Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 19

Introduction

Ezekiel 19. Dirge Over the Kings.— From a chapter which has the ring almost of dogmatic theology, we pass to one of pure elegiac poetry, in which Ezekiel deals a death-blow to the vain hopes reposed in the monarchy ( cf. Ezekiel 12:1-15, Ezekiel 17).

Verses 1-9

Ezekiel 19. Dirge Over the Kings.— From a chapter which has the ring almost of dogmatic theology, we pass to one of pure elegiac poetry, in which Ezekiel deals a death-blow to the vain hopes reposed in the monarchy ( cf. Ezekiel 12:1-15, Ezekiel 17).

Ezekiel 19:1-9 . Judah the Lioness.— Mother Judah is compared to a lioness, and the kings are her whelps. Ezekiel 19:1-9 celebrates the sorrowful fate of Jehoahaz ( Ezekiel 19:2-4) and Jehoiachin ( Ezekiel 19:5-9), each of whom was carried into exile after a reign of only three months— Jehoahaz to Egypt in 608, Jehoiachin to Babylon in 597 B.C. The might of Judah and her kings is idealised in this “ lament,” and the fate of the monarchs is described in terms appropriate to the capture of a lion ( Ezekiel 19:4, Ezekiel 8 f.)— dangerous beasts were sometimes trapped in pits. (In Ezekiel 19:4 “ heard of” should be “ clamoured against,” in Ezekiel 19:5 “ waited” practically = waited in vain, but the word is quite uncertain. In Ezekiel 19:7 “ knew” should perhaps be “ ravaged.” ) The melancholy cadence of the last sentence is very fine—

“ That his voice should be heard no more

On the mountains of Israel.”

Verses 10-14

Ezekiel 19:10-14 . Judah the Vine.— The figure changes, as in Genesis 49:8-12, from lion to vine, and the king whose destiny is foreshadowed is this time Zedekiah. Judah is described as a fruitful vine, one of whose mighty branches (Zedekiah) became a royal sceptre ( Ezekiel 19:11). But the vine was violently uprooted, hurled to the ground, withered by the fury of the scorching east wind— a plain allusion to the destruction of Judah by Babylon. It is to be noted, however, that the fire which consumed her issued from one of her own branches— a pointed allusion to the treachery of Zedekiah, at which Ezekiel has already expressed his horror ( Ezekiel 17:19). Thus no more than his predecessors will Zedekiah save the state: he and it will perish.