Ezekiel19
New American Standard
1“As for you, take up a song of mourning for the leaders of Israel
2and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions, She raised her cubs.
3When she brought up one of her cubs, He became a young lion, And he learned to tear his prey; He devoured people.
4Then nations heard about him; He was caught in their trap, And they brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt.
5When she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs And made him a young lion.
6And he walked about among the lions, He became a young lion; He learned to tear his prey; He devoured people.
7He destroyed their palaces And laid waste their cities; And the land and its fullness were appalled Because of the sound of his roaring.
8Then nations set against him On every side from their provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was caught in their trap.
9They put him in a wooden collar with hooks And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would no longer be heard On the mountains of Israel.
10Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, Planted by the waters; It was fruitful and thick with branches Because of abundant waters.
11And it had strong stems fit for scepters of rulers, And its height was raised above the clouds So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
12But it was uprooted in fury; It was thrown down to the ground; And the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong stem was torn out So that it withered; The fire consumed it.
13And now it is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land.
14And fire has gone out from its stem; It has consumed its shoots and fruit, So that there is no strong stem in it, A scepter to rule.’” This is a song of mourning, and has become a song of mourning.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 19.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: A parable lamenting the ruin of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. (1-9). Another describing the desolation of the people. (10-14).
vv1-9
Ezekiel is to compare the kingdom of Judah to a lioness. He must compare the kings of Judah to a lion's whelps; they were cruel and oppressive to their own subjects. The righteousness of God is to be acknowledged, when those who have terrified and enslaved others, are themselves terrified and enslaved. When professors of religion form connexions with ungodly persons, their children usually grow up following after the maxims and fashions of a wicked world. Advancement to authority discovers the ambition and selfishness of men's hearts; and those who spend their lives in mischief, generally end them by violence.
vv10-14
Jerusalem was a vine, flourishing and fruitful. This vine is now destroyed, though not plucked up by the roots. She has by wickedness made herself like tinder to the sparks of God's wrath, so that her own branches serve as fuel to burn her. Blessed be God, one Branch of the vine here alluded to, is not only become a strong rod for the sceptre of those that rule, but is Himself the true and living Vine. This shall be for a rejoicing to all the chosen people of God throughout all generations.
Key Words
נָשָׂא: to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
קִינָה: a dirge (as accompanied by beating the breasts or on instruments)
נָשִׂיא: properly, an exalted one, i.e. a king or sheik; also a rising mist
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
מָה: properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses
אֵם: a mother (as the bond of the family); in a wide sense (both literally and figuratively (like father))
לָבִיא: to roar; a lion (properly, a lioness as the fiercer (although not a roarer;))
בֵּין: between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles); also as a conjunction, either...or
אֲרִי: a lion
Cross References
Ezekiel 19Explicit allusion to Jacob's blessing of Judah as a lion's whelp and old lion.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Jeremiah's lament for Shallum (Jehoahaz), taken captive to Egypt to die.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Historical account of Pharaoh-necho putting Jehoahaz in chains at Riblah.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Condemnation of Jehoiakim's violent oppression, covetousness, and shedding of innocent blood.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Pharaoh-necho appoints Eliakim (Jehoiakim) as the next royal whelp.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Allusion to Judah's strength and vine imagery (washing garments in the blood of grapes).
Supported by JFB
Parallels the vine metaphor for Israel's royal house used earlier in Ezekiel.
Supported by JFB
Repeats the judgment of the east wind drying up the flourishing vine.
Supported by JFB
Jeremiah and the singing men making lamentations for the fallen princes.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The people of the land anointing Jehoahaz to succeed his father Josiah.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Nebuchadnezzar binding Jehoiakim in fetters to carry him to Babylon.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the proud height and stature of the tree reaching unto heaven.
Supported by JFB
Repeats the process of raising up another ambitious, predatory young lion.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The classical portrait of Israel as a vine brought out of Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The east wind of judgment drying up the spring and fountain.
Supported by JFB