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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 19:10 - 19:14
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Concerning the Mother of Kings
v. 10. Thy mother, that of the royal family and of Israel and Jerusalem in general, is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters, or "planted in peaceful security"; for this was originally Israel's condition. She was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters, in a position where the richest and strongest growth was possible, for Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey, and Israel had the Lord's promise of blessings.
v. 11. And she had strong rods, powerful branches, for the scepters of them that bare rule, assuring all members of the royal race a safe position as long as they adhered to the Word of the Lord; and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, or "to the heavy clouds above," and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches, occupying a mighty position among the nations.
v. 12. But she was plucked up in fury, the prophecy representing the punishment as having been accomplished, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit, the figure, of course, referring to the overthrow of Judah by the power of Babylon; her strong rods were broken and withered, namely, when her best citizens were carried into captivity; the fire consumed them, in the Lord's judgment of condemnation.
v. 13. And now, when the exile has begun, she is planted in the wilderness, in a condition in which Israel would not be able to prosper, in a dry and thirsty ground, far from the blessings of the mother country.
v. 14. And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, literally, "of its boughs," the destruction proceeding from within, which hath devoured her fruit, ruining all the blessings which had been vouchsafed to Israel and Judah by the Lord, so that she hath no strong rod to be a scepter to rule, no more kings of the house of David were now to rule the nation. This is a lamentation, the elegy presenting the conditions as they now produced sorrow in the heart of the prophet, and shall be for a lamentation, namely, by the further fulfillment of the Lord's threats. It is a matter of true wisdom to heed the Lord's warnings in time, lest the proper appreciation of His seriousness come too late.