A Funeral Song for Kings

Ezekiel 19 is a qinah, a funeral lament written in the limping rhythm of Hebrew mourning poetry. God told Ezekiel to take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel while Zedekiah still reigned. Singing a dirge for a living dynasty was itself a prophecy: the house of David as Judah knew it was dying.

The first image is a lioness, recalling Jacob's blessing of Judah as a lion's cub in Genesis 49. She raised a cub who learned to catch the prey, but he was taken in the nations' pit and brought with hooks to Egypt. Many readers identify him with King Jehoahaz. A second cub rose, and the nations spread their net and brought him in a cage to the king of Babylon; many readers identify him with King Jehoiachin. Royal power that should have shepherded the people had become predatory.

The second image is a vine planted by the waters, fruitful and full of branches, with strong rods for the scepters of those who ruled. But it was plucked up in fury, the east wind dried up its fruit, and fire went out from its own branches. That last detail points to Zedekiah, whose rebellion brought about the final ruin. Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. The lament ends with no strong rod to be a scepter, though chapter 17 has already promised a tender twig God himself will plant. In the New Testament, Revelation 5:5 says: Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome.