Ezekiel 17:2

Literal Standard Version

"Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use an allegory to the house of Israel,

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Son of man, pose a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.

Hebrew Names Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Yisra'el;

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

English Standard Version
"Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

New American Standard Bible
"Son of man, ask a riddle and present a parable to the house of Israel,

New Century Version
"Human, give a riddle and tell a story to the people of Israel.

Amplified Bible
"Son of man, ask a riddle and tell a parable to the house of Israel,

World English Bible
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Geneva Bible (1587)
Sonne of man, put foorth a parable and speake a prouerbe vnto the house of Israel,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

Legacy Standard Bible
"Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

Berean Standard Bible
"Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel

Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel the following story,

Complete Jewish Bible
"Human being, propound this riddle, tell the house of Isra'el this allegory,

Darby Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,

Easy-to-Read Version
"Son of man, I have a story with a hidden meaning for you to tell the family of Israel.

George Lamsa Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

Good News Translation
"Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites a parable

Lexham English Bible
"Son of man, tell a riddle and quote a proverb to the house of Israel,

Literal Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou sonne of man: put forth a darcke speakynge and a parable, vnto the house of Israel,

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

Bible in Basic English
Son of man, give out a dark saying, and make a comparison for the children of Israel,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,

King James Version (1611)
Sonne of man, put foorth a riddle, and speake a parable vnto the house of Israel,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou sonne of man, put foorth a parable, & speake a prouerbe vnto the house of Israel,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Son of man, relate a tale, and speak a parable to the house of Israel:

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

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he seide, Sone of man, sette forth a derk speche, and telle thou a parable to the hous of Israel;

Update Bible Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Webster's Bible Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

New English Translation
"Son of man, offer a riddle, and tell a parable to the house of Israel.

New King James Version
"Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

New Living Translation
"Son of man, give this riddle, and tell this story to the people of Israel.

New Life Bible
"Son of man, give the people of Israel this picture-story to think about.

New Revised Standard
O mortal, propound a riddle, and speak an allegory to the house of Israel.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Son of man Put thou forth a riddle And speak thou a parable,- Unto the house of Israel:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

Revised Standard Version
"Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak an allegory to the house of Israel;

Young's Literal Translation
`Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use a simile unto the house of Israel,

Contextual Overview

¹And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying, ²"Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use an allegory to the house of Israel,³and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH: The great eagle, great-winged, long-pinioned, || Full of feathers, that has diverse colors, || Has come to Lebanon, || And he takes the foliage of the cedar, ⁴He has cropped the top of its tender twigs, || And he brings it to the land of Canaan. He has placed it in a city of merchants. ⁵And he takes of the seed of the land, || And puts it in a field of seed, || He took [it] by many waters, || He has set it in a conspicuous place. ⁶And it springs up, and becomes a spreading vine, humble of stature, || To turn its thin shoots toward itself, || And its roots are under it, || And it becomes a vine, and makes boughs, || And sends forth beautiful branches. ⁷And there is another great eagle, || Great-winged, and abounding with feathers, || And behold, this vine has bent its roots toward him, || And it has sent out its thin shoots toward him, || To water it from the furrows of its planting, ⁸On a good field, by many waters, it is planted, to make branches, and to bear fruit, to be for a good vine. ⁹Say, Thus said Lord YHWH: It prospers—does he not draw out its roots, || And cut off its fruit, and it is withered? [In] all the leaves of its springing it withers, || And not by great strength, or by numerous people, || To lift it up by its roots. ¹⁰And behold, the planted thing—does it prosper? When the east wind comes against it, does it not utterly wither? On the furrows of its springing it withers."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ezekiel 20:49, Judges 9:8-15, Judges 14:12-19, 2 Samuel 12:1-4, Hosea 12:10, Matthew 13:13, Matthew 13:14, Matthew 13:35, Mark 4:33, Mark 4:34, 1 Corinthians 13:12

Reciprocal: Numbers 12:8 - dark speeches Numbers 23:7 - he took Jeremiah 23:5 - Branch Ezekiel 2:1 - Son Ezekiel 24:3 - utter Matthew 13:24 - put Mark 12:15 - Why Luke 14:7 - put

Cross-References

Genesis 9:9
"And I, behold, I am establishing My covenant with you, and with your seed after you,

Genesis 12:2
And I make you become a great nation, and bless you, and make your name great; and be a blessing.

Genesis 13:16
And I have set your seed as dust of the earth, so that, if one is able to number the dust of the earth, even your seed is numbered;

Genesis 15:18
In that day has YHWH made with Abram a covenant, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the River of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River,

Genesis 17:4
"I—behold, My covenant [is] with you, and you have become father of a multitude of nations;

Genesis 17:6
and I have made you exceedingly fruitful, and made you become nations, and kings go out from you.

Genesis 17:8
and I have given to you, and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, the whole land of Canaan, for a continuous possession, and I have become their God."

Genesis 17:11
and you have circumcised the flesh of your foreskin, and it has become a token of a covenant between Me and you.

Genesis 17:17
And Abraham falls on his face, and laughs, and says in his heart, "Is one born to the son of one hundred years? Or does Sarah—daughter of ninety years—bear?"

Genesis 17:18
And Abraham says to God, "O that Ishmael may live before You";

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Son of man, put forth a riddle,.... A dark saying, but a smart one: "whet a whetting" k, as in the Hebrew; something at first sight difficult to be understood, yet amusing and entertaining; and, when solved, very useful and instructive:

and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; or, "concerning the house of Israel" l; as the Targum and Syriac version; something relating to them, and what would aptly describe and represent their case; for the prophet was bid to take such a method, not to hide things from them, but rather the more strongly to represent them to them; seeing hereby their attention would be excited, and things would be more fixed in their memories, and they would be put upon studying the meaning of them; and when explained to them, and understood, which was quickly done, they might be the more affected with them.

k חוד חידה, Heb. "acue acumen", Piscator. l אל בית ישראל "de domo Israelis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 17:2. Son of man, put forth a riddle — Riddle, [Anglo-Saxon] or [A.S.], Anglo-Saxon, from [A.S.] to divine; a thing that must be curiously investigated and sifted, to find out the meaning; and hence, riddle, a sort of coarse sieve to clean corn, to separate coarse chaff and straws from the pure grain. An instrument formerly used for divination. This is not far removed from the Hebrew חידה chidah, from חד chad, to penetrate; not that which penetrates the mind, but which we must penetrate to find out the sense.