Ezekiel 19:1-8

1 "Sing a funeral song for the leaders of Israel.

2 Say: 'Your mother was like a female lion. She lay down among the young lions. She had many cubs.

3 When she brought up one of her cubs, he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the animals he hunted, and he ate people.

4 The nations heard about him. He was trapped in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

5 "'The mother lion waited and saw that there was no hope for her cub. So she took another one of her cubs and made him a strong lion.

6 This cub roamed among the lions. He was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the animals he hunted, and he ate people.

7 He tore down their strong places and destroyed their cities. The land and everything in it were terrified by the sound of his roar.

8 Then the nations came against him from areas all around, and they spread their net over him. He was trapped in their pit.

Ezekiel 19:1-8 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.