Ezekiel 19:10

10 Your mother was like a grapevine planted near a stream. Because there was plenty of water, the vine was covered with leaves and fruit.

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 The nations gathered to fight him; people came from everywhere. They spread their hunting nets and caught him in their trap.

9 They put him in a cage and took him to the king of Babylonia. They kept him under guard, so that his roar would never be heard again on the hills of Israel.

10 Your mother was like a grapevine planted near a stream. Because there was plenty of water, the vine was covered with leaves and fruit.

11 Its branches were strong and grew to be royal scepters. The vine grew tall enough to reach the clouds; everyone saw how leafy and tall it was.

12 But angry hands pulled it up by the roots and threw it to the ground. The east wind dried up its fruit. Its branches were broken off; they dried up and were burned.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Hebrew has an additional word, the meaning of which is unclear.]