Ezekiel 19:10

10 Your mother was ¹like a vine in a vineyard^[a] planted by the water, ²fruitful and full of branches ³by reason of abundant water.

Ezekiel 19:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:10

Thy mother [is] like a vine in thy blood
Another simile is here made use of, relating to the same persons; the same that were compared to a lioness are here compared to a vine, as the people of the Jews frequently are, ( Psalms 80:8 ) ( Isaiah 5:1 ) ( 27:3 ) ( Jeremiah 2:21 ) ( Ezekiel 15:2 ) ( 17:6 ) ; the same person is here addressed, the then reigning prince, Zedekiah, whose mother, the Jewish people, from whence he sprung, had been in times past, and still was, like a vine; and especially with respect to his blood, the royal family from, chore he descended: the allusion is to the use of blood laid to the roots of vines, by which they became more fruitful. It may have regard; as Calvin thinks, to the original of the Jewish nation, who, when in their blood, or as soon as they were born, that is, as soon as they became a nation, were at first like a flourishing vine. Some render the words, "in thy likeness"; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; to which the Targum agrees,

``the congregation of Israel, when it did according to the law, was like to a vine''

planted by the waters;
for in those hot countries vines required water, and thrived the better for bring near to them, or for being in watery places; this may denote the many privileges, blessings, laws, and ordinances, which were for the advantage of the Jewish people; both in their civil and ecclesiastical state: she was fruitful and full of branches, by reason of many waters;
grew populous, rich, and wealthy.

Ezekiel 19:10 In-Context

8 Then the nations set against him from provinces on every side; they spread their net over him; he was taken 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, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

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

11 Its strong stems became rulers' scepters; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.

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

Cross References

• 1. See Ezekiel 15:6
• 2. [Psalms 80:9]
• 3. [Deuteronomy 8:7]

Footnotes

• [a]. Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts in your blood