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Library > Commentaries > John Gill's Exposition of the Bible > 19 > Ezekiel 19:10
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Ezekiel 19:10

Thy mother [is] like a vine in thy blood
Another simile is here made use of, relating to the same persons; the same that were compared to a lioness are here compared to a vine, as the people of the Jews frequently are, ( Psalms 80:8 ) ( Isaiah 5:1 ) ( 27:3 ) ( Jeremiah 2:21 ) ( Ezekiel 15:2 ) ( 17:6 ) ; the same person is here addressed, the then reigning prince, Zedekiah, whose mother, the Jewish people, from whence he sprung, had been in times past, and still was, like a vine; and especially with respect to his blood, the royal family from, chore he descended: the allusion is to the use of blood laid to the roots of vines, by which they became more fruitful. It may have regard; as Calvin thinks, to the original of the Jewish nation, who, when in their blood, or as soon as they were born, that is, as soon as they became a nation, were at first like a flourishing vine. Some render the words, "in thy likeness"; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; to which the Targum agrees,

``the congregation of Israel, when it did according to the law, was like to a vine''
planted by the waters;
for in those hot countries vines required water, and thrived the better for bring near to them, or for being in watery places; this may denote the many privileges, blessings, laws, and ordinances, which were for the advantage of the Jewish people; both in their civil and ecclesiastical state: she was fruitful and full of branches, by reason of many waters;
grew populous, rich, and wealthy.