Her spring - Rather, her growth.

Even without ... - Translate; and not with great power or with much people is it to be raised up from its roots again.

Shall it prosper? - Shall Zedekiah succeed in casting off the yoke of the king of Babylon, to whom he had sworn fealty?

Shall he not pull up the roots - Nebuchadnezzar will come and dethrone him.

And cut off the fruit - The children of Zedekiah.

The leaves - All the nobles; all shall perish with Zedekiah.

Say thou, thus saith the Lord God,.... Tell Zedekiah and his people, in the name of the Lord, what will be the issue of his ingratitude and treachery to the king of Babylon, and his vain confidence in the king of Egypt:

shall it prosper? the vine, the kingdom of Judah, and Zedekiah the king of it; can it be thought that prosperity will attend such conduct as this? was is it ever known that persons guilty of such vices ever succeeded?

shall he not pull up the roots thereof; the first eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, being provoked by the rebellion of the king of Judah and his people; will he not come against them, and utterly destroy them, and root them up from being a people and a nation?

and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? the sons of the king, and of the nobles, and people of the land; so that the kingdom shall be ruined, and no hope left of its ever being restored again; which is the case of a vine when withered:

it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring; whereas it had been a springtime with this vine, under the influence of the king of Babylon, its leaves were green and flourishing; but now should wither, not as leaves do in autumn, which is to be expected, but in spring, which must be fatal; signifying, that in the midst of their prosperity, and when there was the greatest hope and expectation of a continuance and increase of it, utter ruin should come upon them:

even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof; signifying with what ease the king of Babylon would take Jerusalem, and the land of Judea, its king and its princes, and utterly destroy them; he would have no need of a large army, or to employ all his forces, a few, were sufficient to do it; even as it does not require many hands to pluck up, a vine by the roots, a single person is equal to it.

Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall {h} he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by its roots.

(h) Shall not Nebuchadnezzar destroy it?

17:9 Say - Tell them what will be the issue of all this, and tell it to them in my name. It prosper - Shall Zedekiah and his people thrive by this? Pull up - Utterly overthrow this kingdom. Cut Off - Put to the sword the children of Zedekiah, and of the nobles. The leaves - All the promising hope they had shall vanish. Without great power - The king of Babylon shall do this easily, when it is God that sends him. For God needs not great power and many people, to effect his purposes. He can without any difficulty overturn a sinful king and kingdom, and make no more of it than we do of rooting up a tree that cumbers the ground.

9. Shall it prosper?-Could it be that gratuitous treason should prosper? God will not allow it. "It," that is, the vine.

he . pull up-that is, the first eagle, or Nebuchadnezzar.

in all . leaves of her spring-that is, all its springing (sprouting) leaves.

without great power or many-It shall not need all the forces of Babylon to destroy it; a small division of the army will suffice because God will deliver it into Nebuchadnezzar's hand (Jer 37:10).

17:1-10 Mighty conquerors are aptly likened to birds or beasts of prey, but their destructive passions are overruled to forward God's designs. Those who depart from God, only vary their crimes by changing one carnal confidence for another, and never will prosper.