Ezekiel 19
New English Translation
Lament for the Princes of Israel
19 “And you, sing[a] a lament for the princes of Israel, 2 and say:
“‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions!
She lay among young lions;[b] she reared her cubs.
3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.[c]
4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.
They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.[d]
5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost.
She took another of her cubs[e] and made him a young lion.
6 He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.
7 He broke down[f] their strongholds[g] and devastated their cities.
The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.
8 The nations—the surrounding regions—attacked him.
They threw their net over him; he was caught in their pit.
9 They put him in a collar with hooks;[h]
they brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him to prison[i]
so that his voice would not be heard
any longer on the mountains of Israel.
10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,[j] planted by water.
It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.
11 Its boughs were strong, fit[k] for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds.
It stood out because of its height and its many branches.[l]
12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind[m] dried up its fruit;
its strong branches broke off and withered—
a fire consumed them.
13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.[n]
14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit.[o]
No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’
“This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 19:1 tn Heb “lift up.”
- Ezekiel 19:2 sn Lions probably refer to Judahite royalty and/or nobility. The lioness appears to symbolize the Davidic dynasty, though some see the referent as Hamutal, the wife of Josiah and mother of Jehoahaz and Zedekiah. The background for Judah being compared to lions seems to be Gen 49:9.
- Ezekiel 19:3 tn Heb “a man.”
- Ezekiel 19:4 sn The description applies to King Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).
- Ezekiel 19:5 sn The identity of this second lion is unclear; the referent is probably Jehoiakim or Zedekiah. If the lioness is Hamutal, then Zedekiah is the lion described here.
- Ezekiel 19:7 tc The Hebrew text reads “knew” but is apparently the result of a ד/ר (dalet/resh) confusion. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. However, Allen retains the reading “widows” as the object of the verb, which he understands in the sense of “do harm to,” and translates the line: “He did harm to women by making them widows” (p. 282). The line also appears to be lacking a beat for the meter of the poem.
- Ezekiel 19:7 tc The Hebrew text reads “widows” instead of “strongholds,” apparently due to a confusion of ר (resh) and ל (lamed). L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284) favors the traditional text, understanding “widows” in the sense of “women made widows.” D. I. Block, (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:602) also defends the Hebrew text, arguing that the image is that of a dominant male lion who takes over the pride and by copulating with the females lays claim to his predecessor’s “widows.”
- Ezekiel 19:9 tn Or “They put him in a neck stock with hooks.” The noun סּוּגַר (sugar), translated “collar,” occurs only here in the Bible. L. C. Allen and D. I. Block point out a Babylonian cognate that refers to a device for transporting prisoners of war that held them by their necks (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:597, n. 35; L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284). Based on the Hebrew root, the traditional rendering had been “cage” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Ezekiel 19:9 tc The term in the MT occurs only here and in Eccl 9:12, where it refers to a net for catching fish. The LXX translates this as “prison,” which assumes a confusion of dalet and resh took place in the MT.
- Ezekiel 19:10 tc The Hebrew text reads “in your blood,” but most emend to “in your vineyard,” assuming a ב/כ (beth/kaph) confusion. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. Another attractive emendation assumes a faulty word division and yields the reading “like a vine full of tendrils, which/because…”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:607, n. 68.
- Ezekiel 19:11 tn The word “fit” does not occur in the Hebrew text.
- Ezekiel 19:11 tn Heb “and it was seen by its height and by the abundance of its branches.”
- Ezekiel 19:12 sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.
- Ezekiel 19:13 sn This metaphor depicts the Babylonian exile of the Davidic dynasty.
- Ezekiel 19:14 tn The verse uses language similar to that in Judg 9:20.
Ezekiel 19
English Standard Version
A Lament for the Princes of Israel
19 And you, (A)take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say:
What was your mother? (B)A lioness!
Among lions she crouched;
in the midst of young lions
she reared her cubs.
3 And she brought up one of her cubs;
(C)he became a young lion,
(D)and he learned to catch prey;
he devoured men.
4 The nations heard about him;
(E)he was caught in their pit,
(F)and they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5 When she saw that she waited in vain,
that her hope was lost,
(G)she took another of her cubs
and made him a young lion.
6 He prowled among the lions;
he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
he devoured men,
7 and seized[a] their widows.
He laid waste their cities,
and the land was appalled and all who were in it
at the sound of his roaring.
8 (H)Then the nations set against him
from provinces on every side;
(I)they spread their net over him;
(J)he was taken in their pit.
9 With hooks (K)they put him in a cage[b]
and (L)brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him into custody,
that his voice should no more be heard
on (M)the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was (N)like a vine in a vineyard[c]
planted by the water,
(O)fruitful and full of branches
(P)by reason of abundant water.
11 Its strong stems became
rulers' scepters;
it towered aloft
among the thick boughs;[d]
it was seen in its height
with the mass of its branches.
12 But the vine was plucked up in fury,
cast down to the ground;
(Q)the east wind dried up its fruit;
they were stripped off and withered.
As for its strong stem,
fire consumed it.
13 (R)Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 (S)And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots,
has consumed its fruit,
(T)so that there remains in it no strong stem,
no scepter for ruling.
This is (U)a lamentation and has become a lamentation.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 19:7 Hebrew knew
- Ezekiel 19:9 Or in a wooden collar
- Ezekiel 19:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts in your blood
- Ezekiel 19:11 Or the clouds
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