Lament for the Princes of Israel

¹“And you, sing a lament for the princes of Israel,[#tn Heb “lift up.”]

²and say:

“‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions!

She lay among young lions; she reared her cubs.

³She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.

He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.

⁴The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.

They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

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.

⁶He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion.

He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.

⁷He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities.[#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.; #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.”]

The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.

⁸The nations – the surrounding regions – attacked him.

They threw their net over him; he was caught in their pit.

⁹They put him in a collar with hooks;[#tn Or “They put him in a neck stock with hooks.” The noun סּוּגַר (sugar), translated “collar,” occurs only here in the Bible. L. C. Allen and D. I. Block point out a Babylonian cognate that refers to a device for transporting prisoners of war that held them by their necks (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:597, n. 35; L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284). Based on the Hebrew root, the traditional rendering had been “cage” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).]

they brought him to the king of Babylon;

they brought him to prison

so that his voice would not be heard

any longer on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰“‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by water.[#tc The Hebrew text reads “in your blood,” but most emend to “in your vineyard,” assuming a ב-כ (beth-kaph) confusion. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. Another attractive emendation assumes a faulty word division and yields the reading “like a vine full of tendrils, which/because…”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:607, n. 68.]

It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.

¹¹Its boughs were strong, fit for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds.[#tn The word “fit” does not occur in the Hebrew text.]

It stood out because of its height and its many branches.

¹²But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.

The east wind dried up its fruit;

its strong branches broke off and withered –

a fire consumed them.

¹³Now it is planted in the wilderness,

in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit.[#tn The verse describes the similar situation recorded in Judg 9:20.]

No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’

This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”