Ezekiel 19:8

8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

Ezekiel 19:8 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:8

Then the nations set against him
Or, "gave against him" {y}; that is, their voice, as Kimchi; they called to one another, to gather together against him; they gave their counsel against him; they, joined together, agreed, and combined against him, and disposed their armies, and set them in array against him: on every side from the provinces;
Nebuchadnezzar and his auxiliaries, which consisted of the people of the provinces all around, who were brought together, and placed round about Jerusalem, at the siege of it; particularly the bands of the Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, ( 2 Kings 24:1 2 Kings 24:2 ) ; and spread their net over him;
which may be expressive both of the policy, crafty and secret contrivances and designs, of Jehoiakim's enemies; and of their external force and hostile power against him: he was taken in their pit;
which they dug for him, or by the means which they contrived for his ruin, and which they put in execution and effected: the metaphor of a lion is carried on, and the manner of taking one is alluded to, which is commonly in pits, as Pliny ^F26 says; and the Arabs now dig a pit where lions are observed to enter, and covering it over slightly with reeds, of small branches of trees, they frequently decoy and catch them ^F1.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (wyle wntyw) "et ediderunt vocem"; Vatablus.
F26 "Capere eos ardui erat quondam operis, foveisque maxime". Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 16.
F1 Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 172. Ed. 2.

Ezekiel 19:8 In-Context

6 He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

7 He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness of it, because of the noise of his roaring.

8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

9 They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Bavel; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Yisra'el.

10 Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.