Ezekiel 19:12

12 But Nebuchadnezzar became angry. He pulled it up by its roots. He threw it to the ground. The east wind dried it up. Its fruit was stripped off. Its strong branches dried up. And fire destroyed them.

Ezekiel 19:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:12

But she was plucked up in fury
This vine being turned into a degenerate plant of a strange vine; or the people of the Jews becoming wicked, disobedient to God, and disregarding his laws and ordinances, the wrath of God came upon them, and let in the Assyrians among them, who carried off ten tribes at once; and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin not taking warning hereby, but continuing and increasing in sinful courses, great part of them were carried captive into Babylon, with their king Jeconiah, who succeeded Jehoiakim before mentioned; when the kingdom seemed to be utterly ruined and destroyed, and is what is here referred to: she was cast down to the ground;
a phrase expressive of, he entire overthrow of the nation; for a vine, though plucked up, yet, if immediately planted again, might grow; but being plucked up, and left on the ground, and there lie, there is no hope of it; so that this denotes the desperate case of this people at this time, being in captivity. So the Targum paraphrases both clauses,

``and it was rooted up with strength out of the land of the house of the Shechinah, and translated into another land;''

and the east wind dried up her fruit;
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and the Chaldean army, compared to an east wind, because hurtful and pernicious, as that is to trees and fruit, and because Babylon lay northeast of Judea; the people of, he land are meant by the fruit of the vine, with their wealth and riches, which were seized upon and wasted, or carried into Babylon. So the Targum,

``and a king strong as the east wind slew her people;''

her strong rods were broken and withered;
or, "strong rod"; the singular for the plural; which may design King Jeconiah particularly, who with his mother, wives, princes, and officers, and the mighty of the land, even all the mighty men of valour, with the craftsmen and smiths, were taken and carried captive, ( 2 Kings 24:14-16 ) ; the fire consumed them;
the wrath of God, which is often compared to fire, the same with fury in the beginning of the verse; which shows that it was for sin, which had provoked the Lord to wrath and anger, that all this ruin came upon the Jewish nation. The Targum is,

``her strong governors removed, and were carried captive; and the people which are strong, as fire consumed them.''

Ezekiel 19:12 In-Context

10 " 'Israel, you were like a vine in a vineyard. It was planted near water. It had a lot of fruit and many branches. There was plenty of water.

11 Its branches were strong. Each was good enough to be made into a ruler's rod. The vine grew high above all of the leaves. It stood out because it was so tall and had so many branches.

12 But Nebuchadnezzar became angry. He pulled it up by its roots. He threw it to the ground. The east wind dried it up. Its fruit was stripped off. Its strong branches dried up. And fire destroyed them.

13 Now it is planted in the Babylonian desert. It is in a dry and thirsty land.

14 One of its main branches was Zedekiah. Fire spread from it and burned up its fruit. None of its branches is good enough to be made into a ruler's rod.' "That is a song of sadness. And that is how it should be used."