17:4 He cropped off the top of its young twigs, and carried it into a land of {b} trade; he set it in a city of merchants.
(b) Meaning to Babylon.
17:4 The top - Both the king of Judah, now eighteen years old, and the nobles and chief of the land. Into a land - Babylon, which was a city of mighty trade.
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.
