Ezekiel 19:1-9

1 And thou, son of man, take wailing on the princes of Israel; (And thou, son of man, take up a wailing for the princes of Israel;)
2 and thou shalt say, Why thy mother, a lioness, lay among lions? In the midst of little lions she nourished her whelps, (and thou shalt say, Thy mother, a lioness, lay among the lions! In the midst of the little lions she nourished, or brought up, her cubs,)
3 and led out one of her little lions; he was made a lion, and he learned to take prey, and to eat men.
4 And heathen men heard of him, and took him not without their wounds; and they brought him in chains into the land of Egypt. (And the heathen, or the nations, heard of him, and caught him in their pit; and they brought him in chains to the land of Egypt.)
5 Which mother when she had seen, that she was sick, and the abiding of him perished, took (another) one of her little lions, and made him a lion. (Which mother when she had seen, that her hope was gone, and her waiting was for nought, took another one of her little lions, and made him a lion.)
6 Which went among (the) lions, and was made (like) a (young) lion; and [he] learned to take prey, and to devour men.
7 He learned to make widows, and to bring the cities of men into desert; and the land and the fullness thereof was made desolate, of the voice of his roaring. (He learned to make widows, and to lay waste the peoples? cities; and the land and its fullness was made desolate, at the sound of his roaring.)
8 And heathen men came together against him on each side from provinces, and spread on him their net; he was taken in the wounds of those heathen men. (And from the provinces the heathen came together against him on every side, and spread their net upon him; and he was caught in the pit of those heathen.)
9 And they sent him into a cave in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon; and they sent him into prison, that his voice were no more heard on the hills of Israel (and they sent him into prison, so that his roar was never heard again on the hills of Israel).

Ezekiel 19:1-9 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.