He plucked off the very top of its young shoots and came bringing it to the land of Canaan; in a city of traders he placed it.

Furthermore, the government in the hands of a ruler of the royal line of David at Jerusalem was like a tall cedar. The topmost part of this cedar​—representing King Jehoiachin and his princes—​Nebuchadnezzar plucked off, taking it into Babylonian exile. In the riddle the taking of it into Babylonian exile is spoken of as a ‘bringing of it to the land of Canaan, a placing of it in a city of traders.’ This is so because centuries earlier the expression “Canaanite” had come to mean “tradesman” or “merchant.” (Compare Job 41:6, where “Canaanites” is rendered “tradesmen.”) As a great commercial center, Babylon was indeed “a city of traders.”