Ezekiel 19 commentary

EZEKIEL 19 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
A Lament Over Israel’s Princes
1 “Take up a lament concerning the princes of
Israel
BARNES, "Princes of Israel - Israel is the whole nation over which the king of
Judah was the rightful sovereign. Compare Eze_2:3; Eze_3:1, Eze_3:7.
CLARKE, "Moreover take thou up a lamentation - Declare what is the great
subject of sorrow in Israel. Compose a funeral dirge. Show Be melancholy fate of the
kings who proceeded from Josiah. The prophet deplores the misfortune of Jehoahaz and
Jehoiakim, under the figure of two lion whelps, which were taken by hunters, and
confined in cages. Next he shows the desolation of Jerusalem under Zedekiah, which he
compares to a beautiful vine pulled up by the roots, withered, and at last burned. Calmet
justly observes, that the style of this song is beautiful, and the allegory well supported
throughout.
GILL, "Moreover, take thou up a lamentation,.... These words are directed to the
Prophet Ezekiel, to compose a doleful ditty, a mournful song, such as was used at
funerals; and by it represent the lamentable state of the nation of the Jews and their
governors, in order to affect them with it, with what was past, and present, and yet to
come:
for the princes of Israel; or, "concerning them" (s); the princes meant are Jehoahaz,
Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, who were kings, though called princes, these words
being synonymous; or, if so called by way of diminution, the reason might be, because
they were tributary, either to the king of Egypt, or king of Babylon.
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HENRY, "Here are, I. Orders given to the prophet to bewail the fall of the royal
family, which had long made so great a figure by virtue of a covenant of royalty made
with David and his seed, so that the eclipsing and extinguishing of it are justly lamented
by all who know what value to put upon the covenant of our God, as we find, after a very
large account of that covenant with David (Psa_89:3, Psa_89:20, etc.), a sad
lamentation for the decays and desolations of his family (v. 38, 39): But thou hast cast
off and abhorred, hast made void the covenant of thy servant and profaned his crown,
etc. The kings of Judah are here called princes of Israel; for their glory was diminished
and they had become but as princes, and their purity was lost; they had become corrupt
and idolatrous as the kings of Israel, whose ways they had learned. The prophet must
take up a lamentation for them; that is, he must describe their lamentable fall as one
that did himself lay it to heart, and desired that those he preached and wrote to might do
so to. And how can we expect that others should be affected with that which we
ourselves are not affected with? Ministers, when they boldly foretel, must yet bitterly
lament the destruction of sinners, as those that have not desired the woeful day. He is
not directed to give advice to the princes of Israel (that had been long and often done in
vain), but, the decree having gone forth, he must take up a lamentation for them.
JAMISON, "Eze_19:1-14. Elegy over the fall of David’s house.
There is a tacit antithesis between this lamentation and that of the Jews for their own
miseries, into the causes of which, however, they did not inquire.
princes of Israel — that is, Judah, whose “princes” alone were recognized by
prophecy; those of the ten tribes were, in respect to the theocracy, usurpers.
K&D 1-9, "Capture and Exile of the Princes
Eze_19:1. And do thou raise a lamentation for the princes of Israel, Eze_19:2. And
say, Why did thy mother, a lioness, lie down among lionesses; bring up her whelps
among young lions? Eze_19:3. And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a
young lion, and he learned to take prey; he devoured man. Eze_19:4. And nations
heard of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the
land of Egypt. Eze_19:5. And when she saw that her hope was exhausted, overthrown,
she took one of her whelps, made it a young lion. Eze_19:6. And he walked among
lionesses, he became a young lion, and learned to take prey. He devoured man. Eze_
19:7. He knew its widows, and laid waste their cities; and the land and its fulness
became waste, at the voice of his roaring. Eze_19:8. Then nations round about from the
provinces set up against him, and spread over him their net: he was caught in their pit.
Eze_19:9. And they put him in the cage with nose-rings, and brought him to the king of
Babylon: brought him into a fortress, that his voice might not be heard any more on the
mountains of Israel.
The princes of Israel, to whom the lamentation applies, are the king (‫יא‬ ִ‫ָשׂ‬‫נ‬, as in Eze_
12:10), two of whom are so clearly pointed out in Eze_19:4 and Eze_19:9, that there is
no mistaking Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin. This fact alone is sufficient to protect the plural
2

‫י‬ ֵ‫יא‬ ִ‫ָשׂ‬‫נ‬ against the arbitrary alteration into the singular ‫יא‬ ִ‫ָשׂ‬‫נ‬, proposed by Houbigant and
Hitzig, after the reading of the lxx. The lamentation is not addressed to one particular
prince, either Zedekiah (Hitzig) or Jehoiachin (Ros., Maurer), but to Israel as a nation;
and the mother (Eze_19:2) is the national community, the theocracy, out of which the
kings were born, as is indisputably evident from Eze_19:10. The words from ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ to
‫ה‬ָ‫צ‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ‫ר‬ form one sentence. It yields no good sense to separate ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫מּ‬ ִ‫א‬ from ‫ה‬ָ‫צ‬ ָ‫ב‬ ָ‫,ר‬
whether we adopt the rendering, “what is thy mother?” or take ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ with ‫ָא‬‫יּ‬ ִ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ and render
it, “how is thy mother a lioness?” unless, indeed, we supply the arbitrary clause “now, in
comparison with what she was before,” or change the interrogative into a preterite: “how
has thy mother become a lioness?” The lionesses, among which Israel lay down, are the
other kingdoms, the Gentile nations. The words have no connection with Gen_49:9,
where Judah is depicted as a warlike lion. The figure is a different one here. It is not so
much the strength and courage of the lion as its wildness and ferocity that are the points
of resemblance in the passage before us. The mother brings up her young ones among
young lions, so that they learn to take prey and devour men. ‫גּוּר‬ is the lion's whelp,
catulus; ‫יר‬ ִ‫פ‬ ְ‫,כּ‬ the young lion, which is old enough to go out in search of prey. ‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ ַ‫ַתּ‬‫ו‬ is a
Hiphil, in the tropical sense, to cause to spring up, or grow up, i.e., to bring up. The
thought is the following: Why has Israel entered into fellowship with the heathen
nations? Why, then, has it put itself upon a level with the heathen nations, and adopted
the rapacious and tyrannical nature of the powers of the world? The question “why
then?” when taken with what follows, involves the reproof that Israel has struck out a
course opposed to its divine calling, and will now have to taste the bitter fruits of this
assumption of heathen ways. The heathen nations have taken captive its king, and led
him away into heathen lands. ‫עוּ‬ ְ‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ִ‫י‬ ‫יו‬ָ‫ל‬ ֵ‫,א‬ they heard of him (‫יו‬ָ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ for ‫יו‬ָ‫ל‬ָ‫.)ע‬ The fate of
Jehoahaz, to which Eze_19:4 refers, is related in 2Ki_23:31. - Eze_19:5-7 refer to
Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, and not to Zedekiah, as Hitzig imagines. For the fact
that Jehoiachin went out of his own accord to the king of Babylon (2Ki_24:12), is not at
variance with the figure contained in Eze_19:8, according to which he was taken (as a
lion) in a net. He simply gave himself up to the king of Babylon because he was unable to
escape from the besieged city. Moreover, Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin are simply
mentioned as examples, because they both fell into the hands of the world-powers, and
their fate showed clearly enough “what the end must inevitably be, when Israelitish
kings became ambitious of being lions, like the kings of the nations of the world”
(Kliefoth). Jehoiakim was not so suitable an example as the others, because he died in
Jerusalem. ‫ה‬ָ‫ֲל‬‫ח‬ ‫,נ‬ which has been explained in different ways, we agree with Ewald in
regarding as the Niphal of ‫יחל‬ = ‫,חוּל‬ in the sense of feeling vexed, being exhausted or
deceived, like the Syriac ̀e
waḥel, viribus defecit, desperavit. For even in Gen_8:12, ‫ל‬ ַ‫ח‬ ‫נ‬
simply means to wait; and this is inapplicable here, as waiting is not equivalent to
waiting in vain. The change from ‫חוּל‬ to ‫ל‬ ַ‫ָח‬‫י‬ is established by Jdg_3:25, where ‫חוּל‬ or
‫חיל‬ occurs in the sense of ‫ל‬ ַ‫ָח‬‫י‬. In Jdg_3:7, the figurative language passes into a literal
description of the ungodly course pursued by the king. He knew, i.e., dishonoured, its
(Israel's, the nation's) widows. The Targum reads ‫וירע‬ here instead of ‫,וידע‬ and renders
it accordingly, “he destroyed its palaces;” and Ewald has adopted the same rendering.
But ‫,רעע‬ to break, or smash in pieces, e.g., a vessel (Psa_2:9), is never used for the
destruction of buildings; and ‫ת‬ ‫נ‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫א‬ does not mean palaces (‫ת‬ ‫נ‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫,)א‬ but windows.
3

There is nothing in the use of the word in Isa_13:22 to support the meaning “palaces,”
because the palaces are simply called ̀almânōth (widows) there, with a sarcastic side
glance at their desolate and widowed condition. Other conjectures are still more
inadmissible. The thought is as follows: Jehoiachin went much further than Jehoahaz.
He not only devoured men, but laid hands on defenceless widows, and laid the cities
waste to such an extent that the land with its inhabitants became perfectly desolate
through his rapacity. The description is no doubt equally applicable to his father
Jehoiakim, in whose footsteps Jehoiachin walked, since Jehoiakim is described in Jer_
22:13. as a grievous despot and tyrant. In Eze_19:8 the object ‫ם‬ ָ‫תּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ר‬ also belongs to ‫נוּ‬ ְ‫תּ‬ִ‫:י‬
they set up and spread out their net. The plural ‫ת‬ ‫ֹד‬‫צ‬ ְ‫מ‬ is used in a general and indefinite
manner: in lofty castles, mountain-fortresses, i.e., in one of them (cf. Jdg_12:7).
CALVIN, "Here the Prophet, under the image of a lion, informs us that whatever
evils happened to the Israelites could not be imputed to others. We must understand
then his intention: it is not surprising that the Spirit of God insists on a matter not
very obscure, since nothing is more obstinate than the pride of men, especially when
God chastises them, although they pretend to humility and modesty, yet they swell
with pride and are full of bitterness, and, lastly, they can scarcely be induced to
confess God to be just, and that they deserve chastisement at his hand. For this
reason, therefore, Ezekiel confirms what we formerly saw, that the Jews were not
afflicted without deserving it. But he uses, as I have said, a simile taken from lions.
He calls the nation itself a lioness: for when he treats of the mother of the people, we
know that the offspring is considered. He says, therefore, that the people was full of
insolence. The comparison to a lion is sometimes taken in a good sense, as when
Moses uses it of the tribe of Judea, as a lion’s whelp shall he lie down, (Genesis
49:9,) a, phrase used in a good sense. But here Ezekiel denotes cruelty, as if he had
said that all the Jews were fierce and savage beasts. For under the name of mother,
as I said, he embraces the whole nation. At the beginning he orders his Prophet to
take up a mournful wailing: for thus I interpret the word ‫,קינה‬ kineh, but there is in
my judgment an indirect opposition between this lamentation which God dictated to
them by his Prophet, and the common complaints which sounded constantly from
their tongues. For when their condition was not only ruinous, but utterly deplorable,
they made many groanings and bewailings. But at the same time no one extended
his thoughts beyond the pressure of present evils they all exclaimed that they were
wretched, but no one was anxious to inquire why they were so or whence their
miseries arose; nay, they avoided this contemplation. The Prophet then indirectly
reproves them, by stating that this mournful complaint was suggested by God, but
yet was very different from that ordinary lamentation and howling in which the
Jews stopped at blind grief, and never inquired why God was so hostile to them.
Take up, therefore, a lamentation, says he, regarding or against the princes of
4

Israel. In this way God does not excuse the people from blame, he only means that
not only the common people were lost, but the very flower of the nation and all who
were held in honor.
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
PROPHETIC FUNERAL FOR THE EARTHLY HOUSE OF DAVID
This chapter is a dirge written by Ezekiel as a prophetic funeral for the earthly end
of the House of David. As Cooke stated it:
"Ezekiel could write fine poetry when he chose; and on this occasion the impulse
came from a mixed emotion, his pride in the royal house of Judah, and his pity for
the misfortunes of the young princes."[1]
Evidently, Cooke overlooked the fact that it was upon the express commandment of
the Lord himself that Ezekiel wrote this dirge; and although it may not be doubted
that Ezekiel did himself experience deep emotions in the expression of this lament,
the prior experience of God Himself participated in the sorrow at the earthly failure
of the house of David.
There are actually two laments here, the first under the allegory of a lioness and her
whelps, and the second under the figure of a vine, a rod of which caused its total
destruction. The first is in Ezekiel 19:1-9; the second is in Ezekiel 19:10-14.
Dummelow noted that these laments appear to be (1) for the nation as a whole, (2)
for the royal house of David, or (3) for Hammutal, the mother of Zedekiah.[2]
Actually, the lament is for all of Israel, about to suffer the irrevocable loss of their
status as God's Chosen People, the final end of their racial status in God's sight, and
their integrity as an independent nation, a true independence which they would
5

never more attain.
At this point in Israel's history, there were no rulers of the kingdom that any man
could trust. The wickedness of the ungodly men Ezekiel had just described in the
preceding chapter was a true picture of Israel's kings, best described as a den of
wild animals! All of them were doomed to death; and, "A dirge, normally, was sung
or chanted after the death of the deceased and during the funeral; but Ezekiel here
expressed the Lord's sadness over the failure of the Judean leadership by chanting
this elegy over her terminal rulers before their deaths occurred."[3]
In other words, Ezekiel publicly preached the funeral of Judah's wicked kings while
they were still alive! It must have been a very spectacular happening.
There was a special meter reserved in Hebrew literature for the writing of dirges,
and it featured a distinctive pattern of one line with three beats, followed by a
second line with two beats. Taylor noted that, "Only rarely can an English
translation catch that distinctive feature."[4] He illustrated the meter thus:
In-the-midst of lions she-crouched
Rearing her whelps.
The skillful use of this meter by Ezekiel throughout both the laments of this chapter
makes the unity and Ezekiel's authorship of it impossible of any intelligent denial.
"This lament, bewailing the overthrow of the royal house and the banishment of the
whole nation into exile, forms a climax and finale to the preceding prophecies
(Ezekiel 12-19) of the overthrow of Judah, and was well calculated to annihilate
every hope that things might not really come to the worst after all."[5] God here
preached Judah's funeral!
6

Ezekiel 19:1-6
"Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say, What was
thy mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of young lions she
nourished her whelps. And she brought up one of her whelps: he became a young
lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men. The nations also heard of
him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks into the land of
Egypt. Now when she saw that she waited, and her hope was lost, then she took
another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. And he went up and down
among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he
devoured men."
"The princes of Israel ..." (Ezekiel 19:1). "Israel here is the whole Jewish nation
over which the king of Judah was the only rightful sovereign." The kings of
Northern Israel were usurpers; and besides that, the Northern Israel was already in
captivity and were no longer a factor in the prophetic considerations.
This paragraph outlines the disasters that befell the final kings of Judah, "in terms
of the misfortunes of a brood of lion whelps."[6] Jeremiah discusses the descendants
of Josiah in Jeremiah 22:10-30.
The dramatic truth revealed by Ezekiel here is that, "Israel has put herself upon the
level of the heathen nations around her, and has adopted the tyrannical and
rapacious nature of the powers of the world. Israel has thus struck out upon a
course opposed to her divine calling, and will now have to taste the bitter fruits of
her heathen ways."[7]
"One of her whelps ..." (Ezekiel 19:3). The first whelp mentioned here is a reference
to Jehoahaz II (Shallum). "He was carried into captivity in Egypt after a brief
three-months reign, during the year 609 B.C., by Pharaoh-Necco.[8] Jehoiachim
succeeded Jehoahaz II, but Ezekiel ignored him in this analogy, skipping over his
rather long and bloody reign to the second whelp, which is Jehoiachin, (Jeconiah, or
7

Coniah).
It is the mention of the first whelp's being carried to Egypt that gives us the clue to
his identity. Also, in this identification with Jehoahaz II gives us the clue for
recognizing Jehoiachin as the second whelp. Neither one of the real "princes of
Israel" reigned any more than three months. Both Jehoiachim and Zedekiah were
vassals of foreign lords, Jehoiachim of Egypt, and Zedekiah of Babylon. Thus the
pitiful termination of the "house of David" is seen in the 90-day reigns of his
terminal princes. We are aware that many very learned scholars suppose that
Jehoiachim and/or Zedekiah to be one of the two whelps; but Zedekiah is eliminated
from consideration because he received a special elegy of his own in Ezekiel
19:10-14, and does not particularly belong in the first one.
There is one very strong objection to our identification of these two whelps, and that
was stated by Bruce. "Some scholars see Jehoiachin as the second whelp, but the
language of Ezekiel 19:6-8 does not fit him at all."[9] This is true enough, but it does
not fit Jehoahaz II either; and even Bruce admits him to be the first whelp.
Although neither Jehoahaz II nor Jehoiachin reigned long enough for their true
character to manifest itself, their character is set forth here under the figure of
ravaging lions that "devoured men." This is God's estimate of what those kings
actually were; and God's judgment of them is confirmed by the enmity of Egypt
against the first one, and of Babylon against the second one, leading to their capture
and deportation. The mention of their being taken in a pit, and "by hooks"
conforms to the imagery of trapping wild beasts, and is not a description of their
capture.
Plumptre agreed that Jehoiachim was not the second whelp;[10] and Cooke also
recognized that in Ezekiel 19:9, "The allusion is to Jehoiachin, not to Zedekiah."[11]
"Keil likewise identified the two whelps of this passage as Jehoahaz and
Jehoachin, who were chosen here merely as examples, because they both fell into the
hands of world powers. Moreover their fate showed very clearly what the end would
8

inevitably be when the Jewish kings became ambitious to be "lions" like the kings of
the nations around them."[12]
COKE, "Verse 1
Ezekiel 19:1. A lamentation for the princes of Israel— The expression alludes to the
mournful songs sang at funerals. This chapter is of that species which Bishop Lowth
calls, "Poetical Parables." The style of itself is excellent, and the allegory well
sustained. Houbigant, instead of princes, would read after the LXX, the prince; a
reading which the following observations seem to countenance.
TRAPP, "Verse 1
Ezekiel 19:1 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Ver. 1. Moreover take thou up a lamentation.] A threnodia, a doleful ditty. In all
ages things joyful and sorrowful were made up in songs and ballads for popular use.
For the princes of Israel.] Those four last kings - princes rather than kings, because
vassals to Egypt and Babylon - who, by starting unnecessary wars, wrought their
own and their country’s ruin.
POOLE, "Verse 1
EZEKIEL CHAPTER 19
A lamentation for the princes of Israel, under the parable of lions’ whelps taken in a
pit, Ezekiel 19:1-9; and for Jerusalem, under the parable of a wasted vine, Ezekiel
9

19:10-14.
Moreover, Heb. And.
Take up a lamentation; son of man, Ezekiel, declare what a lamentable state the
princes of Israel are falling into, propound it by parable. It was usually expressed in
verse, as Jeremiah did in his lamentations, and as appears 2 Chronicles 35:25; but
the prophet is here directed to a hieroglyphic, as Ezekiel 19:2.
The princes of Israel; though they were kings, yet, because subject to Babylon or
Egypt, they are, by a diminutive, lessening term, called
princes, and these were Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Though
they had but the two tribes under them, yet because some of Israel that escaped the
captivating power of Shalmaneser were joined with the two tribes, they are called by
the name of Israel.
EBC, "The chapter is entitled "A Dirge on the Princes of Israel," and embraces not
only the fate of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin, but also of Zedekiah, with whom the old
monarchy expired. Strictly. speaking, however, the name qinah, or dirge, is
applicable only to the first part of the chapter (Ezekiel 19:2-9), where the rhythm
characteristic of the Hebrew elegy is clearly traceable. With a few slight changes of
the text the passage may be translated thus:-
1. Jehoahaz.
"How was thy mother a lioness!-
Among the lions,
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In the midst of young lions she couched-
She reared her cubs;
And she brought up one of her cubs-
A young lion he became,
And he learned to catch the prey-
He ate men."
"And nations raised a cry against him-
In their pit he was caught;
And they brought him with hooks-
To the land of Egypt" (Ezekiel 19:2-4).
2. Jehoiachin.
"And when she saw that she was disappointed-
11

Her hope was lost.
She took another of her cubs-
A young lion she made him;
And he walked in the midst of lions-
A young lion he became;
And he learned to catch prey-
He ate men".
"And he lurked in his lair-
The forests he ravaged:
Till the land was laid waste and its fulness-
With the noise of his roar".
"The nations arrayed themselves against him-
12

From the countries around;
And spread over him their net-
In their pit he was caught.
And they brought him with hooks-
To the king of Babylon;
And he put him in a cage,
That his voice might no more be heard-
On the mountains of Israel" (Ezekiel 19:5-9).
The poetry here is simple and sincere. The mournful cadence of the elegiac measure,
which is maintained throughout, is adapted to the tone of melancholy which
pervades the passage and culminates in the last beautiful line. The dirge is a form of
composition often employed in songs of triumph over the calamities of enemies; but
there is no reason to doubt that here it is true to its original purpose, and expresses
genuine sorrow for the accumulated misfortunes of the royal house of Israel.
The closing part of the "dirge" dealing with Zedekiah is of a somewhat different
character. The theme is similar, but the figure is abruptly changed, and the elegiac
rhythm is abandoned. The nation, the mother of the monarchy, is here compared to
a luxuriant vine planted beside great waters; and the royal house is likened to a
13

branch towering above the rest and bearing rods which were kingly sceptres. But
she has been plucked up by the roots, withered, scorched by the fire, and finally
planted in an arid region where she cannot thrive. The application of the metaphor
to the ruin of the nation is very obvious. Israel, once a prosperous nation, richly
endowed with all the conditions of a vigorous national life, and glorying in her race
of native kings, is now humbled to the dust. Misfortune after misfortune has
destroyed her power and blighted her prospects, till at last she has been removed
from her own land to a place where national life cannot be maintained. But the
point of the passage lies in the closing words: fire went out from one of her twigs
and consumed her branches, so that she has no longer a proud rod to be a ruler’s
sceptre (Ezekiel 19:14). The monarchy, once the glory and strength of Israel, has in
its last degenerate representative involved the nation in ruin.
Such is Ezekiel’s final answer to those of his hearers who clung to the old Davidic
kingdom as their hope in the crisis of the people’s fate.
PETT. "Introduction
Chapter 19 A Lament for The Kings of Judah.
Having faced all Israel up to their personal responsibility Ezekiel now brings the
lesson home by writing a lament for the kings of Judah (called ‘the princes of
Israel’), Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin. These were the men to whom Israel had looked
but in each case they had failed. Israel is likened to a lioness producing cubs, and
the cubs are the princes of Judah (Israel). Their fate is then lamented, a fate which
was the result of the fact that they ‘did evil in the sight of Yahweh’ . This is followed
by a poem of the withering of the vine of Israel and the cessation of kingship.
Verse 1
The Young Lions of Israel-Judah.
14

“Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say.’
Those who represent Judah now represent Israel, for Israel has been taken up into
Judah. So the lamentation is for ‘the princes of Israel’. The princes in mind are
those who reigned only shortly and were made captive by foreign kings, first by
Egypt and then by Babylon, for Ezekiel is bringing home the miserable state of the
pride of Israel who had turned away from Him.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 19:1
The two sections of this chapter—Ezekiel 19:1-9, Ezekiel 19:10-14 -are respectively
two parables of the same type as that of Ezekiel 2:10. The former telling nearly the
same story under a different imagery, the latter a reproduction of the same imagery,
with a slightly different application. Lamentation. The same word as that used in
Ezekiel 2:10. The whole chapter finds a parallel in Jeremiah's review of Josiah's
successors (Jeremiah 22:10-30). It is noticeable that the princes are described as
being of Israel. The LXX. gives the singular, "the prince," and Hitzig and Ewald
adopt this reading, applying it to Zedekiah.
2 and say:
“‘What a lioness was your mother
among the lions!
She lay down among them
15

and reared her cubs.
BARNES, "Thy mother - The people represented by Judah. Compare Gen_49:9;
Num_23:24.
CLARKE, "What is thy mother? A lioness - Judea may here be the mother; the
lioness, Jerusalem. Her lying down among lions, her having confederacy with the
neighboring kings; for lion here means king.
GILL, "And say, what is thy mother?.... That is, say so to the then reigning prince,
Zedekiah, what is thy mother like? to what is she to be compared? by whom is meant,
not the royal family of David only, or Jerusalem the metropolis of the nation, but the
whole body of the people; and so the Targum interprets it of the congregation of Israel.
The answer to the question is,
a lioness; she is like to one, not for her strength and glory, but for her cruelty and
rapine; for her want of humanity, mercy, and justice:
she lay down among lions; that is, kings, as the Targum interprets it Heathen
princes, the kings of the nations about them, as of Egypt and Babylon, Jer_50:17; so
called for their despotic and arbitrary power, tyranny, and cruelty: now this lioness, the
people of the Jews, lay down among them, joined with them in leagues and marriages,
and learned their manners, and became of the same temper and disposition:
she nourisheth her whelps among young lions; princes, as the Targum explains
it; either the princes of Judah, who were become like young lions, fierce and cruel; or the
princes of other nations, among whom the children of the royal family were brought up;
or, however, they were trained up in the principles of such, even of arbitrary and
despotic power, and were taught to oppress their subjects, and not execute justice and
mercy among them.
HENRY, " Instructions given him what to say. 1. He must compare the kingdom of
Judah to a lioness, so wretchedly degenerated was it from what it had been formerly,
when it sat as a queen among the nations, Eze_19:2. What is thy mother? thine, O king?
(we read of Solomon's crown wherewith his mother crowned him, that is, his people,
Son_3:11), thine, O Judah? The royal family is as a mother to the kingdom, a nursing
16

mother. She is a lioness, fierce, and cruel, and ravenous. When they had left their
divinity they soon lost their humanity too; and, when they feared not God, neither did
they regard man. She lay down among lions. God had said, The people shall dwell
alone, but they mingled with the nations and learned their works. She nourished her
whelps among young lions, taught the young princes the way of tyrants, which was then
used by the arbitrary kings of the east, filled their heads betimes with notions of their
absolute despotic power, and possessed them with a belief that they had a right to
enslave their subjects, that their liberty and property lay at their mercy: thus she
nourished her whelps among young lions.
JAMISON, "thy mother — the mother of Jehoiachin, the representative of David’s
line in exile with Ezekiel. The “mother” is Judea: “a lioness,” as being fierce in catching
prey (Eze_19:3), referring to her heathenish practices. Jerusalem was called Ariel (the
lion of God) in a good sense (Isa_29:1); and Judah “a lion’s whelp ... a lion ... an old lion”
(Gen_49:9), to which, as also to Num_23:24; Num_24:9, this passage alludes.
nourished ... among young lions — She herself had “lain” among lions, that is,
had intercourse with the corruptions of the surrounding heathen and had brought up
the royal young ones similarly: utterly degenerate from the stock of Abraham.
Lay down — or “couched,” is appropriate to the lion, the Arab name of which means
“the coucher.”
CALVIN, "He says next, that their mother lay down among lions, alluding to the
people’s origin from lions, as we said before, when the Prophet calls Judea the
descendant of Canaan, and the sister of Sodom and Samaria. When he now says,
their mother lay down among lions, he means that they were shamefully mixed with
the corruption of the Gentiles, so that they did not differ from them. But God had
chosen them as his peculiar people on the very condition of being separate from all
the filth of the Gentiles. There was, therefore, a certain withdrawing of God’s favor
when the mother of the people lay down among the lions, that is, when they all
promiscuously gave themselves up to the perverse morals and superstitions of the
Gentiles. He says, that she brought up whelps, or young lions, which she produced
to these lions; since their origin was impure, being all Abraham’s children, but, as I
have said, a degenerate race. He afterwards adds, that the lion’s whelp, or young
lion, grew up till it became a lion: then it learnt to seize prey, says he, andto devour
men. He refers to King Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, (2 Kings 23:30 :) but he had before
asserted that the whole people had a lion’s disposition, and that the princes, who
were more exalted, were like whelps. As only one lion is here brought forward, it
ought to be referred to the violence by which that wicked king manifested his real
disposition. But if it be asked whence the lion went forth, the reply is, from amidst
his brethren, for they were all lions’ whelps, or young lions. They could not
administer the government either together or singly, but each devoured his brother,
17

and was devoted to robbery and rapine. The king only, because freed from all fear,
could surpass the rest in rapine and robbery with impunity. We see, then, that not
only the king was here condemned, but that he becomes the type of the whole
nation; because, since no one could restrain his passions, he could rob and devour
mankind with unbridled freedom.
COKE, "Ezekiel 19:2. What is thy mother? a lioness— Hereby is meant Jerusalem;
the lions with which she was familiar, are the kings of the nations; the young lions
which she produced, are the princes the successors of king Josiah, whose life and
disgraces the prophet here points out.
ELLICOTT, "This chapter forms the close of this long series of prophecies, and
consists of a lament over the fall of the royal family of Israel and over the utter
desolation of the nation itself. It fitly closes the series of warnings, and takes away
any lingering hope of escape from the Divine judgments.
Verse 2
(2) Thy mother.—Mother stands for the whole national community—the theocracy,
as is plain from Ezekiel 19:10. This was represented, since the captivity of the ten
tribes, by Judah; and her “princes,” of the line of David, were the legitimate kings
of the whole nation. The figure of the lion is a common one in Scripture (see Genesis
49:9; Numbers 23:24; Numbers 24:9), and was also familiar in Babylonia.
TRAPP, "Verse 2
Ezekiel 19:2 And say, What [is] thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions,
she nourished her whelps among young lions.
Ver. 2. What is thy mother?] Whereby is meant thy city of Jerusalem and people of
18

the Jews, who took these four for their kings, and soon had enough of them.
A lioness.] So called for her nobleness, courage, and cruelty.
She lay down among lions.] Alludit ad coitum It signifieth that this state, by
conversing with other heathen princes, had been corrupted by them and conformed
unto them.
She nourished her whelps among young lions.] From whom they took in but few
good principles for young princes. Wickedness is soon learned Of a certain prince of
Germany it was said, Esset alius si esset apud alios, his company undid him: So it
did Julian the apostate.
POOLE, " What resemblance shall I use to set out the nature, deportment, and state
of the mother of these princes? an unhappy mother of unhappy children! Or, Alas!
thy mother, &c.
Thy; one of these was upon the throne at once, and therefore the prophet speaks to
one at a time, in the singular number. Mother; the land of Judea and Jerusalem, the
chief city of it, the royal family of David.
A lioness; though chosen of God to execute justice, defend the poor, to be his
vicegerents, and to delight in mercy; yet once advanced, they soon degenerated into
the fierce and ravening nature of the lioness, and as violently seized the prey.
She lay down; associated, couched, and grew familiar with, by leagues, commerce,
and intermixture of marriages with neighbour kings, called here lions: thou didst
learn their manners, and grewest fierce and bloody, as they.
She nourished: the Hebrew includes both her bringing forth many, and her
advancing them to greatness: the royal family of flat nation had many kings, and
19

some very great, but the time the prophet points now at in particular was after
Josiah, whose character, given Jeremiah 22:16, is, that he judged the poor and
needy, but his successors were of another temper, as Jeremiah 22:13-15,17.
Her whelps, i.e. her sons, successors to the crown, which could be called nothing
else, to keep the decorum of the parable.
Among young lions; either foreign princes and kings, or else some of the fiercer,
unjuster, aspiring, and tyrannizing princes at home; for such there were in these, as
well as in Rehoboam’s times, who would have the son’s finger thicker than the
father’s loins.
PETT, "Verses 2-4
“What was your mother? - a lioness,
In the midst of the lions she couched - rearing her whelps,
And she brought up one of her whelps - he became a young lion,
And he learned to catch the prey - he devoured men.
The nations also heard of him - he was taken in their pits,
And they brought him with hooks into the land of Egypt.”
Israel (Judah) is likened to a lioness, strong and powerful, rearing her cubs. This
20

was how she saw herself. And she was proud of her kings, and their warlike
abilities, and looked to them to keep her safe.
Lions were a familiar feature of life in Palestine throughout the Old Testament and
beyond. They were seen as fierce and noble beasts and were used to symbolise
powerful control and rule (Genesis 49:9; Micah 5:8; Numbers 23:24; Numbers 24:9
compare 1 Kings 10:19-20). A royal lion was found on the seal of Shema from
Megiddo.
So here Jehoahaz is likened to a lion descended from the lioness of Israel (Judah).
Ezekiel is bringing out how Israel saw herself and her kings, in contrast with what
happened to them. But Israel was wrong. He only reigned for three months before
being carried off to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:31-33) where he eventually
died (Jeremiah 22:10-12), but the description is not of his reign but of how he was
trained in warlike qualities. It explains that he was a warlike man, but that in spite
of that he was made a captive. Why? Because he had forsaken Yahweh.
‘He was taken in their pits, and they brought him with hooks into the land of
Egypt.’ His defeat and capture is described in terms of the ancient lion hunt.
PULPIT, "What is thy mother? etc.; better, with the Vulgate, LXX; and Keil, Why
did thy mother, a lioness, lie down among lionesses? The image may have been
suggested by Genesis 49:9 and Numbers 23:24, or perhaps also by Nahum 2:11,
Nahum 2:12. The lioness is Israel, the kingdom idealized and personified. The
lionesses among whom she had lain down are the heathen kingdoms. The question
asks why she had become as one of them and adopted their cruelty and ferocity.
3
21

She brought up one of her cubs,
and he became a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
and he became a man-eater.
BARNES, "Compare the marginal reference. The short reign of Jehoahaz was marked
by violence and idolatry, and was closed by Pharaoh-Necho’s carrying him captive into
Egypt.
CLARKE, "She brought up one of her whelps - Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, whose
father was conquered and slain by Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt.
It learned to catch the prey - His reign was a reign of oppression and cruelty. He
made his subjects his prey, and devoured their substance.
GILL, "And she brought up one of her whelps,.... Or sons, as the Targum: or,
"made him to ascend" (t), as the word signifies; to mount the throne; this was Jehoahaz,
whom the people of the land took and anointed him, and made him king in the stead of
Josiah his father, 2Ki_23:30;
it become a young lion; that is, a king, as the same Targum explains it, and a
tyrannical and arbitrary one:
and it learned to catch the prey; being instructed by evil counsellors, he soon
learned to oppress his subjects, to get their substance from them, and do many evil
things, as he is said to do, 2Ki_23:32;
it devoured men; or a man, Adam, the people of Israel, so called, Eze_34:31; as the
Jews frequently observe; it ate up and destroyed their liberties, privileges, and property.
HENRY 3-4, "He must compare the kings of Judah to lions' whelps, Eze_19:3. Jacob
22

had compared Judah, and especially the house of David, to a lion's whelp, for its being
strong and formidable to its enemies abroad (Gen_49:9, He is an old lion; who shall stir
him up?) and, if they had adhered to the divine law and promise, God would have
preserved to them the might, and majesty, and dominion of a lion, and does it in Christ,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But these lions' whelps were so to their own subjects,
were cruel and oppressive to them, preyed upon their estates and liberties; and, when
they thus by their tyranny made themselves a terror to those whom they ought to have
protected, it was just with God to make those a terror to them whom otherwise they
might have subdued. Here is lamented, (1.) The sin and fall of Jehoahaz, one of the
whelps of this lioness. He became a young lion (Eze_19:3); he was made king, and
thought he was made so that he might do what he pleased, and gratify his own ambition,
covetousness, and revenge, as he had a mind; and so he was soon master of all the arts of
tyranny; he learned to catch the prey and devoured men. When he got power into his
hand, all that had before in any thing disobliged him were made to feel his resentments
and become a sacrifice to his rage. But what came of it? He did not prosper long in his
tyranny: The nations heard of him (Eze_19:4), heard how furiously he drove at his first
coming to the crown, how he trampled upon all that is just and sacred, and violated all
his engagements, so that they looked upon him as a dangerous neighbour, and
prosecuted him accordingly, as a multitude of shepherds is called forth against a lion
roaring on his prey, Isa_31:4. And he was taken, as a beast of prey, in their pit. His own
subjects durst not stand up in defence of their liberties, but God raised up a foreign
power that soon put an end to his tyranny, and brought him in chains to the land of
Egypt. Thither Jehoahaz was carried captive, and never heard of more.
JAMISON, "young lion — Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, carried captive from Riblah to
Egypt by Pharaoh-necho (2Ki_23:33).
COKE, "Ezekiel 19:3. And she brought up one of her whelps— This is meant of
Jehoahaz, who neglected to follow the good example of his father Josiah, and
pursued the evil practices of his wicked predecessors. See his history, 2 Kings
23:32-33; 2 Kings 23:37.
ELLICOTT, " (3) It became a young lion.—There can be no doubt (see Ezekiel
19:4) of the reference of this to Jehoahaz. After the death of Josiah, “the people of
the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah . . . and made him king” (2 Kings 23:30).
In Ezekiel 19:6 Jehoiachin is also spoken of particularly. These two are mentioned
as examples of all the other kings after Josiah. Jehoiakim and Zedekiah are simply
passed over, although it may be that the prophet looked upon them as creatures of
Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar rather than as legitimate kings of Israel. Jehoiakim,
moreover, died in Jerusalem, and Zedekiah was at this moment still upon the
23

throne.
It devoured men.—This at once keeps up the figure, and has also its special
justification in the evil courses of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:32). He is represented as
growing up and being like the heathen kings around. See also, in Ezekiel 19:2, Israel
as a whole is represented as going aside from her high calling as a theocracy, and
making herself “like the nations round about.”
TRAPP, "Verse 3
Ezekiel 19:3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it
learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
Ver. 3. And she brought up one of her whelps.] This was Jehoahaz.
It became a young llon.] Cunning and cruel, and having never a good property,
though the son of good Josiah; who might better have said than that pope did of his
wicked son, Caesar Borgia, Haec vitia me non commonstratore dedicit, He never
learned it of his father.
It devoured men.] He was a very cannibal to his subjects, and made no more
conscience to undo a poor man, to seek and suck his blood, than to eat a meal’s meat
when hungry. [Psalms 14:4]
POOLE, "Verse 3
See Ezekiel 19:3.
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Brought up; not as a nurse, the word is of other import, but advanced, promoted, or
caused him to take the throne after the slaughter of Josiah.
One of her whelps; this was Jehoahaz, the second son of Josiah, of whom it is said, 2
Kings 23:30 2 Chronicles 36:1, the people made him king; for God had not made
him so by primogeniture, and right of succession. They looked upon him as a
warlike prince, fitter for sustaining the troubles of those martial times than his
eldest. brother, and therefore strain a point of law and right.
It became a young lion; soon showed his fierce, haughty, cruel, and bloody
disposition, as appears 2 Kings 23:30-32, though he continued but three months, and
some odd days, wherein to play his pranks.
Learned; had tutors and counsellors that showed him the method; and he, an apt
scholar in an evil school, learnt apace.
To catch the prey; to seize first, and then to tear the prey, by frauds and violence to
hunt, take, and devour that he took, as lions use.
Devoured; eat up, as the word notes, lived upon.
Men; man, Adam, the weaker sort; or it may be in those divided times Adam may
imply such as were crushed because they were not of the tyrannizing faction: at that
time Pharaoh had some that inclined to him, and perhaps these were used hardly by
Jehoahaz.
The whelp, as Ezekiel 19:4 shows, is Jehoahaz, also known as Shallum (Jeremiah
25

22:11), who "did evil" in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 23:32), the words that follow
pointing to cruelty and oppression like that of Zedekiah. The passage finds a
somewhat striking parallel in AEschylus, 'Agam.,' 695-715.
4
The nations heard about him,
and he was trapped in their pit.
They led him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
BARNES, "Chains - See the marginal rendering to Eze_19:9 and Isa_27:9, note.
CLARKE, "The nations also heard of him - The king of Egypt, whose subjects
were of divers nations, marched against Jerusalem, took Jehoahaz prisoner, and brought
him to Egypt. Thus: -
He was taken in their pit - Here is an allusion to those trap-pits digged in forests,
into which the wild beasts fall, when the huntsmen, surrounding a given portion of the
forest, drive the beasts in; by degrees narrowing the inclosure, till the animals come to
the place where the pits are, which, being lightly covered over with branches and turf,
are not perceived, and the beasts tread on them and fall in. Jehoahaz reigned only three
months before he was dethroned by the king of Egypt, against whom it is apparent some
craft was used, here signified by the pit, into which he fell.
26

GILL, "The nations also heard of him,.... The neighbouring nations, particularly
the Egyptians; the fame of his behaviour reached them; they were informed how he used
his own subjects, and what designs he had formed, and what preparations he was
making against his neighbours; wherefore they thought it proper to oppose his measures
in time, and to hinder him from proceeding and putting his projects into execution, by
coming out against him, and fighting with him, as they did:
he was taken in their pit; alluding to the manner of hunting and taking lions, and
such like beasts of prey; which was done by digging pits, and covering the mouths of
them with straw, as Jarchi observes, into which in their flight they fell unawares: so
Pharaohnecho king of Egypt came out against Jehoahaz, and took him, and put him in
bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might reign no more in Jerusalem, after
he had been on the throne but three months, 2Ki_23:31;
and they brought him with chains into the land of Egypt; or, "with hooks" (u);
in his nose, as in Isa_37:29; or with a bridle, as the Septuagint; or with branches, as the
Syriac version, in his jaws; the Targum renders it in chains, as we do: it is certain that
Jehoahaz was put in bonds or fetters, and carried into Egypt, where he died, 2Ki_23:33.
JAMISON, "The nations — Egypt, in the case of Jehoahaz, who probably provoked
Pharaoh by trying to avenge the death of his father by assailing the bordering cities of
Egypt (2Ki_23:29, 2Ki_23:30).
in their pit — image from the pitfalls used for catching wild beasts (Jer_22:11, Jer_
22:12).
chains — or hooks, which were fastened in the noses of wild beasts (see on Eze_19:9).
CALVIN, "He afterwards adds, that the nations had heard, and were taken in their
pit-fall. Here Ezekiel states that Jehoahaz was hurled from the royal throne, and
taken captive by the Egyptians, not only because God had beheld his cruelty, but
because the Gentiles had observed it; and it was notorious among them all. In this
way he signifies that the cruelty of King Jehoahaz was intolerable: and he mentions
him, since all the neighboring nations had heard of his fame, and had conspired to
destroy him; and so he was taken in their pit, and confined by chains, and led away
into Egypt. He means, as I said, Jehoahaz, whom King Pharaoh-nechoh took
captive. (2 Kings 23:0.) For when he thought that the Egyptians were distracted by
foreign wars, he took the opportunity of collecting an army, and endeavored to seize
on certain neighboring cities. But Pharaoh, after he was disengaged from other
business, entered Judea, and since Jehoahaz was unable to resist, he was taken. We
now understand the Prophet’s meaning, namely, when this first calamity and
destruction happened to the Jews they were justly chastised, because they were
young lions; and a lion had sprung from them whose cruelty was already intolerable
27

to the profane Gentiles: this is the sense of the passage. Now if we consider who was
the father of Jehoahaz this will be more detestable. For we know, that if ever any
king excelled in piety and every virtue, Josiah was among the number: and from the
son being so unlike his father, we perceive his perverse disposition. There can be no
doubt that his father desired to instruct him in the fear and worship of God, and to
train him to the discharge of the royal office. But if we descend to the whole people,
the prodigy will be yet more detestable. For we know with what fervor and zeal
Josiah strove to form the morals of the people, so that the kingdom should be
entirely renewed. But the people soon declined, so that the Holy Spirit says, their
mother was a lioness, and lay down among lions, whence we see their depraved
nature. It now follows —
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 19:4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and
they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
Ver. 4. The nations also heard of him.] His lion-like disposition and practices were
soon noised and noticed.
He was taken in their pit.] As lions are taken by their hunters. Tyrants hold not
their own long those beasts are "made to be taken and destroyed"; as Nero, whom
the senate judged to death as an enemy to mankind; (a) and as Commodus, who
was, saith Orosius, cunctis incommodus, a mischief to mankind.
POOLE, " The Egyptians heard and considered what he did, they had intelligence
of Jehoahaz’s rigours against them, and all that abetted their interest; this made
them (as neighbours do when a lion is reported to waste their flocks) gather together
against him. He was taken in their pit; or, in their net, as hunters in those parts dig
pits and spread nets, into which they drive the hunted lion, or bear: so here. Or else
thus, This lion was taken at last, though he did some mischief first to the Egyptians;
so the word may bear.
They brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt; the story of it you have 2
Kings 23:33; these barbarous conquerors used him as men use a lion, put and keep
28

him in chains; carried him captive into Egypt, where he died, Jeremiah 22:10-12,
with 2 Kings 23:34.
PULPIT. "The nations also heard of him, etc. The fact that lies under the parable is
that Egypt and its allies began to be alarmed as they watched the aggressive policy
of Jehoahaz, as men are alarmed when they hear that a young lion is in the
neighbourhood, and proceed to lay snares for him. In chains, etc.; literally, nose
rings, such as were put into the nostrils of brutes or men (Ezekiel 38:4; 2 Kings
19:28; Isaiah 37:29). The mention of Egypt points to the deportation of Jehoahaz by
Pharaoh-Necho (2 Kings 23:34; Jeremiah 22:11).
5
“‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,
her expectation gone,
she took another of her cubs
and made him a strong lion.
BARNES, "Eze_19:5
Another - Jehoiachin who soon showed himself no less unworthy than Jehoahaz.
The “waiting” of the people was during the absence of their rightful lord Jehoahaz, a
captive in Egypt while Jehoiakim, whom they deemed an usurper, was on the throne. It
was not until Jehoiachin succeeded, that they seemed to themselves to have a monarch
of their own 2Ki_24:6.
29

CLARKE, "When she saw that she had waited - Being very weak, the Jews
found that they could not resist with any hope of success; so the king of Egypt was
permitted to do as he pleased.
She took another of her whelps - Jehoiakim.
And made him a young lion - King of Judea.
GILL, "Now when she saw,.... That is, his mother, as the Syriac version expresses it;
not his natural mother; as the mother of Sisera looked out and waited for him; but the
congregation of Israel, as Jarchi interprets it, the body of the Jewish people:
that she had waited; for the return of Jehoahaz out of Egypt, which was expected for
some time: or, "that she was become sick"; or "weak" (w), and feeble, and brought to a
low estate by his captivity, and by the tax the king of Egypt put upon her:
and her hope was lost; of his return to her any more, and so of being eased of the
tribute imposed, and of being restored by him to liberty and glory; for the Lord had
declared that he should return no more to his native country, but die in the place where
he was carried captive, Jer_22:10;
then she took another of her whelps; or sons, as the Targum:
and made him a young lion: a king, as the same Targum paraphrases it; that is,
Jehoiakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, who before was called Eliakim, but his name was
changed by Pharaohnecho; and though he is said to make him king, yet it was by the
consent of the people of the Jews.
JAMISON, "saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost — that is, that
her long-waited-for hope was disappointed, Jehoahaz not being restored to her from
Egypt.
she took another of her whelps — Jehoiakim, brother of Jehoahaz, who was
placed on the throne by Pharaoh (2Ki_23:34), according to the wish of Judah.
CALVIN, "We yesterday read over that sentence in which the Prophet says that
Judea produced another lion after the former had been captured and led into
Egypt. Now this ought to be referred to King Jehoiakim, who was appointed by
King Nebuchadnezzar, when he had laid waste a part of Egypt, possessed the whole
of Judea, and imposed laws by establishing a king, according to the rights of
conquest. But since he also acted perfidiously, he was led away into captivity. The
Prophet, therefore, means that the nation did not repent through this single
chastisement; nor did it change its disposition, since its mother was a lioness: and
not only did it bring forth young lions, but taught them to seize upon their prey till
30

they became grown up. He says, therefore, that she saw what she had hoped, and
her hope was futile. Some think that the noun “hope” is here repeated by the
Prophet — she saw that her hope was lost; lost hope, I say. But the other reading is
better — she saw that she had hoped; that is, she saw that her hope had not
produced any fruit for some time, because the royal throne remained deserted;
therefore she took another of her whelps, says he, and made him a lion. The Prophet
again briefly teaches that the whole royal offspring was like young lions. Although,
therefore, the lion alone is called king, yet he is said to be taken from a number of
whelps; and hence it follows that this denotes the depraved and cruel nature of all.
Thus we see that the Jews are indirectly reproved for not returning to soundness of
mind, when God punished them severely, and King Jehoahaz was taken. Since,
therefore, that punishment did not result in their correction, it follows that their
dispositions were depraved; and the Prophet means this when he says, that she took
one of her whelps, and again made it a lion. It follows —
COKE, "Ezekiel 19:5. Then she took another of her whelps— Hereby is meant
Jeconiah, who was placed upon the throne of Jerusalem by the Jews. The character
which the prophet here gives of him, agrees perfectly well with him, and with him
alone. His cruelty and wickedness are described in Ezekiel 19:6-7. 2 Kings 24:8-9
and Jer. xxii, &c. His capture and captivity in Babylon are expressed Ezekiel 19:8-9,
and in the other books of Scripture which we have quoted.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 5
(5) Another of her whelps.—After the three months’ reign of Jehoahaz, his brother
Jehoiakim was appointed king by Pharaoh (2 Kings 23:34). He was conquered and
“bound in fetters” by Nebuchadnezzar, with the intention of carrying him to
Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:7): he died, however, in disgrace in Jerusalem (2 Kings
24:6; comp. Jeremiah 22:18-19), and was succeeded regularly by his son Jehoiachin
without foreign interference. His character, as shown in Ezekiel 19:6-7 (comp. 2
Kings 24:9; 2 Chronicles 36:9), was evil like that of his father.
TRAPP, "Verse 5
31

Ezekiel 19:5 Now when she saw that she had waited, [and] her hope was lost, then
she took another of her whelps, [and] made him a young lion.
Ver. 5. Now when she saw that she had waited and her hope was lost.] She looked
for Jehoahaz’s return out of Egypt, as Sisera’s mother did for his safe and
victorious return from the battle; but all in vain. "The hope of the hypocrite shall
perish."
Then she took another of her whelps.] A brat of the same breed, and of no better
condition. Judea changed her lords oft, but not her miseries. So did Rome in the
times between Augustus and Constantine the Great; the names of those few of them
that were good might be written within the compass of a signet, as one said. Scarce
any of them died a natural death, unless it were Vespasian, qui solus imperatorum
mutatus in melius, (a) who also was the only emperor that became better by his
preferment.
POOLE, " Upon the ill success of Jehoahaz, Jerusalem and the Jews in the land fell
from their hopes under great disappointments, for Jehoahaz is taken, deposed,
carried captive by the Egyptians, instead of shaking off the Egyptian yoke. She took
another; yet it is said, 2 Chronicles 36:4 2 Kings 23:34, that the king of Egypt made
the next king: both true; the Jews with Pharaoh’s liking, or Pharaoh with the Jews’
consent, advance him, whether it were Jehoiakim or Jehoiachin.
Made him a young lion; king, and infused the lion-like maxims for his rules.
PETT, "Verses 5-9
“Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost,
32

Then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.
And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion.
And he learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
And he humbled (or ‘knew’ - the root yth‘ can mean either as we know from Ugarit)
their palaces, and laid waste their cities,
And the land was desolate, and the fullness of it,
Because of the noise of his roaring.
Then the nations set against him on every side, from the provinces,
And they spread their net over him, he was taken in their pit,
And they put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard,
On the mountains of Israel.”
Jehoahaz was succeeded by Jehoiakim, who reigned for eleven years, but he is
ignored for he does not illustrate the point of the disaster that came on their princes.
Thus the next prince in mind is Jehoiachin. He is described as being powerful and
33

trained up in war, and some of his exploits prior to becoming king are indicated,
even though he was only eighteen years old when he began to reign.
Again he only reigned for three months, for he took the throne while
Nebuchadnezzar was attacking Jerusalem due to his father’s refusal of tribute, and
yielded it to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:8-15). He was still rated as king in
Babylon and we have archaeological evidence concerning the rations of his
household there (2 Kings 25:27-30), where he is referred to as ‘Ya’u-kinu, -- king of
the land of Yahudu’.
‘Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost.’ Judah had ‘waited’
in a brief hope that God would step in and give them victory, either by the return of
Jehoahaz from Egypt, which never happened, or through Jehoiakim, but she soon
realised that there was no hope in either of them. ‘Her hope was lost’. Thus they
looked to the young Jehoiachin as their future deliverer.
‘Then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. And he went up
and down among the lions, he became a young lion. And he learned to catch the
prey. He devoured men. And he knew (or ‘humbled’) their palaces, and laid waste
their cities, And the land was desolate, and the fullness of it, because of the noise of
his roaring.’
Jehoiachin was a warlike young man and gained a certain local reputation, raising
hopes. The result of his warlikeness was devastation for his neighbours’ land. But he
quickly turned out not to be the expected deliverer.
‘Then the nations set against him on every side, from the provinces, and they spread
their net over him, he was taken in their pit, and they put him in a cage with hooks,
and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into strongholds, that
his voice should no more be heard, on the mountains of Israel.’ Like Jehoahaz
before him he was attacked by forces of a foreign king, this time loyal to
Nebuchadnezzar, hunted down like a lion, captured and handed over to a king, but
this time it was the king of Babylon. He was no more a free man ‘on the mountains
34

of Israel’. There may be an indication here of his idolatry (see Ezekiel 6:3-5). The
word rendered ‘cage’ may also mean ‘prisoner’s neck band’.
So the mighty princes of Israel had proved a disappointment, and all Ezekiel and
the people could do was sing a song of despair and lament over them. It was a
reminder that Israel-Judah was a small nation and without God’s protecting hand
could do nothing against the wider world.
6
He prowled among the lions,
for he was now a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
and he became a man-eater.
CLARKE, "And he went up and down among the lions - He became a perfect
heathen, and made Judea as idolatrous as any of the surrounding nations. He reigned
eleven years, a monster of iniquity, 2Ki_23:30, etc.
GILL, "And he went up and down among the lions,.... The kings, as the Targum;
kings of neighbouring nations, as Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon; and sometimes he was subject to the one, and sometimes to the offer: and his
going up and down among them may denote his continuance as a king; for whereas his
brother reigned but three months, he reigned eleven years:
he became a young lion; an oppressive prince, a cruel and tyrannical king:
35

and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men; he was notorious for his acts
of injustice and arbitrary power; for the detaining the wages of workmen, and for his
oppression, violence, and rapine, and shedding of innocent blood, Jer_22:13.
HENRY 6-9, "The like sin and fall of his successor Jehoiakim. The kingdom of Judah
for some time expected the return of Jehoahaz out of Egypt, but at length despaired of it,
and then took another of the lion's whelps, and made him a young lion, Eze_19:5. And
he, instead of taking warning by his brother's fate to use his power with equity and
moderation, and to seek the good of his people, trod in his brother's steps: He went up
and down among the lions, Eze_19:6. He consulted and conversed with those that were
fierce and furious like himself, and took his measures from them, as Rehoboam took the
advice of the rash and hot-headed young men. And he soon learned to catch the prey,
and he devoured men (Eze_19:6); he seized his subjects' estates, fined and imprisoned
them, filled his treasury by rapine and injustice, sequestrations and confiscations, fines
and forfeitures, and swallowed up all that stood in his way. He had got the art of
discovering what effects men had that lay concealed, and where the treasures were which
they had hoarded up; he knew their desolate places (Eze_19:7), where they his their
money and sometimes hid themselves; he knew where to find both out; and by his
oppression he laid waste their cities, depopulated them by forcing the inhabitants to
remove their families to some place of safety. The land was desolate, and the country
villages were deserted; and though there was great plenty, and a fulness of all good
things, yet people quitted it all for fear of the noise of his roaring. He took a pride in
making all his subjects afraid of him, as the lion makes all the beasts of the forest to
tremble (Amo_3:8), and by his terrible roaring so astonished them that they fell down
for fear, and, having not spirit to make their escape, became an easy prey to him, as they
say the lions do. He hectored, and threatened, and talked big, and bullied people out of
what they had. Thus he thought to establish his own power, but it had a contrary effect,
it did but hasten his own ruin (Eze_19:8): The nations set against him on every side, to
restrain and reduce his exorbitant power, which they joined in confederacy to do for
their common safety; and they spread their net over him, formed designs against him.
God brought against Jehoiakim bands of the Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, with
the Chaldees (2Ki_24:2), and he was taken in their pit. Nebuchadnezzar bound him in
fetters to carry him to Babylon, 2Ch_36:6. They put this lion within grates, bound him
in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon, 2Ch_36:9. What became of him we
know not; but his voice was nowhere heard roaring upon the mountains of Israel. There
was an end of his tyranny: he was buried with the burial of an ass (Jer_22:19), though
he had been as a lion, the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. Note, The
righteousness of God is to be acknowledged when those who have terrified and enslaved
others are themselves terrified and enslaved, when those who by the abuse of their
power to destruction which was given them for edification make themselves as wild
beasts, as roaring lions and ranging bears (for such, Solomon says, wicked rulers are
over the poor people, Pro_28:15), are treated as such - when those who, like Ishmael,
have their hand against every man, come at last to have every man's hand against
them. It was long since observed that bloody tyrants seldom die in peace, but have blood
given them to drink, for they are worthy.
Ad generum Cereris sine caede et sanguine pauci
36

Descendunt reges et sicca morte tyranni -
How few of all the boastful men that reign
Descend in peace to Pluto's dark domain!
- Juvenal
JAMISON, "went up and down among the lions — imitated the recklessness
and tyranny of the surrounding kings (Jer_22:13-17).
catch ... prey — to do evil, gratifying his lusts by oppression (2Ki_23:37).
CALVIN, "Ezekiel confirms what I have already briefly touched on, that this
second lion was no less savage and cruel than the former, of which he had spoken.
As to the phrase, he walked among lions, it means that his government was
tyrannical, since there was then such foul barbarity in those regions, that, kings
were scarcely human in their conduct. Since, therefore, kings were then everywhere
like lions, the Prophet says that Jehoiakim was not different from them, but in every
sense their ally. He walked, therefore, he says, in the midst of lions, since he imitated
their ferocity, which at length he expresses more clearly, that he became a lion, and
was taught to seize his prey, so as to devour not only animals, but men, thus
marking his extreme cruelty. He afterwards adds —
TRAPP, "Verse 6
Ezekiel 19:6 And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion,
and learned to catch the prey, [and] devoured men.
Ver. 6. He went up and down, &c.] Of whom he learned to king it, and to lionise it.
See Ezekiel 19:2-3.
Learned to catch the prey.] To pull his subjects, and to make havoc, as our Henry
III did, who was therefore called Regni dilapidator. destroyer of the kingdom.
37

And devoured men.] As Ezekiel 19:3; see Jeremiah 20:17.
POOLE, "Verse 6
He, Jehoiakim,
went up and down: it is said of him, because he continued eleven years on the
throne, and so many years, as a lion, tore and devoured; whereas Jehoahaz was
taken as soon almost as he first ventured out to hunt the prey.
Among the lions; carried it after the manners and usages of the heathen kings, those
barbarous tyrants, with whom he entered leagues, as he saw good, and laid aside the
law of God, which was to guide king and people.
Became a young lion; grew strong, fierce, ravenous, unsaltable: see Ezekiel 19:3
where the rest is explained.
Devoured men; either his neighbours the Ammonites and Moabites, or he devoured
his own subjects, impoverished and eat out their estates, spared not the prophets, or
their prophecy, and Urijah he slew, Jeremiah 26:23: what Jehoiakim was appears
Jeremiah 22:13-15,17.
7
He broke down[a] their strongholds
38

and devastated their towns.
The land and all who were in it
were terrified by his roaring.
BARNES, "Eze_19:7
Their desolate palaces - Rather, his palaces, built upon the ground, from where he
had ejected the former owners.
GILL, "And he knew their desolate palaces,.... He took notice of the palaces or
seats of the richest men of the nation, and pillaged them of their treasure and wealth,
and so they became desolate: it may be rendered, he "knew their widows" (x): or, "his
own widows"; whom he made so; he slew the men to get their substance into his hands,
and then defiled their widows:
and he laid waste their cities; by putting the inhabitants to death; or obliging them
to leave them, and retire elsewhere, not being able to pay the taxes he imposed upon
them, partly to support his own grandeur and luxury, and partly to pay the tribute to the
king of Egypt:
and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his
roaring; by his menaces and threatenings, edicts and exactions, he so terrified the
inhabitants of the land, that though it was full of men and riches, it became in a great
measure destitute of both; the people left their houses, both in city and country, and fled
elsewhere with the remainder of their substance that had not fallen into his hands: his
menacing demands being signified by roaring agrees with his character as a lion, to
which he is compared, Pro_19:12.
JAMISON, "knew ... desolate palaces — that is, claimed as his own their palaces,
which he then proceeded to “desolate.” The Hebrew, literally “widows”; hence widowed
palaces (Isa_13:22). Vatablus (whom Fairbairn follows) explains it, “He knew (carnally)
the widows of those whom he devoured” (Eze_19:6). But thus the metaphor and the
literal reality would be blended: the lion being represented as knowing widows. The
reality, however, often elsewhere thus breaks through the veil.
fullness thereof — all that it contained; its inhabitants.
39

CALVIN, "He again confirms what he said of the cruelty of King Jehoiakim: but
the phrase is mixed, since he retains but a part of the simile, and then speaks
without a figure of palaces and cities. Although interpreters incline to a different
opinion, and translate — and took notice of his widows: and if the remaining words
had suited, this reading would have been better; but I do not see how things so
different can be united, as destroying cities and noticing widows. First, those who
adopt this comment are obliged to adopt the notion that Jehoiakim destroyed the
men and deflowered their widows, since he could not possess them in freedom till
they were widows. Every one will admit that this is far-fetched. But the word
“afflict” suits tolerably well. And truly the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, where Christ is
said to be bruised for our grieves, cannot be better explained, (Isaiah 53:3.) Some
translate, that he experienced sorrows, or knew them, or was acquainted with them,
in the passive signification. But those who say that he saw sorrows, or experienced
them, do not consider how it suits the passage; and those who say that he was
cognizant of grieves, meaning his own, also distort the Prophet’s words. I doubt not,
therefore, that in this passage it means to afflict. Respecting the noun, I suppose the
letter, ‫ל‬ (l) taken for ‫ר‬ (r); and in Isaiah (Isaiah 13:22) this word is used for palaces:
wild beasts shall howl, says the Prophet, ‫,באלמנותיו‬ bal-meno-thiv, that is, in her
palaces. The word cannot here mean widows, and all are agreed to take it for
palaces; and when the Prophet adds, that he destroyed cities, the subject shows us
that in the former clause the palaces were afflicted, and then the cities destroyed:
the Prophet asserts this simply, and without a figure, though he soon returns to the
simile, that the land was reduced to a desert by the voice of roaring. Again, he
compares King Jehoiakim to a lion; whence it follows, as I said, that the Prophet’s
language is mixed. Elsewhere, also, the prophets reprove the pride of their king.
(Jeremiah 22:15; Jeremiah 36:30.) For although he was contemptible, yet he raised
himself above other kings; hence he is derided, since he was not content with the
condition and moderation of his father, who ate and drank, — that is, lived like
mankind, — but he desired to raise himself above the race of men. For this cause the
Prophet now says, that cities were destroyed by him, and palaces afflicted by him.
There is a change of number in the pronouns, because the singular number is put in
the word “palaces,” and the plural in cities. But we know how frequently this
change occurs in the Hebrew Language; while as to the sense there is no obscurity,
for King Jehoiakim was like a fierce and cruel beast, because he destroyed cities and
pulled down palaces. But afterwards he adds, the land was laid waste and made
solitary by the voice of his roaring. Here the Prophet enlarges upon the atrocity of
that king, since by his roaring alone he had reduced the land to a desert. He does not
speak of claws or teeth, but says that they were all so frightened at the sound of his
40

roaring that the land was waste and solitary. He adds, the fullness of the land, by
which expression Scripture usually denotes the ornaments of a country. The word
comprehends trees, and fruits, and animals, as well as inhabitants; for a land is
empty and bare without that clothing; that is, if trees and fruits are taken away as
well as men and animals, the face of the land is deserted and deformed, and its state
displays its emptiness. It afterwards follow: —
COFFMAN."Verse 7
"And he knew their palaces and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate,
and the ruiness thereof, because of the noise of his roaring. Then the nations set
against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he
was taken in their pit. And they put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to
the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no
more be heard upon the mountains of Israel."
"He knew their palaces ..." (Ezekiel 19:7). The Revised Standard Version renders
this, "He ravaged their strongholds," which is in agreement with the parallel phrase
that follows. Apparently, none of this had time to happen in his three months' reign;
but his character was such that such deeds of cruelty and tyranny would most
surely have happened if he had been permitted to continue as king. In actuality,
"the noise of his roaring" was all that came of it!
"They put him in a cage ..." (Ezekiel 19:9) This probably happened literally to
Jehoiachin, as it was the custom of ancient kings to display their captive kings,
princes, and mighty men as caged captives in their ostentatious victory parades.
"After his three months' reign, Jehoiachin was taken by Nebuchadnezzar to
Babylon in 597 B.C. (2 Kings 24:8-16)."[13]
COFFMAN, "Verse 10
"Thy mother was like a vine, in thy blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and
41

full of branches by reason of many waters. And it had strong rods for the sceptres of
them that bare rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they
were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches. but it was plucked up
in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: the
strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them. And now it is
planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. And fire has gone out of the
rods of the branches, it hath devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to
be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation."
Here is the second dirge; the imagery is changed. In the first, the likeness of Israel
was that of a den of ferocious lion cubs; here the comparison is with a vine that is
ripped up from its favorable place, transferred to a dry and thirsty land, and
burned up through the fire that comes out of her own branches (the princes), one of
whom, namely, Zedekiah, following the advice of the others, rebelled against his
suzerain lord and precipitated the ruin of the whole nation.
"The mother in both lamentations is the same, that is, the nation of Israel."[14]
"Strong rods (branches) for sceptres of them that bare rule ..." (Ezekiel 19:11).
"This is a reference to the successive kings of Judah."[15]
"Plucked up in fury ... cast down to the ground ... east wind dried up its fruit ..."
(Ezekiel 19:12). All of these are references to the destruction of Jerusalem by the
king of Babylon.
"Mother was like a vine, in thy blood, planted by the waters ..." (Ezekiel 19:10).
Commentators have complained that the phrase, "in thy blood is meaningless,"[16]
or that, "This expression can hardly be right."[17] However, Cook seemed to have
no trouble with it. He stated that, "the mother, living in the life of her children" was
planted favorably by the waters.[18]
The thought is correct, whether or not, this is an accurate rendition. "Ezekiel
42

19:12-14 describe the final destruction and captivity of Judah. Zedekiah's rebellion
was the cause of the total rain of the nation."[19]
ELLICOTT, " (7) Knew their desolate palaces.—This verse continues to describe
the abominations of Jehoiachin’s ways. The word “desolate palaces,” although
defended by some authorities, should be rendered, as in the margin, widows. The
mention of the king’s violation of these is an unavoidable departure from the figure,
such as often occurs in Ezekiel.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 19:7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their
cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.
Ver. 7. And he knew their desolate places.] He had made them desolate, and bereft
them of their right owners, whom he had devoured, and then seized them for
himself. Some read and render it, He knew their desolate widows - i.e., He first
killed up their husbands, and then lay with the widows: the men he devoured, the
women he deflowered. Such work this wicked prince made, till God took him in
hand; as he did also the other three here lamented, of whom may be said, as
Plutarch doth of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, emperors, that they were like kings in a
tragedy, which last no longer than the time that they are represented on the stage.
POOLE, "Verse 7
He,
Jehoiakim, knew their desolate palaces, on view; not only heard of them, but setting
on them violently, and taking them, he came to know their palaces, which are here
called, what he made them, desolate; so the word Isaiah 13:22.
Palaces; or it may be rendered widows, and then it will refer to such whose
husbands this lion devoured, and thereby occasioned their petitioning to him, and
43

thus he knew them, whom he made desolate; but the former best suits what follows.
Laid waste their cities; pilling, polling, and by exactions driving the inhabitants out
by his cruelty and tyranny.
The land was desolate; the whole land, or the country, sped as ill as the cities, and so
it was emptied of men, riches, and strength.
By the noise of his roaring; by the perpetual violent threats of this cruel king, which
are called his roaring, and so Proverbs 19:12, which terrified his neighbours in the
three years’ revolt which are mentioned 2 Kings 24:1,2.
He knew their desolate palaces; literally, widows; but the word is used figuratively
in Isaiah 13:22, in the sense of "desolate houses" (comp. Isaiah 47:8). So the Vulgate
gives didicit viduas facere; and Keil adopts that meaning here, "he knew, i.e.
outraged, the widows of Israel." The Revised Version admits it in the margin. The
two words for "widows" and "palaces" differ in a single letter only, and there may
have been an error in transcription. On the whole, I adhere to the Authorized
Version and Revised Version (text). Currey explains, "He knew (i.e. eyed with
satisfaction) his palaces," from which he had ejected their former owners, as his
father Jeboiakim had done (Jeremiah 22:15, Jeremiah 22:16). Ewald follows the
Targum in a various reading of the verb, and gets the meaning, "he destroyed its
palaces." Interpreting the parable, we have Jehoiachin described as alarming
Nebuchadnezzar and the neighbouring nations by his activity, and therefore carried
off to Babylon as Jehoahaz lad been to Egypt. The young lion was to roar in chains,
not on the "mountains of Israel."
44

8
Then the nations came against him,
those from regions round about.
They spread their net for him,
and he was trapped in their pit.
BARNES, "Eze_19:8
The nations - are here the Chaldaeans: see the marginal references.
CLARKE, "The nations set against him - The Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and
Ammonites, and the king of Babylon - king of many nations.
He was taken - The city was taken by Nebuchadnezzar; and Jehoiakim was taken
prisoner, and sent in chains to Babylon.
GILL, "Then the nations set against him,.... Or, "gave against him" (y); that is,
their voice, as Kimchi; they called to one another, to gather together against him; they
gave their counsel against him; they, joined together, agreed, and combined against him,
and disposed their armies, and set them in array against him:
on every side from the provinces; Nebuchadnezzar and his auxiliaries, which
consisted of the people of the provinces all around, who were brought together, and
placed round about Jerusalem, at the siege of it; particularly the bands of the Chaldeans,
Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, 2Ki_24:1;
and spread their net over him; which may be expressive both of the policy, crafty
and secret contrivances and designs, of Jehoiakim's enemies; and of their external force
and hostile power against him:
he was taken in their pit; which they dug for him, or by the means which they
45

contrived for his ruin, and which they put in execution and effected: the metaphor of a
lion is carried on, and the manner of taking one is alluded to, which is commonly in pits,
as Pliny (z) says; and the Arabs now dig a pit where lions are observed to enter, and
covering it over slightly with reeds, of small branches of trees, they frequently decoy and
catch them (a).
JAMISON, "the nations — the Chaldeans, Syrians, Moab, and Ammon (2Ki_24:2).
CALVIN, "Since the word ‫,נתן‬ nethen, is often taken for “to utter a voice,” some
explain this passage, that the nations came with great clamor against King
Jehoiakim, as when an attack is made against a wild beast, the assailants mutually
excite and encourage each other. They understand it, that such a clamor was raised
on all sides that they rushed with one consent against King Jehoiakim. But since the
same word means “to put,” it may, in my opinion, be properly applied to counsel,
since they took counsel, that is, determined among themselves to take him captive.
The passive sense does not suit at all. Now, then, we understand the Prophet’s
meaning when he says, that the Gentiles had resolved against him, that is, had
conspired to take him. No doubt the Chaldaeans were assisted by all their
neighbors. First, we know that the Jews were hated by other nations; then the
audacity and rashness of this king provoked many to send for the Babylonians, and
eagerly to assist them; and because they scarcely dared to engage in the war by
themselves, they conspired against King Jehoiakim under the protection of others.
Thus far concerning other nations, for this cannot, be meant of the Chaldaeans
alone; because, although they had other tribes under their sway, yet that monarchy
had devoured the Assyrians, whose people made a portion of the Chaldaean army.
Then the Prophet speaks of a circuit, and says, that King Jehoiakim was shut in on
all sides: hence this must be ascribed to the neighboring nations, who not only
favored the Babylonians, but assisted them with troops and wealth, as is sufficiently
gathered from other passages.
At length he says, they expanded their net, by which metaphor he means plans,
desires, and efforts. For before the neighboring nations openly declared war against
the Jews, there is no doubt that they took secret counsel as to the best way of
attracting the Chaldaeans to their side, and of insinuating themselves by various
arts, as if they were laying snares; although by the word net we may also
understand whatsoever apparatus they used for destroying King Jehoiakim. In fine,
he says that he was taken in the pit of the nations, that is, was oppressed as well by
snares as by open violence. He uses the word pitfall, in accordance with the
46

resemblance of the king to a lion; but there is nothing absurd in extending the
phrase to any hostile violence by which Jehoiakim was oppressed. It follows —
TRAPP, "Verse 8
Ezekiel 19:8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and
spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.
Ver. 8. Then the nations set against him on every side.] Nebuchadnezzar, with the
neighbour nations his auxiliaries.
They spread their net over him.] As they did also over the two last kings, though not
here specified, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, because they chose rather to run the
hazard of ruin by rebellion, than to continue safely with slavery.
He was taken in their pit.] See Ezekiel 19:4, an ordinary way of taking lions, as
Pliny telleth us. Leones maxime foveis capiuntur.
POOLE, "Verse 8
The nations which were feudatory to Nebuchadnezzar, and were bound to assist him
in his wars.
Set against him; by order of the king of Babylon gathered together to hunt this lion,
to make war on this revolting king.
On every side; surrounded him that he might not escape.
47

The provinces which belonged to the Babylonish kingdom, and were governed by
presidents, or petty kings, vassals to Nebuchadnezzar.
Spread their net over him; soon got him into their toils, as huntsmen get a lion, or
other wild beast, into their net.
He was taken in their pit: see Ezekiel 19:4.
9
With hooks they pulled him into a cage
and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him in prison,
so his roar was heard no longer
on the mountains of Israel.
CLARKE, "That his voice should no more be heard - He continued in prison
many years, till the reign of Evil-merodach, who set him at liberty, but never suffered
him to return to the mountains of Israel. “The unhappy fate of these princes, mentioned
Eze_19:4, Eze_19:8, Eze_19:9, is a just subject of lamentation.” - Newcome.
48

GILL, "And they put him in ward in chains,.... Or "in an enclosure"; or "in a collar
with hooks" (b); put a collar of iron, as is said, about his neck, which had hooks in it, and
to those hooks chains were put, in which he was led a prisoner; and it is certain that he
was bound in fetters, in order to be carried to Babylon though it is thought he never
reached thither, but died by the way 2Ch_36:6;
and brought him to the king of Babylon; to Nebuchadnezzar, who came up against
him with his army of many nations, he having rebelled against him; and, being taken by
his soldiers, was brought to him in chains, wherever he was, whether without the gates
of Jerusalem, or at any other place; for it is not certain where he was: however,
they brought him into holes; places of confinement, one after another, in his way to
Babylon; where, it seems, before he came thither, he died, and was cast out on a
dunghill, and had no burial, as Jeremiah foretold, Eze_22:18;
that his voice should no more be heard in the mountains of Israel; in the
kingdom of Israel, to the terror of its inhabitants, threatening them with death, if they
did not answer his exorbitant demands; nor was it ever heard any more: the allusion still
is to a lion traversing the mountains, and roaring after its prey, to the terror of other
creatures.
JAMISON, "in chains — (2Ch_36:6; Jer_22:18). Margin, “hooks”; perhaps
referring to the hook often passed through the nose of beasts; so, too, through that of
captives, as seen in the Assyrian sculptures (see on Eze_19:4).
voice — that is, his roaring.
no more be heard upon the mountains — carrying on the metaphor of the lion,
whose roaring on the mountains frightens all the other beasts. The insolence of the
prince, not at all abated though his kingdom was impaired, was now to cease.
CALVIN, "He pursues the same subject, saying that King Jehoiakim, after being
taken captive, was bound with fetters and chains, adding, that he was brought to the
king of Babylon; and thirdly, was cast into prison. He shows, therefore, how
severely God punished the vicious obstinacy of that nation: for when King
Jehoiakim was chastised, it thought to have been enough to correct then; but since
the people were not improved by this, the severity was doubled; and here Ezekiel
says, that King Jehoiakim was cast into a fortified dungeon. He adds, that his voice,
that is, his roaring, should be no longer heard in the mountains of Israel. For
although he was reduced to straits, through a great part of his kingdom being cut
off, yet he did not desist from his ferocity. The Prophet, therefore, sharply derides
his insolence, since he did not cease to cry out, and to roar even in the mountains of
49

Israel. It follows —
ELLICOTT, "(9) Brought him to the king of Babylon.—2 Kings 24:8-17. Jehoiachin
reigned only three months when Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. He
“went out to the king of Babylon,” but only because he could not help doing so, and
was carried to Babylon and put in prison, where he was still living at the time of this
prophecy. It was not till many years later that he was released (Jeremiah 52:31-32).
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 19:9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the
king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be
heard upon the mountains of Israel.
Ver. 9. And they put him in ward in chains.] Or, Hooks. As lions are not looked
upon, but through a grate. In claustrum. God knows how to hamper the most
truculent tyrants, as he did also Bajazet.
They brought him into holds.] Into some strong tower, or rock, where he died; and
his body was afterwards thrown out upon a dunghill. [Jeremiah 22:18]
POOLE, " They, the armies of the several nations, or the chief commanders of those
armies,
put him in ward, in grates, or a great cage, as wild beasts are conveyed.
In chains; it is reported they put an iron collar on his neck, and fastened an iron
chain to it.
And brought him; he was carried that long journey in chains, enough to change his
roaring lion-like into the roarings of a desperate, miserable captive.
50

To the king of Babylon, wherever he was, for some dispute it whether now in
Babylon, or elsewhere with some of his armies; however, this unhappy king was
carried to Nebuchadnezzar, or died on the way perhaps, by command of
Nebuchadnezzar so used that hard usage killed him, and then they cast him out
unburied, as Jeremiah 22:18,19, foretold.
Brought him into holds; kept him safe that he should not escape, or brought him to
Babylon, which, though one city, yet so large, and had so great and many forts
about it, that it seemed to be made up of many strong holds.
That his voice should no more be heard; that he might never more either affright, or
kill, or devour any of his people and subjects in the land of Israel.
On the mountains of Israel: in a comely observance of the parable the kingdom is
the mountains, when the king is the lion that rangeth and roareth on them. Two
more lions of the same temper, and alike miserable in their end, I doubt not, are
included in this emblem; and by these the Jews might know what would become of
Jeconiah, called also Jehoiachin, and of Zedekiah, who was called Mattaniah.
10
“‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard[b]
planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches
51

because of abundant water.
BARNES, "Thy mother - Judah or Jerusalem. Jehoiachin is still addressed.
In thy blood - Blood is equivalent to “life” Gen_9:4. The clause is equivalent to “Thy
mother is a vine, living in thy blood,” i. e., in the life of thee and of thy children. The
excellency of a vine is in her fruitful branches; the glory of a mother in her noble
children. Jeremiah was to write Jehoiachin childless (see the note at Jer_22:30); Ezekiel
here takes a general view of the king and princes of the blood royal.
CLARKE, "Thy mother (Jerusalem) is like a vine in thy blood - Of this
expression I know not what to make. Some think the meaning is “A vine planted by the
waters to produce the blood of the grape.” See Deu_32:14. Others, for ‫בדמך‬ bedamecha,
in thy blood, would read ‫ברמון‬ berimmon, in or at a pomegranate; like a vine planted by
or beside a pomegranate-tree, by which it was to be supported. And so the Septuagint
and Arabic appear to have read. Calmet reads ‫כרמך‬ carmecha, thy vineyard, instead of
‫בדמך‬ bedamecha, in thy blood. Here is no change but a ‫ר‬ resh for a ‫ד‬ daleth. This
reading is supported by one of Kennicott’s and one of De Rossi’s MSS.: “Thy mother is
like a vine in thy vineyard, planted by the waters.” Though this is rather an unusual
construction yet it seems the best emendation. Of the textual reading no sense can be
made. There is a corruption somewhere.
Full on branches - Many princes. See next verse.
GILL, "Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood,.... Another simile is here made use
of, relating to the same persons; the same that were compared to a lioness are here
compared to a vine, as the people of the Jews frequently are, Psa_80:8; the same person
is here addressed, the then reigning prince, Zedekiah, whose mother, the Jewish people,
from whence he sprung, had been in times past, and still was, like a vine; and especially
with respect to his blood, the royal family from, chore he descended: the allusion is to
the use of blood laid to the roots of vines, by which they became more fruitful. It may
have regard; as Calvin thinks, to the original of the Jewish nation, who, when in their
blood, or as soon as they were born, that is, as soon as they became a nation, were at first
like a flourishing vine. Some render the words, "in thy likeness"; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and
Ben Melech; to which the Targum agrees,
"the congregation of Israel, when it did according to the law, was like to a vine, &c.''
52

planted by the waters; for in those hot countries vines required water, and thrived
the better for bring near to them, or for being in watery places; this may denote the
many privileges, blessings, laws, and ordinances, which were for the advantage of the
Jewish people; both in their civil and ecclesiastical state:
she was fruitful and full of branches, by reason of many waters; grew
populous, rich, and wealthy.
HENRY 10-14, "Jerusalem, the mother-city, is here represented by another
similitude; she is a vine, and the princes are her branches. This comparison we had
before, Eze_15:1. Jerusalem is as a vine; the Jewish nation is so: Like a vine in they
blood (Eze_19:10), the blood-royal, like a vine set in blood and watered with blood,
which contributes very much to the flourishing and fruitfulness of vines, as if the blood
which had been shed had been designed for the fattening and improving of the soil, in
such plenty was it shed; and for a time it seemed to have that effect, for she was fruitful
and full of branches by reason of the waters, the many waters near which she was
planted. Places of great wickedness may prosper for a while; and a vine set in blood may
be full of branches. Jerusalem was full of able magistrates, men of sense, men of learning
and experience, that were strong rods, branches of this vine of uncommon bulk and
strength, or poles for the support of this vine, for such magistrates are. The boughs of
this vine had grown to such maturity that they were fit to make white staves of for the
sceptres of those that bore rule, Eze_19:11. And those are strong rods that are fit for
sceptres, men of strong judgments and strong resolutions that are fit for magistrates.
When the royal family of Judah was numerous, and the courts of justice were filled with
men of sense and probity, then Jerusalem's stature was exalted among thick branches;
when the government is in good able hands a nation is thereby made considerable Then
she was not taken for a weak and lowly vine, but she appeared in her height, a
distinguished city, with the multitude of her branches. Tanquam lenta solent inter
viburna cupressi - Midst humble withies thus the cypress soars. “In thy quietness” (so
some read that, Eze_19:10, which we translate in thy blood) “thou wast such a vine as
this.” When Zedekiah was quiet and easy under the king of Babylon's yoke his kingdom
flourished thus. See how slow God is to anger, how he defers his judgments, and waits to
be gracious. 2. This vine is now quite destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar, being highly provoked
by Zedekiah's treachery, plucked it up in fury (Eze_19:12), ruined the city and kingdom,
and cut off all the branches of the royal family that fell in his way. The vine was cut off
close to the ground, though not plucked up by the roots. The east wind dried up the fruit
that was blasted. The young people fell by the sword, or were carried into captivity. The
aspect of it had nothing that was pleasing, the prospect nothing that was promising. Her
strong rods were broken and withered; her great men were cut off, judges and
magistrates deposed. The vine itself is planted in the wilderness, Eze_19:13. Babylon
was as a wilderness to those of the people that were carried captives thither; the land of
Judah was as a wilderness to Jerusalem, now that the whole country was ravaged and
laid waste by the Chaldean army - a fruitful land turned into barrenness. “It is burnt
with fire (Psa_80:16) and that fire has gone out of a rod of her branches (Eze_19:14);
the king himself, by rebelling against the king of Babylon, has given occasion to all this
mischief. She may thank herself for the fire that consumes her; she has by her
wickedness made herself like tinder to the sparks of God's wrath, so that her own
branches serve as fuel for her own consumption; in them the fire is kindled which
53

devoured the fruit, the sins of the elder being the judgments which destroy the younger;
her fruit is burned with her own branches, so that she has no strong rod to be a sceptre
to rule, none to be found now that are fit for the government or dare take this ruin under
their hand, as the complaint is (Isa_3:6, Isa_3:7), none of the house of David left that
have a right to rule, no wise men, or men of sense, that are able to rule.” It goes ill with
any state, and is likely to go worse, when it is thus deprived of the blessings of
government and has no strong rods for sceptres. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy king
is a child, for it is as well to have no rod as not a strong rod. Those strong rods, we have
reason to fear, had been instruments of oppression, assistant to the king in catching the
prey and devouring men, and now they are destroyed with him. Tyranny is the inlet to
anarchy; and, when the rod of government is turned into the serpent of oppression, it is
just with God to say, “There shall be no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule; but let men be
as are the fishes of the sea, where the greater devour the less.” Note, This is a
lamentation and shall be for a lamentation. The prophet was bidden (Eze_19:1) to take
up a lamentation; and, having done so, he leaves it to be made use of by others. “It is a
lamentation to us of this age, and, the desolations continuing long, it shall be for a
lamentation to those that shall come after us; the child unborn will rue the destruction
made of Judah and Jerusalem by the present judgments. They were a great while in
coming; the bow was long in the drawing; but now that they have come they will
continue, and the sad effects of them will be entailed upon posterity.” Note, Those who
fill up the measure of their fathers' sins are laying up in store for their children's sorrows
and furnishing them with matter for lamentation; and nothing is more so than the
overthrow of government.
JAMISON, "A new metaphor taken from the vine, the chief of the fruit-bearing trees,
as the lion is of the beasts of prey (see Eze_17:6).
in thy blood — “planted when thou wast in thy blood,” that is, in thy very infancy; as
in Eze_16:6, when thou hadst just come from the womb, and hadst not yet the blood
washed from thee. The Jews from the first were planted in Canaan to take root there
[Calvin]. Grotius translates as the Margin, “in thy quietness,” that is, in the period when
Judah had not yet fallen into her present troubles. English Version is better. Glassius
explains it well, retaining the metaphor, which Calvin’s explanation breaks, “in the blood
of thy grapes,” that is, in her full strength, as the red wine is the strength of the grape.
Gen_49:11 is evidently alluded to.
many waters — the well-watered land of Canaan (Deu_8:7-9).
K&D 10-14, :Destruction of the Kingdom, and Banishment of the People
Eze_19:10. Thy mother was like a vine, planted by the water in thy repose; it became
a fruitful and rich in tendrils from many waters. Eze_19:11. And it had strong shoots
for rulers' sceptres; and its growth ascended among the clouds, and was visible in its
height in the multitude of its branches. Eze_19:12. Then it was torn up in fury, cast to
the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong shoots were broken off, and
withered; fire devoured them. Eze_19:13. And now it is planted in the desert, in a dry
and thirsty land. Eze_19:14. There goeth out fire from the shoot of its branches,
54

devoureth its fruit, so that there is no more a strong shoot upon it, a sceptre for ruling. -
A lamentation it is, and it will be for lamentation. - From the lamentable fate of the
princes transported to Egypt and Babylon, the ode passes to a description of the fate,
which the lion-like rapacity of the princes is preparing for the kingdom and people.
Israel resembled a vine planted by the water. The difficult word ְ‫מ‬ ָֽ‫ד‬ ְ‫בּ‬ we agree with
Hävernick and Kliefoth in tracing to the verb ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫,דּ‬ to rest (Jer_14:17), and regard it as
synonymous with ‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫ד‬ ִ‫בּ‬ in Isa_38:10 : “in thy repose,” i.e., in the time of peaceful,
undisturbed prosperity. For neither of the other renderings, “in thy blood” and “in thy
likeness,” yields a suitable meaning. The latter explanation, which originated with
Raschi and Kimchi, is precluded by the fact that Ezekiel always uses the word ‫מוּת‬ ְ‫דּ‬ to
express the idea of resemblance. - For the figure of the vine, compare Psa_80:9. This
vine sent out strong shoots for rulers' sceptres; that is to say, it brought forth powerful
kings, and grew up to a great height, even into the clouds. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ת‬ֹ‫ב‬ֲ‫ע‬ signifies “cloud,” lit.,
thicket of clouds, not only here, but in Eze_31:3, Eze_31:10,Eze_31:14. The rendering
“branches” or “thicket of foliage” is not suitable in any of these passages. The form of the
word is not to be taken as that of a new plural of ‫ת‬ ‫ב‬ָ‫,ע‬ the plural of ‫ב‬ָ‫,ע‬ which occurs in
2Sa_23:4 and Psa_77:18; but is the plural of ‫ת‬ ‫ב‬ָ‫,ע‬ an interlacing or thicket of foliage,
and is simply transferred to the interlacing or piling up of the clouds. The clause '‫א‬ ָ‫ֵר‬‫יּ‬ַ‫ו‬
‫,וגו‬ and it appeared, was seen, or became visible, simply serves to depict still further the
glorious and vigorous growth, and needs no such alteration as Hitzig proposes. This
picture is followed in Eze_19:12., without any particle of transition, by a description of
the destruction of this vine. It was torn up in fury by the wrath of God, cast down to the
ground, so that its fruit withered (compare the similar figures in Eze_17:10). ‫ה‬ ֵ‫טּ‬ ַ‫מ‬ ‫ָהּ‬‫זּ‬ֻ‫ע‬ is
used collectively, as equivalent to ‫ת‬ ‫טּ‬ ַ‫מ‬ ‫ז‬ֹ‫ע‬ (Eze_19:11); and the suffix in ‫הוּ‬ ְ‫ת‬ָ‫ל‬ָ‫ֲכ‬‫א‬ is
written in the singular on account of this collective use of ‫ה‬ ֵ‫טּ‬ ַ‫.מ‬ The uprooting ends in
the transplanting of the vine into a waste, dry, unwatered land, - in other words, in the
transplanting of the people, Israel, into exile. The dry land is Babylon, so described as
being a barren soil in which the kingdom of God could not flourish. According to Eze_
19:14, this catastrophe is occasioned by the princes. The fire, which devours the fruit of
the vine so that it cannot send out any more branches, emanates ‫ה‬ ֵ‫טּ‬ ָ‫מּ‬ ִ‫מ‬ ָ‫יה‬ ֶ‫דּ‬ ַ‫,ב‬ from the
shoot of its branches, i.e., from its branches, which are so prolific in shoots. ‫ה‬ ֶ‫טּ‬ ַ‫מ‬ is the
shoot which grew into rulers' sceptres, i.e., the royal family of the nation. The reference
is to Zedekiah, whose treacherous breach of covenant (Eze_17:15) led to the overthrow
of the kingdom and of the earthly monarchy. The picture from Eze_19:12 onwards is
prophetic. The tearing up of the vine, and its transplantation into a dry land, had already
commenced with the carrying away of Jeconiah; but it was not completed till the
destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying away of Zedekiah, which were still in the
future at the time when these words were uttered. - The clause '‫ָה‬‫נ‬‫י‬ ִ‫ק‬ ‫יא‬ ִ‫ה‬ does not
contain a concluding historical notice, as Hävernick supposes, but simply the finale of
the lamentation, indicating the credibility of the prediction which it contains. ‫י‬ ִ‫ה‬ ְ‫ַתּ‬‫ו‬ is
prophetic, like the perfects from ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫תּ‬ ֻ‫ַתּ‬‫ו‬ in Eze_19:12 onwards; and the meaning is this: A
lamentation forms the substance of the whole chapter; and it will lead to lamentation,
when it is fulfilled.
55

CALVIN, "Here Ezekiel places before our eyes the twofold state of the Jews, that
they may acknowledge themselves fallen into extreme misery, because they had
provoked God. For they did not sufficiently consider their present state, unless the
former dignity and happiness with which they were adorned was brought to their
remembrance. Now, in some way they had grown callous to all evils: although
scarcely anything remained safe but Jerusalem, they did not look back, but were
just as wanton as when their affairs were prosperous. Since they had not yet been
humbled by so many slaughters, the Prophet, therefore, on the one hand, reminds
them of their former condition, and then shows them how they had fallen. This
comparison, then, thought to prick their consciences sharply, that they may at
length feel that God was hostile to them. We now understand the Prophet’s
intention in saying, that the people’s mother was at first like a flourishing and fruit-
bearing vine. It is not surprising that he says, the vine was planted near the waters:
for there the vines do not require lofty and dry situations, as in cold climates, but
rather seek their nourishment from water, as we gather from many passages of
Scripture. The Prophet, therefore, stays, that the people at, the beginning was like a
vine planted in a mild and choice situation. He says, that the vine was flourishing, or
branching, and fruitful, since it drew its juices from the waters.
Respecting the word “blood,” I think those who take it for vigor are mistaken; it
rather refers to birth: he says, the mother of the people in her blood, that is, in
bringing forth the people. Thus Ezekiel recalls the Jews to their first origin, as we
previously saw the word used in this sense. When you was in thy blood, meaning,
when you was born, as we know this to be the state of the young offspring, as the
metaphor was explained in the sixteenth chapter. Live in thy blood, said God,
(Ezekiel 16:6,) since the Jews were still defiled through not being cleansed from
pollution. In fine, blood is taken for birth, as if it had been said, that the Jews, when
first brought to light, were planted so as to take root, since God led them into the
land of Canaan. Here he says they were brought to light when God restored them.
He omits the intervening space of time which we saw elsewhere, because he passes
directly from the end to the beginning. On the whole, he means that the Jews at
their nativity were placed in the land of Canaan, which was very fruitful, so that
they should bring forth their own fruit, that is, spend their time happily, and enjoy
an abundance of all things. Now we understand the meaning of the phrase, the
mother of the people was planted near the waters, as a flourishing and fruitful vine
56

COKE, "Ezekiel 19:10. Thy mother is like a vine, &c.— Thy mother is like a vine,
which is planted by the waters. Houbigant. Others read it, Thy mother is like a vine
of thy vineyard. We have here a second part of this mournful song, which respects
Zedekiah. It is more obscure than the first, possibly because the prophet, speaking
of what was future, meant to express himself more darkly. The Scripture frequently
compares Judea and the Jewish people to a vine. See Houbigant and Calmet.
ELLICOTT, "(10) A vine in thy blood.—The figure here changes to the more
common one of a vine, yet by no means the “vine of low stature” of Ezekiel 17:6; it is
rather a strong and goodly vine. The phrase “in thy blood” is obscure, and has
occasioned much perplexity to the commentators. Some of the ancient versions and
some manuscripts have modified the text; but the meaning seems to be, if the text is
taken as it stands, “Thy mother is like a vine living in the blood (i.e., in the life) of
her children.” This would then be a statement amplified in the following, “fruitful
and full of branches.” The general sense is plain: Israel is described as having been
planted a strong and fruitful vine, with every advantage for growth and full
development.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 19:10 Thy mother [is] like a vine in thy blood, planted by the
waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
Ver. 10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood.] The same lamentation is here
continued, though under another parable - viz., of a wasted vine. Jerusalem was
once a generous fruitful spreading vine. It began to be so again in some sort under
Zedekiah, if he could have been contented. See on Ezekiel 17:5; Ezekiel 17:8.
POOLE, "Verse 10
The 10th verse begins the second part of the chapter.
57

Thy mother, O thou prince of Israel: see Ezekiel 19:2.
Is like a vine; frequently so compared, Psalms 80:8,14,15 Isa 3:14 5:2 27:2.
In thy blood; either when thou wast first born, as Ezekiel 16:6; or, the royal line, thy
kingly race; or, in the rigour of thy strength.
Planted by the waters, in a very fruitful soil.
She was fruitful, and accordingly she did thrive, and brought forth much fruit: see
Ezekiel 17:8. Though she lost many thousands carried away, yet more were born,
bred up, and trained up to useful arts and employments, say some; but this too
general. The royal family did spring like a vine well watered.
Full of branches; full of children; when Josiah died he left four behind him, beside
other branches of the royal line.
PETT, " The Withering of the Vine.
“Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters.
She was fruitful and full of branches, by reason of many waters.
And she had strong rods for the sceptres of those who bare rule, and their stature
was raised high among the thick boughs.
58

And he was seen in his height with the multitude of his branches.”
The concentration now comes off the kings to Israel-Judah as a whole, and to its
destiny. It is likened to a fruitful vine with many thick boughs, prominent and
strong among which were the branches that represented the kingship. ‘Strong rods’
came from the vine to provide their sceptres. Thus they ruled in power, raised high
among the thick boughs. Here we are taken back to such days as those of David and
Solomon. The change from plural to singular may indicate reference to the current
king, Zedekiah, as a representative of that royal household. The mixture of lion,
sceptre and vine is not new. It is found in Genesis 49:9-12 speaking of Judah and
kingship.
The likening of Israel to a vine is a well known one in the Old Testament, sometimes
favourable as a picture of fruitfulness, as initially here (Genesis 49:11-12; Isaiah
27:2-6; Psalms 80:8-11), and sometimes derogatory because wild and unfruitful
(Ezekiel 15:1-8; Ezekiel 17:1-10; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21). It depicts fruitfulness,
or when failing, blameworthy lack of fruitfulness. So Israel were previously strong
and its kings were mighty.
‘Like a vine in your blood planted by the waters.’ For ‘in your blood’ we can
compare Ezekiel 16:6; Ezekiel 16:22. Birth in blood was not an uncommon sight.
This vivid mixed metaphor connects the lament with the parable in chapter 16. It
indicates here that although Israel was a flourishing vine, she had grown so out of
poor beginnings and from suffering. (The phrase is admittedly difficult but no
widely acceptable alternative suggestion has been made). For planting by the waters
see Ezekiel 17:5. To be planted by waters was to be highly blessed and fruitful
(compare Psalms 1).
Another parable comes close upon the heels of the first. Thy mother; sc. Judah or
Jerusalem, as the mother of Jehoiachin, who is still in Ezekiel's thoughts, and is
addressed by him. In thy blood. (For the comparison of the vine, see Ezekiel 17:6.)
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No satisfactory meaning can be got out of the words, the nearest being "in thy life,
thy freshness," the sap of the vine being thought of as its blood; and critics have
been driven to conjectural readings or renderings. The Jewish interpreters,
Targum, Rashi, Kimchi, and margin of Revised Version, give, "in thy likeness," sc.
"like thee;" Keil, "in thy repose," sc. in the period of quiet prosperity. Hitzig boldly
adopts a reading which gives, "a vine climbing on the pomegranate;" but (?). The
many waters reproduce the imagery of Ezekiel 17:5.
11
Its branches were strong,
fit for a ruler’s scepter.
It towered high
above the thick foliage,
conspicuous for its height
and for its many branches.
BARNES, "Sceptres - Gen_49:10.
The thick branches - Or, the clouds; so Eze_31:3, Eze_31:10, Eze_31:14.
CLARKE, "She had strong rods - Zedekiah, and his many sons.
Her stature was exalted - Zedekiah grew proud of his numerous offspring and
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prosperity; and although he copied the example of Jehoiakim, yet he thought he might
safely rebel against the king of Babylon.
GILL, "And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bear rule,....
That is, many sprung from her, and rose up in that nation who were fit to hold sceptres
to be kings, rulers and governors, and were such. So the Targum.
"and there were in her strong rulers, kings that were, highly to subdue kingdoms;''
such as David, Solomon, and at hers after them: or this may refer to the times of Josiah,
and at his death, who left behind him several sons, who became kings, besides other
princes of the blood; as his brother Mattaniah, who also was king: and some even carry
this to Zedekiah himself, who had many children, who seemed to be strong rods, fit for
sceptres, or sceptre bearers; that is, to be kings. The allusion seems to be to the sceptres
of the ancients, which were no other than walking sticks, cut off of the stems or branches
of trees, and decorated with gold, or studded with golden nails. Thus Achilles is
introduced by Homer (c) as swearing by a sceptre; which, being cut off of a trunk of a
tree left on the mountains, and stripped of its bark and leaves, should never more
produce leaves and branches, or sprout again: and such an one, he observes, the Grecian
judges, εν παλαμης φορεουσι, carry in their hands. Sometimes they were made of the
"oleaster" (d), or wild olive, the same as a shepherd's staff; for what shepherds were to
their flocks, that were kings to men;
and her stature was exalted among the thick branches; as the body and trunk of
a tree rises up higher than the branches, which are thickest about the middle of it, and so
more eminent and conspicuous; thus it was with the nation of the Jews, and the royal
family in it, that appeared more glorious and excellent among the nobles and princes of
it; or, as the Targum expresses it,
"it was lifted up in its strength above its own kingdom;''
or rather the sense is, that in the days of David and Solomon, and some others, it greatly
exceeded all the kingdoms of the nations round about it:
and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches; was seen
and taken notice of for the multitude of her people, and the grandeur of her state.
JAMISON, "strong rods — princes of the royal house of David. The vine shot forth
her branches like so many scepters, not creeping lowly on the ground like many vines,
but trained aloft on a tree or wall. The mention of their former royal dignity, contrasting
sadly with her present sunken state, would remind the Jews of their sins whereby they
had incurred such judgments.
stature — (Dan_4:11).
among the thick branches — that is, the central stock or trunk of the tree shot up
highest “among its own branches” or offshoots, surrounding it. Emblematic of the
numbers and resources of the people. Hengstenberg translates, “among the clouds.” But
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Eze_31:3, Eze_31:10, Eze_31:14, supports English Version.
CALVIN, "He adds, she had branches, that is, vine twigs, for the scepters of those
who bear rule. Those who translate with or above the scepters of rulers do not seem
to me to comprehend the Prophet’s meaning. I have no doubt he intends that
scepters were gathered from these vine branches, or rather that they were so formed
as to be like royal scepters. Although this translation seems rather rough, yet the
sense is not doubtful; because the Prophet means that kings were taken from the
people just as branches from the vine, as God chose king’s from David to Zedekiah.
In this sense he says that the vine branches became scepters of the rulers. He
afterwards adds, her stature was conspicuous, that she was remarkable for her
loftiness even in the multitude of the vine branches. This is extended to the whole
body of the people. Since mention is made of the king, there is no doubt that God
commends his grace towards the whole people, whose safety and happiness were
placed in the king, as we saw elsewhere. But he asserts more clearly that the people
had increased, so that they excelled in population, power, and wealth. On the whole,
the Prophet teaches that the Jews were adorned from the beginning with all kinds of
advantages, since God’s best gifts shone forth there, and their dignity was
conspicuous, and their opulence great
COKE, "Ezekiel 19:11. And she had strong rods— Zedekiah had many sons, who
were like branches coming forth from the tree whereof the prophet speaks here.
This vine exalted and flattered herself with the multitude of her branches; Zedekiah
forgot God, and imitated the crimes of Jehoiachim, whom the Scripture reproaches
with pride, ambition, cruelty, and injustice. See Jeremiah 22:13-14; Jeremiah 22:30.
In several countries they join the vines to trees, about which they wind themselves,
and run very high. See Michaelis.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 19:11 And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare
rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her
height with the multitude of her branches.
Ver. 11. And she had strong rods for sceptres.] So firm were the branches of this
vine, so many and likely to succeed him in the kingdom were Zedekiah’s children;
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his nobles also were men of great parts, and fit for greater employments.
And she appeared in her height.] High she grew, and in addition high minded, and
so ripe for ruin.
POOLE, " Strong rods; many excellent persons endowed with qualifications
befitting kings, that they might sway the sceptre, and rule the people with equity.
Her stature; the grandeur of the kings and kingdom.
Exalted among the thick branches; exalted above the ordinary majesty of other
kingdoms.
The thick branches; the goodly cedars and their thick branches; i.e. this kingdom
equalled, if not excelled, the greatest neighbour kingdoms, and her kings, as David,
Solomon, &c. exceeded all their neighbour kings in riches and power.
She appeared in her height; like a mighty tree, that overtops all the forest, so did
this goodly kingdom over all kingdoms, and it was seen and noted, according to
God’s promise that it should be the head, and not the tail, and to that Deuteronomy
4:6-8.
The verse describes generally the apparent strength of the kingly line of David. The
word for thick branches, which occurs again in Ezekiel 31:3, Ezekiel 31:10, Ezekiel
31:14, is taken by Keil and Furst as meaning "thick clouds," as describing the
height to which the tree grew. So the Revised Version (margin).
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BI, "And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule.
The renewal of ruined nations
1. States and kingdoms broken to pieces, ruined in times of war and trouble, do
flourish again in times of quiet and silence. Peace after war is like spring after a sharp
winter, which revives, causeth growth and greenness; yet know that states ruined by
tyranny of princes, by wars, do not suddenly recover themselves, or attain to their
former greatness and splendour: though Jerusalem became a vine after the roaring
and spoil of Jehoiakim, yet she was a “vine of a low stature.”
2. It is through the mercy, goodness, and blessing of God that wasted kingdoms do
become as vines, and flourish again.
3. When mercies are multiplied, men are apt to abuse them, and swell with the
enjoyment of them. Prosperity is a dangerous thing, and hath hazarded many (Isa_
47:5; Isa_47:7). After Hezekiah had received many mercies, “his heart was lifted up”
(2Ch_32:23-25). Rehoboam, when he was strengthened in the kingdom, “forsook
the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him”; here was a sad effect of prosperity
(2Ch_12:1). (W. Greenhill, M. A.)
12
But it was uprooted in fury
and thrown to the ground.
The east wind made it shrivel,
it was stripped of its fruit;
its strong branches withered
and fire consumed them.
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BARNES, "This is a dirge; and therefore that which is foreseen by the prophet, the
capture and burning of Jerusalem, is described as already accomplished.
CLARKE, "But she was plucked up in fury - Jerusalem; taken after a violent and
most destructive siege; Nebuchadnezzar being violently enraged against Zedekiah for
breaking his oath to him.
She was cast down to the ground - Jerusalem was totally ruined, by being burned
to the ground.
Her strong rods were broken - The children of Zedekiah were slain before his
eyes, and after that his own eyes pulled out; and he was laden with chains, and carried
into Babylon.
GILL, "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
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the craftsmen and smiths, were taken and carried captive, 2Ki_24:14;
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.''
JAMISON, "plucked up — not gradually withered. The sudden upturning of the
state was designed to awaken the Jews out of their torpor to see the hand of God in the
national judgment.
east wind — (See on Eze_17:10).
CALVIN, "Let us come now to the second clause. He says that the vine was torn
away in wrath, thrown on the ground, and dried by the east wind, and that its
boughs were broken off and withered, and consumed by fire. I have now briefly
explained the Prophet’s meaning. As the Jews had grown stupid in their calamity,
and were not humbled so as suppliantly to fly to God’s mercy, the Prophet corrects
their torpor when he shows them their origin. He now says that they were reduced
to extreme wretchedness by a sudden assault; for a change which took place in a
short space of time ought to affect them to the quick; but if they had been slowly
diminished, the change had not been so remarkable: but when the vine was struck
by lightning, torn up, withered, and burnt, that instantaneous slaughter, as I have
said, showed that it was not by chance, but by the evident wrath of God. For this
reason he says that the vine was violently torn up, and cast upon the ground. If the
vine had been dried up by degrees, it, would not have been so wonderful; but its
sudden tearing up ought to have made them sensible of the wrath of God, towards
which they had grown callous. This is the reason why the Prophet adds one simile to
another. The plucking up would have been sufficient; but he adds, it was cast upon
the ground, that it should wither away completely. He adds, the east wind, which
destroys both fruits and trees, as is sufficiently evident from many passages; and not
only so, but he says that the boughs were broken, or plucked off, and withered:
lastly, they were consumed with fire In fine, the hand of God appeared visibly in
that horrible slaughter of the people, when they were torn up, cut off, withered, and
burnt. It follows —
COKE, "Ezekiel 19:12. But she was plucked up in fury— Nebuchadrezzar, irritated
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at the infidelity of Zedekiah, who, without any regard to his covenant, had entered
into a league with the king of Egypt, came and besieged Jerusalem, took it, and put
to death the sons of Zedekiah in the presence of their father. See 2 Kings 25:6-7.
Thus the vine was torn up, cast to the ground, withered, and consumed in the fire.
Fire in the Scripture most commonly denotes war.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 19:12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the
ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and
withered; the fire consumed them.
Ver. 12. But she was plucked up in fury.] And so thrown with a force to the ground,
as a man doth a dry or barren plant.
The east wind dried up her fruit.] See Ezekiel 17:10. It is ventus urens et exsiccans;
burning and drying wind this was Nebuchadnezzar and his army.
POOLE, "Verse 12
This flourishing vine first degenerated, brought forth fruit to itself, not to God, and
grew proud, abused God’s mercies to all manner of sin.
She was plucked up in fury; was violently, suddenly, and totally rooted out, tore up
by the roots; so was the once flourishing kingdom of the Jews overthrown.
She was cast down to the ground; had she been again set, there might have been
some hope, but plucked up root and branch together it is perished for ever. To
hasten the utter destruction hereof, an east wind, that blasting, piercing wind, blows
upon her; the king of Babylon with all his power, raised of God to pull up this sinful
kingdom.
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Dried up her fruit; blasted all her fruit; deposed her king, captivated him, his
family, and the whole kingdom.
Her strong rods, all the choice men, the counsellors, warriors, artificers, all that
were like to be the strength of the kingdom, were broken; by Nebuchadnezzar’s
hand plucked away, and removed into Babylon, where they lay as withered
branches.
The fire consumed them; called fury in the former part of the verse. God’s
displeasure for their sins, their adversaries’ rage, and their own animosities, burnt
them up; their houses and palaces, their city and temple, all burnt, yea, and some
persons with this fire were consumed also, beside some that the conqueror roasted.
PETT, "Verses 12-14
“But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground,
And the east wind dried up her fruit,
Her strong rods were broken off and withered,
The fire consumed them.
And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land,
And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, it has devoured her fruit,
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So that there is in her no strong rod, to be a sceptre to rule.”
Here is the depiction of the failure of the kingship, and of the people. The glory of Israel-
Judah was plucked up and cast down, and her rulers (‘strong rods’) were broken off and
withered, and consumed by fire. Israel-Judah was transplanted to an unfruitful desert
place, and her misfortunes will have resulted from her king who had brought about her
misery (fire has gone out from him), leaving her with no one to rule her. And the whole
finally resulted from the failure of Zedekiah to obey God and remain in submission to
Babylon (Jeremiah 27:12-13).
The whole lament is a stark recognition of failure, both of their kings and of the people.
What God had made prosperous had languished, and finally withered, through their
disobedience to His covenant.
PULPIT, "The parable, like that of Ezekiel 17:10, describes the sudden downfall of
Jerusalem and the kingly house. The "dry ground" is Babylon, and the new "planting"
indicates the deportation of Jehoiachin and the chief men of Judah.
13
Now it is planted in the desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.
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CLARKE, "And now she is planted in the wilderness - In the land of Chaldea,
whither the people have been carried captives; and which, compared with their own
land, was to them a dreary wilderness.
GILL, "And now she is planted in the wilderness,.... In the land of Babylon,
which though a very fruitful country, yet, because of the hardships and miseries which
the Jews were exposed unto in it, was a wilderness to them:
in a dry and thirsty ground; which is a periphrasis or description of a wilderness,
Psa_63:1; and designs the same place as before; where the Jews were deprived of their
liberties, and had not the opportunities of divine worship, the word and ordinances; and
were destitute of the comforts both of civil and religious life. Unless this is to be
understood of the land of Judea, which by the devastation made in it by the king of
Babylon, and the multitudes that were carried captive by him out of it, it became like a
desert, a dry and thirsty land; and so the vine planted in it signifies the remainder of the
people left in it, alter this great destruction; when it looked like a vine plucked up, and
thrown down, and left on the ground, dried up with the east wind, and burnt with fire;
and thus it fared with the remnant in a little time after, as the next words show.
JAMISON, "planted — that is, transplanted. Though already “dried up” in regard to
the nation generally, the vine is said to be “transplanted” as regards God’s mercy to the
remnant in Babylon.
dry ... ground — Chaldea was well-watered and fertile; but it is the condition of the
captive people, not that of the land, which is referred to.
CALVIN, "The Prophet seems here inconsistent with himself, since these two
clauses are openly at variance, that the vine was not, only withered, but burnt up,
and yet planted in a desert place; for if it was withered, it could not take root again;
but the burning removed the slightest hope; for when the twigs were reduced to
ashes, who ever saw a vine spring up and grow from its ashes? But when the
Prophet says that the vine was withered and burnt up, he refers to the conclusion
which men must arrive at by their own senses when the city was utterly ruined; for
that was in truth a horrible spectacle, when the people were made tributary after
their king was taken, the temple, plundered, the city ruined, and their safety
dependent on the lust of their conqueror. Since, therefore, neither the royal name
and dignity, nor freedom and security, remained, and especially when they were led
to the slaughter-house, was not their ruin very like a burning? Now, therefore, we
see why the Prophet said that the vine was torn and burnt up, for that most severe
destruction took away all hope of restoration for a short time. Hence he spoke
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according to common sense: then he kept in view that form of horrible ruin, or
rather deformity, which was like a burning and a final destruction of the people.
But now, when he says that the vine was planted again, he commends the mercy of
God, who wished some seed to remain for the production of young plants; as it is
said in the first chapter of Isaiah, Lest you should be in like Sodom and Gomorrah,
some small seed has been wonderfully preserved. Although, therefore, the people
were burnt up after being violently plucked up, and all their lives subjected to the
will of the proudest, of conquerors, yet God took some twigs or vine branches, which
he planted, that he might propagate a new nation, which was done at the people’s
return.
But he says that those vine branches were planted in the desert in the dry and
thirsty land, since God preserves the religion of his people even in death. Hence he
compares their exile to a desert and a wilderness. It may seem absurd at first sight
that, Chaldaea should be likened to a desert, since that district we know to be
remarkable for its fertility and other advantages; we know, too, that it was well
watered, though called dry. But the Prophet here does not, consider the material
character of the country, but the condition of the people in it. Although Chaldaea
was most lovely, and full of all kinds of fruits, yet, since the people were cruelly
oppressed and contemptuously treated, hence the land was called a desert. We say
that no prison is beautiful, so that their exile could not be agreeable to the children
of Israel; for they were ashamed of their life, and did not dare to raise their eyes
upwards. Since, then, they were drowned in a deep abyss of evils, the land was to
them a desert; hence there was no splendor, dignity, or opulence; and liberty, the
most precious of all boons, was wrested from them. Now we see the sense of the
words. It follows at length —
COKE, "Ezekiel 19:13. And now she is planted in the wilderness— Or in Judaea
itself, which is made a wilderness. Houbigant. Other commentators suppose, that
the prophet by this expression marks out the state of the Jewish captivity in
Babylon. He uses, as is frequent with the prophets, the present tense for the future,
to denote the certain accomplishment of the event.
ELLICOTT, "(13) In a dry and thirsty ground.—Such was Babylon to Israel in its
national relations, and even after the return from the exile the Jews never rose again
to much importance among the nations of the earth; but meantime they were being
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disciplined, that at least a few of them might be prepared for the planting among
them of that kingdom not of this world, spoken of at the close of Ezekiel 16, which
should fill the whole earth.
TRAPP, "Verse 13
Ezekiel 19:13 And now she [is] planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty
ground.
Ver. 13. And now she is planted in a wilderness.] Babylon was no wilderness, but
fruitful beyond credulity, (a) But the poor captive Jews had little joy from it, for
some time at least.
In a dry and thirsty ground.] In terra sicca et sitioulosa. So it was to them, though
never so well watered, because they wanted there the waters of the sanctuary, and
many other comforts of their own country. See Psalms 137:1-6
POOLE, "Verse 13
And now; at this present time.
She is planted; but, alas! how unlike what she was! a brand pulled out of the
burnings, a few of the branches of the last pruning, or a few smaller roots taken up
by the provident hand of the Lord of the vineyard, a remnant that might be a
nursery, a seedplot; but the much greater part of the vine is, as said, destroyed. It is
not said who planted them, but it is easy to conjecture Nebuchadnezzar planted
them in policy and for his advantage, they planted themselves out of necessity, and
God planted them there in just correcting mercy, and will give them root, and make
them thrive, and transplant them after seventy years, and set them on the mountains
of Israel again.
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In the wilderness; so it was to the Jews, a forlorn, dangerous, and necessitous state:
though Babylon was in a very fruitful place, yet the savage cruelty and the insulting
pride of the Babylonians made it to the Jews as terrible as a wilderness; besides,
there were some barren places of this kingdom, to which some of the Jews might be
carried and confined.
Dry: this and the other expression are a description of the nature of a wilderness,
and illustrate what the prophet had spoken, or may be paraphrased by that of
David, Psalms 63:1; it was dry and thirsty, where no one stream ran from that river
which made glad the city of God, Psalms 46:4.
14
Fire spread from one of its main[c] branches
and consumed its fruit.
No strong branch is left on it
fit for a ruler’s scepter.’
“This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.”
BARNES, "Fire is gone out - Compare the marginal reference. Zedekiah is
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regarded, like Abimelech, as all usurper and the ruin of his people.
CLARKE, "Fire is gone out - A vindictive and murderous disposition has taken
hold: -
Of a rod of her branches - Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, who was of the blood-royal
of Judah: -
Hath devoured her fruit - Hath assassinated Gedaliah, slain many people, and
carried off others into the country of the Ammonites. But he was pursued by Jonathan,
the son of Kareah, who slew many of his adherents, and delivered much of the people.
She hath no strong rod - None of the blood-royal of Judah left. And from that time
not one of her own royal race ever sat upon the throne of Israel.
This is a lamentation - This is a most lamentable business.
And shall be for a lamentation - These predictions shall be so punctually fulfilled,
and the catastrophe shall be so complete, that it shall ever remain as a lamentation; as
this state of Jerusalem shall never be restored. Even to the present day this, to a Jew, is a
subject of mourning.
GILL, "And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches,.... By "her branches" are
meant the rest of the Jews left in the land; and by the "rod" of them King Zedekiah, now
on the throne, when this prophecy was given out; the "fire" said to go out of him signifies
his rebellion against the king of Babylon, his breaking covenant and oath with him,
which greatly provoked the Lord, and brought down the fire of his wrath upon him, 2Ki_
24:20;
which hath devoured her fruit; destroyed the people by sword, famine pestilence,
and captivity; yea, the city and temple of Jerusalem, with the palaces and houses therein,
were burnt with material fire; their king was taken, and his eyes put out; his sons were
slain, and all the princes of Judah:
so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule; none to be king, or succeed
in the kingdom; and there never was a king after of the family of David, or of the tribe of
Judah, till Shiloh the Messiah came; though there were princes and governors, yet no
sceptre bearer, no king. The Targum of the whole is,
"and there came people who were strong as fire, and, because of the sins of her pride,
slew her people; and there were not in her strong rulers, kings that are mighty to subdue
kingdoms;''
this is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation; that is, this prophecy, as
the Targum, is a lamentation, or matter of lamentation; what of it had been already
fulfilled occasioned lamentation; and, when the rest should be fulfilled, it would be the
cause of more. Lamentable was the case of the Jews already, but it would be still more so
when all that was foretold of them should be accomplished. It denotes the continuance
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of the sad estate of that people; and perhaps may refer to their present condition, which
will continue till they are turned to the Lord.
JAMISON, "fire ... out of a rod of her branches — The Jews’ disaster was to be
ascribed, not so much to the Chaldeans as to themselves; the “fire out of the rod” is
God’s wrath kindled by the perjury of Zedekiah (Eze_17:18). “The anger of the Lord”
against Judah is specified as the cause why Zedekiah was permitted to rebel against
Babylon (2Ki_24:20; compare Jdg_9:15), thus bringing Nebuchadnezzar against
Jerusalem.
no strong rod ... sceptre to rule — No more kings of David’s stock are now to rule
the nation. Not at least until “the Lord shall send the rod of His strength (“Messiah,”
Psa_110:2; Isa_11:1) out of Zion,” to reign first as a spiritual, then hereafter as a literal
king.
is ... and shall be for a lamentation — Part of the lamentation (that as to
Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim) was matter of history as already accomplished; part (as to
Zedekiah) was yet to be fulfilled; or, this prophecy both is a subject for lamentation, and
shall be so to distant posterity.
CALVIN, "Here the Prophet comes down to the close of their woes, when Zedekiah
was dragged into captivity, and so the people’s independence was abolished. God
had formerly planted that vine, or at least some of the branches, in a desert spot,
since first four tribes, and afterwards seven, were led away, and last of all, the
greater part of the tribe of Judea; but the little that remained with King Zedekiah
perished. He says, therefore, that the fire went forth from the vine branches: thus he
shows that the last slaughter proceeded only from the people themselves; and lest
they should utter their accustomed complaints, the Prophet meets them by saying
that they were consumed by intestine fire; that is, their slaughter could not be
ascribed to their Chaldaean conquerors, but to themselves; because King Zedekiah,
by his own perfidy, had stirred up the king of Babylon against himself; for he might
have spent his time in his kingdom, but he could not refrain himself from throwing
off the yoke; for this reason he armed himself against the king of Babylon, because
he was a breaker of treaties: and thus the Prophet says, with propriety, that a fire
went forth from one rod, or twig of its branches, and hence the fruit of the whole
vine was consumed; that is, the remnant was lost by the fault of that perfidious king.
He now adds, there was no scepter for ruling among its rods. Hence it appears that
the exposition which I have advanced suits best, and is entirely genuine. He said first
that the rods were for a scepter of the rulers; but he here says there was no scepter
for them among these rods. What follows we will treat tomorrow.
COKE, "Ezekiel 19:14. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches— This alludes
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to Ishmael, who conspired against Gedaliah, and perished not long after; so that no
hope remained that any one of the royal blood of David would reign in Judges. See
Jeremiah 41:1; Jeremiah 41:18 and Houbigant. In chap. 17: the king of Judaea was
compared to the highest branch of a cedar; and the king of Babylon to an eagle.
With a like decorum, in the two beautiful parables of this chapter Judaea is
compared to a lioness, and her king to a young lion; and the country is again
represented, under the image of a fruitful, branching, and lofty vine.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have here,
1. The prophet commanded to take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel.
Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, whose mournful history would
afford abundant matter for his grief. Note; We should not only weep with those that
weep, but over those also who never shed a tear for themselves.
2. The Lord directs him what to say. Under the figure of a lioness and her whelps,
he describes the kingdom and princes. The lioness, the mother, is the tribe of Judah,
ravening, fierce, full of rapine and injustice; she lay down among lions, joined in
affinity with the neighbouring nations, and contracted alliances with them. She
nourished her whelps among young lions, brought up the young princes in
principles of arbitrary power and oppression. Jehoahaz, one of them, became a
young lion, grown up, and seated on the throne of his father Josiah, learned to catch
the prey, and devoured men, exercising the most tyrannical sway, and sparing
neither the properties nor lives of his subjects, as his covetousness, his rage, or his
caprice governed him. The nations also heard of him, what oppression he used
towards his people, and what designs he was forming to subdue his neighbours; and
hereupon the Egyptians fell upon him, vanquished and led him away a prisoner into
Egypt, where he died.
Despairing of his return, the Jewish people advanced Jehoiakim to the throne, with
the consent of Pharaoh, and he trod in the wicked steps of his predecessor, alike
ravenous, arbitrary, and oppressive. He learned to catch the prey, he devoured men,
plundering his subjects, and sacrificing their lives to his resentment. And he knew
their desolate palaces, ransacking them to discover the treasures concealed therein;
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and by his tyranny he drove his subjects from their cities, and made the land
desolate through his roaring, neither their lives nor properties being any longer safe.
The nations hereupon collected under Nebuchadrezzar, surrounded him as a beast
with toils, and he was taken prisoner as a lion in a pit; they bound him in chains,
and cast him into prison, where probably he quickly died, and was thrown on a
dunghill, see Jeremiah 22:18-19 and his roaring was silenced, no more the terror of
the mighty in the land of the living.
2nd, The same persons, compared before to a lioness and her whelps, are here
likened to a vine and its branches.
1. Thy mother, the Jewish nation, is like a vine in thy blood, which, laid at the root,
is said to contribute to its fertility; planted by the waters, enjoying the greatest
advantages and privileges; she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many
waters, grew rich and populous; and she had strong rods for the sceptres of them
that bear rule, many princes sprung from her, whose dignity was great; or the royal
family was numerous, either of Josiah or Zedekiah, to whom it may be referred; and
her stature was exalted among the thick branches, the nation of the Jews was
eminent and distinguished; and appeared in her height with the multitude of her
branches, particularly in the glorious days of David and Solomon, when they were
the admiration of the nations around them. But,
2. This vine was plucked up in fury. Having long provoked God by their sins, and
Zedekiah by his rebellion filling up the measure of their iniquities, the country was
utterly laid waste by the Chaldean army; the strong rods broken, withered, burnt;
the king, princes, magistrates, slain or made captives. And now she is planted in the
wilderness, in a dry and thirty ground, carried to Babylon, where they suffered
hard servitude: or this respects the remnant left in Judaea, which by the ravages of
the Chaldean army had been turned into a desert. And fire is gone out of a rod of
her branches: the rod is Zedekiah, and his rebellion the fire which hath devoured
her fruit, the people perishing by the famine, pestilence, and sword, during the siege
of Jerusalem; so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule, Zedekiah being
the last king of the house of David, till the Messiah came. This is a lamentation and
shall be for a lamentation: the past desolations were grievous; but, instead of coming
to an end, succeeding generations would have fresh cause to bemoan their miseries.
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ELLICOTT, " (14) Fire is gone out of a rod of her branches.—The rods, as shown
in Ezekiel 19:11, are the royal sceptres of her kings. It was by the sin and folly of
these kings, together with the sins and follies of the whole people, that judgment was
drawn down upon them. Many of them did their full share of the evil work; but a
“rod” is here spoken of in the singular, with especial reference to the last king,
Zedekiah, who finally brought on the utter ruin of both himself and his people.
This is . . . and shall be.—It is a lamentation now in the half accomplished
desolation; it shall remain for a lamentation when all shall be fulfilled.
TRAPP. "Ezekiel 19:14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, [which] hath
devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod [to be] a sceptre to rule. This [is] a
lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
Ver. 14. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches,] i.e., Zedekiah, by his perjury
and rebellion, hath ruined all, set all on a light fire.
So that she hath no strong rod, &c.] None to speak of till Shiloh come. Rulers indeed
they had after this and governors, [Haggai 2:21] but no kings of their own nation.
This is a lamentation.] See on Ezekiel 19:1.
And shall be for a lamentation.] Jerusalem plangitur et plangetur. The nation of the
Jews shall never want matter for mourning.
POOLE, "Verse 14
This verse gives you account of the immediate cause of this hasty, furious, total
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pulling up of this vine.
And fire, of rebellion, will be kindled by a rod of her branches, Zedekiah, who is of
the blood royal, made king by Nebuchadnezzar, and who swore allegiance to him.
Hath devoured her fruit; brought the land, city, king’s palaces, and God’s temple to
utter desolation. She hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule; the regal dignity is
ceased, and shall no more rise, you shall never have a crowned head to rule you
more.
This is a lamentation; this I have told you is the subject of my mournful thoughts.
And shall be for a lamentation; my the execution of these things which shall be
much more terrible, shall make you lament at sight of them, and at remembrance of
them, as long as you live.
PETT, "Verse 14
‘This is a lamentation, and will be for a lamentation.’
A lamentation is a suitable ending to chapters 12-19. They have depicted the failure
of Israel-Judah to respond to God’s goodness and gracious love. And now all that
remains is lamentation, a dirge for their failure and the failure of their kings in
whom such hopes had rested.
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Ezekiel 19 commentary

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Ezekiel 19 commentary