Introduction
THE RIDDLE, OR PARABLE, OF THE GREAT EAGLE AND THE SPREADING VINE.
Riddles had always been popular with the Hebrews, but Ezekiel’s age was the age of AEsop, when teaching by riddle, fable, and allegory was most popular. This story of the eagle, like so many of AEsop’s fables, has a political bearing, illustrating in a vivid way the relation of the king Zedekiah to the great king Nebuchadnezzar. “It contains a statement of Nebuchadnezzar’s policy in his dealings with Judah, whose impartial accuracy could not be improved by the most disinterested historian” Expositor’s Bible. It was a protest against Jerusalem looking to Egypt for help against Babylon, and furnished an additional illustration of the ingratitude and treachery of Jerusalem to earthly as well as heavenly helpers.
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