵיהּ יִשְׁרוּן:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Ezekiel 17:23 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Eze 17:23 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.

Ver. 23. In the mountain.] In the Church, that highest top.

And it shall bring forth boughs, &c.] Christ shall yield food and defence to all his.

All fowl of every wing,] i.e., The just, saith the Chaldee, who mind heavenly things, and mount upward.

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.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Both the Jews and Gentiles shall be gathered into it.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

under it . . . all fowl--the Gospel "mustard tree," small at first, but at length receiving all under its covert (Mat 13:32); the antithesis to Antichrist, symbolized by Assyria, of which the same is said (Eze 31:6), and Babylon (Dan 4:12). Antichrist assumes in mimicry the universal power really belonging to Christ.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 23. In the mountain of the height of Israel] He shall make his appearance at the temple, and found his Church at Jerusalem.

Shall bring forth boughs] Apostles, evangelists, and their successors in the Gospel ministry.

And bear fruit] Multitudes of souls shall be converted by their preaching.

And under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing] All the nations of the earth shall receive his Gospel.

In the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.] Trust in him alone for salvation, and be saved in their trusting.

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

John Calvin's Commentaries

When God announces that the twig which he will plant shall become a lofty cedar, he shows by lofty words that the increase of Christ’s kingdom shall be so wonderful, that it shall surpass the common rule of nature; which indeed was shadowed forth in the person of Zerubbabel, who was chosen to bring back the people from their sad and disgraceful captivity. (Ezra 2:2; Haggai 1:14.) For it does not naturally happen that a twig increases in a short time to a lofty cedar, for we know how slowly cedars grow, and hence we see the Spirit’s intention in saying that a tree should spring from a very small twig. And this prophecy answers to one of Isaiah’s, where he says, (Isaiah 11:1,) A branch shall spring from the root of Jesse: for the house of Jesse was cut off, and he names the house of an obscure and private man as if the remembrance of David were utterly lost. The house of Jesse then was cut off like a tree: that twig, says he, shall spring from its root. Now the Prophet signifies the same thing, and almost under the same similitude. I leave the rest for the next lecture.

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.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) In the mountain of the height of Israel, i.e., Mount Zion, called in the parallel passage (Eze_20:40) “mine holy mountain.” Similar prophecies are also to be found in Isa_2:2-4; Mic_4:1-3; Psa_2:6. No point is made more clear in the prophecies of the Christian dispensation than that it is to have its roots in the Jewish, that the “law shall go forth from Zion,” and that the new covenant shall yet be a covenant with God’s people of old. This mountain is to be understood as the representative of the centre and seat of the kingdom of Israel, and not to be confined too literally to the actual hill of Zion itself.

Be a goodly cedar.—Not like the vine of low stature; this shall grow into a strong and great tree, under whose shadow all the inhabitants of the earth shall find sustenance and protection. A similar figure is used by the contemporary prophet Daniel (Dan_4:20-21), and by our Lord Himself in the parable (Mat_13:32). The universality of the blessings of the Christian dispensation, in contrast with the narrowness of the Jewish, is one of its features most frequently dwelt upon both in prophecy and in the New Testament, and shall still enter into the burden of the songs of the redeemed (Rev_5:9). The last clause of the verse repeats and emphasises the permanence of the connection of the believer with Christ.

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

23. mountain of the height] Cf. ch. Eze_20:40, Eze_40:2.

fowl of every wing] As fowls flock to a great tree so all peoples will put their trust in the shadow of this great monarchy in the land of Israel; ch. Eze_31:6; Dan_4:12; Mat_13:32.

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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In the mountain of the height of Israel - The parallel passage Eze 20:40 points to the mountain on which the temple stood. But it is not here the actual Mount Moriah so much as the kingdom of which that mountain was the representative, the seat of the throne of the anointed Son of God (Psa 2:6; compare Psa 40:2).

All fowl of every wing - (or, of every kind) are those who flock from all lands to this kingdom. Compare Mat 13:32.

The prophet brings prominently forward the future exaltation of the king; and he furnishes us thereby with hope, encouragement, and consolation, at such times as we see the Church of Christ in like depression.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

In the mountain; either the church or Jerusalem, whence the law of Christ was to be published, and where the preachers of the gospel were to continue till furnished with abilities for that work. Like a tree that taketh root, and spreadeth forth into branches, so the kingdom of Christ should grow, and be fruitful in good works, not flourishing in boughs and leaves only, but much more in excellent fruits of holiness, justice, and temperance, and in joy, peace, and love.

A goodly cedar; the goodliest that ever grew, most excellent and most durable.

All fowl, all nations, the Gentiles as well as the Jews, shall build, breed, and multiply under the kingdom of Christ; it shall be no more confined to the Jews, but extend to the Gentiles also. There they shall find peace and safety; and this repeated confirms the certainty of the promise.

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

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

23. In the mountain of the height… will I plant it — Compare Eze_17:3; Eze_20:40; Eze_40:2; Isa_2:9; Isa_11:10; Mic_4:1-3. This new kingdom shall be conspicuous and fruitful, yea, it shall be a universal kingdom, for “all fowl of every wing” shall dwell under it (Eze_31:6; Dan_4:12). Babylon could only make of the Israelitish kingdom a “vine of low stature,” and Egypt could not do more; but Jehovah can make of it a mighty cedar crowning the mountain height. This was never realized until the Messianic kingdom was set up by the divine “Branch” on the holy hill of Zion. (Zec_3:8; Isa_53:2; Isa_11:1.) In the only fragment of a wall preserved from the most ancient mosque in Damascus is carved this sentence: “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations” (<19E513>Psa_145:13; Dan_2:44; Dan_7:27).

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

In the mountain - In Jerusalem. All fowl - All nations. In the shadow - There they shall find peace and safety.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

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

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Ezekiel, in the Prophets, opens this verse with 20 words (18 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ʻânâph (“branch”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “branch” (ʻânâph) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Leviticus 23:40 shares the word «branch» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to dwell” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «אֶשְׁתֳּלֶ֔נּוּ» is Qal Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 20 Hebrew ↔ 37 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 23 words in this verse.
“to dwell” occurs 2× in this single verse.
18 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 20 words in this verse.