that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and keep his covenant that it might stand.
He now adds, that the kingdom might be humbled. Zedekiah then could not pretend error, nor turn his back, as if he had been outwitted by the cunning and secret counsels of the king of Babylon: for Nebuchadnezzar dealt with him openly, and proscribed the conditions on which he wished him to reign.
God uses riddles and parables not to obscure His mind but to command attention and stay in memory; what He hides in a familiar dress insinuates itself deeper into careless minds. Ministers must study acceptable words and find varied methods, lest the pulpit and life speak two different languages.
AI summary
Commenting on Ezekiel 17:1-21
As I live, saith the Lord God,.... This is the form of an oath, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; the Lord swears, in his wrath, by himself, by his life; this shows how much he resented, what Zedekiah had done, and how sure and certain his ruin was: surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king; in Babylon, where Nebuchadnezzar...