Ezekiel 19:1-10

1 "Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 and say: 'What is your mother? A lioness: She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs, And he became a young lion; He learned to catch prey, And he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him; He was trapped in their pit, And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.
5 'When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
6 He roved among the lions, And became a young lion; He learned to catch prey; He devoured men.
7 He knew their desolate places, And laid waste their cities; The land with its fullness was desolated By the noise of his roaring.
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.

Ezekiel 19:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Septuagint reads He stood in insolence; Targum reads He destroyed its palaces; Vulgate reads He learned to make widows.
  • [b]. Literally blood. Following Masoretic Text, Syriac, and Vulgate; Septuagint reads like a flower on a pomegranate tree; Targum reads in your likeness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.