Tyndale Open Study NotesEzekiel 19

This section includes eight metaphors, each showing from a different angle the certainty of Jerusalem's upcoming judgment. The images are of:

1. a worthless vine (Ezekiel 15);

2. a faithless wife (Ezekiel 16);

3. a vine and two eagles (Ezekiel 17);

4. Sour grapes (Ezekiel 18);

5. a lion and her cubs (Ezekiel 19);

6. a sword (Ezekiel 21);

7. two corrupt sisters (Ezekiel 23); and

8. a cooking pot (Ezekiel 24).

• In the ancient Near East, a funeral song had a special rhythm and style. It usually praised the good qualities of the person who had died. It also compared past glory with the present loss.

  In this chapter, however, the people being mourned were not yet dead. The song does not praise them. Instead, it lists their sins and failures. This funeral song clearly shows that their judgment was certain and explains why it would happen.

• The lion (Ezekiel 19:2–9) and the vine (19:10–14) were common pictures for Israel’s princes and for the royal family of Judah. These images would have been familiar to the people who first heard this message.

• The first picture shows a lioness and one of her cubs, whom she chose as the leader of her group. This cub represents Jehoahaz, who ruled for only three months before Pharaoh Neco took him to Egypt (2 Kings 23:33–34).

• tear his prey … devoured men: The prophet describes Jehoahaz’s short reign in completely negative terms. He presents his rule as evil and harmful.

• In ancient times, hunters often caught lions with a net and a pit. In this passage, that picture is a metaphor for what would happen to Jehoahaz. He would be captured and taken away to Egypt by force.

The second cub acted like the first one, but he was even more violent. He destroyed towns and cities.

This cub may represent Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, or Zedekiah. The text does not clearly say which one.

It is also not clear which towns and cities were destroyed. The prophet may be describing the harmful results of the king’s foolish foreign policy (his decisions about relationships with other nations). These choices brought suffering to the towns and cities of Judah.

The Babylonians captured and killed Jehoiakim in Judah. They exiled Jehoiachin and Ezekiel to Babylon. Zedekiah's rule ended when Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC.

The vine clearly represents Judah, whom the Lord had planted and cared for in the best possible conditions.

Judah’s pride led to its fall. The Lord removed the nation in his anger (compare Ezekiel 17:1–10). He then placed Judah in exile. Exile is life away from the land God had given them. It was like being planted in a dry desert.

The fire that came from the vine’s own branches probably represents Zedekiah. That fire burned up the fruit. The fruit represents the land and the people.

After this destruction, no strong branch remained. There was no branch able to become a ruler’s scepter (a symbol of kingly authority). Zedekiah would not have an immediate successor.