7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
[Daniel 7:1] "In the first year of Belshazzar, King of Babylon, Daniel beheld a dream. And a vision of his head upon his bed. And when he wrote the dream down, he comprehended it in a few words and gave a brief summary of it, saying..." This section which we now undertake to explain, and also the subsequent section which we are going to discuss, is historically prior to the two previous sections. For this present section and that which follows it are recorded to have taken place in the first and third years of the reign of King Belshazzar (Jeremiah 39) [Jerome's citation of Jeremiah 39 seems quite pointless in this connection]. But the section which we read previously to the one just preceding this, is recorded to have taken place in the last year, indeed on the final day, of Belshaz-zar's reign. And we meet this phenomenon not only in Daniel but also in Jeremiah [cf. Jeremiah 35 and Jeremiah 34] and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 17), as we shall be able to show, if life spares us that long. But in the earlier portion of the book, the historical order has been followed, namely the events which occurred in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar, and Darius or Cyrus. But in the passages now before us an account is given of various visions which were beheld on particular occasions and of which only the prophet himself was aware, and which therefore lacked any importance as signs or revelations so far as the barbarian nations were concerned. But they were written down only that a record of the things beheld might be preserved for posterity.
Another crowd was taken by him, and it became a vine, less vigorous than it was when it was in the vineyard of God and on holy ground, where the sacrifices of God are celebrated, but it was transferred to Babylon as a weak vine.
One who was condemned by God does not escape his sentence and does not want to change the will of he who judges him, but he will bear it with all patience until God frees the one who he has condemned.
When the association of such different natures is made in faith in Christ, the lion will no longer be impure, and all the animals called impure in the law of God will receive the purity of their former condition.
(Verse 7 and following) And another great eagle appeared, with large wings and many feathers. And behold, this vineyard sent out its roots toward it, extending its branches toward it, in order to be irrigated by the streams of its sap. It was planted in good soil, above abundant waters, in order to produce leaves and bear fruit, and to become a great vineyard. Say: Thus says the Lord God: Will it succeed? Will it not uproot its roots and squeeze its fruit, causing all its branches to wither and dry up, so that it will not be strong in a mighty arm or among many people, in order to uproot it completely? Behold, it is planted, so will it prosper? When the burning wind touches it, will it not wither and dry up, and its shoots wither in its own beds? LXX: And another great eagle was made, with many wings and many claws. And behold, this vineyard was entangled with it, and its roots were attached to it, and its branches extended to it, in order to irrigate it with the soil of its plantation. In a good field, it was fattened over much water, so that it would produce shoots and bring forth fruit, and be a great vineyard. Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: If it shall be exalted? Shall not its roots be tender, and its fruit wither, and all the things that have sprung from it wither, and it be pulled up even from its roots? And behold, it is fattened. Shall it be exalted? Shall it not, when the burning wind touches it, wither, and dry up with aridity? When the soil of its germination withers, the second eagle, that is, the other, also great, full of feathers, with many talons, because of its rapaciousness and the devastation of many nations, the king of Egypt is Pharaoh. And behold, this vineyard signifies King Zedekiah, who had been appointed by Nebuchadnezzar in Jerusalem, began, he says, to send his branches to it, that is, to send ambassadors to the king of the Egyptians, and to ask for help from him against the king to whom he was subject. For this is what the Scripture says now, that he may water it with the streams of his planting. Which had been planted in good soil by Nebuchadnezzar, in order to produce leaves and bear fruit, and to grow into a wider vineyard: therefore the prophet is commanded to speak to the vine, which had been planted by Nebuchadnezzar, and had sent its branches to the Egyptian eagle: will it prosper because she has tried to do this, and will not all her branches and shoots wither immediately? And did he not, he says, flee to a great army and not to a numerous people? For, while fleeing, Zedekiah was deserted by the help of the king of Egypt, and he was captured by the generals of Nebuchadnezzar in the deserts of Jericho. And all his allies were scattered here and there, as it is written in the books of Kings, Chronicles, and Jeremiah.
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 17:1-24