Ezekiel 19:1-8

1 "Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

2 and say: 'What is your mother? A lioness: She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.

3 She brought up one of her cubs, And he became a young lion; He learned to catch prey, And he devoured men.

4 The nations also heard of him; He was trapped in their pit, And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.

5 'When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.

6 He roved among the lions, And became a young lion; He learned to catch prey; He devoured men.

7 He knew their desolate places, And laid waste their cities; The land with its fullness was desolated By the noise of his roaring.

8 Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side, And 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Septuagint reads He stood in insolence; Targum reads He destroyed its palaces; Vulgate reads He learned to make widows.