(15) Shall he escape that doeth such things?--The faithlessness of Zedekiah and his court to his own sworn covenant was an act, in addition to all his other wickedness, especially abominable to God. The sanctity of an oath had always been most strongly insisted upon in Israelitish history. It must be remembered that even when, as in the case of the Gibeonites (Joshua , 9), the oath had been obtained by fraud, and centuries had passed since it was given, God yet sorely punished the land for its violation (2Samuel 21:1-2); and in this case the king had been more than once Divinely warned through the prophet Jeremiah of the danger of his treachery. As Zedekiah's intrigues with Egypt were just now going on, it was particularly important that they should be exposed, and their result foretold to the captives who were yet trusting in the safety of Jerusalem.

Verse 15. - That they might give him horses. The "chariots and horses" of Egypt seem, throughout its whole history, to have been its chief element of strength. See for the time of Moses (Exodus 14:7), of Solomon (1 Kings 10:28, 29), of Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 12:3), of Hezekiah (Isaiah 31:1: 36:9). Shall he prosper? What had been asked in the parable is asked also, in identical terms, in the interpretation. Ezekiel presses home the charge of perfidy as well as rebellion. Like Jeremiah, he looks on Nebuchadnezzar as reigning by a Divine right.

17:11-21 The parable is explained, and the particulars of the history of the Jewish nation at that time may be traced. Zedekiah had been ungrateful to his benefactor, which is a sin against God. In every solemn oath, God is appealed to as a witness of the sincerity of him that swears. Truth is a debt owing to all men. If the professors of the true religion deal treacherously with those of a false religion, their profession makes their sin the worse; and God will the more surely and severely punish it. The Lord will not hold those guiltless who take his name in vain; and no man shall escape the righteous judgment of God who dies under unrepented guilt.But he rebelled against him,.... Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, broke the covenant he entered into, and violated his oath:

in sending his ambassadors into Egypt; to form an alliance with the king of it, and obtain help from him to break off the Babylonian yoke; this is signified by the vine "bending its roots, and shooting forth its branches towards another great eagle", the king of Egypt, Ezekiel 17:7;

that they might give him horses and much people; with both which Egypt abounded, 1 Kings 10:28; but in Judea there was a scarcity, as of horses, so of men, by means of the multitude of captives which the king of Babylon had carried away; wherefore Zedekiah sent to Egypt for both, for recruits of men; and for horses to form a cavalry, to free himself from the king of Babylon, and defend himself and people against him:

shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? that is guilty of breaking an express law of God, which forbids the kings of Israel multiplying horses, and sending to Egypt for them, Deuteronomy 17:16; and placing confidence in an arm of flesh, Isaiah 31:1; and of such base ingratitude to the king of Babylon, who had set him upon the throne, and put him in a comfortable and flourishing condition:

or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered? shall one guilty, as of the other crimes, so of breach of covenant, and of perjury, escape the vengeance of God and man? he shall not.