Ezekiel 19:10
Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
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; 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, &c.''
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.