1 Under the parable of a boiling pot,
15 By the sign of Ezekiel not mourning for the death of his wife,
19 is showed the calamity of the Jews to be beyond all sorrow.
Eze 24:1 Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Eze 24:2 “Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day.
Eze 24:3 And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Put on a pot, set it on, And also pour water into it.
Eze 24:4 Gather pieces of meat in it, Every good piece, The thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice cuts;
Eze 24:5 Take the choice of the flock. Also pile fuel bones under it, Make it boil well, And let the cuts simmer in it.”
Eze 24:6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the bloody city, To the pot whose scum is in it, And whose scum is not gone from it! Bring it out piece by piece, On which no lot has fallen.
Eze 24:7 For her blood is in her midst; She set it on top of a rock; She did not pour it on the ground, To cover it with dust.
Eze 24:8 That it may raise up fury and take vengeance, I have set her blood on top of a rock, That it may not be covered.”
Eze 24:9 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the bloody city! I too will make the pyre great.
Eze 24:10 Heap on the wood, Kindle the fire; Cook the meat well, Mix in the spices, And let the cuts be burned up.
Eze 24:11 “Then set the pot empty on the coals, That it may become hot and its bronze may burn, That its filthiness may be melted in it, That its scum may be consumed.
Eze 24:12 She has grown weary with lies, And her great scum has not gone from her. Let her scum be in the fire!
Eze 24:13 In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.
Eze 24:14 I, the LORD, have spoken it; It shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, Nor will I spare, Nor will I relent; According to your ways And according to your deeds They will judge you,” Says the Lord GOD.’ ”
Ezekiel’s Wife Dies
Eze 24:15 Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Eze 24:16 “Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.
Eze 24:17 Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.”
Eze 24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.
Eze 24:19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”
Eze 24:20 Then I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Eze 24:21 ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Eze 24:22 And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow.
Eze 24:23 Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another.
Eze 24:24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”
Eze 24:25 ‘And you, son of man—will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters:
Eze 24:26 on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears;
Eze 24:27 on that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.’ ”
Eze 24:1 Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
1. Ninth year. Of Jehoiachin’s captivity (see on ch. 1:2), that is, 589/588 b.c. This date is the same as that given in 2 Kings 25:1; Jer. 39:1, 2; 52:4, 5. The day was evidently afterward observed by the Jews as a fast (Zech. 8:19).
Tenth month. January, 588 b.c., by either spring or fall reckoning of the year.
Eze 24:2 “Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day.
2. Write thee the name. The prophet is bidden to write down the particular day on which he delivered his message, and to announce it as that on which Nebuchadnezzar began his attack on Jerusalem. Inasmuch as Babylon was some 500 mi. (800 km.) from Jerusalem, and more than half again as far by road, the news could not have reached him by any human means. When, therefore, the captives afterward received the information, they had, on comparing the dates, convincing proof of the divine source of Ezekiel’s messages.
Eze 24:3 And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Put on a pot, set it on, And also pour water into it.
3. Parable. Heb. mashal (see Vol. III, p. 945). We are not told whether Ezekiel merely spoke the parable or actually performed the symbolical act.
Set on a pot. There seems to be an obvious reference to the imagery of ch. 11:3–7, though with different application.
Eze 24:4 Gather pieces of meat in it, Every good piece, The thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice cuts;
4. The pieces thereof. The Jews themselves. The choice pieces probably designate the upper classes, or the mention of the various pieces may not be for the purpose of designating any particular classes, but only to emphasize that all, even the best, would be involved in the ruin.
Burn. Heb. dur, “to stack in circles.”
Bones. A slight change yields the reading “logs” (cf. v. 10), although bones before the fat is extracted may be used for fuel.
Eze 24:5 Take the choice of the flock. Also pile fuel bones under it, Make it boil well, And let the cuts simmer in it.”
Eze 24:6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the bloody city, To the pot whose scum is in it, And whose scum is not gone from it! Bring it out piece by piece, On which no lot has fallen.
6. Scum. Better, “rust,” as the LXX renders the word. The city itself, represented by the pot, is, as it were, corroded with rust.
Piece by piece. Signifying that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be carried off by death or captivity.
Eze 24:7 For her blood is in her midst; She set it on top of a rock; She did not pour it on the ground, To cover it with dust
7. Upon the top of a rock. Indicating that Jerusalem’s crimes of violence (see chs. 22:12, 13; 23:37; etc.) had been open and unabashed (see Gen. 4:10; Job 16:18; Isa. 26:21).
Eze 24:8 That it may raise up fury and take vengeance, I have set her blood on top of a rock, That it may not be covered.”
Her blood. That is, the blood that would be shed in Jerusalem’s destruction. Her punishment was to be as notorious in the sight of the world as her sin was.
Eze 24:9 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the bloody city! I too will make the pyre great.
Eze 24:10 Heap on the wood, Kindle the fire; Cook the meat well, Mix in the spices, And let the cuts be burned up.
10. Consume. Heb. tamam, literally, “to complete,” “to bring to an end.” The RSV translation “boil well” is interpretative, but probably conveys the intended idea.
Spice. Heb. raqach, a verb form of which is used to designate the mixing of the ingredients of the anointing oil (Ex. 30:33, 35). Its meaning here is uncertain. The LXX renders the clause, “that the broth may be diminished.”
Eze 24:11 “Then set the pot empty on the coals, That it may become hot and its bronze may burn, That its filthiness may be melted in it, That its scum may be consumed.
11. Empty. The city without its inhabitants. The fire must go on till the rust is consumed. The city itself would be destroyed.
Verses 11–14 point to the ineffectiveness of former endeavors to bring about a reformation and set forth the certainty and completeness of the impending judgments.
Eze 24:12 She has grown weary with lies, And her great scum has not gone from her. Let her scum be in the fire!
Eze 24:13 In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.
Eze 24:14 I, the LORD, have spoken it; It shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, Nor will I spare, Nor will I relent; According to your ways And according to your deeds They will judge you,” Says the Lord GOD.’ ”
Eze 24:15 Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
15. Also the word. A new section begins, which is not directly connected with the parable of vs. 1–14.
Eze 24:16 “Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.
16. I take away. Ezekiel is informed that his wife, whom he deeply loves, is about to die. We need not infer from the language used here that her death was the result of a direct stroke by God. His wife may have been ill for some time, and God may have warned him of her approaching death.
By figure God is frequently said to do that which He permits or does not prevent (see on 2 Chron. 18:18). It is Satan who is the author of sin, suffering, and death (see DA 24, 470, 471). However, God delights to take that which the enemy brings upon us to annoy, and make it serve some good end (see Rom. 8:28; DA 471). Here the loss of the desire of Ezekiel’s eyes was used to impress vividly upon the minds of the people the divine message.
Ezekiel’s experience forcibly impresses the lesson that to engage in the service of God does not mean immunity from suffering and calamity. At times it seems that God’s messengers are more fiercely assailed than others not actively engaged in Christian labor.
Many a disaster has struck those who have dedicated their lives to service in some far-flung mission field. Sudden death or sore disease has sometimes fallen upon such dedicated ones. These calamities ought not to be considered as strokes of divine judgment.
They are the result of Satan’s work. The enemy must be allowed a degree of access to souls so that in the end he will not be able to declare that he was not given a fair opportunity. This principle is demonstrated in the history of Job. However, when the enemy afflicts, God delights to make the heavy sorrow work for good, to the purifying of those that remain (see DA 471).
Eze 24:17 Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.”
17. Make no mourning. The customary signs of mourning were to be avoided (see Joshua 7:6; 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 15:30, 32; Isa 20:2; Micah 3:7).
Bread of men. Probably a reference to the funeral meal (see Deut. 26:14; Jer. 16:7; Hosea 9:4).
Eze 24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.
18. So I spake. What the prophet spoke we are not told. He may have shared with his countrymen the tragic news concerning the death of his wife.
Eze 24:19 And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”
19. What these things are. Ezekiel’s strange actions awakened the hoped-for spirit of inquiry.
Eze 24:20 Then I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Eze 24:21 ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.
21. Profane my sanctuary. The sanctuary, the desire of the eyes to the people, was to be defiled and destroyed. The unholy feet of the Gentiles would enter its most sacred precincts, where even the priests might not go.
That which your soul pitieth. Several Hebrew manuscripts read “the desire of your soul.”
Eze 24:22 And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow.
Eze 24:23 Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another.
23. Pine away. Heb. maqaq, literally, “to decay,” “to rot away.”
Eze 24:24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”
24. Ezekiel. This is the only instance, aside from ch. 1:3, where Ezekiel speaks of himself by name. Parallel examples of sacred writers introducing their own names are Isa. 20:3 and Dan. 8:27.
Eze 24:25 ‘And you, son of man—will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters:
Eze 24:26 on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears;
Eze 24:27 on that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.’ ”
27. In that day. Ezekiel is informed that when he hears of the fall of the city (see on ch. 33:21, 22) his tongue is to be loosed (see ch. 3:26, 27).