Ezekiel 19:7

7 He learned to make widows, and to bring the cities of men into desert; and the land and the fullness thereof was made desolate, of the voice of his roaring. (He learned to make widows, and to lay waste the peoples? cities; and the land and its fullness was made desolate, at the sound of his roaring.)

Ezekiel 19:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:7

And he knew their desolate palaces
He took notice of the palaces or seats of the richest men of the nation, and pillaged them of their treasure and wealth, and so they became desolate: it may be rendered, he "knew their widows" ^F24: or, "his own widows"; whom he made so; he slew the men to get their substance into his hands, and then defiled their widows: and he laid waste their cities;
by putting the inhabitants to death; or obliging them to leave them, and retire elsewhere, not being able to pay the taxes he imposed upon them, partly to support his own grandeur and luxury, and partly to pay the tribute to the king of Egypt: and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his
roaring;
by his menaces and threatenings, edicts and exactions, he so terrified the inhabitants of the land, that though it was full of men and riches, it became in a great measure destitute of both; the people left their houses, both in city and country, and fled elsewhere with the remainder of their substance that had not fallen into his hands: his menacing demands being signified by roaring agrees with his character as a lion, to which he is compared, ( Proverbs 19:12 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (wytwnmla edyw) "et cognovit viduas ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius; "viduas eorum", Vatablus, Starckius; so R. Joseph Kimchi. Which sense is approved by Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 312. R. Jonah interprets it, "he broke their palaces"; so Calvin, and some in Vatablus, and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 96. 1.

Ezekiel 19:7 In-Context

5 Which mother when she had seen, that she was sick, and the abiding of him perished, took (another) one of her little lions, and made him a lion. (Which mother when she had seen, that her hope was gone, and her waiting was for nought, took another one of her little lions, and made him a lion.)

6 Which went among (the) lions, and was made (like) a (young) lion; and [he] learned to take prey, and to devour men.

7 He learned to make widows, and to bring the cities of men into desert; and the land and the fullness thereof was made desolate, of the voice of his roaring. (He learned to make widows, and to lay waste the peoples? cities; and the land and its fullness was made desolate, at the sound of his roaring.)

8 And heathen men came together against him on each side from provinces, and spread on him their net; he was taken in the wounds of those heathen men. (And from the provinces the heathen came together against him on every side, and spread their net upon him; and he was caught in the pit of those heathen.)

9 And they sent him into a cave in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon; and they sent him into prison, that his voice were no more heard on the hills of Israel (and they sent him into prison, so that his roar was never heard again on the hills of Israel).