Ezekiel Chapter 17 verse 2 Holy Bible
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
read chapter 17 in ASV
Son of man, give out a dark saying, and make a comparison for the children of Israel,
read chapter 17 in BBE
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,
read chapter 17 in DARBY
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
read chapter 17 in KJV
read chapter 17 in WBT
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
read chapter 17 in WEB
`Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use a simile unto the house of Israel,
read chapter 17 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - Put forth a riddle, etc. Again there is an interval of silence, till another theme is suggested to the prophet's mind and worked out elaborately. This he describes as a "riddle" (same word as the "dark speeches" of Numbers 12:8, the "hard questions" of 1 Kings 10:1). It will task the ingenuity of his hearers or readers to interpret it, and so he subjoins (vers. 12-24) the interpretation. That interpretation enables us to fix the occasion and the date of the prophecy. It was the time when Zedekiah was seeking to strengthen himself against Nebuchadnezzar by an Egyptian alliance.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) A riddle . . . a parable.--What the prophet has to say is called a riddle as well as a parable, because there is something in it recondite and obscure--something which, until it is explained, should excite the minds of the people to guess its meaning.
