And when she saw that she had waited [and] her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps, [and] made him a young lion.
Ezekiel 19 is a lament for the kings of Judah, with the kingdom pictured as a lioness raising her cubs among lions. By verse 5 the first cub is gone to Egypt, and the mother turns to a second.
One writer reads the second cub as a repeat of the first, and says his name hardly matters.
But Jehoahaz is only one example out of many. We hardly know whether the king spoken of here is Jehoiachin, or Zedekiah who replaced him. It really makes no difference. Either way, he is just another lion's cub, like the one before him; and since the character is the same, the result must be the same too.
Commentators differ over the identity of the second cub. Some take verses 5 to 9 as a lament for the king carried to Babylon.
The princes are Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin. King Jehoahaz was carried away captive into Egypt (2 Kings 23:33); verses 1-4 lament his fate. King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon, and verses 5-9 lament him.
Others read verses 5 to 7 as a picture of Jehoiakim.
Jehoiakim had a thoroughly unpleasant character — treacherous, vengeful, and bloodthirsty… Ezekiel 19:5-7 pictures his wickedness. He too, like the king deposed before him, became a young lion, learned to catch prey, and devoured men… This passage paints his violence and greed in vivid colours.
The mother in this song is the kingdom itself. One writer shows what her place among the nations did to her young, and then turns to the true Lion of the tribe of Judah.
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 character of the nations. There is, truly, a Lion of the tribe of Judah; it is a title of Christ Himself, and He will arise 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. But when the seer looks to see this Lion, he sees the Lamb. These things do not clash or contradict in Him. The Lamb is His true and inner character.
A rule that feeds on people cannot justify itself. One writer says even God's promise to David does not change that.
This is not God's picture of the ruler among men, surely… even God's promise could not justify this rule, since it did not have the marks of true rule. So it follows at once that the nations heard of him, caught him in their pit, and brought him with hooks into the land of Egypt… What would people do with a man-eating lion? The pit and the hooks were the only right treatment for such an animal.
The second cub fares no better than the first, and the reason given is not bad luck but a forgotten God.
But it went no better for the others, and at the hands of others; for God was forgotten, and evil ways ended in evil… Jehoiachin felt the chains of Nebuchadnezzar, and so did Zedekiah, with greater pain and shame, for his guilt against Jehovah was great and bold. So the prophet could only mourn.
The song is not mourning one reign. Another writer traces the fall of the whole royal house.
The call for a lament over the princes of Israel in Ezekiel 19 pictures the conquest of Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:1), and then the captivity of Jehoiachin. This ended the royal power of the house of David, which was left with no sceptre to rule with (Ezekiel 19:14).
- Waiting — her hope failed, so she raised a second cub just like the first.
- Character — the second cub shares the first cub's character, so he must share his end.
- Company — the mother is a kingdom among the kingdoms of the earth, and her young take on the character of the nations.
- Consequence — rule that devours people cannot justify itself, even with God's promise behind it. The pit and the hooks follow.
- Contrast — against the failed lions of David's line stands the true Lion of the tribe of Judah, whose inner character is the Lamb.
And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
Ezekiel 19 is a funeral song for a royal family that is still on the throne. The prophet laments the princes of Israel as a lioness whose cubs grow into man-eaters, and verse 6 raises a hard question: why does a king from David's line live like a predator among predators?
The chapter follows a study of the people's condition with a study of their rulers.
Ezekiel 19 is a lamentation for the princes, just as the chapter before it showed the people's state — the condition of the soul in them all.
The whole lament traces one downward line: one king brought low, then another carried off.
Commentators differ over which king verse 6 describes. Some name Jehoiakim, and see his greed and cruelty sketched here:
Jehoiakim had a thoroughly unpleasant character — treacherous, vengeful, and bloodthirsty… Ezekiel 19:5-7 pictures his wickedness in figurative language… His violence and greed stand out vividly here.
Others take verses 5-9 to describe Jehoiachin, whom Babylon carried away. One writer leaves the question open, and says why it matters less than it seems:
We hardly know whether this speaks of Jehoiachin, or of Zedekiah who replaced him. It really makes no difference. Either way, it is only another lion's cub, like the first; and since the character is the same, the result must be the same.
The cub roams "among the lions" because that is where his mother lay. The mother in the song is the kingdom itself. The nations around her — the Gentiles — shaped her young.
The lamentation is over the princes of Israel. It is the kingdom that stands before us. The question is asked, "What was your mother?" The answer is, "A lioness; she lay down among lions; she raised her cubs among young lions." She is a kingdom among the kingdoms of the earth. Her relation to them makes her offspring like theirs, and reproduces the Gentile characters in them.
"He learned to catch prey; he devoured men" is a verdict, not a compliment. Power used to consume people disqualifies the one who holds it.
Israel was now nothing but a Gentile power. It had the lawlessness and selfish spirit that belongs to man in nature… The statement is as decisive as it is short. This is surely not God's picture of the "Ruler among men"… The rule of the line of David could not justify its existence. Even God's promise would not justify it unless that rule had the marks of true rule — and it did not.
Of the first cub's capture the same writer asks: "What would people do with a man-eating lion? The pit and the hooks were the only right treatment for such."
The lion image is not itself the problem. There is a true Lion, and the contrast is the point of the whole lament.
There is, truly, a Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is a title of Christ Himself. 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 seer looks to see this Lion, he sees the Lamb. These two things do not clash or contradict each other in Him. The Lamb is His true and inner character… To use another figure, the rod of iron is in His hand. But it is the Shepherd's rod all the same. Judgment is not only for the sake of righteousness; it is the fruit of love itself.
The second cub's career ends exactly like the first — netted, pitted, chained, carried off.
But it went no better for the other kings at the hands of other nations. God was forgotten, and evil ways came to an evil end… Jehoiachin felt the chains of Nebuchadnezzar, and Zedekiah felt them with greater pain and shame, for his guilt was great and bold against the LORD. So the prophet could only mourn.
- Mother. The lioness is the kingdom itself. She lay down "among lions," and her young reproduced the Gentile characters of the nations around her.
- Cub. That company produced a ruler who learned to catch prey and devoured men — "not God's picture of the 'Ruler among men.'"
- Repetition. Commentators differ on whether this cub is Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin or Zedekiah. It "really makes no difference": the same character must bring the same result.
- Verdict. God's promise alone could not hold up a throne that lacked "the marks of true rule." So the net, the pit and the chains followed.
- Contrast. Behind the failed lions stands the true Lion of the tribe of Judah. He appears as the Lamb, and His rod of iron is still the Shepherd's rod.
And he knew their [desolate] palaces, and he laid waste their cities, so that the land was desolate, and all it contained, by the noise of his roaring.
Ezekiel 19 is a funeral song for "the princes of Israel." Verse 7 shows the second of the lioness's cubs at his most violent. Two questions follow: which king is mourned here, and why a royal line God Himself promised ends up hunted like a wild animal.
Commentators differ over which of Judah's last kings this verse describes. One takes verses 5–7 as a portrait of Jehoiakim:
Jehoiakim had a most unpleasant character — treacherous, revengeful, and bloodthirsty… The people had passed him over and chosen his younger half-brother, so he made no effort to ease their burdens; he increased them instead… His violence and greed are pictured vividly here.
Others point to the kings who ended in Babylon's chains:
Jehoiachin felt the chains of Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah felt them with even greater pain and shame, for his guilt against Jehovah was great and bold. So the prophet could only lament.
The first words of the verse are hard to translate. The ESV reads "seized their widows"; the older translation quoted below reads "He knew their desolate palaces." One writer sets out the options, then shows that the sense of the whole is not in doubt:
The first expression is difficult, and there is some question about the text. "He knew their palaces" — more strictly perhaps, "He knew their widows," but it may mean their lonely or widowed places or palaces. Some would read it, "He broke down their palaces," which seems to connect better with what follows. Still, in Scripture we must be careful about taking the simplest reading as the best. The general thought, however, is plain: "He laid waste their cities, and the land was desolate and its fullness" (that is, all that was in it), "because of the noise of his roaring." His voice clearly claimed more than his power could deliver. Yet his power was enough, such as it was, to make a wasteland where there should have been prosperity.
The same writer answers an objection: the nations that toppled Judah were no better than Judah.
In any case, this justifies the Gentile overthrow of David's house, and justifies it completely. It may be said, of course, that these Gentiles were none of them any better. The answer is plain. Israel, with all her privileges and her knowledge of God, should have been better. God could not allow her claim to know Him to dishonour Him, joined as it was with the full character of the nations around her.
So who is the mother in this lament? Not a woman, but a kingdom:
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 children like their children, and reproduces in them the character of the Gentile nations.
Scripture also uses the lion as a title for Christ:
There is, truly, a Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is a title of Christ Himself, and He will arise 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 the vision looks for this 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.
The chapter sets two pictures of one nation side by side, a lioness and a vine. The first explains the collapse of the second:
Two pictures of Israel stand side by side, with Jerusalem and her king standing for Israel. The two pictures are meant to throw light on each other. At first sight they do not seem to fit together, and that mismatch is the very point. Jerusalem as the lioness among lions is the very secret of Jerusalem's present broken-down condition as God's vine.
The roaring did not last. The lament traces the fall of a royal house:
The call for "lamentation for the princes of Israel" in Ezekiel 19 pictures, in allegory, the subduing of Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:1), and then the captivity of Jehoiachin. That ended the royal power of the house of David, which no longer had "a sceptre to rule" (Ezek. 19:14).
- Mother — the lioness is the kingdom itself. Lying down among the nations, she bred rulers who copied their character.
- Cub — verse 7 shows what such a ruler produces: seized widows, ruined cities, and a land appalled at nothing more than noise.
- Roar — his voice was bigger than his power. Even so, that power made a wasteland where there should have been prosperity.
- Vine — the lioness explains the withered vine. Jerusalem's life among the lions is the secret of her broken-down state as God's vine.
- Lamb — the true Lion of Judah is Christ, and He appears as the Lamb. His rod of iron is still a Shepherd's rod, and His judgment is the fruit of love.