וְאַתָּה שָׂא קִינָה אֶל נְשִׂיאֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

You, Ezekiel, sound a lamentation for the princes of Israel, all the kings of Judah who reigned after Yoshiyahu.

וְאָמַרְתָּ מָה אִמְּךָ לְבִיָּא בֵּין אֲרָיוֹת רָבָצָה בְּתוֹךְ כְּפִרִים רִבְּתָה גוּרֶיהָ

You shall say: How great your mother was, like a lioness! Among lions she lay, among young lions, in the safest and most natural of places, she reared her cubs.

וַתַּעַל אֶחָד מִגֻּרֶיהָ כְּפִיר הָיָה וַיִּלְמַד לִטְרָף־טֶרֶף אָדָם אָכָל

She raised up one of her cubs; he grew up and became a young lion. He learned to maul prey, but instead, he devoured people, something a lion does not generally do unless it is in distress. This young lion is a reference to Yeho’ahaz son of Yoshiyahu, king of Judah, who was appointed king by the people while he was still young and inexperienced. After a very brief period in power, Yeho’ahaz was removed from his position, and the people of Judah were punished, as the king of Egypt was displeased with his behavior.

וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֵלָיו גּוֹיִם בְּשַׁחְתָּם נִתְפָּשׂ וַיְבִאֻהוּ בַחַחִים אֶל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם

The nearby nations heard of him, or assembled against him. The surrounding nations heard about the dangerous lion wandering the region and set out to stop him. He was caught in their pit, which they dug in order to trap him. They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. The lion was trapped and restrained, and led away to Egypt with the type of hooks that are inserted into an animal’s nose. Yeho’ahaz reigned for only three months before the army of Pharaoh Nekho exiled him to Egypt. This Pharaoh failed to accomplish most of his aims on that particular campaign, other than his entry into Jerusalem and the capture and exile of King Yeho’ahaz. Presumably, Yeho’ahaz remained in the Egyptian prison until his death.

וַתֵּרֶא כִּי נוֹחֲלָה אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתָהּ וַתִּקַּח אֶחָד מִגֻּרֶיהָ כְּפִיר שָׂמָתְהוּ

She, the lioness, then saw that she had been frustrated, after she had waited in vain for a very long time, and she eventually realized that her hope that Yeho’ahaz would return had been lost, and she took another one of her cubs, and she made him a young lion. Another of Yoshiyahu’s sons, Yehoyakim, was anointed king instead of Yeho’ahaz.

וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ בְּתוֹךְ־אֲרָיוֹת כְפִיר הָיָה וַיִּלְמַד לִטְרָף־טֶרֶף אָדָם אָכָל

He prowled among lions; he became a young lion. He learned to maul prey, but instead, he devoured men.

וַיֵּדַע אַלְמְנוֹתָיו וְעָרֵיהֶם הֶחֱרִיב וַתֵּשַׁם אֶרֶץ וּמְלֹאָהּ מִקּוֹל שַׁאֲגָתוֹ

He ravished their widows, or he destroyed their castles, and he destroyed their cities through his evil deeds, and the land and everything that was in it became desolate from the sound of his roar. Yehoyakim hastened the destruction by corrupting the land’s character: its sense of justice, morality, and political leadership.

וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלָיו גּוֹיִם סָבִיב מִמְּדִינוֹת וַיִּפְרְשׂוּ עָלָיו רִשְׁתָּם בְּשַׁחְתָּם נִתְפָּשׂ

The nations from the states around joined forces and arrayed against him in order to catch him. They spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit.

וַיִּתְּנֻהוּ בַסּוּגַר בַּחַחִים וַיְבִאֻהוּ אֶל־מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל יְבִאֻהוּ בַּמְּצָדוֹת לְמַעַן לֹא־יִשָּׁמַע קוֹלוֹ עוֹד אֶל הָרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

They put him in a cage with hooks, and they brought him to the king of Babylon, who had ascended at that time to the Land of Israel. They brought him into the fortresses, or traps, so that his voice as ruler of Judah would no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

אִמְּךָ כַגֶּפֶן בְּדָמְךָ עַל־מַיִם שְׁתוּלָה פֹּרִיָּה וַעֲנֵפָה הָיְתָה מִמַּיִם רַבִּים

This lamentation over the kings of Judah expresses sadness, not only for the loss of the kings and their kingdoms, but also for the loss of hope for the once majestic kingdom’s restoration: Your mother country, like you, was like a metaphorical vine, planted by the water; it was fecund and had many branches due to abundant water.

וַיִּהְיוּ־לָהּ מַטּוֹת עֹז אֶל־שִׁבְטֵי מֹשְׁלִים וַתִּגְבַּהּ קוֹמָתוֹ עַל־בֵּין עֲבֹתִים וַיֵּרָא בְגָבְהוֹ בְּרֹב דָּלִיֹּתָיו

It had mighty branches for scepters of rulers, a reference to the line of important leaders in the Judean dynasty, and its stature became lofty beyond the midst of tangled branches. This description is a reference to Yoshiyahu king of Judah, during whose reign the monarchy blossomed. In a manner unusual for a grapevine, it grew upward like a tall tree, and it was visible through its height, through its many tendrils.

וַתֻּתַּשׁ בְּחֵמָה לָאָרֶץ הֻשְׁלָכָה וְרוּחַ הַקָּדִים הוֹבִישׁ פִּרְיָהּ הִתְפָּרְקוּ וְיָבֵשׁוּ מַטֵּה עֻזָּהּ אֵשׁ אֲכָלָתְהוּ

But it, the vine, was uprooted in fury, cast to the ground, and the strong, hot east wind withered its fruit. Its mighty rods were broken and withered; fire consumed it.

וְעַתָּה שְׁתוּלָה בַמִּדְבָּר בְּאֶרֶץ צִיָּה וְצָמָא

Now it, the once fertile vine that was full of branches and planted in abundant water, is planted in the wilderness, in an arid and parched land, without hope.

וַתֵּצֵא אֵשׁ מִמַּטֵּה בַדֶּיהָ פִּרְיָהּ אָכָלָה וְלֹא־הָיָה בָהּ מַטֵּה עֹז שֵׁבֶט לִמְשׁוֹל קִינָה הִיא וַתְּהִי לְקִינָה

Fire emerged from the staff of its branches; it, the fire, consumed its dry fruit, and on it there was no mighty staff, a scepter to rule. The various metaphoric representations of Judah as a lion and a grapevine carry one message: It is a lamentation recited by the prophet for the collapsing kingdom and its impending destruction, and once Ezekiel issued and recorded this lamentation prophetically, it became a lamentation, and it was adopted and recited among the people as an actual lamentation. Ezekiel was unable to add any words of hope or encouragement to his message, and it remains a lamentation.