A lamentation for the princes of Israel, under the parable of lion's whelps taken in a pit, 1-9; and for Jerusalem, under the parable of a wasted vine, 10-14.
1 "Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say, 'What is your mother? A lioness. She lay down among lions. She nourished her whelps among young lions.
3 And she brought up one of her whelps. It became a young lion and it learned to catch prey. It devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him. He was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.
5 Now when she saw that she had waited and her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps and made him a young lion.
6 And he went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion and learned to catch prey. He devoured men.
7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities. And the land and its fullness was desolate by the noise of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces and spread their net over him. He was taken in their pit.
9 And they put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into holds, so that his voice should no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother is like a vine in your blood planted by the waters. She was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
11 And she had strong branches for the scepters of those who bore rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.
12 But 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.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness in a dry and thirsty ground.
14 And fire has gone out of a rod of her branches. It has devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong rod to be a scepter to rule.'" [This is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation.]
Matthew Henry Commentary - Ezekiel, Chapter 19[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
The subject matter of this chapter is a lamentation for the princes and people of the Jews, on account of what had already befallen them and what was yet to come (Ezekiel 19:1). The mother of the princes is compared to a lioness, and they to lions, who, one after another, were taken and carried captive (Ezekiel 19:2-9); again, their mother is compared to a vine, and they to branches and rods for sceptres, destroyed by an east wind and consumed by fire (Ezekiel 19:10-14).