Ezekiel

Ezekiel 19

14 verses · Major Prophets · Old Testament

1“Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2and say,

‘What was your mother? A lioness. She couched among lions, in the middle of the young lions she nourished her cubs. 3She brought up one of her cubs. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men. 4The nations also heard of him. He was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5“ ‘Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion. 6He went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men. 7He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities. The land was desolate, with its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring. 8Then the nations attacked him on every side from the provinces. They spread their net over him. He was taken in their pit. 9They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into strongholds, so that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.
10“ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters. It was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. 11It had strong branches for the scepters of those who ruled. Their stature was exalted among the thick boughs. They were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches. 12But it was plucked up in fury. It was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were broken off and withered. The fire consumed them. 13Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. 14Fire has gone out of its branches. It has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong branch to be a scepter to rule.’ This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.”

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5 commentators · 44 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17142

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1–9

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…

v. 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…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176314

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

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…

v. 2

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…

v. 3

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…

Adam ClarkeMethodist / Wesleyan-Arminian · 1810–182613

The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.

Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.

v. 1

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…

v. 2

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.

v. 3

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…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–18752

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 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…

v. 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…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187113

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

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…

v. 3

young lion--Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, carried captive from Riblah to Egypt by Pharaoh-necho (Kg2 23:33).

v. 4

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 (Kg2 23:29-30). in their pit--image from the pitfalls used for catching wild beasts (Jer…

World English Bible — Public domain