Ezekiel 19:1-6

A Lament Over Israel’s Princes

1 “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel

2 and say: “ ‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs.

3 She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.

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

5 “ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.

6 He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.

Ezekiel 19:1-6 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.

Cross References

• 1. ver 14; Jeremiah 7:29; Jeremiah 9:10,20; Ezekiel 26:17; Ezekiel 27:2,32; Ezekiel 28:12; Ezekiel 32:2,16; Amos 5:1
• 2. S 2 Kings 24:6
• 3. S Numbers 23:24
• 4. S Genesis 49:9
• 5. S Job 41:2
• 6. 2 Kings 23:33-34; 2 Chronicles 36:4; S Lamentations 4:20
• 7. S Genesis 49:9
• 8. 2 Kings 23:34
• 9. 2 Kings 24:9; 2 Chronicles 36:9