Ezekiel 19:1-9

1 “Sing this funeral song for the princes of Israel:

2 “What is your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs.

3 She raised one of her cubs to become a strong young lion. He learned to hunt and devour prey, and he became a man-eater.

4 Then the nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him away with hooks to the land of Egypt.

5 “When the lioness saw that her hopes for him were gone, she took another of her cubs and taught him to be a strong young lion.

6 He prowled among the other lions and stood out among them in his strength. He learned to hunt and devour prey, and he, too, became a man-eater.

7 He demolished fortresses and destroyed their towns and cities. Their farms were desolated, and their crops were destroyed. The land and its people trembled in fear when they heard him roar.

8 Then the armies of the nations attacked him, surrounding him from every direction. They threw a net over him and captured him in their pit.

9 With hooks, they dragged him into a cage and brought him before the king of Babylon. They held him in captivity, so his voice could never again be heard on the mountains of Israel.

Ezekiel 19:1-9 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

• [a]. As in Greek version; Hebrew reads He knew widows.