And thou, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
The chapter before this one dealt with the people and the state of the soul. Now the prophet must take up a funeral song for their rulers, and it asks how the line of David — the line that carried God's promise — ended in a pit and in exile.
One writer sets this chapter beside the one before it. The grief moves from the people to their rulers:
Ezekiel 19 is a lamentation for the princes. The chapter before it showed the people's state — the soul's condition in all.
The song mourns more than one defeat. It mourns the end of a royal line:
The call for a "lamentation for the princes of Israel" in Ezekiel 19 gives us a picture of Jehoiakim brought into subjection (2 Kings 24:1), and then of Jehoiachin carried away captive. This ended the royal power of the house of David, which no longer had "a sceptre to rule" (Ezek. 19:14).
The song opens with a question about the mother. The answer names the kingdom itself, and the company she kept:
The lamentation is over the princes of Israel; it is the kingdom that is before us. The question is: "What was your mother?" The answer is, "A lioness; she lay down among lions; she raised her cubs among the young lions." She is a kingdom among the kingdoms of the earth. Her ties to them make her offspring like their offspring, and reproduce the Gentile character in them.
Scripture has a true Lion, and the contrast shows what Israel had become:
There is, truly, a Lion of the tribe of Judah; it is a title of Christ Himself. The book of Revelation shows us Christ in this way. Yet when the one who sees the vision looks for this Lion, he sees the Lamb… But the lion spoken of here is a very different one. Israel was nothing now but a Gentile power, with the lawlessness and selfish spirit that belongs to man in nature.
Commentators name the cub that learned to catch prey and ended up in Egypt. One of them draws out the family tragedy in a line:
This was the end of Jehoahaz, or Shallum, the son of Josiah — an unrighteous son of a righteous father. He died in Egypt, where Pharaoh Necho had carried him as a prisoner.
Another writer notes how Jehoahaz got the throne, and how little Scripture says about his sin:
The people made him king. It was their own choice, not God's appointment… Ezekiel 19:1-4 compares him to "a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men." This is the only hint we are given about the character of his sin… He was probably guilty of deeds of violence.
Commentators differ over which king verses 5-9 picture. One writer says the name hardly matters:
We hardly know whether this is Jehoiachin, or Zedekiah who replaced him. It really makes no difference. Either way, he is only another lion's cub like the first; and since the character is the same, the result must be the same too.
The lament is not a protest against Babylon. It justifies what happened, because a throne that preys on its own people has lost its reason to exist:
The rule of the line of David could not justify its existence. Even God's promise would not do that unless the rule had the marks of true rule — and it did not… What would people do with a man-eating lion? The pit and the hooks were the only right treatment for such a beast.
Were the nations that conquered Judah any better? One writer faces that objection:
It may be said, of course, that none of these Gentiles was any better. The answer is plain: Israel, with all her privileges and her knowledge of God, should have been better. God would not let her claim to know Him dishonour Him while she carried the full character of the pagan nations.
The chapter ends where it began, in grief. The grief is not softened because the sentence was right:
The kingdom had gone — and with it every hope that could rest on man in himself. It had gone under the righteous judgment of God. Yet who can hold back from mourning the ruin? "This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation."
- Command. God tells Ezekiel to sing a funeral song for Israel's princes. The mourning moves from the people in chapter 18 to their rulers here.
- Mother. The opening question traces the trouble to its source. A kingdom that lay down among the lions of the nations raised cubs with the nations' character.
- Cubs. The first cub is Jehoahaz, taken to Egypt. Commentators differ over the second. The point is that the character repeated, so the result repeated.
- Verdict. God's promise alone could not hold up a throne that devoured men. The pit and the hooks were the fitting end for a man-eating lion.
- Lament. The sentence was just, and the sorrow was real. God's people still grieve over ruin they brought on themselves.
and say, What was thy mother? A lioness she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps in the midst of the young lions.
This chapter is a funeral song over the rulers of Israel, and it opens by asking about their mother. The answer is a picture: a lioness lying down among lions and raising her cubs there. The rest of the chapter shows what those cubs became.
This is a song of mourning, not a sermon. The chapter before it looked at the state of the people. One writer marks the change in a single line.
Ezekiel 19 is a lamentation for the princes, just as the chapter before it showed the state of the people — the condition of the soul in all of them.
The verse does not answer with a woman's name. It answers with a character. The mother stands for the kingdom itself, and the company she keeps explains her children.
The lamentation is over the princes of Israel. It is the kingdom that is before us, and the question asked is, "What was your mother?" The answer is, "A lioness! Among lions she crouched; in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs." She is a kingdom among the kingdoms of the earth. Her place among them makes her offspring like their offspring, and reproduces in them the character of the Gentile nations.
The chapter draws the same mother a second time, as a vine. The two pictures belong together.
Two pictures of Israel stand side by side, with Jerusalem and her king standing for Israel. Each picture is meant to throw light on the other. At first they do not seem to fit together, and that makes the link hard to see; but that mismatch is the very point being pressed. Jerusalem lying as a lioness among lions is the secret of her present broken-down condition as God's vine.
A cub raised among lions hunts like a lion. The next verses show the first cub doing just that, and the lesson is blunt: a promise from God does not excuse a throne that behaves this way.
Indeed, Israel was nothing now but a Gentile power, with the lawlessness and selfish spirit that belongs to man in nature. Her offspring show this: "She brought up one of her cubs. It became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men." The statement is as decisive as it is short. Surely this is not God's picture of the "Ruler among men"… The rule of David's line could not justify its own existence. Not even God's promise could justify it, unless that rule carried the marks of true rule — and it did not.
The song is not vague poetry. The first cub had a name, a father, and a grave.
"The nations heard about him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt." (Verse 4) Such was the end of Jehoahaz, also called Shallum, the son of Josiah — an unrighteous son of a righteous father, who died in Egypt, where Pharaoh-Necho had taken him as a prisoner.
What did his evil actually look like? The lion picture is what we have to go on.
Ezekiel 19:1-4 compares him to "a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men." This is the only hint we are given about the character of his sin.
There is one more Lion in this family line, and He is nothing like these cubs. The title belongs to Christ Himself.
There is a real Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is a title of Christ Himself, and He will rise up in this character to put down all enemies at last by one decisive stroke. The book of Revelation shows us Christ in this way, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Yet when the one who sees that vision looks for the Lion, he sees the Lamb… The rod of iron, to use another figure, is in His hand; but it is the Shepherd's rod all the same. Judgment is not only on behalf of righteousness, but it is the fruit of love itself.
- Mother — the mother is not a woman but the kingdom itself, a lioness lying down among the kingdoms of the earth.
- Nursery — cubs raised among lions grow up to act like lions. Where the mother lay down explains all that follows.
- Cub — the first lion is Jehoahaz, and this song holds the only hint of what his sin looked like.
- Cage — a throne without the marks of true rule cannot stand on a promise alone. The nations caught him in their pit and took him to Egypt.
- Lion — the true Lion of the tribe of Judah is also the Lamb. His iron rod is a Shepherd's rod, and His judgment grows out of love.
And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
God tells Ezekiel to sing a funeral song over the royal house of Judah. The song opens with a picture: a lioness and her cubs. Verse 3 follows one cub as he grows up. It names two things about him: what he learned and what he ate. Those two things are the whole charge against a king.
Commentators identify this first young lion as Jehoahaz, the son of good king Josiah.
This was the end of Jehoahaz, or Shallum, the son of Josiah. He was an unrighteous son of a righteous father. He died in Egypt, where Pharaoh Necho had carried him as a prisoner.
Two details stand out: how he got the throne, and how he used it.
He was made king by popular choice: it was what the crowd wanted, not God's appointment... Ezekiel 19:1-4 compares him to "a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men." This is the only hint we have about the nature of his sin. Josephus says he was "an ungodly man, and impure in the way he lived." He was probably guilty of acts of violence.
The cub did not invent his appetite. Verse 2 has already placed the mother among lions, and that setting explains the son.
The lamentation is over the princes of Israel; it is the kingdom that is before us. She is a kingdom among the kingdoms of the earth. Her relation to them makes her offspring like their offspring, and reproduces in them the Gentile characters.
Once Judah lay down among the nations, her kings grew up with their instincts.
The verse does not accuse him of idolatry or of breaking a particular law. It describes a skill he acquired and a diet he developed — and that is enough.
Israel was nothing now but a Gentile power, with the lawlessness and selfish spirit that belongs to man by nature. Her offspring show this: "She brought up one of her cubs; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men." The statement is as decisive as it is short. This is certainly not God's picture of the "Ruler among men." It is not David's picture in his final song either. We can see that David understood this when he admitted that his house was "not so with God."
A king exists to protect people. This one fed on them. The same writer says God's promise to David could not shelter a rule like that: "even God's promise would not do this unless the rule had the marks of true rule, which it had not." So the pit and the hooks follow in verse 4. As he puts it: "What would people do with a man-eating lion? The pit and the hooks were the only right treatment for such an animal."
The lion image is not itself a condemnation. It belongs first to Christ, and the lion in this song is a very different one.
There is, truly, a Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is a title of Christ Himself. He will arise in this character to put down all enemies at last with one decisive blow. The book of Revelation shows us Christ in this way, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. When the seer looks to see this Lion, however, he sees the Lamb. These things are not incompatible or contradictory in Him. The Lamb is His true and inner character... The rod of iron, to use another figure, is in His hand; but it is the Shepherd's rod none the less. Judgment is not only on behalf of righteousness, but it is the fruit of love itself.
Jehoahaz was a lion who devoured men. Christ is the Lion who came as the Lamb, and the two are not in conflict in Him.
Verse 3 is not a one-off. The chapter repeats the pattern with a second cub. It is unclear whether that cub is Jehoiachin or Zedekiah, and Grant treats the question as unimportant: "In any case, it is only another lion's cub, like the first; and since the character is the same, the result must be the same too."
- Mother. Judah lay down among the lion-kingdoms of the earth, so her sons grew up like the nations around her.
- Cub. The young lion is Jehoahaz, an unrighteous son of a righteous father. This short picture is the only hint we have about his sin.
- Appetite. He learned to catch prey and devoured men. That is the opposite of a ruler, and the short statement settles the case.
- Verdict. God's promise to David could not protect a rule that had none of the marks of true rule, so the pit and the hooks followed.
- Contrast. The real Lion of Judah is also the Lamb; His rod of iron is a Shepherd's rod, and His judgment is the fruit of love.
And the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt.
Ezekiel 19 is a funeral song for Israel's rulers. Its first young lion learns to kill, falls into a trap, and dies in Egypt — so how did a king of David's line end like this?
Commentators identify the first young lion with a specific king.
Such was the end of Jehoahaz, or Shallum, son of Josiah — an unrighteous son of a righteous father, who died in Egypt where Pharaoh Necho carried him prisoner.
Another writer asks how he got the throne, and what God made of that.
He was made king by popular choice: it was the preference of the crowd, not the appointment of God... His name is left out of the list of our Lord's ancestors in Matthew 1... Necho made his half-brother Eliakim king in place of Josiah his father, which may imply that God did not recognize Jehoahaz, the people's choice, as being in a true sense the successor.
Scripture says little about what this king did wrong. One writer reads the clue in the song itself, and adds a line from the historian Josephus.
Ezekiel 19:1-4 compares him to "a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men." This is the only hint we are given about the character of his sin. Josephus says of him that he was "a godless man, and impure in the way he lived." He was probably guilty of deeds of violence.
The capture was not bad luck. One writer sees the punishment as fitting the animal described.
So it directly follows that "he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt." This is the fate of Jehoahaz; his history is generalised for us to think about. What would people do with a man-eating lion? The pit and the hooks were the only right treatment for such.
The same writer adds that God's promise alone could not prop up this throne: "even God's promise would not do this unless the rule had the marks of true rule — and it did not."
His name carried a meaning, and one writer draws out how the meaning turned back on him.
"And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt." He never returned from Egypt. Jehoahaz (the name means "Jehovah-seized") had seized the throne that was not his by right. In turn Necho, God's instrument, seized him and carried him to a land of exile, to find a grave far from the tombs of his fathers.
Another writer sees Necho paying the son back for the father: "Pharaoh Necho avenges himself on him for the opposition of Josiah."
Egypt was not the ordinary exile that later kings suffered. Jeremiah's words about him point to something harsher.
About Shallum we read in Jeremiah 22:10-12: "Weep not for him who is dead, nor grieve for him, but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land." The one who is dead is Josiah; the one who goes away is Shallum. This suggests that something worse than mere deportation was in store for Josiah's worthless successor. Jehoiachin, a few years later, went into an easy captivity, but no such portion awaited Shallum.
The cub came out of a den. One writer looks at the mother in the song, and then at a very different Lion.
The lamentation is over the princes of Israel; it is the kingdom that is before us. The mother is a kingdom among the kingdoms of the earth. That relation makes her offspring like theirs, and reproduces in them the character of the nations. There is, truly, a Lion of the tribe of Judah; it is a title of Christ Himself... When the prophet looks for this Lion, however, he sees the Lamb.
One writer stops at the painful fact that this king came from the best home in Judah.
Josiah had only three sons, and all of them wicked! Yet the father was an unusually godly man, with deep reverence for the Word of God! His public work took him into every corner of the land to root out evil. Is it possible that it led him to neglect his own family? Everyone who feels called to a travelling ministry today should weigh that question carefully.
- Den — the mother is a kingdom among the kingdoms of the earth, so her cubs came out with the character of the nations.
- Cub — Jehoahaz, son of godly Josiah, is the cub that learned to catch prey — the one hint Scripture gives about his sin.
- Pit — a man-eating lion gets the pit and the hooks; that treatment was the right one.
- Egypt — "Jehovah-seized" seized a throne that was not his; Necho seized him in turn, and he died far from his fathers' tombs.
- Lion — the true Lion of Judah is a title of Christ Himself, and when the prophet looked for that Lion, he saw the Lamb.