13 And he took of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and brought him under an oath, and he took away the mighty of the land; 14 that the kingdom might be abased, that it might not lift itself up, that it might keep his covenant in order to stand. 15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape? 16 [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily in the place of the king that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him, in the midst of Babylon, shall he die. 17 Neither shall Pharaoh with a mighty army and a great assemblage do anything for him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts to cut off many persons. 18 He despised the oath, and broke the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, yet hath he done all these things: he shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: [As] I live, verily, mine oath which he hath despised, and my covenant which he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his head.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 17:13-19
Commentary on Ezekiel 17:11-21
(Read Ezekiel 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.