✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Ezequiel 19

BLIVRE · Chapter 19/48

1E tu, levanta uma lamentação sobre os príncipes de Israel.

2E dize: Quem foi tua mãe? Uma leoa deitada entre os leões; entre os leõezinhos ela criou seus filhotes.

3E fez crescer um de seus filhotes, que veio a ser um leãozinho; e ele aprendeu a caçar presa, e a devorar homens.

4E as nações ouviram dele; ele foi preso na cova delas, e o trouxeram com ganchos à terra do Egito.

5E quando ela viu que havia esperado [muito] , e que sua esperança era perdida, tomou outro de seus filhotes, e o pôs por leãozinho.

6E ele andou entre os leões; tornou-se um leãozinho, aprendeu a caçar presa, e devorou homens.

7E conheceu suas viúvas, e destruiu suas cidades; e a terra e tudo que ela continha foram devastadas à voz de seu bramido.

8Então foram contra sobre ele as nações das províncias de seu ao redor; estenderam sobre ele sua rede, e ele foi preso na cova delas.

9E o puseram em cárcere com ganchos, e o levaram ao rei da Babilônia; meteram-no em fortalezas, para que sua voz não fosse mais ouvida nos montes de Israel.

10Tua mãe era como uma videira em teu sangue, plantada junto às águas; que frutificava e era cheia de ramos, por causa das muitas águas.

11E ela tinha varas fortes para cetros de senhores; e sua estatura se levantava por encima entre os ramos; e sua altura podia ser vista com a multidão de seus ramos.

12Porém foi arrancada com furor, derrubada na terra, e vento oriental secou seu fruto; suas fortes varas foram quebradas, e se secaram; o fogo as consumiu.

13E agora está plantada no deserto, em terra seca e sedenta.

14E saiu fogo da uma vara de seus ramos, que consumido seu fruto; de modo que nela não há mais vara forte, cetro para senhorear.Esta é a lamentação, e para lamentação servirá.

📖 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.

Chapters

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play