Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 19

Introduction

DIRGE OVER THE PRINCES OF JUDAH (JEHOAHAZ, JEHOIACHIN, AND ZEDEKIAH).

It was Dr. Budde, in 1882 ( Z.A.T.W.), who first definitely established the rhythmical form of this Hebrew elegy. It is very difficult to give a literal translation of it in attractive English. Perhaps the most successful effort of the kind, based upon the results of the latest text criticism, is that of Dr. Skinner in the Expositor’s Bible:

I. JEHOAHAZ.

II. JEHOIACHIN.

How was thy mother a lioness!

Among the lions, 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 the pit he was caught,

And they brought him with hooks

To the land of Egypt (Ezekiel 19:2-4 ).

She took another of her cubs

A young lion she made him,

And he walked in the midst of lions

And he learned to catch prey

And he lurked in his lair

The forests he ravaged,

Till the land was laid waste and its fullness

The nations arrayed themselves against him

From the countries around;

And spread over him their net

And they brought him with hooks

To the King of Babylon;

That his voice might no more be heard

On the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 19:5-9 ).

As Dr. Skinner says, “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 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.”

Nevertheless, it should be thought of as poetry as truly as that which precedes. It describes the mother of the princes (Jerusalem), who was like a vine planted by the riverside. She was fruitful, and her rods (or branches) were strong and her stature was exalted among the clouds; but, alas, she was rooted up and thrown to the earth, where her fruit perished, and the rods which were for scepters became dry and burning brands which devoured even her withered fruit and no rod was left for a scepter! Such a pathetic wail over the departed glory of one’s nation has seldom been written.

This chapter shows that Ezekiel, with all his other accomplishments, was a true poet. It shows also his deep sympathy for the misfortunes of the rulers of his people, even while he mourned their wickedness. The three princes were Jehoahaz, or Shallum, who came to the throne at the age of twenty-three, after the death of his father Josiah at Megiddo, and who was “the idol of his people,” but who only reigned three months and died in Egypt (2 Kings 23:31-35; Jeremiah 22:10-12); Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, who was only eighteen when he ascended the throne for his brief but very popular reign of three months, at the end of which time he was dragged captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:0); and Mattaniah, another son of Josiah, whose name Nebuchadnezzar changed to Zedekiah, and who held his throne as suzerain of the Babylonian king for eleven years, at the end of which time, because of his intriguing with the Egyptian king, he was deposed, Jerusalem being captured, and he himself dragged to the Babylonian capital (2 Kings 25:0; 2 Chronicles 36:0). A vivid illustration of the exact accuracy of this account has recently been furnished by the Babylonian monuments on which a captive king is seen led into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar by a rope attached to a hook, or ring, fastened into his nose. (See also Ezekiel 29:4; Ezekiel 38:4; 2 Kings 19:28; Isaiah 37:29.)

Verbal notes upon the verses may be almost entirely omitted because of the translation and paraphrase previously given.

Verse 7

7. And he knew their desolate palaces, etc. R.V., “knew their palaces” (or, “widows”). With a change of one letter the text becomes “he brake down,” etc. Cornill, by some further alteration, obtains the reading which Dr. Skinner has adopted above. Kautzsch refuses to translate because of the evident corruption of the text.

Verse 10

10. Like a vine in thy blood This phrase is exceptionally corrupt and has been translated “on a pomegranate,” “a vine of Carmel,” “in thy likeness,” “in [the time of] thy rest,” etc. Davidson prefers “in her height.” Orelli and Toy think the best suggestion is that of Calmet, who translates, “as a vine of thy vineyard;” Plumptre, “in thy life, thy freshness.” On the figure of speech used see notes Ezekiel 17:6-10.

Verse 11

11. Rods Perhaps, a strong rod (LXX.).

For Rather, growing up into.

Scepters of them that bare rule Rather, for royal scepters (or, “rulers’ staffs”).

Among the thick branches Rather, high among the clouds, or, as Kautzsch, high up between thick twigs. (Compare Orelli.)

Verse 14

14. A rod of her branches Or, from her rod of branches. The conflagration which devoured Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah was started among her firebrand princes.

Shall be for a lamentation Rather, is become a lamentation (Ezekiel 32:16). This lamentation appears to have been written before Zedekiah’s captivity. It was the prophecy of a calamity which might have been averted by repentance (Ezekiel 18:21; Ezekiel 18:30), but was not averted (Jeremiah 39, 52).