to lift · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
lamentation
קִינָ֔הki.Nah
H7015
a dirge (as accompanied by beating the breasts or on in… · noun, common feminine singular absolute
princes
נְשִׂיאֵ֖יne.si.'Ei
H5387
properly · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽלYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezekiel 26:17 And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned c…
Ezekiel 27:2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
2 Kings 23:29-30 In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and h…
2 Kings 23:34 And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz…
2 Kings 24:6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 24:12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: a…
2 Kings 25:5-7 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.
Ezekiel 2:10 And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 19:1-9
Here are, I. Orders given to the prophet to bewail the fall of the royal family, which had long made so great a figure by virtue of a covenant of royalty made with David and his seed, so that the eclipsing and extinguishing of it are justly lamented by all who know what value to put upon the covenant of our God, as we find, after a very large account of that covenant with David (Psa 89:3, Psa 89:20, etc.), a sad lamentation for the decays and desolations of his family (v. 38, 39): But thou hast cast off and abhorred, hast made void the covenant of thy servant and profaned his crown, etc. The kings of Judah are here called princes of Israel; for their glory was diminished and they had become…
Moreover take thou up a lamentation - Declare what is the great subject of sorrow in Israel. Compose a funeral dirge. Show Be melancholy fate of the kings who proceeded from Josiah. The prophet deplores the misfortune of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, under the figure of two lion whelps, which were taken by hunters, and confined in cages. Next he shows the desolation of Jerusalem under Zedekiah, which he compares to a beautiful vine pulled up by the roots, withered, and at last burned. Calmet justly observes, that the style of this song is beautiful, and the allegory well supported throughout.
John Gill on Ezekiel 19:1
Moreover, take thou up a lamentation,.... These words are directed to the Prophet Ezekiel, to compose a doleful ditty, a mournful song, such as was used at funerals; and by it represent the lamentable state of the nation of the Jews and their governors, in order to affect them with it, with what was past, and present, and yet to come:
for the princes of Israel; or, "concerning them" (s); the princes meant are Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, who were kings, though called princes, these words being synonymous; or, if so called by way of diminution, the reason might be, because they were tributary, either to the king of Egypt, or king of Babylon.
(s) "de principibus Israel", Ju…
(Chapter 19, verses 1 onwards) And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say: Why did your mother, a lioness, lie down among lions? In the midst of young lions she raised her cubs. And one of her cubs grew up, he became a lion and learned to catch prey and devour men. The nations heard about him and captured him in their own traps, and they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt. When she saw that she had been frustrated and her hope was lost, she took one of her cubs and made him a lion. He who walked among lions, became a lion. He learned to capture prey and devour men. He learned to make widows and turn their cities into deserts, and the land was laid waste, and its fullness, by the roar of his voice. And nations from all provinces gathered against him and spread their nets over him; he was captured in their wounds. And they put him in a cage, they led him in chains to the king of Babylon, and they sent him to prison so that his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. LXX: And you shall take up a lamentation for the prince of Israel, and you shall say: What was your mother's lioness? She has grown up among lions and has brought up her cubs among lions. And one of her cubs has come up: he has become a lion, and he has learned to catch the prey. He devours people, and the nations have heard of him. He has been trapped in their pits, and they have brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. And when she saw that she was taken captive and her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a lion. And he went about among lions. He became a lion, and learned to seize prey. He devoured men, and fed on their audacity. He brought their cities to desolation, and laid waste to the land and its abundance with the sound of his roaring. Nations from all around set traps for him, and spread their nets over him. He was captured in their corruption, and they put him in a cage. He was brought to the king of Babylon in chains, and they brought him into prison, so that his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. I know that in this place I have read a multitude of explanations, and hindered by such obscurities, that it has not so much revealed as enveloped the reading, while all the writings refer to opposing strengths, and in heavenly Jerusalem describes lions and battles: how one of them is…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Lion · Parable of — Parable of
Parables · Of lions’ cubs — Of lions’ cubs
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Ezekiel 19:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John Calvin on Ezekiel 19:1-4
Ezekiel 19:1-4
1. Moreover take you up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
1. Et tu tolle lamentu [237] super [238] principes Israel,
2. And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
2. Et dices, Quare mater vestra leaena inter leones occubuit? in medio leonum educavit catulos suos.
3. And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
3. Et sustulit unum e catulis suis, leo factus est, et didicit praedari praedam, homines comedit. [239]
4. The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.…
Capture and Exile of the Princes
Eze 19:1. And do thou raise a lamentation for the princes of Israel, Eze 19:2. And say, Why did thy mother, a lioness, lie down among lionesses; bring up her whelps among young lions? Eze 19:3. And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and he learned to take prey; he devoured man. Eze 19:4. And nations heard of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt. Eze 19:5. And when she saw that her hope was exhausted, overthrown, she took one of her whelps, made it a young lion. Eze 19:6. And he walked among lionesses, he became a young lion, and learned to take prey. He devoured man. Eze 19:7. He k…
An ancient Near Eastern funeral song had a distinctive rhythm and style and usually extolled the virtues of the person who had died, contrasting past glory with the current loss. In this case, those being lamented were not yet dead, and the dirge contained a catalogue of their faults. This dirge profoundly communicated the certainty of their fate and the reasons for it. • The lion (19:2-9) and the vine (19:10-14) were familiar images for the princes of Israel, the royal dynasty of Judah.
