Another parable comes close upon the heels of the first. Thy mother; sc. Judah or Jerusalem, as the mother of Jehoiachin, who is still in Ezekiel's thoughts, and is addressed by him. In thy blood. (For the comparison of the vine, see Ezekiel 17:6.
) No satisfactory meaning can be got out of the words, the nearest being "in thy life, thy freshness," the sap of the vine being thought of as its blood; and critics have been driven to conjectural readings or renderings.
The Jewish interpreters, Targum, Rashi, Kimchi, and margin of Revised Version, give, "in thy likeness," sc. "like thee;" Keil, "in thy repose," sc. in the period of quiet prosperity. Hitzig boldly adopts a reading which gives, "a vine climbing on the pomegranate;" but (?
). The many waters reproduce the imagery of Ezekiel 17:5.