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Ezequiel 19

ARC · Chapter 19/48

1E tu levanta uma lamentação sobre os principes d'Israel.

2E dize: Quem foi tua mãe? uma leoa entre leões deitada creou os seus cachorros no meio dos leõesinhos.

3E fez crescer um dos seus cachorrinhos, e veiu a ser leãosinho e aprendeu a apanhar a preza; e devorou os homens,

4E, ouvindo fallar d'elle as nações, foi apanhado na cova d'ellas, e o trouxeram com ganchos á terra do Egypto.

5Vendo pois ella que havia esperado muito, e que a sua expectação era perdida, tomou outro dos seus cachorros, e fez d'elle um leãosinho.

6Este pois, andando continuamente no meio dos leões, veiu a ser leãosinho, e aprendeu a apanhar a preza: e devorou homens.

7E conheceu os seus palacios, e destruiu as suas cidades; e assolou-se a terra, e a sua plenitude, ao ouvir o seu rugido.

8Então se ajuntavam contra elle as gentes das provincias em roda, e estenderam sobre elle a rede, e foi apanhado na cova d'ellas.

9E metteram-n'o em carcere com ganchos, e o levaram ao rei de Babylonia; fizeram-n'o entrar nos logares fortes, para que se não ouvisse mais a sua voz nos montes de Israel.

10Tua mãe era como uma videira na tua quietação, plantada á borda das aguas, fructificando, e foi cheia de ramos, por causa das muitas aguas.

11E tinha varas fortes para sceptros de dominadores, e elevou-se a sua estatura entre os espessos ramos; e foi vista na sua altura com a multidão dos seus ramos.

12Porém foi arrancada com furor, foi abatida até á terra, e o vento oriental seccou o seu fructo; quebraram-se e seccaram-se as suas fortes varas, o fogo as consumiu,

13E agora está plantada no deserto, n'uma terra secca e sedenta.

14E d'uma vara dos seus ramos saiu fogo que consumiu o seu fructo de maneira que n'ella não ha mais vara forte, sceptro para dominar. Esta é a lamentação, e servirá de lamentação.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A poetic lament compares the last kings of Judah to captured lion cubs and to a once-strong vine, now uprooted and withered in the desert.

Explanation

This is formally a 'qinah,' a genre of funeral lament used at burials in ancient Israel, with the characteristic rhythm of uneven verses that sound like sobbing. The 'young lions' likely represent kings Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin, both taken captive (Jehoahaz to Egypt, Jehoiachin to Babylon), while the uprooted vine symbolizes the Davidic dynasty being torn out. The genuine sorrow of the lament shows that God's judgment, even when just, is no cause for joy — it is cause for true mourning, even for the prophet himself who announces it.

Fun facts

  • The literary genre 'qinah' has a specific poetic rhythm in Hebrew (3+2 stressed syllables), the same one used in the book of Lamentations, written around the same time about the fall of Jerusalem.
  • The image of the vine transplanted 'into the wilderness' is a direct contrast to the promise of planting in 'good soil' seen in other chapters, visually reinforcing the idea of exile as uprooting.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezequiel 19:1The lament compares the princes of Israel to lion cubs raised by a lioness — one of them is captured and led away with hooks to Egypt, a historical reference to King Jehoahaz, deported by Egypt after reigning only three months.
  2. Ezequiel 19:2The lament opens by comparing the mother of Israel’s princes to a lioness — an image of strength and royalty used to introduce the story of two of her cubs.
  3. Ezequiel 19:3The first cub grows up to become a hunting lion, beginning to devour — an image of a king who exercises power violently.
  4. Ezequiel 19:4This first lion ends up captured and led away in chains to Egypt — a historical reference to King Jehoahaz, who reigned only briefly and was deported by the Egyptians.
  5. Ezequiel 19:5Seeing that her first son did not meet the expected fate, the lioness invests in another cub — the same attempt to raise a strong king repeats itself.
  6. Ezequiel 19:6The second cub repeats the pattern of the first: it grows, learns to hunt, and also begins to devour, following the same path of violence.
  7. Ezequiel 19:7This second lion causes even more destruction, ravaging cities — his roar alone is enough to spread terror across the land.
  8. Ezequiel 19:8Like the brother before him, this lion also ends up surrounded and captured by a coalition of neighboring nations.
  9. Ezequiel 19:9This second cub is led away captive to Babylon — a reference to King Jehoiachin or Zedekiah, whose fate silences any roar of Israel’s power for a good while.
  10. Ezequiel 19:10The second half of the chapter switches the image to a lush vine that withers under the east wind, until there is no longer “any strong rod to be a sceptre to rule” — the lament ends by saying Judah’s royal line was left with no heir fit to govern.
  11. Ezequiel 19:11The second half of the chapter shifts to the image of a vine: its strong branches represent former rulers of Judah, in a time of apparent strength and height.
  12. Ezequiel 19:12The strong vine is violently torn up, and the dry east wind — a recurring symbol of destruction in the book — finishes drying up what was left of it.
  13. Ezequiel 19:13After being torn up, the vine is replanted in a dry place — the image of exile, far from the fertile land where it once flourished.
  14. Ezequiel 19:14The chapter ends confirming that no branch remained strong enough to become a sceptre — Judah’s royal line was left with no heir fit to govern, and the text formally declares itself a lament.

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