Ezekiel 19:12

12 But it was uprooted in fury, thrown to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were torn off and dried up; fire consumed them.

Ezekiel 19:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:12

But she was plucked up in fury
This vine being turned into a degenerate plant of a strange vine; or the people of the Jews becoming wicked, disobedient to God, and disregarding his laws and ordinances, the wrath of God came upon them, and let in the Assyrians among them, who carried off ten tribes at once; and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin not taking warning hereby, but continuing and increasing in sinful courses, great part of them were carried captive into Babylon, with their king Jeconiah, who succeeded Jehoiakim before mentioned; when the kingdom seemed to be utterly ruined and destroyed, and is what is here referred to: she was cast down to the ground;
a phrase expressive of, he entire overthrow of the nation; for a vine, though plucked up, yet, if immediately planted again, might grow; but being plucked up, and left on the ground, and there lie, there is no hope of it; so that this denotes the desperate case of this people at this time, being in captivity. So the Targum paraphrases both clauses,

``and it was rooted up with strength out of the land of the house of the Shechinah, and translated into another land;''

and the east wind dried up her fruit;
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and the Chaldean army, compared to an east wind, because hurtful and pernicious, as that is to trees and fruit, and because Babylon lay northeast of Judea; the people of, he land are meant by the fruit of the vine, with their wealth and riches, which were seized upon and wasted, or carried into Babylon. So the Targum,

``and a king strong as the east wind slew her people;''

her strong rods were broken and withered;
or, "strong rod"; the singular for the plural; which may design King Jeconiah particularly, who with his mother, wives, princes, and officers, and the mighty of the land, even all the mighty men of valour, with the craftsmen and smiths, were taken and carried captive, ( 2 Kings 24:14-16 ) ; the fire consumed them;
the wrath of God, which is often compared to fire, the same with fury in the beginning of the verse; which shows that it was for sin, which had provoked the Lord to wrath and anger, that all this ruin came upon the Jewish nation. The Targum is,

``her strong governors removed, and were carried captive; and the people which are strong, as fire consumed them.''

Ezekiel 19:12 In-Context

10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of plentiful waters.

11 It had strong branches, [fit] for the scepters of rulers; its height towered among the clouds. So it was conspicuous for its height as well as its many branches.

12 But it was uprooted in fury, thrown to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were torn off and dried up; fire consumed them.

13 Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

14 Fire has gone out from its main branch and has devoured its fruit, so that it no longer has a strong branch, a scepter for ruling. This is a lament and should be used as a lament."