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Lament for the princes of Israel The fate of Jerusalem, as shown by the prophet hitherto, is decided and its destruction is inevitable. A funeral song can already be sung for him, and since the sign of the independent existence of the state is independent royal power, this song is offered in the form of a lament over the princes, the kings of Jerusalem. Thus, this chapter is a good conclusion to the section XII-XIX chapters: to this series of extensive discussions about the inevitable destruction of Jerusalem, this artistic and deeply felt lament stands in pleasant contrast. Ezek.19:1. And you raise a cry for the princes of Israel “About the princes of Israel,” that is, as can be seen from what follows, about 2 kings of Judah, in all likelihood – Joahaz and Jehoiachin. Ezekiel calls the kings of Judah, in particular Zedekiah, “princes” everywhere, except 1:2; “Israelite” he calls them here, because after the fall of the northern ten-tribe kingdom, Judah was the only representative of Israel. Greek – units h. τον αρχοντα, probably meaning Zedekiah, to whom the cry was, as it were, addressed. Ezek.19:2. and say: What kind of lioness is your mother? she settled down among the lions, raising her lion cubs among the young lions. “What kind of lioness is your mother?” . Slav.: “like your mother is a lioness.” Heb. lit.: “what is your mother? lioness,” i.e., what could your mother be compared to? - with a lioness. By a mother compared to a lioness, they usually mean the kingdom of Judah or Jerusalem, and the prophet, they think, meant Jacob’s comparison of Judah with a lion cub (Gen. 49.9) and Isa. 29.1. But others by lioness mean the queen, the mother of Jehoahaz and Zedekiah. Hamutal, because under 2 lion cubs st. 3 and 5 can only be understood as two kings of Judah, one of whom must be contemporary with Ezekiel, and the other his brother, and such can only be Jehoahaz and Zedekiah. “The Queen Mother occupied an extremely honorable and influential position at court, as her title of empress already shows (2 Kings 10.13): she occupies a place on the right side of the king (1 Kings 2.19), etc. Correctly understood, this chapter provides, perhaps, a very valuable new key to explaining several dark points in the history of the kingdom of Judah in recent decades. How did it happen that after the death of Josiah, it was not his eldest son Joachim, the son of Zebuddha, who ascended the throne, but Joahaz, 2 years younger? Why did Nebuchadnezzar choose Mattaniah, Zedekiah, from among the Jewish princes to succeed Jeconiah? Was not both the work of the influential and ambitious Hamutali, as Bathsheba acted in her time during the enthronement of Solomon? (1 Kings 1. Krechm.). - “Among the lions,” that is, the surrounding powerful kingdoms, to which Judea, therefore, was not inferior in power. - “Their lion cubs” - kings. Ezek.19:3. And she nursed one of her lion cubs; he became a young lion and learned to catch prey and ate people. "Nursed". Slav.: “rebound”, απεπηδησε, left the mother without needing to feed her. - “One of my lion cubs.” By the first lion cub of the lioness of Judah or the queen of Judah, interpreters unanimously mean Jehoahaz, who was taken captive to Egypt (v. 4) after a three-month reign. - “He became a young lion” - a king. - “Learned to catch prey, ate people.” These words may not contain a characterization or condemnation of the reign of Jehoahaz (although it is condemned in 2 Kings 23.32), but a simple development of the picture being painted. Ezek.19:4. And the nations heard about him; he was caught in their pit, and they took him in chains to the land of Egypt. “I was caught in their pit.” A common way of hunting animals in the East. Slav.: “I was in corruption,” that is, wounded, as in the Vulgate: non absque vulneribus. – “In chains” – lit. “on rings” that were threaded into the nostrils, slav.: “in the bridle”. - “To Egypt”. Of the kings of Judah, only Jehoahaz was taken captive to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23.33). Ezek.19:5. And when, having waited, she saw that her hope was gone, then she took another of her lion cubs and made him a young lion. “She saw that her hope was gone” - the hope that Judah had for the return of Jehoahaz from Egyptian captivity. - “Another of his lion cubs.” According to some, by the second lion cub the prophet means Jeconiah, according to others – Zedekiah. Both were taken captive to Babylon (v. 9); therefore, both can be understood here. Joachim cannot be understood because he died in Judea. Of the two kings Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, the prophet could most likely mean Jehoiachin here, because he was taken into captivity with him and had high hopes for his descendants (Ezek.17.22-24); according to Ezek. 17 ch. Jehoiachin is truly the last king of Israel, while Zedekiah is only a Babylonian vassal. On the other hand, if by the lioness we mean Hamutal, the mother of Jehoahaz, then by the second lion cub we can only mean her other son, Zedekiah; description 9 art. also applies more to Zedekiah. Whether Zedekiah or Jeconiah are meant by the second lion cub, the question arises why Joachim is omitted. The Prophet did not intend to give a complete historical outline, but wanted to point out warning examples to Zedekiah among his predecessors. It is unlikely that the prophet could, in the image of the first lion cub, unite the fate of Josiah (death in the battle of Megiddo) and Jehoahaz (both suffered from Pharaoh), and in the second the fate of Joachim and Jeconiah (suffered from Nebuchadnezzar. Smend): 3b does not go to Josiah. - “And she made him a young lion” - a king. Ezek.19:6. And, having become a young lion, he began to walk among the lions and learned to catch prey, eating people Ezek.19:7. and he desecrated their widows and laid waste their cities; and the earth and all its villages were desolate because of his roaring. The behavior of the second lion cub is described in more detail than the first: the entire 7 tbsp is added. and in 6 “he began to walk among the lions,” that is, he became a king, like others, conducted politics and trade relations; Perhaps this means alliances with neighboring peoples. - “And he defiled their widows.” Not a single ancient translation conveys this expression, which leaves the allegory (as well as the expression: “he devastated cities,” which a lion cannot do). Slav.: “and grazing in his cruelty (θρασει).” Targum: “and destroyed their palaces.” Vulgate: "made widows." - “He devastated their cities,” with violence and injustice, for example. expulsions, confiscations. - “And the land and its villages were desolate.” Oppression of the poor people, farmers. “Her Villages”, slav. more precisely: “its fulfillment,” i.e. inhabitants, livestock and natural wealth. - “From his roar.” Returning to the allegory: the lion disperses all the animals far from itself with its roar. Ezek.19:8. Then the nations from the surrounding regions rose up against him and spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit. “Peoples from the surrounding countries” (lit. “districts”, “satrapies”), which were part of the Chaldean kingdom: but the Syrians can of course be understood. The Ammonites, Moabites, who at that time fought at times (for example, under Joachim) with the kingdom of Judah. - “Your net” is a trap in the hole mentioned in Art. 4ff here. The description of the second lion is generally more detailed, since the events were fresh in memory. Ezek.19:9. And they put him in a cage with chains and took him to the king of Babylon; They took him to the fortress, so that his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. "And they put him in a cage." The cages for lions among the Assyrians, judging by the images, were made of thick wooden beams and were movable. Although Jeconiah voluntarily surrendered, this surrender was forced by the extreme circumstances in which he found himself. “To the fortress” - a dungeon located in a fortified city; intended for the most dangerous prisoners. Jehoiachin was released from prison only by Evilmerodach. - “So that his voice is not heard” - so that he does not cause fear with his roar. - “On the mountains of Israel” is a common name for Palestine in Ezekiel, all the more suitable here since lions huddle there in mountain caves and that we are talking about mountainous Judea. Ezek.19:10. Your mother was like a vine planted by the water; It was fruitful and branchy due to the abundance of water. The comparison that the prophet had hitherto used - of Judah with a lioness, did not allow him to depict the further fate of the lioness of Judah herself, and therefore he changes it to a comparison of ch. XV and XVII – with a vine. - “Yours”, i.e. Zedekiah or Jehoiachin. – “Mother” – Judea (or see explanatory article 2 – Queen Hamutal). - “Like a grapevine.” Slav. also: “and like the color of shipchan” (pomegranate), which is the translation of an extremely obscure Hebrew word that comes after “grapevine” and is simply omitted into Russian. translation: “in your blood” (in your children in the very juice of life?); this word LXX was read with a change in one letter “like the color of a pomegranate.” - “Fruitful and branchy.” An indication of the wealth and success of the kingdom of Judah or the strength and large number of the royal family. Ezek.19:11. And she had strong branches for the scepters of rulers, and her trunk rose high among the thick branches; and it stood out in its height with its many branches. “Strong branches” - outstanding people or entire families, for example, the Davids. - “For the scepters of rulers” - those capable of being kings. Slav. units part: “and there was for him a rod of strength,” meaning, obviously, Zedekiah. - “Her trunk rose high between the thick branches.” Under the trunk, of course, is the then king Zedekiah. - “And she stood out for her height.” Slav.: “and seeing her majesty” - she admired herself. Ezek.19:12. But in anger she was torn out and thrown to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; its strong branches were cut off and withered, and the fire devoured them. Fall of the Kingdom of Judah. - “In anger” - the vinedresser at her barrenness, the reason for which is stated further: “the east wind dried up her fruit.” – Turnover ' υστερον – reverse order of thoughts. – “Thrown to the ground”, as unworthy of the husbandman’s departure – “East wind”, as in Ezek.17.10 (sirocco), the Chaldean army. – “Strong branches” are kings (v. 11); glory more precisely in units. h: “rod of fortress”. “Fire devoured them” - the heat of the east wind; Chaldean War. Ezek.19:13. And now she has been transplanted into the desert, into a dry and thirsty land. Torn out of their fatherland, their natural homeland, the people are transplanted, as it were, into a desert where they cannot prosper. – “The dry and thirsty desert” does not mean fertile Chaldea, but the difficult conditions of captivity. Ezek.19:14. And fire came out of the trunk of its branches, devoured its fruits, and there were no strong branches left on it for the scepter of the ruler. This is a lamentable song, and will remain for lamentation. “And fire came out of the trunk of its branches,” the trunk mentioned in v. 11, that is, Zedekiah (see there). The fire that Zedekiah lit and consumed the entire vine (Judah) was the treacherous policy of this king (in relation to Nebuchadnezzar), who himself brought final destruction to Judah. - “There are no strong branches left on it for the ruler’s scepter.” After Zedekiah there were no national kings in Judah until the coming of the Messiah. The Savior could compare himself to a vine (John 15.1) and not without reference to this chapter of Ezekiel, where the vine of the house of Judah appears to be withered and burnt before His coming. “This is a lamentable song.” Caption for the song. Slav.: “there is a tribe in the parable of lamentation,” i.e., the royal family of David became the subject of an exemplary song of lamentation. Hebrew words corresponding to Russian: “for the scepter of the ruler,” LXX in the 11th century. translated “over the tribe of elders”, and here “tribe into a parable”, since “elder” and “parable” in Hebrew. identical in outline and differ only in pronunciation - “And it will remain for crying.” With these words, the prophet either designates his song for actual use among the people, or expresses the idea that a real lamentable song will entail actual lamentation (glory: “and there will be weeping”) when the prophecy contained in it comes true. You might be interested in: