Ezekiel 19

1 As for you, raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

2 and say: What a lioness was your mother among lions! She lay down among young lions, rearing her cubs.

3 She raised up one of her cubs; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured humans.

4 The nations sounded an alarm against him; he was caught in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

5 When she saw that she was thwarted, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.

6 He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured people.

7 And he ravaged their strongholds, and laid waste their towns; the land was appalled, and all in it, at the sound of his roaring.

8 The nations set upon him from the provinces all around; they spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit.

9 With hooks they put him in a cage, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into custody, so that his voice should be heard no more on the mountains of Israel.

10 Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard transplanted by the water, fruitful and full of branches from abundant water.

11 Its strongest stem became a ruler's scepter; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it stood out in its height with its mass of branches.

12 But it was plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground; the east wind dried it up; its fruit was stripped off, its strong stem was withered; the fire consumed it.

13 Now it is transplanted into the wilderness, into a dry and thirsty land.

14 And fire has gone out from its stem, has consumed its branches and fruit, so that there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation, and it is used as a lamentation.

Ezekiel 19 Commentary

Chapter 19

A parable lamenting the ruin of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. (1-9) Another describing the desolation of the people. (10-14)

Verses 1-9 Ezekiel is to compare the kingdom of Judah to a lioness. He must compare the kings of Judah to a lion's whelps; they were cruel and oppressive to their own subjects. The righteousness of God is to be acknowledged, when those who have terrified and enslaved others, are themselves terrified and enslaved. When professors of religion form connexions with ungodly persons, their children usually grow up following after the maxims and fashions of a wicked world. Advancement to authority discovers the ambition and selfishness of men's hearts; and those who spend their lives in mischief, generally end them by violence.

Verses 10-14 Jerusalem was a vine, flourishing and fruitful. This vine is now destroyed, though not plucked up by the roots. She has by wickedness made herself like tinder to the sparks of God's wrath, so that her own branches serve as fuel to burn her. Blessed be God, one Branch of the vine here alluded to, is not only become a strong rod for the sceptre of those that rule, but is Himself the true and living Vine. This shall be for a rejoicing to all the chosen people of God throughout all generations.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb [his widows]
• [b]. Cn: Heb [in your blood]
• [c]. Heb [Its strongest stems became rulers' scepters]

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 19

The subject matter of this chapter is a lamentation for the princes and people of the Jews, on account of what had already befallen them, and what was yet to come, Eze 19:1. The mother of the princes is compared to a lioness, and they to lions; who, one after another, were taken and carried captive, Eze 19:2-9; again, their mother is compared to a vine, and they to branches and rods for sceptres, destroyed by an east wind, and consumed by fire, Eze 19:10-14.