John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 17:3
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;... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 17:1-21
We must take all these verses together, that we may have the parable and the explanation of it at one view before us, because they will illustrate one another. 1. The prophet is appointed to put forth a riddle to the house of Israel (Ezek. 17:2), not to puzzle them, as Samson's riddle was put forth to the Philistines, not to hide the mind of God from them in obscurity, or to leave them in uncertainty about it, one advancing one conjecture and another another, as is usual in expounding riddles;... read more