Ezekiel 19:2-12

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.

10 “Your mother was like a vine planted by the water’s edge. It had lush, green foliage because of the abundant water.

11 Its branches became strong— strong enough to be a ruler’s scepter. It grew very tall, towering above all others. It stood out because of its height and its many lush branches.

12 But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the ground. The desert wind dried up its fruit and tore off its strong branches, so that it withered and was destroyed by fire.

Ezekiel 19:2-12 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.