1Und das Wort Jehovas geschah zu mir im neunten Jahre, im zehnten Monat, am Zehnten des Monats, also: 2Menschensohn, schreibe dir den Namen des Tages auf, dieses selbigen Tages! An diesem selbigen Tage rückt der König von Babel gegen Jerusalem heran. 3Und rede ein Gleichnis zu dem widerspenstigen Hause und sprich zu ihnen: So spricht der Herr, Jehova: Setze den Topf auf, setze auf, und gieße auch Wasser darein. 4Tue seine Stücke zusammen darein, alle guten Stücke, Lende und Schulter; fülle ihn mit den besten Knochen. 5Nimm das beste Kleinvieh, und auch einen Holzstoß für die Knochen darunter; laß es tüchtig sieden, daß auch seine Knochen darin kochen. - 6Darum spricht der Herr, Jehova, also: Wehe, Stadt der Blutschuld! Topf, an welchem sein Rost ist, und dessen Rost nicht von ihm abgeht! Stück für Stück hole sie heraus; nicht ist über sie das Los gefallen . 7Denn ihr Blut ist in ihrer Mitte: sie hat es auf einen kahlen Felsen getan, sie hat es nicht auf die Erde gegossen, daß man es mit Staub bedecken könnte. 8Um Grimm heraufzuführen, um Rache zu üben, habe ich ihr Blut auf einen kahlen Felsen getan, damit es nicht bedeckt würde. - 9Darum, so spricht der Herr, Jehova: Wehe, Stadt der Blutschuld! Auch ich werde den Holzstoß groß machen. 10Häufe das Holz, zünde das Feuer an, mache das Fleisch gar und lasse die Brühe auskochen, und die Knochen sollen verbrennen! 11Und stelle ihn leer auf seine Kohlen, damit sein Erz heiß und glühend werde, und seine Unreinigkeit in ihm schmelze, sein Rost vergehe. 12Die Bemühungen hat er erschöpft, und sein vieler Rost geht nicht von ihm ab; ins Feuer mit seinem Rost! - 13In deiner Unreinigkeit ist Schandtat. Weil ich dich gereinigt habe und du nicht rein geworden bist, so wirst du von deiner Unreinigkeit nicht mehr rein werden, bis ich meinen Grimm an dir stille. 14Ich, Jehova, habe geredet. Es kommt, und ich werde es tun; ich werde nicht nachlassen und werde kein Mitleid haben und es mich nicht gereuen lassen. Nach deinen Wegen und nach deinen Handlungen werden sie dich richten, spricht der Herr, Jehova. 15Und das Wort Jehovas geschah zu mir also: 16Menschensohn, siehe, ich nehme die Lust deiner Augen von dir weg durch einen Schlag; und du sollst nicht klagen und nicht weinen, und keine Träne soll dir kommen. 17Seufze schweigend, Totenklage stelle nicht an; binde dir deinen Kopfbund um und ziehe deine Schuhe an deine Füße, und deinen Bart sollst du nicht verhüllen und Brot der Leute nicht essen . 18Und ich redete zu dem Volke am Morgen, und am Abend starb mein Weib. Und ich tat am Morgen, wie mir geboten war. 19Da sprach das Volk zu mir: Willst du uns nicht kundtun, was dies uns bedeuten soll, daß du so tust? 20Und ich sprach zu ihnen: Das Wort Jehovas ist zu mir geschehen also: 21Sprich zum Hause Israel: So spricht der Herr, Jehova: Siehe, ich werde mein Heiligtum entweihen, den Stolz eurer Stärke , die Lust eurer Augen und das Verlangen eurer Seele; und eure Söhne und eure Töchter, die ihr zurückgelassen habt, werden durchs Schwert fallen. 22Dann werdet ihr tun, wie ich getan habe: den Bart werdet ihr nicht verhüllen und Brot der Leute nicht essen, 23und eure Kopfbunde werden auf euren Häuptern sein, und eure Schuhe an euren Füßen; ihr werdet nicht klagen und nicht weinen, sondern werdet hinschwinden in euren Missetaten, und seufzen einer gegen den anderen. 24Und so wird euch Hesekiel zu einem Wahrzeichen sein: nach allem, was er getan hat, werdet ihr tun. Wenn es kommt, dann werdet ihr wissen, daß ich der Herr, Jehova, bin. 25Und du, Menschensohn, siehe, an dem Tage, da ich von ihnen wegnehmen werde ihre Stärke , die Freude ihrer Pracht, die Lust ihrer Augen und die Sehnsucht ihrer Seelen, ihre Söhne und ihre Töchter: 26an jenem Tage wird ein Entronnener zu dir kommen, um es deinen Ohren vernehmen zu lassen; 27an jenem Tage wird dein Mund aufgetan werden gegen den Entronnenen, und du wirst reden und nicht mehr verstummen . Und so sollst du ihnen zu einem Wahrzeichen sein; und sie werden wissen, daß ich Jehova bin.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 VISION OF THE BOILING CALDRON, AND OF THE DEATH OF EZEKIEL'S WIFE. (Eze. 24:1-27)
Ezekiel proves his divine mission by announcing the very day, ("this same day") of the beginning of the investment of the city by Nebuchadnezzar; "the ninth year," namely, of Jehoiachin's captivity, "the tenth day of the tenth month"; though he was three hundred miles away from Jerusalem among the captives at the Chebar (
2Kgs 25:1;
Jer 39:1).
2 set himself--laid siege; "lay against."
3 pot--caldron. Alluding to the self-confident proverb used among the people,
Ezek 11:3 (see on
Ezek 11:3), "This city is the caldron and we be the flesh"; your proverb shall prove awfully true, but in a different sense from what you intend. So far from the city proving an iron, caldron-like defense from the fire, it shall be as a caldron set on the fire, and the people as so many pieces of meat subjected to boiling heat. See
Jer 1:13.
4 pieces thereof--those which properly belong to it, as its own.
every good piece . . . choice bones--that is the most distinguished of the people. The "choice bones" in the pot have flesh adhering to them. The bones under the pot (
Ezek 24:5) are those having no flesh and used as fuel, answering to the poorest who suffer first, and are put out of pain sooner than the rich who endure what answers to the slower process of boiling.
5 burn . . . bones--rather, "pile the bones." Literally, "Let there be a round pile of the bones."
therein--literally, "in the midst of it."
6 scum--not ordinary, but poisonous scum, that is, the people's all-pervading wickedness.
bring it out piece by piece--"it," the contents of the pot; its flesh, that is, "I will destroy the people of the city, not all at the same time, but by a series of successive attacks." Not as FAIRBAIRN, "on its every piece let it (the poisonous scum) go forth."
let no lot fall upon it--that is, no lot, such as is sometimes cast, to decide who are to be destroyed and who saved (
2Sam 8:2;
Joel 3:3;
Obad 1:11;
Nah 3:10). In former carryings away of captives, lots were cast to settle who were to go, and who to stay, but now all alike are to be cast out without distinction of rank, age, or sex.
7 upon the top of a rock--or, "the dry, bare, exposed rock," so as to be conspicuous to all. Blood poured on a rock is not so soon absorbed as blood poured on the earth. The law ordered the blood even of a beast or fowl to be "covered with the dust" (
Lev 17:13); but Jerusalem was so shameless as to be at no pains to cover up the blood of innocent men slain in her. Blood, as the consummation of all sin, presupposes every other form of guilt.
8 That it might cause--God purposely let her so shamelessly pour the blood on the bare rock, "that it might" the more loudly and openly cry for vengeance from on high; and that the connection between the guilt and the punishment might be the more palpable. The blood of Abel, though the ground received it, still cries to heaven for vengeance (
Gen 4:10-
Gen 4:11); much more blood shamelessly exposed on the bare rock.
set her blood--She shall be paid back in kind (
Matt 7:2). She openly shed blood, and her blood shall openly be shed.
9 the pile for fire--the hostile materials for the city's destruction.
10 spice it well--that the meat may be the more palatable, that is, I will make the foe delight in its destruction as much as one delights in well-seasoned, savory meat. GROTIUS, needlessly departing from the obvious sense, translates, "Let it be boiled down to a compound."
11 set it empty . . . that . . . brass . . . may burn, . . . that . . . scum . . . may be consumed--Even the consumption of the contents is not enough; the caldron itself which is infected by the poisonous scum must be destroyed, that is, the city itself must be destroyed, not merely the inhabitants, just as the very house infected with leprosy was to be destroyed (
Lev 14:34-
Lev 14:45).
12 herself--rather, "she hath wearied Me out with lies"; or rather, "with vain labors" on My part to purify her without being obliged to have recourse to judgments (compare
Isa 43:24;
Mal 2:17) [MAURER]. However, English Version gives a good sense (compare
Isa 47:13;
Isa 57:10).
13 lewdness--determined, deliberate wickedness; from a Hebrew root, "to purpose."
I have purged thee--that is, I have left nothing untried which would tend towards purging thee, by sending prophets to invite thee to repentance, by giving thee the law with all its promises, privileges, and threats.
thou shalt not be purged . . . any more--that is, by My gracious interpositions; thou shalt be left to thine own course to take its fatal consequences.
14 go back--desist; relax [FAIRBAIRN].
15 Second part of the vision; announcement of the death of Ezekiel's wife, and prohibition of the usual signs of mourning.
16 desire of . . . eyes--his wife: representing the sanctuary (
Ezek 24:21) in which the Jews so much gloried. The energy and subordination of Ezekiel's whole life to his prophetic office is strikingly displayed in this narrative of his wife's death. It is the only memorable event of his personal history which he records, and this only in reference to his soul-absorbing work. His natural tenderness is shown by that graphic touch, "the desire of thine eyes." What amazing subjection, then, of his individual feeling to his prophetic duty is manifested in the simple statement (
Ezek 24:18), "So I spake . . . in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded."
stroke--a sudden visitation. The suddenness of it enhances the self-control of Ezekiel in so entirely merging individual feeling, which must have been especially acute under such trying circumstances, in the higher claims of duty to God.
17 Forbear to cry--or, "Lament in silence"; not forbidding sorrow, but the loud expression of it [GROTIUS].
no mourning--typical of the universality of the ruin of Jerusalem, which would preclude mourning, such as is usual where calamity is but partial. "The dead" is purposely put in the plural, as referring ultimately to the dead who should perish at the taking of Jerusalem; though the singular might have been expected, as Ezekiel's wife was the immediate subject referred to: "make no mourning," such as is usual, "for the dead, and such as shall be hereafter in Jerusalem" (
Jer 16:5-
Jer 16:7).
tire of thine head--thy headdress [FAIRBAIRN]. JEROME explains, "Thou shalt retain the hair which is usually cut in mourning." The fillet, binding the hair about the temples like a chaplet, was laid aside at such times. Uncovering the head was an ordinary sign of mourning in priests; whereas others covered their heads in mourning (
2Sam 15:30). The reason was, the priests had their headdress of fine twined linen given them for ornament, and as a badge of office. The high priest, as having on his head the holy anointing oil, was forbidden in any case to lay aside his headdress. But the priests might do so in the case of the death of the nearest relatives (
Lev 21:2-
Lev 21:3,
Lev 21:10). They then put on inferior attire, sprinkling also on their heads dust and ashes (compare
Lev 10:6-
Lev 10:7).
shoes upon thy feet--whereas mourners went "barefoot" (
2Sam 15:30).
cover not . . . lips--rather, the "upper lip," with the moustache (
Lev 13:45;
Mic 3:7).
bread of men--the bread usually brought to mourners by friends in token of sympathy. So the "cup of consolation" brought (
Jer 16:7). "Of men" means such as is usually furnished by men. So
Isa 8:1, "a man's pen";
Rev 21:17, "the measure of a man."
19 what these things are to us--The people perceive that Ezekiel's strange conduct has a symbolical meaning as to themselves; they ask, "What is that meaning?"
21 excellency of your strength--(compare
Amos 6:8). The object of your pride and confidence (
Jer 7:4,
Jer 7:10,
Jer 7:14).
desire of . . . eyes-- (
Ps 27:4). The antitype to Ezekiel's wife (
Ezek 24:16).
pitieth--loveth, as pity is akin to love: "yearned over."
Profane--an appropriate word. They had profaned the temple with idolatry; God, in just retribution, will profane it with the Chaldean sword, that is, lay it in the dust, as Ezekiel's wife.
sons . . . daughters . . . left--the children left behind in Judea, when the parents were carried away.
22 (
Jer 16:6-
Jer 16:7). So general shall be the calamity, that all ordinary usages of mourning shall be suspended.
23 ye shall not mourn . . . but . . . pine away for your iniquities--The Jews' not mourning was to be not the result of insensibility, any more than Ezekiel's not mourning for his wife was not from want of feeling. They could not in their exile manifest publicly their lamentation, but they would privately "mourn one to another." Their "iniquities" would then be their chief sorrow ("pining away"), as feeling that these were the cause of their sufferings (compare
Lev 26:39;
Lam 3:39). The fullest fulfilment is still future (
Zech 12:10-
Zech 12:14).
24 sign--a typical representative in his own person of what was to befall them (
Isa 20:3).
when this cometh--alluding probably to their taunt, as if God's word spoken by His prophets would never come to pass. "Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now" (
Jer 17:15). When the prophecy is fulfilled, "ye shall know (to your cost) that I am the Lord," who thereby show My power and fulfil My word spoken by My prophet (
John 13:19;
John 14:29).
25 "The day" referred to in these verses is the day of the overthrow of the temple, when the fugitive "escapes." But "that day," in
Ezek 24:27, is the day on which the fugitive brings the sad news to Ezekiel, at the Chebar. In the interval the prophet suspended his prophecies as to the Jews, as was foretold. Afterwards his mouth was "opened," and no more "dumb" (
Ezek 3:26-
Ezek 3:27; compare
Ezek 24:27;
Ezek 33:21-
Ezek 33:22).
If Israel was not spared, much less the heathen utterly corrupt, and having no mixture of truth, such as Israel in its worst state possessed (
1Pet 4:17-18). Their ruin was to be utter: Israel's but temporary (
Jer 46:28). The nations denounced are seven, the perfect number; implying that God's judgments would visit, not merely these, but the whole round of the heathen foes of God. Babylon is excepted, because she is now for the present viewed as the rod of God's retributive justice, a view too much then lost sight of by those who fretted against her universal supremacy.
