Ezekiel 19:1 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

EZEKIEL CHAPTER 19 A lamentation for the princes of Israel, under the parable of lions whelps taken in a pit, Ezekiel 19:1-9; and for Jerusalem, under the parable of a wasted vine, Ezekiel 19:10-14. Moreover, Heb. And. Take up a lamentation; son of man, Ezekiel, declare what a lamentable state the princes of Israel are falling into, propound it by parable. It was usually expressed in verse, as Jeremiah did in his lamentations, and as appears 2 Chronicles 35:25; but the prophet is here directed to a hieroglyphic, as Ezekiel 19:2. The princes of Israel; though they were kings, yet, because subject to Babylon or Egypt, they are, by a diminutive, lessening term, called princes, and these were Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Though they had but the two tribes under them, yet because some of Israel that escaped the captivating power of Shalmaneser were joined with the two tribes, they are called by the name of Israel.