Text -- Ezekiel 19:1-7 (NET)

Lament for the Princes of Israel

19:1 “And you, sing a lament for the princes of Israel, 19:2 and say: “‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay among young lions; she reared her cubs. 19:3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion. He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. 19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit. They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 19:5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost. She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. 19:6 He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion. He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. 19:7 He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Eze 19:1

¹ tn Heb “lift up.”

NET Notes: Eze 19:2

¹ 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. Gen 49:9 seems to be the background for Judah being compared to lions.

NET Notes: Eze 19:3

¹ tn Heb “a man.”

NET Notes: Eze 19:4

¹ sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).

NET Notes: Eze 19:5

¹ 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.

NET Notes: Eze 19:7

¹ tc The Hebrew text reads “knew,” but is apparently the result of a ר-ד (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.

² 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.”