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The Prophets · Old Testament

Ezekiel 19

Ezekiel 19: a lamentation for the princes of Israel, the lioness and the vine

General context

The prophet is told to "take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel." It asks, "What is thy mother? A lioness," who lay among lions and raised her whelps. She brings up one whelp; it becomes a young lion, learns to catch prey and "devoured men." The nations hear of him, take him in their pit and bring him "with chains unto the land of Egypt." When she sees her hope is lost, she takes another whelp and makes him a young lion; he too learns to catch prey and devours men, knows their desolate palaces, lays waste their cities, and the land is desolate "by the noise of his roaring." The nations set against him from the provinces, spread their net, take him in their pit, put him in chains and bring him "to the king of Babylon," into holds, "that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel." The lament changes image: the mother is "like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters," fruitful with many branches, with "strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule," tall among the thick branches. But she is plucked up in fury, cast to the ground, the east wind dries her fruit, her strong rods are broken and burned, and now she is planted "in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground." Fire has gone out of a rod of her branches and devoured her fruit, "so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule." The chapter ends, "This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation."

Cited passages: Ezekiel 19:1, Ezekiel 19:2, Ezekiel 19:3, Ezekiel 19:4, Ezekiel 19:5, Ezekiel 19:7, Ezekiel 19:8, Ezekiel 19:9, Ezekiel 19:10, Ezekiel 19:11, Ezekiel 19:12, Ezekiel 19:13, Ezekiel 19:14

Ezekiel 19 (KJV)

1Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

2And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.

3And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.

4The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.

5Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.

6And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.

7And 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.

8Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.

9And 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.

10Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

11And 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.

12But 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.

13And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

14And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The lament is "for the princes of Israel," plural, and no prince is named. The two whelps are distinguished only by where each ends: the first is taken "unto the land of Egypt," the second "to the king of Babylon." The mother is addressed as "thy mother" and is a lioness in the first image and a vine in the second; the text does not say whom "thy" addresses or what the mother stands for. Egypt and "the king of Babylon" are the only named powers; the captors are otherwise "the nations" and "the provinces." The second whelp is described as devouring men, knowing desolate palaces and laying waste cities, which is stated as his action, not the nations'. The vine image says the mother once had "strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule" and now has "no strong rod to be a sceptre," so the poem's subject is the loss of rulers; the fire that devours her fruit comes "out of a rod of her branches," from within. Unlike chapter 17, this chapter gives no explanation of its figures, and the last verse labels the whole as a lamentation without adding a date or an occasion. The phrase "in thy blood" in 19:10 is printed as it stands and is not explained.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 19:1, Ezekiel 19:4, Ezekiel 19:9, Ezekiel 19:6, Ezekiel 19:7, Ezekiel 19:14, Ezekiel 19:10

Literary context

The chapter is a poem in two panels with one mother. The lion panel is built on repetition: each whelp "became a young lion," "learned to catch the prey," "devoured men," was "taken in their pit," and was carried away in chains, the first to Egypt and the second to Babylon. The second whelp's stanza is longer and louder, adding roaring, palaces and cities, and his capture is described with a net and provinces on every side, so the pattern repeats with the second fall heavier than the first. The vine panel echoes chapters 15 and 17, a vine by waters and the east wind that dries, but here the vine's value is its rods, which are sceptres, and the loss is the loss of rule. The direction of the fire matters: it "is gone out of a rod of her branches," so the ruin comes from the vine's own stock. The poem opens with a question, "What is thy mother?", and closes with a label, and the doubled last line, "This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation," makes the poem its own ongoing use. There is no "Thus saith the Lord God" in this chapter and no recognition formula; it is assigned to the prophet as a song.

Cited passages: Ezekiel 19:3, Ezekiel 19:6, Ezekiel 19:8, Ezekiel 19:12, Ezekiel 19:11, Ezekiel 19:14, Ezekiel 19:2

Key moments

  1. A lamentation for the princes (Ezekiel 19:1). The prophet is told to take up a lament for the princes of Israel.
  2. The first whelp to Egypt (Ezekiel 19:4). The nations take the young lion in their pit and bring him in chains to Egypt.
  3. Her hope was lost (Ezekiel 19:5). The lioness raises another whelp to be a young lion.
  4. The second whelp to Babylon (Ezekiel 19:9). He is put in chains and brought to the king of Babylon so his voice is heard no more.
  5. A vine with strong rods (Ezekiel 19:11). The mother as a vine once had rods fit for sceptres.
  6. Plucked up in fury (Ezekiel 19:12). The vine is cast down, dried by the east wind and burned.
  7. No strong rod to rule (Ezekiel 19:14). Fire from her own branch leaves her with no sceptre, and the poem names itself a lament.

For reflection

The lioness raises a second whelp after the first is taken, and the second is taken too. What does the poem suggest about hope that repeats the same course after it has already failed once?

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