Ezekiel · chapter 19 of 48
Updated on
Ezekiel 19 is an elegy over the princes of Israel. It first describes a lioness who raises two cubs: one is brought to Egypt with hooks and the other falls into a pit and is taken to Babylon. Then it presents a fruitful vine by the water, with strong branches, that is plucked up in fury and transplanted into a dry wilderness, where fire comes out from a branch and consumes it. The text concludes that it is a lamentation.
Ezekiel 19 is a short poem, like a funeral song, about the last kings of Judah. After chapter 18, which speaks of personal responsibility, this song mourns what happened to those who were to lead the people. Its images (a lioness and a vine) are poetic and name no names, so interpreters have proposed identifications.
The Lord tells Ezekiel to raise a lamentation over the princes of Israel. The first image is of a lioness who lay down among lions and raised her cubs. One of them became a young lion; he learned to tear prey and devoured men. The nations heard about him, trapped him in their pit and brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
The lioness, seeing that her hope was lost, took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. He prowled among the lions, learned to tear prey and devoured men; he destroyed strongholds and laid waste cities, and the land was appalled at the sound of his roaring. Then the nations around gathered against him, spread their net over him and caught him in their pit. They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon, and put him in strongholds so that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.
The second image is of a vine planted by the waters, fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water. It had strong stems fit for rulers' scepters, and it towered up among the clouds. But it was plucked up in fury and cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit, its strong stem was broken off and withered, and the fire consumed it. Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. Fire has gone out from one of its stems and devoured its fruit, so there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling. The chapter ends by saying that this is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Ezekiel is to raise a lamentation over the princes of Israel. The tone of the book shifts: it is no longer only denunciation but mourning for the kings who did not fulfill their calling.
The nations trap the first cub and bring him with hooks to Egypt. Many interpreters see here Jehoahaz, deported by Pharaoh Neco; the text, however, gives no names.
The second cub is taken in a cage to the king of Babylon so that his voice is heard no more on the mountains of Israel. It is an image of power silenced; some think of Jehoiachin and others of Zedekiah.
Fire comes out of a branch and consumes the vine, which no longer has a strong stem for a scepter. The fall of the royal house appears as an internal fire, and the poem closes with the word lamentation.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: A lamentation over the princes of Israel. — Ezekiel 19:1
Answer: To tear prey and devour men. — Ezekiel 19:3
Answer: To the land of Egypt, with hooks. — Ezekiel 19:4
Answer: To the king of Babylon, in a cage with hooks. — Ezekiel 19:9
Answer: Beside the waters, because of abundant water. — Ezekiel 19:10
Answer: It was plucked up, planted in the wilderness and consumed by fire. — Ezekiel 19:12-14
The kings of Judah had everything needed to guide their people well, yet they ended in captivity. The poem invites us to think about the weight of responsibility on those who lead, whether in the church, the family or society: power misused ends in ruin for all.
It also shows that the Bible makes room for mourning. Ezekiel does not only denounce: he laments. In a small group, it can be valuable to talk about how to weep before God over what has been lost, and to pray for those who lead, that they may be faithful to the Lord.
Ezekiel 19 closes with a lament for the end of the kings of Judah. In chapter 20 the elders again consult Ezekiel, and the Lord recounts the people's long history of rebellion, but also promises restoration.
The text gives no names. Many scholars think the first is Jehoahaz, taken to Egypt by Pharaoh Neco (2 Kings 23), and that the second is Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24) or, for others, Zedekiah. The essential thing is the message: the princes of Judah were captured by the nations.
Probably Jerusalem or the royal house of Judah, in line with the vine of chapters 15 and 17. Its ruin, the fire and the lack of a strong stem for a scepter describe the end of the Davidic monarchy as it was known, which the messianic hope of other passages takes up again.