Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, May 14th, 2025
the Fourth Week after Easter
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

English Standard Version

Ezekiel 17:3

say, Thus says the Lord God : A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Eagle;   Ezekiel;   Scofield Reference Index - Parables;   Thompson Chain Reference - Lebanon;   Mountains;   Parables;   Truth;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Babylon;   Cedar, the;   Eagle, the;   Prophets;   Trees;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Allegory;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Branch;   Cedar;   Riddle;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Eagle;   Fable;   Proverbs, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Branch;   Ezekiel;   Fable;   Vine, Vineyard;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Broidered;   Proverb;   Zedekiah ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;   Eagle;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Color;   Eagle;   Feathers;   Wing;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Branch and Bough;   Eagle;   Highest;   Pinion;   Proverb;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Branch;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Allegory in the Old Testament;   Anglo-Israelism;   Embroidery;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: A huge eagle with powerful wings, long feathers, and full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.
Hebrew Names Version
and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Levanon, and took the top of the cedar:
King James Version
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:
New American Standard Bible
saying, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "A great eagle with great wings, long pinions, and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.
New Century Version
Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: A giant eagle with big wings and long feathers of many different colors came to Lebanon and took hold of the top of a cedar tree.
Amplified Bible
saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "A great eagle (Nebuchadnezzar) with great wings, long pinions and a rich plumage of many colors came to Lebanon (Jerusalem) and took away the top of the cedar (Judah).
World English Bible
and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
Geneva Bible (1587)
And say, Thus saith the Lorde God, The great egle with great wings, and long wings, and ful of fethers, which had diuers colours, came vnto Lebanon, & tooke the hiest branch of the cedar,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "A great eagle with great wings, long pinions and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.
Legacy Standard Bible
and you will say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, "A great eagle with great wings, long pinions, and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.
Berean Standard Bible
and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.
Contemporary English Version
so they will understand what I am saying to them: A large eagle with strong wings and beautiful feathers once flew to Lebanon. It broke the top branch off a cedar tree,
Complete Jewish Bible
say that Adonai Elohim says this: ‘A big eagle having great wings and long pinions full of varicolored feathers came to the L'vanon and took over the top of the cedar.
Darby Translation
and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings, long-pinioned, full of feathers, which was of divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar.
Easy-to-Read Version
Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: "‘A large eagle with big wings came to Lebanon. He had feathers covered with spots.
George Lamsa Translation
And say, Thus says the LORD God: A great eagle with large wings and long pinions and fully developed claws, and thickly feathered, came to Lebanon and took the choicest branch of the cedar:
Good News Translation
to let them know what I, the Sovereign Lord , am saying to them: There was a giant eagle with beautiful feathers and huge wings, spread wide. He flew to the Lebanon Mountains and broke off the top of a cedar tree,
Lexham English Bible
and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "The great eagle with great wings and long feathers and full of variegated plumage came to Lebanon and he took the treetop of the cedar.
Literal Translation
And say, So says the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle came to Lebanon, one with great wings, long of pinion, full of feathers, having different colors to him. And he took the top of the cedar.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and saye: Thus saieth the LORDE God: There came a greate Aegle with greate wynges, yee wt mightie longe wynges, and full of fethers of dyuerse colours, vpon the mount of Libanus, and toke a braunch from a Cedre tre,
American Standard Version
and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
Bible in Basic English
And say, This is what the Lord has said: A great eagle with great wings, full of long feathers of different colours, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
and say: Thus saith the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar;
King James Version (1611)
And say, Thus saith the Lord God, A great eagle with great wings, long wing'd, full of feathers, which had diuers colours, came vnto Lebanon, and tooke the highest branch of the Cedar.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And say, Thus saith the Lorde God: There came a great Egle, with great winges, yea with a mightie long body, and ful of fethers of diuers colours, vppon the mount of Libanus, and toke the hyest braunche of a Cedar tree.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; A great eagle with large wings, spreading them out very far, with many claws, which has the design of entering into Libanus—and he took the choice branches of the cedar:
English Revised Version
and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and thou schalt seie, The Lord God seith these thingis. A greet egle of grete wyngis, with long stretchyng out of membris, ful of fetheris and of dyuersite, cam to the Liban, and took awei the merowe of the cedre.
Update Bible Version
and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had diverse colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
Webster's Bible Translation
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came to Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
New English Translation
Say to them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: "‘A great eagle with broad wings, long feathers, with full plumage which was multi-hued, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.
New King James Version
and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD: "A great eagle with large wings and long pinions, Full of feathers of various colors, Came to Lebanon And took from the cedar the highest branch.
New Living Translation
Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord : "A great eagle with broad wings and long feathers, covered with many-colored plumage, came to Lebanon. He seized the top of a cedar tree
New Life Bible
Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, "A large eagle with big wings and long feathers of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar tree.
New Revised Standard
Say: Thus says the Lord God : A great eagle, with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to the Lebanon. He took the top of the cedar,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So then thou shalt say, Thus, saith My Lord. Yahweh, - A great eagle, with large wings of long pinion, full of plumage, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
Douay-Rheims Bible
And say: Thus saith the Lord God; A large eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers, and of variety, came to Libanus, and took away the marrow of the cedar.
Revised Standard Version
say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar;
Young's Literal Translation
and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The great eagle, great-winged, long-pinioned, Full of feathers, that hath diverse colours, Hath come in unto Lebanon, And it taketh the foliage of the cedar,

Contextual Overview

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 "Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; 3 say, Thus says the Lord God : A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar. 4 He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants. 5 Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig, 6 and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out boughs. 7 "And there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage, and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot forth its branches toward him from the bed where it was planted, that he might water it. 8 It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine. 9 "Say, Thus says the Lord God : Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers, so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots. 10 Behold, it is planted; will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it—wither away on the bed where it sprouted?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

A great: Nebuchadnezzar, so called from his towering ambition and rapaciousness. Ezekiel 17:7, Ezekiel 17:12-21, Deuteronomy 28:49, Jeremiah 4:13, Jeremiah 48:40, Jeremiah 49:16, Lamentations 4:19, Hosea 8:1, Matthew 24:28

great wings: Extensive empire, both in length and breadth. Daniel 2:38, Daniel 4:22, Daniel 7:4

full: Numerous subjects, of various nations, and of different languages and manners.

divers colours: Heb. embroidering

came: Came against Judah and Jerusalem. Ezekiel 17:12, 2 Kings 24:10-16, 2 Chronicles 36:9, 2 Chronicles 36:10, Jeremiah 22:23-28, Jeremiah 24:1

the highest: Jeconiah, whom he took captive to Babylon.

the cedar: The royal and ancient family of David.

Reciprocal: Genesis 15:11 - fowls Deuteronomy 28:48 - serve Judges 9:8 - The trees Job 14:9 - and bring Isaiah 8:8 - the stretching Ezekiel 15:6 - General Ezekiel 31:3 - a cedar Daniel 7:6 - four wings Habakkuk 1:8 - they

Cross-References

Genesis 17:17
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
Genesis 17:18
And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"
Genesis 17:23
Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.
Genesis 17:24
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Exodus 3:6
And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Numbers 14:5
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.
Numbers 16:22
And they fell on their faces and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?"
Numbers 16:45
"Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." And they fell on their faces.
Joshua 5:14
And he said, "No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord . Now I have come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What does my lord say to his servant?"
Judges 13:20
And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And say, thus saith the Lord God,.... The riddle is not the prophet's, nor the parable his, but the Lord God's; and exceeding beautiful and apt it is, to signify the things designed by it; the wisdom of God is greatly displayed in it:

a great eagle; which is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as it is explained, Ezekiel 17:12; who is compared to an eagle for his power and authority, that being the king of birds, and for his swiftness and voracity in conquering and subduing kingdoms; see Jeremiah 48:40;

with great wings; so the Babylonish monarchy is signified by a lion with eagle's wings, Daniel 7:4; and the two parts of the Roman empire, into which it was divided at the death of Theodosius, are called two wings of a great eagle, Revelation 12:14; and so here it may denote the large kingdoms and provinces which belonged to the Babylonian monarchy; see Esther 1:1;

longwinged; or having a "long member" m; meaning the body of the wing, which was long; and so, as the wings spread, may signify the breadth of his dominion, this the length of them, and both their extensiveness:

full of feathers; of cities, towns, people, armies, wealth, and riches:

which had divers colours; or an "embroidery" n; like that of the weaver, only needle work, consisting of various colours; and so it alludes to such eagles as are called the golden eagle, and "asterias", from their golden colour, and their being spotted like stars, and which are said to be of the largest size, as Bochart, from Aelianus o, observes; and may signify people of divers languages, customs, manners, and circumstances, subject to the government of the king of Babylon:

came unto Lebanon; the northern border of the land of Judea, and invaded it; where were the mountain and forest of Lebanon, famous for the cedars that grew there, from whence the whole land may here take its name, as being more apt for the allegory used: or the city of Jerusalem, where were the temple built of the cedars of Lebanon, as many of its palaces and houses also were; whither the king of Babylon came, and took it, and who came northward, as Babylon was:

and took the highest branch of the cedar; by the "cedar" is meant, either the nation in general, or the royal family in particular; and by the "highest branch" the then reigning king, Jeconiah with the princes and nobles of the land, who were taken and carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar; see 2 Kings 24:14.

m ארך האבר "longa corpore", Castalio; "longa membris", Munster, Grotius; "longo membororum ductu", Pradus. n אשר לו הרקמה, Heb; "opus phrygionicum", Piscator. o Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 39.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A great eagle ... - Probably the golden eagle, whose plumage has the variety of color here depicted. The eagle (the king of birds) is a natural representative of monarchs (compare, Jeremiah 48:40), and was an Assyrian emblem.

With great wings, Iongwinged - literally, “great of wing, long of pinion,” because he has swept victoriously over widely distant lands - of divers colors, because his subjects are of various races and tongues. Jerusalem is here called “Lebanon” because Lebanon is the proper home of the cedar. The “highest branch” or “topshoot” is Jeconiah, the rightful king of Jerusalem, the “young twigs” are his children and the princes carried by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 17:3. A great eagle — Nebuchadnezzar. See Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22; Daniel 7:4. And see here, Ezekiel 17:12, where it is so applied.

Great wings — Extensive empire.

Long-winged — Rapid in his conquests.

Full of feathers — Having multitudes of subjects.

Divers colours — People of various nations.

Came unto Lebanon — Came against Judea.

The highest branch — King Jehoiachin he took captive to Babylon.

The cedar — The Jewish state and king.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile