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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Ezekiel 19 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ezekiel/19.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/ezekiel/19-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > Ezekiel 19</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ezekiel/18.htm" title="Ezekiel 18">◄</a> Ezekiel 19 <a href="../ezekiel/20.htm" title="Ezekiel 20">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-1.htm">Ezekiel 19:1</a></div><div class="verse">Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - The two sections of this chapter - vers. 1-9, 10-14-are respectively two parables of the same type as that of <a href="/ezekiel/2-10.htm">Ezekiel 2:10</a>. 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 <a href="/ezekiel/2-10.htm">Ezekiel 2:10</a>. The whole chapter finds a parallel in Jeremiah's review of Josiah's successors (<a href="/jeremiah/22-10.htm">Jeremiah 22:10-30</a>). It is noticeable that the princes are described as being <span class="cmt_word">of Israel.</span> The LXX. gives the singular, "the prince," and Hitzig and Ewald adopt this reading, applying it to Zedekiah. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-2.htm">Ezekiel 19:2</a></div><div class="verse">And say, What <i>is</i> thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">What is thy mother?</span> etc.; better, with the Vulgate, LXX., and Keil, <span class="accented">Why did thy mother, a lioness, lie down among lionesses?</span> The image may have been suggested by <a href="/genesis/49-9.htm">Genesis 49:9</a> and <a href="/numbers/23-24.htm">Numbers 23:24</a>, or perhaps also by <a href="/nahum/2-11.htm">Nahum 2:11, 12</a>. 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-3.htm">Ezekiel 19:3</a></div><div class="verse">And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - The whelp, as ver. 4 shows, is Jehoahaz, also known as Shallum (<a href="/jeremiah/22-11.htm">Jeremiah 22:11</a>), who "did evil" in the sight of the Lord (<a href="/2_kings/23-32.htm">2 Kings 23:32</a>), 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-4.htm">Ezekiel 19:4</a></div><div class="verse">The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The nations also heard of him,</span> 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. <span class="cmt_word">In chains,</span> etc.; literally, <span class="accented">nose rings</span>, such as were put into the nostrils of brutes or men (<a href="/ezekiel/38-4.htm">Ezekiel 38:4</a>; <a href="/2_kings/19-28.htm">2 Kings 19:28</a>; <a href="/isaiah/37-29.htm">Isaiah 37:29</a>). The mention of Egypt points to the deportation of Jehoahaz by Pharaoh-Necho (<a href="/2_kings/23-34.htm">2 Kings 23:34</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/22-11.htm">Jeremiah 22:11</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-5.htm">Ezekiel 19:5</a></div><div class="verse">Now when she saw that she had waited, <i>and</i> her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, <i>and</i> made him a young lion.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - The second lion whelp is identified by ver. 9 with Jehoiachin. For some reason or other, probably because he, as having "slept with his fathers," was not so conspicuous an instance of retribution, Ezekiel passes over Jehoiakim (B.C. 607-599). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-6.htm">Ezekiel 19:6</a></div><div class="verse">And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, <i>and</i> devoured men.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-7.htm">Ezekiel 19:7</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">He knew their</span> <span class="cmt_word">desolate palaces;</span> literally, <span class="accented">widows</span>; but the word is used figuratively in <a href="/isaiah/13-22.htm">Isaiah 13:22</a>, in the sense of "desolate houses" (comp. <a href="/isaiah/47-8.htm">Isaiah 47:8</a>). So the Vulgate gives <span class="accented">didicit viduas facere</span>; and Keil adopts that meaning here, "he knew, <span class="accented">i</span>.<span class="accented">e</span>. 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 (<span class="accented">i</span>.<span class="accented">e</span>. eyed with satisfaction) his palaces," from which he had ejected their former owners, as his father Jeboiakim had done (<a href="/jeremiah/22-15.htm">Jeremiah 22:15, 16</a>). 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." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-8.htm">Ezekiel 19:8</a></div><div class="verse">Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-9.htm">Ezekiel 19:9</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-10.htm">Ezekiel 19:10</a></div><div class="verse">Thy mother <i>is</i> like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - Another parable comes close upon the heels of the first. <span class="cmt_word">Thy mother;</span> <span class="accented">sc</span>. Judah or Jerusalem, as the mother of Jehoiachin, who is still in Ezekiel's thoughts, and is addressed by him. <span class="cmt_word">In thy blood.</span> (For the comparison of the vine, see <a href="/ezekiel/17-6.htm">Ezekiel 17:6</a>.) 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," <span class="accented">sc</span>. "like thee;" Keil, "in thy repose," <span class="accented">sc</span>. in the period of quiet prosperity. Hitzig boldly adopts a reading which gives, "a vine climbing on the pomegranate;" but (?). The <span class="cmt_word">many waters</span> reproduce the imagery of <a href="/ezekiel/17-5.htm">Ezekiel 17:5</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-11.htm">Ezekiel 19:11</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - The verse describes generally the apparent strength of the kingly line of David. The word for <span class="cmt_word">thick branches</span>, which occurs again in <a href="/ezekiel/31-3.htm">Ezekiel 31:3, 10, 14</a>, is taken by Keil and Furst as meaning "thick clouds," as describing the height to which the tree grew. So the Revised Version (margin). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-12.htm">Ezekiel 19:12</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - The parable, like that of <a href="/ezekiel/17-10.htm">Ezekiel 17:10</a>, 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-13.htm">Ezekiel 19:13</a></div><div class="verse">And now she <i>is</i> planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/ezekiel/19-14.htm">Ezekiel 19:14</a></div><div class="verse">And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, <i>which</i> hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod <i>to be</i> a sceptre to rule. This <i>is</i> a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Fire is gone out.</span> The words are an echo of <a href="/judges/9-15.htm">Judges 9:15</a>. Zedekiah's reign was to work destruction for his people, as that of Abimelech had done. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 by <a href="//biblesoft.com">BibleSoft, inc.</a>, Used by permission<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../ezekiel/18.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Ezekiel 18"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Ezekiel 18" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../ezekiel/20.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Ezekiel 20"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Ezekiel 20" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/ezekiel/19-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><br /><br /></td></tr></table></div></div></div> <div id="bot"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhpar.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></body></html>