Ezekiel 19:10

10 'Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, Planted by the waters, Fruitful and full of branches Because of many waters.

Ezekiel 19:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:10

Thy mother [is] like a vine in thy blood
Another simile is here made use of, relating to the same persons; the same that were compared to a lioness are here compared to a vine, as the people of the Jews frequently are, ( Psalms 80:8 ) ( Isaiah 5:1 ) ( 27:3 ) ( Jeremiah 2:21 ) ( Ezekiel 15:2 ) ( 17:6 ) ; the same person is here addressed, the then reigning prince, Zedekiah, whose mother, the Jewish people, from whence he sprung, had been in times past, and still was, like a vine; and especially with respect to his blood, the royal family from, chore he descended: the allusion is to the use of blood laid to the roots of vines, by which they became more fruitful. It may have regard; as Calvin thinks, to the original of the Jewish nation, who, when in their blood, or as soon as they were born, that is, as soon as they became a nation, were at first like a flourishing vine. Some render the words, "in thy likeness"; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; to which the Targum agrees,

``the congregation of Israel, when it did according to the law, was like to a vine''

planted by the waters;
for in those hot countries vines required water, and thrived the better for bring near to them, or for being in watery places; this may denote the many privileges, blessings, laws, and ordinances, which were for the advantage of the Jewish people; both in their civil and ecclesiastical state: she was fruitful and full of branches, by reason of many waters;
grew populous, rich, and wealthy.

Ezekiel 19:10 In-Context

8 Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side, And spread their net over him; He was trapped in their pit.

9 They put him in a cage with chains, And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in nets, That his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.

10 'Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, Planted by the waters, Fruitful and full of branches Because of many waters.

11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above the thick branches, And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage.

12 But she was plucked up in fury, She was cast down to the ground, And the east wind dried her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered; The fire consumed them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally blood. Following Masoretic Text, Syriac, and Vulgate; Septuagint reads like a flower on a pomegranate tree; Targum reads in your likeness.