24 And Ezekiel hath been to you for a type, According to all that he hath done ye do; In its coming in -- ye have known that I `am' the Lord Jehovah.
And thou, take to thee an iron pan, and thou hast made it a wall of iron between thee and the city; and thou hast prepared thy face against it, and it hath been in a siege, yea, thou hast laid siege against it. A sign it `is' to the house of Israel.
And the multitudes crowding together upon him, he began to say, `This generation is evil, a sign it doth seek after, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet, for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of Man be to this generation.
And fallen hath the wounded in your midst, And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah.
And Jehovah saith, `As My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder for Egypt and for Cush,
`But these things I have spoken to you, that when the hour may come, ye may remember them, that I said `them' to you, and these things to you from the beginning I did not say, because I was with you;
`And now I have said `it' to you before it come to pass, that when it may come to pass, ye may believe;
And Jehovah saith unto me: `Again, go, love a woman, loved of a friend, and an adulteress, like the loved of Jehovah, the sons of Israel, and they are turning unto other gods, and are lovers of grape-cakes.' And I buy her to me for fifteen silverlings, and a homer and a letech of barley; and I say unto her, `Many days thou dost remain for Me, thou dost not go a-whoring, nor become any one's; and I also `am' for thee.' For many days remain do the sons of Israel without a king, and there is no prince, and there is no sacrifice, and there is no standing pillar, and there is no ephod and teraphim.
The commencement of Jehovah's speaking by Hosea. And Jehovah saith unto Hosea, `Go, take to thee a woman of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms, for utterly go a-whoring doth the land from after Jehovah.' And he goeth and taketh Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceiveth and beareth to him a son; and Jehovah saith unto him, `Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little, and I have charged the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and have caused to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel; and it hath come to pass in that day that I have broken the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.' And she conceiveth again, and beareth a daughter, and He saith to him, `Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I add no more to pity the house of Israel, for I do utterly take them away; and the house of Judah I pity, and have saved them by Jehovah their God, and do not save them by bow, and by sword, and by battle, by horses, and by horsemen.' And she weaneth Lo-Ruhamah, and conceiveth, and beareth a son; and He saith, `Call his name Lo-Ammi, for ye `are' not My people, and I am not for you;
In thy going to-day from me -- then thou hast found two men by the grave of Rachel, in the border of Benjamin, at Zelzah, and they have said unto thee, The asses have been found which thou hast gone to seek; and lo, thy father hath left the matter of the asses, and hath sorrowed for you, saying, What do I do for my son? `And thou hast passed on thence, and beyond, and hast come in unto the oak of Tabor, and found thee there have three men going up unto God to Beth-El, one bearing three kids, and one bearing three cakes of bread, and one bearing a bottle of wine, and they have asked of thee of welfare, and given to thee two loaves, and thou hast received from their hand. `Afterwards thou dost come unto the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines `is', and it cometh to pass, at thy coming in thither to the city, that thou hast met a band of prophets coming down from the high place, and before them psaltery, and tabret, and pipe, and harp, and they are prophesying; and prospered over thee hath the Spirit of Jehovah, and thou hast prophesied with them, and hast been turned to another man; and it hath been, when these signs come to thee -- do for thyself as thy hand findeth, for God `is' with thee.
And I have given My vengeance on Edom, By the hand of My people Israel, And they have done in Edom, According to My anger, and according to My fury, And they have known My vengeance, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
Therefore, lo, I -- I have stretched out My hand against thee, And have given thee for a portion to nations, And I have cut thee off from the peoples, And caused thee to perish from the lands; I destroy thee, and thou hast known that I `am' Jehovah.
And I have given Rabbah for a habitation of camels, And the sons of Ammon for the crouching of a flock, And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah.
Before their eyes on the shoulder thou dost bear, in the darkness thou dost bring forth, thy face thou dost cover, and thou dost not see the earth, for a type I have given thee to the house of Israel.'
The king doth become a mourner, And a prince putteth on desolation, And the hands of the people of the land are troubled, From their own way I deal with them, And with their own judgments I judge them, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah!'
Lo, they are saying unto me: `Where `is' the word of Jehovah? pray, let it come.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 24
Commentary on Ezekiel 24 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
On the day on which the king of Babylon commenced the siege and blockade of Jerusalem, this event was revealed by God to Ezekiel on the Chaboras (Ezekiel 24:1 and Ezekiel 24:2); and he was commanded to predict to the people through the medium of a parable the fate of the city and its inhabitants (Ezekiel 24:3-14). God then foretold to him the death of his own wife, and commanded him to show no sign of mourning on account of it. His wife died the following evening, and he did as he was commanded. When he was asked by the people the reason of this, he explained to them, that what he was doing was symbolical of the way in which they were to act when Jerusalem fell (Ezekiel 24:15-24). The fall would be announced to the prophet by a fugitive, and then he would no longer remain mute, but would speak to the people again (Ezekiel 24:25-27). - Apart, therefore, from the last three verses, this chapter contains two words of God, the first of which unfolds in a parable the approaching calamities, and the result of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 24:1-14); whilst the second typifies by means of a sign the pain and mourning of Israel, namely, of the exiles at the destruction of the city with its sanctuary and its inhabitants. These two words of God, being connected together by their contents, were addressed to the prophet on the same day, and that, as the introduction (Ezekiel 24:1 and Ezekiel 24:2) expressly observes, the day on which the siege of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon began.
And the word of Jehovah came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying, Ezekiel 24:2. Son of man, write for thyself the name of the day, this same day! The king of Babylon has fallen upon Jerusalem this same day. - The date given, namely, the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year after the carrying away of Jehoiachin (Ezekiel 1:2), or what is the same thing, of the reign of Zedekiah, who was appointed king in his stead, is mentioned in Jeremiah 52:4; Jeremiah 39:1, and 2 Kings 25:1, as the day on which Nebuchadnezzar blockaded the city of Jerusalem by throwing up a rampart; and after the captivity this day was still kept as a fast-day in consequence (Zechariah 8:19). What was thus taking place at Jerusalem was revealed to Ezekiel on the Chaboras the very same day; and he was instructed to announce it to the exiles, “that they and the besieged might learn both from the time and the result, that the destruction of the city was not to be ascribed to chance or to the power of the Babylonians, but to the will of Him who had long ago foretold that, on account of the wickedness of the inhabitants, the city would be burned with fire; and that Ezekiel was a true prophet, because even when in Babylon, which was at so great a distance, he had known and had publicly announced the state of Jerusalem.” The definite character of this prediction cannot be changed into a vaticinium post eventum , either by arbitrary explanations of the words, or by the unfounded hypothesis proposed by Hitzig, that the day was not set down in this definite form till after the event. - Writing the name of the day is equivalent to making a note of the day. The reason for this is given in Ezekiel 24:2 , namely, because Nebuchadnezzar had fallen upon Jerusalem on that very day. סמך signifies to support, hold up (his hand); and hence both here and in Psalms 88:8 the meaning to press violently upon anything. The rendering “to draw near,” which has been forced upon the word from the Syriac (Ges., Winer, and others), cannot be sustained.
Parable of the Pot with the Boiling Pieces
Ezekiel 24:3. And relate a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Set on the pot, set on and also pour water into it. Ezekiel 24:4. Gather its pieces of flesh into it, all the good pieces, haunch and shoulder, fill it with choice bones. Ezekiel 24:5. Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood underneath for the bones; make it boil well, also cook its bones therein. Ezekiel 24:6. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe! O city of murders! O pot in which is rust, and whose rust doth not depart from it; piece by piece fetch it out, the lot hath not fallen upon it. Ezekiel 24:7. For her blood is in the midst of her; she hath placed it upon the naked rock; she hath not poured it upon the ground, that they might cover it with dust. Ezekiel 24:8. To bring up fury, to take vengeance, I have made her blood come upon the naked rock, that it might not be covered. Ezekiel 24:9. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the city of murders! I also will make the pile of wood great. Ezekiel 24:10. Heap up the wood, stir the fire, do the flesh thoroughly, make the broth boil, that the bones may also be cooked away. Ezekiel 24:11. And set it empty upon the coals thereof, that its brass may become hot and glowing, that the uncleanness thereof may melt within it, its rust pass away. Ezekiel 24:12. He hath exhausted the pains, and her great rust doth not go from her; into the fire with her rust! Ezekiel 24:13. In thine uncleanness is abomination; because I have cleansed thee, and thou hast not become clean, thou wilt no more become clean from thy uncleanness, till I quiet my fury upon thee. Ezekiel 24:14. I Jehovah have spoken it; it cometh, and I will do it; I will not cease, nor spare, nor let it repent me. According to thy ways, and according to thy deeds, shall they judge thee, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah.