Ezekiel 19

1. Israel. The whole nation. 2 A lioness. The lion was the ensign of Judah: see Gen. xlix. 9.

3 one of her whelps. Jehoahaz; see 2 Kings xxiii. 33. His tyranny is described in the words, “it devoured men.”

4 he was taken in their pit. An image taken from lion-hunting. “Chains”: lit., nose-rings, keeps up the figure.

5 another of her whelps. i.e., Jehoiachin: see 2 Kings xxiv. 6. He succeeded regularly to the throne, Jehoiakim, his predecessor, having been appointed by the king of Babylon, and being counted therefore as a usurper, during whose reign the people “waited.”

6 he went up and down among the lions. Acting like the kings of heathen nations.

9 they brought him into holds. At the date of this prophecy, Jehoiachin was still a prisoner in Babylon.

10. Thy mother. i.e., Jerusalem. The words are addressed to Jehoiachin. “In thy blood,” i.e., in this family, the city was fruitful, like a far-spreading vine.

11 among the thick branches. Rather, as R.V. marg., “among the clouds.”