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Ezekiel 19:8

Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.

Then the nations set against him,.... Or, "gave against him" {y}; that is, their voice, as Kimchi; they called to one another, to gather together against him; they gave their counsel against him; they, joined together, agreed, and combined against him, and disposed their armies, and set them in array against him:

on every side from the provinces; Nebuchadnezzar and his auxiliaries, which consisted of the people of the provinces all around, who were brought together, and placed round about Jerusalem, at the siege of it; particularly the bands of the Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, 2 Kings 24:1;

and spread their net over him; which may be expressive both of the policy, crafty and secret contrivances and designs, of Jehoiakim's enemies; and of their external force and hostile power against him:

he was taken in their pit; which they dug for him, or by the means which they contrived for his ruin, and which they put in execution and effected: the metaphor of a lion is carried on, and the manner of taking one is alluded to, which is commonly in pits, as Pliny {z} says; and the Arabs now dig a pit where lions are observed to enter, and covering it over slightly with reeds, of small branches of trees, they frequently decoy and catch them {a}.


{y} wyle wntyw "et ediderunt vocem"; Vatablus.
{z} "Capere eos ardui erat quondam operis, foveisque maxime". Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 16.
{a} Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 172. Ed. 2.

 

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