Ezekiel 24 commentary

EZEKIEL 24 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Jerusalem as a Cooking Pot
1 In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the
tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me:
BARNES, "The prophecies in this chapter were delivered two years and five months
after those of the previous section Eze_20:1. The day mentioned here was the very day
on which Nebuchadnezzar completed his arrangements for the siege, and closed in the
city (marginal references). After the captivity this day was regularly observed as a fast
day Zec_8:19.
CLARKE, "The ninth year - This prophecy was given in the ninth year of
Zedekiah, about Thursday, the thirtieth of January, A.M. 3414; the very day in which the
king of Babylon commenced the siege of Jerusalem.
GILL, "Again, in the ninth year,.... Of Jehoiachin's captivity, from which the dates
of Ezekiel are, and of Zedekiah's reign, which commenced together:
in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month; the month Tebet, which
answers to part of our December, and part of January; so that it was at the latter end of
December when this prophecy was given out; at which time Jerusalem was besieged by
the king of Babylon, even in the winter season:
the word of the Lord came unto me, saying; as follows:
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HENRY, "We have here,
I. The notice God gives to Ezekiel in Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar's laying siege to
Jerusalem, just at the time when he was doing it (Eze_24:2): “Son of man, take notice,
the king of Babylon, who is now abroad with his army, thou knowest not where, set
himself against Jerusalem this same day.” It was many miles, it was many days'
journey, from Jerusalem to Babylon. Perhaps the last intelligence they had from the
army was that the design was upon Rabbath of the children of Ammon and that the
campaign was to be opened with the siege of that city. But God knew, and could tell the
prophet, “This day, at this time, Jerusalem is invested, and the Chaldean army has sat
down before it.” Note, As all times, so all places, even the most remote, are present with
God and under his view. He tells the prophet, that the prophet might tell the people, that
so when it proved to be punctually true, as they would find by the public intelligence in a
little time, it might be a confirmation of the prophet's mission, and they might infer that,
since he was right in his news, he was so in his predictions, for he owed both to the same
correspondence he had with Heaven.
JAMISON, "Eze_24:1-27. Vision of the boiling caldron, and of the death of Ezekiel’s
wife.
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 (2Ki_25:1; Jer_39:1).
K&D, "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 (Eze_24:1 and
Eze_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 (Eze_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 (Eze_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 (Eze_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 (Eze_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 (Eze_24:1 and Eze_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, Eze_24:2. Son of man, write for thyself the name of the day,
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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 (Eze_1:2), or what is the same thing, of the reign of Zedekiah, who was
appointed king in his stead, is mentioned in Jer_52:4; Jer_39:1, and 2Ki_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 (Zec_
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 Eze_24:2, namely, because Nebuchadnezzar had
fallen upon Jerusalem on that very day. ַ‫מ‬ ָ‫ס‬ signifies to support, hold up (his hand);
and hence both here and in Psa_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.
COFFMAN 1-5, "Verse 1
GOD'S LAST MESSAGE BEFORE THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
THE RUSTED CALDRON; AND THE DEATH OF EZEKIEL'S WIFE
There are three connected themes in this chapter: (1) the parable of the rusty
caldron (Ezekiel 24:1-14); the sign of the death of Ezekiel's wife (Ezekiel 24:15-24);
and (3) the prophecy of the end of Ezekiel's dumbness (Ezekiel 24:25-27).[1]
The date of this chapter is January 15,588 B.C., a date confirmed in 2 Kings 25:1,
and in Jeremiah 39:1; 52:4. It is also significant that, in the times of Zechariah, this
very date had been memorialized among the captives, and for ages celebrated as a
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solemn fast-day (Zechariah 8:19).
When Ezekiel wrote these words (yes, they were actually written down on the very
day God's message came, Ezekiel 24:2), he was in Babylon, four hundred miles from
Jerusalem; and there was no way that he could have known the exact day of
Nebuchadnezzar's investment of Jerusalem except by the direct revelation of God.
"It cannot be supposed that such intelligence could have reached him by any human
means. When, therefore, the captives later received news of the beginning of the
siege, they had, upon comparing the dates, an infallible proof of the Divine
inspiration of Ezekiel."[2]
The radical critics have done their best to get rid of the implications of a passage
like this; but as Keil stated it, "The definite character of this prediction cannot be
changed into a "vaticinium post eventum", either by arbitrary explanations of the
words, or by some unfounded hypothesis."[3]
Only an unbeliever, or one who wishes to become an unbeliever, can possibly allow
some evil scholar, whose purpose is clearly that of discrediting the Word of God, to
deny what the sacred text says, merely upon the basis of his arbitrary emendations
of the text, or by his efforts to substitute his own word for the Word of God.
"These prophecies in Ezekiel 24 were delivered two years and five months after
those dated in Ezekiel 20:1 ."[4]
PARABLE OF THE RUSTY CALDRON
Ezekiel 24:1-5
"Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the
word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, write the name of the day, even
of this selfsame day: the king of Babylon drew close unto Jerusalem this selfsame
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day. And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord Jehovah, Set on the caldron, set it on, and also pour water into it: gather
the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it
with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the
bones under the caldron; make it boil well; yea, let the bones thereof be boiled in the
midst of it."
The arrogant unbelief of some alleged scholars never fails to astonish us. May, for
example, stated that, Ezekiel was probably in Babylon when he wrote this, "To be
able to know the very day of the beginning of the siege."[5] Apparently such a
`scholar' never heard of such a thing as 'Divine inspiration.' One may wonder why
he wrote so much about a book in the Bible, the value of which is founded solely
upon its being "inspired of God (1 Peter 1:21)."
Feinberg accurately observed that, "One purpose for this attention to the exact date,
was in order for the nations to have written, tangible proof of the accuracy of
Ezekiel's prophecies."[6]
Analogies clearly visible in this parable: the caldron is the city; the flesh in it is the
people; the immense fire under it is the fire of war; the setting of the caldron on the
fire is the beginning of the siege; the rust in the pot (introduced later) is the inherent
wickedness of the people; the "choice bones (Ezekiel 24:4)" are the bones with meat
attached to them; their being "choice" bones indicates that the nobility and the
landed gentry will also be ruined by the war; the "bones under the caldron (Ezekiel
24:5)" are the large bones used, along with the logs for fuel; the removal of the flesh
from the caldron indicates the destruction of the whole city, rich and poor alike,
high and low, indiscriminately, whether by sword, by pestilence, by famine, or by
deportation; the emptying of the caldron indicated the removal of Jerusalem's
population; the caldron's still being rusted indicated Jerusalem's worthlessness, at
that time, as regarded God's eternal purpose, entailing, of course, the necessity for
its complete destruction; the severe burning of the caldron in intense fire after it was
emptied speaks of the burning and destruction of the city itself and the Temple of
God.
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It would seem, as Jamieson thought, that God's selection of this figure of the boiling
caldron might have been in response to that boastful proverb the people adopted
(Jeremiah 11:3), in which they claimed to be "the flesh" safe in the caldron
(Jerusalem), whereas the captives, by their absence, were out of it altogether.
Ezekiel here revealed to them that, "Your proverb shall prove to be awfully true,
but in a far different sense from what you intended."[7] Judah would not be safe in
the caldron, but cooked and destroyed in it.
ELLICOTT, "(1) In the tenth day of the month.—Jehoiachin’s captivity (by which
all these prophecies are dated) coincided with Zedekiah’s reign. The date here given
is therefore the same as in Jeremiah 39:1; Jeremiah 52:4; 2 Kings 25:1, and was
afterwards observed by the Jews as a fast (Zechariah 8:19). It was doubtless the day
on which the investment of the city was completed.
POOLE, "Verse 1
EZEKIEL CHAPTER 24
By the parable of a boiling pot is showed the destruction of Jerusalem, the bloody
city, Ezekiel 24:1-14. Ezekiel is forbidden to mourn for the death of his wife, Ezekiel
24:15-18, to denote that this calamity of the Jews shall be beyond all expressions of
sorrow, Ezekiel 24:19-24. In that day of affliction the prophet’s mouth shall be
opened to their conviction, Ezekiel 24:25-27.
In the ninth year of the captivity of Jeconiah, and those that were carried away with
him; it falls in also with the year of Zedekiah’s reign, though the prophet, and the
captives now in Babylon, reckon not by this, but by the former.
The tenth month; which answers to part of December and January.
The tenth day; about our 29th of December, when the winter was well over with
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them.
Came unto me; the prophet was now in Babylon many leagues from Jerusalem.
WHEDON, "Verses 1-14
PARABLE OF THE RUSTED POT, 1-14.
Jeremiah had called Jerusalem a “seething pot,” and counseled submission to
Babylon. But the Egyptian party had retorted that even if the city were a caldron it
was a safer place than the Babylonian fires outside. Ezekiel had examined this reply
(Ezekiel 11:3-11), declaring that the prophecy concerning Judah’s captivity must be
fulfilled, and therefore the iron walls could protect none but the dead. Three years
passed, and on the very day (Ezekiel 24:1-2; Jeremiah 39:1; 2 Kings 25:12) in which
Nebuchadnezzar begins his long prophesied siege of the city Ezekiel again takes up
the familiar parable of “the pot” (Ezekiel 24:3). The day of the month is emphasized
because it proves Ezekiel’s prophetic knowledge of what was happening at a
distance. Critics who do not believe in true prophetic foreknowledge are compelled
to say, with Toy, “The date was added later by the prophet.”
PETT, "Introduction
Chapter 24 The Destruction of Jerusalem Comes At Last!
Some of those who had listened to Ezekiel must have thought, as time went by and
nothing happened, that he was being proved to be a false prophet, but then the news
came through that Jerusalem was under siege, and they immediately had to
recognise that his prophecy was possibly coming about. At such news all must have
been suddenly awakened from their scepticism. Perhaps what he was saying really
was from God after all. So they came to hear what he had to say, and he confirmed
that there was indeed no hope for Jerusalem. It was doomed as he had foretold.
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Verse 1-2
The Allegory of the Cauldron.
‘Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the
word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Son of man, write down yourself the name of
the day, even of this selfsame day. The king of Babylon drew close to Jerusalem this
selfsame day.” ’
This day was a momentous day, and Ezekiel was told to write it down so that it
would be remembered. It was the day when the forces of Nebuchadnezzar appeared
before Jerusalem and the long siege was began that would end in its destruction
(Ezekiel 33:21). It was in January 588 BC, in the ninth year of Jehoiachin’s
captivity. Compare for this 2 Kings 25:1; Jeremiah 52:4.
Some cavil at the idea that Ezekiel could have this so clearly revealed to him when
he was so far away, but such telepathic communication is well testified to elsewhere,
and Ezekiel was particularly receptive to such revelations from God. When my
uncle was in the trenches during the first world war my aunt (not his wife, he was
only seventeen) woke the family, my mother among them, to say, ‘Jimmy’s dead’.
And the telegram arrived shortly afterwards to say that he had been blown up that
very night. Something within her had told her the tragic fact. And similar incidents
have certainly been repeated again and again. How much more then could such a
man, full of the Spirit of God, be aware of events happening far away.
When he informed those who came to hear him there would certainly be some
doubt, but eventually messengers would arrive who would confirm the grim news.
Then they knew that this man indeed spoke from God.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 24:1
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In the ninth year. We pass from the date of Ezekiel 20:1 to B.C. 590, and the very
day is identified with that on which the army of Nebuchadnezzar besieged
Jerusalem (Jeremiah 39:1; 2 Kings 25:1-12). To the prophet's vision all that was
passing there was as plain as though he saw it with his own eyes. The siege lasted for
about two years. The punishments threatened in Ezekiel 23:1-49, had at last come
near. We may probably infer that a considerable interval of silence had followed on
the Aholah and Aholibah discourse. Now the time had come to break that silence,
and it was broken, after the prophet's manner, by a parable. In the "rebellious
house" we find, as in Ezekiel 2:3 and elsewhere, primarily Ezekiel's immediate
hearers, secondarily the whole house of Israel as represented by them.
BI 1-14, “Set on a pot.
The boiling cauldron: the doings and doom of a wicked city
I. The sins of any city are an offence to God.
1. Seen by Him. The whole city in its greed for gain, its intemperance, its hollowness,
its lust.
2. Seen by Him with anger. He is a Moral Governor, and has the moral nature that
breaks into the sunlight of a smile on goodness, and gathers into the thunder cloud
of a frown upon wickedness.
II. The sins of any city will ensure its doom.
1. History illustrates this. The cities of the plain, the dynasties of the old world.
2. Prophecy predicts this.
3. The law of causation involves this. The disease of sin naturally works the death of
destruction.
III. The sins of any city concern every individual inhabitant.
1. They bring sorrow on all.
2. They give a mission to all. Hence learn—
(1) Seek to evangelise the entire city to save it.
(2) Seek to convert individuals, that at least they may be saved. (Urijah R.
Thomas.)
The boiling cauldron
1. Those who profess a true religion and possess a bad character defile their creed by
their character. The youth who belongs to an honourable family and lives a vicious
life brings the very name of his family into ill-repute. The man who calls himself a
Christian, and lives an un-Christlike life, defiles the name he bears.
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2. The possession of a correct creed will not preserve a nation or an individual from
moral degeneration unless it has its outcome in a life in accordance with it. The child
who has a Bible given to it by his father may treasure the book carefully and boast of
his possession. But the mere holding of the book will not save him from going down
in the scale of morality. To do this he must translate the law of God into life, and thus
create a new thing in the earth—a holy character which is all his own, and which he
would not inherit from his parent.
3. There are higher claims than those springing from human relationships. The man
who descends into the depths of a coal mine to rescue another who is perishing,
while his wife stands at the pit’s mouth, beseeching him not to venture his life,
recognises this law. So does the citizen soldier who leaves his home and family to
fight for the oppressed, and the doctor who from choice follows the army on
campaign to relieve the sufferings of the wounded. (A London Minister.)
2 “Son of man, record this date, this very date,
because the king of Babylon has laid siege to
Jerusalem this very day.
GILL, "Son of man, write thee the name of the day,.... That is, what day of the
week it was, as well as what day of the month; as whether the first, or second, or third,
&c.: for the Jews had no other names for their days, as we have:
even of this same day; according to Bishop Usher (r), it was the 30th of January, and
the fifth day of the week (Thursday); A.M. 3414, or 590 before Christ. Mr. Whiston (s)
places it at 3413 A.M. or 591 before Christ. The prophet is bid to observe it punctually,
and write it exactly, that there might be no mistake; to set it down in his pocket book; or
it may be in some public register, that it might not only be remembered by him, but
known by the people; that so when they should hear the fact afterwards related, and
exactly agreeing with this prediction, they would acknowledge him to be a true prophet;
since this would be a confirmation of the word of the Lord coming to him:
the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day; or "drew
nigh" (t); brought up his army to it, and laid siege against it, and prepared everything to
carry it on; which he very probably did in person, though he afterwards retired, and left
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the command of his army with his generals; and this was exactly the day before
mentioned; see 2Ki_25:1. The Prophet Ezekiel was now in Chaldea, many miles from
Judea, and yet had this account the very selfsame day, even from the Lord himself, who
is omniscient and omnipresent.
HENRY, " The notice which he orders him to take of it. He must enter it in his book,
memorandum, that in the ninth year of Jehoiachin's captivity (for thence Ezekiel dated,
Eze_1:2, which was also the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, for he began to reign when
Jehoiachin was carried off), in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the king
of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem; and the date here agrees exactly with the date in the
history, 2Ki_25:1. See how God reveals things to his servants the prophets, especially
those things which serve to confirm their word, and so to confirm their own faith. Note,
It is good to keep an exact account of the date of remarkable occurrences, which may
sometimes contribute to the manifesting of God's glory so much the more in them, and
the explaining and confirming of scripture prophecies. Known unto God are all his
works.
ELLICOTT, "(2) Write thee the name.—It is evident that especial attention was to
be called to the exact date, and a note made of it at the time. The words “has set
himself against” would be more accurately rendered has fallen upon. The
supposition that the reference is to some point on his march from which
Nebuchadnezzar advanced to the attack upon Jerusalem, and that tidings of this
were brought to the prophet in the ordinary way, is quite inconsistent with the
whole verse. It is plain that the prophet means to say, with especial emphasis and
distinctness, that he was informed of what was taking place at Jerusalem on the
same day in which it happened.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 24:2 Son of man, write thee the name of the day, [even] of this
same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.
Ver. 2. This same day.] Ezekiel in Mesopotamia is told by God, and telleth others the
very day that Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. [2 Kings 25:1 Jeremiah 39:1;
Jeremiah 52:4] Heathen historians all us of Apollonius Tyanaeus, that in the self-
same day and hour wherein Domitian the emperor was slain at Rome, he got up into
a high place at Ephesus in Asia, and calling together a great multitude of men, he
spake these words, Kαλως Sτεφανε, ειγε Sτεφανε - Well done, Stephen, strike the
murderer home, pay him soundly; thou hast struck him, thou hast wounded him to
the heart, thou hast slain him outright; (a) I commend thee for it. This, if it were so,
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was brought to him by the devil doubtless. Our prophet had a better intelligencer.
POOLE, "Verse 2
Write; set it down, and in such manner, with such witness, that it may be proved.
The name of the day, most punctually, set it down.
The king of Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar, who in person it is like was there at first to
encourage, direct, and settle the siege, though he withdrew from it for his delights
when he perceived it would be a long siege, as on Ezekiel 11:11, the issue whereof he
expected at Antioch on the banks of Orontes.
Set himself against; sat down to besiege.
3 Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to
them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on
and pour water into it.
BARNES, "A pot - Or, the caldron; with reference to Eze_11:3. The prophet
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indicates by the figure utter destruction. The caldron is the city, the fire is the
surrounding army, the flesh and bones are the inhabitants shut in within the walls.
CLARKE, "Set on a pot - The pot was Jerusalem; the flesh, the inhabitants in
general; every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, King Zedekiah and his family; the
bones, the soldiers; and the setting on the pot, the commencement of the siege. The
prophet was then in Mesopotamia; and he was told particularly to mark the day, etc.,
that it might be seen how precisely the spirit of prophecy had shown the very day in
which the siege took place. Under the same image of a boiling pot, Jeremiah had
represented the siege of Jerusalem, Jer_1:13. Ezekiel was a priest; the action of boiling
pots was familiar to him, as these things were much in use in the temple service.
GILL, "And utter a parable to the rebellious house,.... The people of the Jews so
called, not so much on account of their rebellion against the king of Babylon, which
caused him to come against them, as on account of their rebellion against God, and the
breach of his laws; see Eze_2:3. The prophet is bid to represent to them, in a figurative
and emblematic way, the miseries that were coming upon them for their wickedness,
namely, under the parable of a boiling pot:
and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God; speaking in his name, and as coming
from him, and clothed with his authority; that the following parable might not be
thought to be a fancy and chimera of his own: "set on a pot, set it on"; set a pot on the
fire, and do it quickly. This "pot" is the city of Jerusalem, which was to be brought into
great distress and ruin; not a cauldron of brass, wherein the inhabitants should be as
safe as if they had walls of brass about them, as they vainly boasted, Eze_11:3, but a
seething pot, such an one as Jeremiah saw, to which, it may be, reference is here had,
Jer_1:13, in which the people should be destroyed:
and also pour water into it; which, as it is some time a boiling, may denote the
length of the siege of the city, which held two years; and of the troubles and miseries
attending it; and of the greatness of them, which were as intolerable as boiling water.
The Targum is,
"prophesy that armies shall come against this city; and also there shall be given unto it
length of time to receive the siege.''
JAMISON, "pot — caldron. Alluding to the self-confident proverb used among the
people, Eze_11:3 (see on Eze_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.
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K&D 3-5, "Parable of the Pot with the Boiling Pieces
Eze_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. Eze_24:4. Gather
its pieces of flesh into it, all the good pieces, haunch and shoulder, fill it with choice
bones. Eze_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. Eze_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. Eze_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. Eze_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. Eze_24:9. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the city of
murders! I also will make the pile of wood great. Eze_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. Eze_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.
Eze_24:12. He hath exhausted the pains, and her great rust doth not go from her; into
the fire with her rust! Eze_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. Eze_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.
The contents of these verses are called ‫ל‬ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫,מ‬ a proverb or parable; and Ezekiel is to
communicate them to the refractory generation. It follows from this that the ensuing act,
which the prophet is commanded to perform, is not to be regarded as a symbolical act
which he really carried out, but that the act forms the substance of the mâshâl, in other
words, belongs to the parable itself. Consequently the interpretation of the parable in vv.
10ff. is clothed in the form of a thing actually done. The pot with the pieces of flesh and
the bones, which are to be boiled in it and boiled away, represents Jerusalem with its
inhabitants. The fire, with which they are boiled, is the fire of war, and the setting of the
pot upon the fire is the commencement of the siege, by which the population of the city
is to be boiled away like the flesh and bones in a pot. ‫ת‬ ַ‫פ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ is used, as in 2Ki_4:38, to
signify the setting of a pot by or upon the fire. '‫ֹף‬‫ס‬ֱ‫א‬ ‫:וגו‬ put in its pieces all together.
ָ‫יה‬ ֶ‫ח‬ ָ‫ת‬ְ‫,נ‬ its pieces of flesh, i.e., the pieces belonging to the cooking-pot. These are defined
still more minutely as the best of the pieces of flesh, and of these the thigh (haunch) and
shoulder are mentioned as the most important pieces, to which the choicest of the bones
are to be added. This is rendered still more emphatic by the further instruction to take
the choice of the flock in addition to these. The choicest pieces of flesh and the pieces of
bone denote the strongest and ablest portion of the population of the city. To boil these
pieces away, more especially the bones, a large fire is requisite. This is indicated by the
words, “and also a pile of wood underneath for the bones.” ‫דּוּר‬ in Eze_24:5, for which
‫ה‬ ָ‫דוּר‬ ְ‫מ‬ is substituted in Eze_24:9, signifies a pile of wood, and occurs in this sense in
Isa_30:33, from ‫,דּוּר‬ to lay round, to arrange, pile up. ‫דּוּר‬ cannot mean a heap of
bones, on account of the article, but simply a pile of wood for the (previously mentioned)
bones, namely, for the purpose of boiling them away. If we pay attention to the article,
we shall see that the supposition that Ezekiel was to place a heap of bones under the pot,
14

and the alteration proposed by Böttcher, Ewald, and Hitzig of ‫ים‬ ִ‫מ‬ ָ‫ֲצ‬‫ע‬ ָ‫ה‬ into `ee‫ים‬ ִ‫צ‬ֵ‫ע‬ ‫ים‬ ִ‫,צ‬
are alike untenable. Even if ‫דּוּר‬ in itself does not mean a pile of wood, but simply strues,
an irregular heap, the fact that it is wood which is piled up is apparent enough from the
context. If ‫ים‬ ִ‫מ‬ ָ‫ֲצ‬‫ע‬ ָ‫ה‬ had grown out of ‫ים‬ ִ‫צ‬ֵ‫ע‬ through a corruption of the text, under the
influence of the preceding ‫,עצמים‬ it would not have had an article prefixed. Hitzig also
proposes to alter ָ‫יה‬ ֶ‫ח‬ ָ‫ת‬ ְ‫ר‬ into ָ‫יה‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ָ‫ת‬ְ‫,נ‬ though without any necessity. The fact that ‫ים‬ ִ‫ח‬ ָ‫ת‬ ְ‫ר‬
does not occur again proves nothing at all. The noun is added to the verb to intensify its
force, and is plurale tant. in the sense of boiling. ‫לוּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ַם־בּ‬‫גּ‬ ‫'וגו‬ is dependent upon the
previous clause ‫ַם‬‫גּ‬ taking the place of the copulative ‫.ו‬ ‫ל‬ַ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫,בּ‬ to be cooked, thoroughly
done, see the comm. on Exo_12:9.
COKE, "Ezekiel 24:3. Set on a pot— The pot signifies Jerusalem, the flesh and
pieces the citizens, and the fire and water the calamities which they were to suffer.
When the subject required secrecy, the apologue was gradually changed by faint
and far-fetched allusions into a parable, on set purpose to throw obscurity over the
information. We find innumerable instances of this mode of speech in scripture, and
this of the pot was one. In this manner was the parable employed both among the
Orientals and Greeks; and thus the Jews understood it, as appears by the complaint
of this prophet, chap. Ezekiel 20:49 and by the denunciation of our Lord himself,
Luke 8:9 and thus that great master of Grecian eloquence, Demetrius Phalereus,
explains it. "The word is used, says he, as a covering and disguise to the discourse."
Should it be objected, that the image employed by our prophet is low, we should
recollect that he was likewise a priest; that he borrowed it from the sacred rites, by
no means suspecting that what had a relation to the holy usages of the temple could
ever be esteemed disgraceful or low. See Div. Leg. vol. 3: and Bishop Lowth's tenth
Prelection.
ELLICOTT, " (3) Utter a parable.—What follows (Ezekiel 24:3-14) was not a
symbolical action, but was simply a parable spoken to the people, although the
language is just that which would describe action.
Set on a pot.—Rather, the cauldron, the word being the same as in Ezekiel 11:3, and
preceded by the definite article referring to that passage. Urgency is indicated by
the repetition of the command “set on.” The people in Ezekiel 11:3 had called their
city the cauldron; so let it be, the Divine word now says, and set that city upon the
15

fire of the armies of my judgment, and gather into it for destruction the people who
have boasted of it as their security.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 24:3 And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord GOD Set on a pot, set [it] on, and also pour water into it:
Ver. 3. Set on a pot.] Deus cum propheta loquitur tanquam cum coquo: anything to
make them sensible of their danger, and the destruction of their city now fully
determined. This pot is Jerusalem, and a lively representation of hell, saith A
Lapide; (a) the pouring of water into it, a long siege; the flesh, the citizens; the fat,
the rich ones, lauti et lascivi; the bones, the stoutest and best warriors, &c. These
scurrilous Jews had jeered at Jeremiah’s caldron or pot; [Jeremiah 1:13 Ezekiel
11:3] now they are cast into the pot, and their jeer driven back down their very
throats.
POOLE, " Utter a parable; in somewhat a dark, yet apt similitude, or in an
allegory, declare what they should know and consider.
Rebellious house: see Ezekiel 2:3,6. Set on a pot; set upon the fire a pot, or caldron.
Set it on; do it quickly, be sure to do it: this pot is Jerusalem.
Pour water into it; fill it with water; for as the pot full of water on the fire till the
water be thoroughly heated, so shall Jerusalem be filled with the judgments of God.
PETT, "Verses 3-5
“And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord
Yahweh, set on the cauldron, set it on, and also pour water into it. Gather its pieces
16

into it, even every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice
bones. Take the choice of the flock, and pile also the bones under it. Make it boil
well. Yes, let its bones be seethed in the midst of it.’ ”
The idea of the cauldron has already been used by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 11:1-13).
(Compare Jeremiah 1:13). There we learned that the city of Jerusalem was the
cauldron and its people the flesh within.
So the setting on of the cauldron with the stew being cooked within it was his way of
indicating to his hearers that the final events were taking place. All the ‘choice’
people were gathered into it and the pot had begun to boil.
Note the continued use of ‘rebellious house’ for Ezekiel’s hearers. It was not only
Jerusalem that was in rebellion against God but almost the whole house of Israel. If
they did not hear and repent they would share the fate of Jerusalem.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 24:3, Ezekiel 24:4
Set on a pot, etc. The words contain an obvious reference to the imagery of Ezekiel
11:3-7. The people had used that imagery either in the spirit of a false security or in
the recklessness of despair. It is now the prophet's work to remind them that the
interpretation which he gave to their own comparison had proved to be the true one.
The cauldron is the city, the fire is the invading army, the metal of the cauldron does
not protect them. The pieces, the choice bones, were the princes and chief men of the
people.
17

4
Put into it the pieces of meat,
all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder.
Fill it with the best of these bones;
BARNES, "The pieces thereof - Or, that belong to it; i. e., the pieces which are
designed for the caldron, and belong to it as the inhabitants belong to the city. The
choice pieces are the choice members of the community Eze_11:3.
GILL, "Gather the pieces thereof into it,.... fire being made, and the pot set on,
and water poured into it, the next thing is, to put in the pieces that are to be boiled; and
these are to be gathered; meaning the people of the land, that were to be gathered from
the several parts of it, for their security, as they thought; but the event proved it was for
their ruin: even
every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder; the princes and gentry, the great
and the mighty, the rich and wealthy of the people; who, upon the invasion, got together
in Jerusalem, to secure their persons and substance:
fill it with the choice bones; or with those pieces that have the choice bones, that are
full of marrow; the strongest among the people; the soldiers, or such as were fit for war;
the best of their militia, brought hither to defend the city; but, in fact, to be slain, as they
were. The Targum is,
"gather the princes thereof into the midst of her, every terrible man and warrior; fill her
with the army of the people.''
HENRY, " The notice which he orders him to give to the people thereupon, the
purport of which is that this siege of Jerusalem, now begun, will infallibly end in the ruin
of it. This he must say to the rebellious house, to those of them that were in Babylon, to
be by them communicated to those that were yet in their own land. A rebellious house
will soon be a ruinous house.
1. He must show them this by a sign; for that stupid people needed to be taught as
children are. The comparison made use of is that of a boiling pot. This agrees with
Jeremiah's vision many years before, when he first began to be a prophet, and probably
18

was designed to put them in mind of that (Jer_1:13, I see a seething pot, with the face
towards the north; and the explanation of it, Eze_24:15, makes it to signify the
besieging of Jerusalem by the northern nations); and, as this comparison is intended to
confirm Jeremiah's vision, so also to confront the vain confidence of the princes of
Jerusalem, who had said (Jer_11:3), This city is the caldron and we are the flesh,
meaning, “We are as safe here as if we were surrounded with walls of brass.” “Well,” says
God, “it shall be so; you shall be boiled in Jerusalem, as the flesh in the caldron, boiled
to pieces; let the pot be set on with water in it (Eze_24:4); let it be filled with the flesh of
the choice of the flock (Eze_24:5), with the choice pieces (Eze_24:4), and the marrow-
bones, and let the other bones serve for fuel, that, one way or other, either in the pot or
under it, the whole beast may be made use of.” A fire of bones, though it be a slow fire
(for the siege was to be long), is yet a sure and lasting fire; such was God's wrath against
them, and not like the crackling of thorns under a pot, which has noise and blaze, but no
intense heat. Those that from all parts of the country fled into Jerusalem for safety
would be sadly disappointed when the siege laid to it would soon make the place too hot
for them; and yet there was not getting out of it, but they must be forced to abide by it, as
the flesh in a boiling pot.
JAMISON, "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
(Eze_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.
ELLICOTT, "(4) The pieces thereof.—Literally, its pieces, the pieces which pertain
to the cauldron, the Jews, whose centre and capital is Jerusalem. This was the
natural effect of Nebuchadnezzar’s campaign; the people from every side sought
refuge in the city. (Comp. Jeremiah 35:11.) The mention of the “good piece,” “the
choice bones,” and “the choice of the flock” (Ezekiel 24:5), is not for the purpose of
designating any particular class, but only to emphasise that all, even the best, are to
be included.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 24:4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, [even] every good piece, the
thigh, and the shoulder; fill [it] with the choice bones.
Ver. 4. Gather the pieces thereof into it.] Let people of all sorts flock into the city for
safety sake, that there, as in a pot, they may be boiled by a long siege, and have
sorrow enough.
19

POOLE, " The pieces; which are to put into this pot.
Every good piece, i.e. all the chief of the inhabitants of the land, the wealthiest, who
in the time of this invasion will flee from their country-houses to live in safety in
Jerusalem. The most warlike, who will betake themselves to Jerusalem for its
defence.
The thigh, and the shoulder; as these are the principal parts for support, motion,
defence, and strength; so those citizens, soldiers, rulers, that are the strength,
defence, and glory of this people, are here signified by those parts.
Fill it; fill the pot, Jerusalem, let no place be empty.
With the choice bones; with those pieces that are biggest, fattest, fullest of marrow,
and which are divided according to the bones; these are the principal members of
this Jewish state, king, princes, priests, magistrates, and wealthy citizens.
5
take the pick of the flock.
Pile wood beneath it for the bones;
bring it to a boil
and cook the bones in it.
20

BARNES, "Burn - Rather, as in margin; the bones would serve for fuel.
CLARKE, "Make it boil well - Let it boil over, that its own scum may augment the
fire, that the bones - the soldiers, may be seethed therein. Let its contentions, divided
counsels, and disunion be the means of increasing its miseries, ‫רתחיה‬ ‫רתח‬ rattach
rethacheyha, let it bubble its bubbling; something like that of the poet: -
“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble:
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”
Very like the noise made by ebullition, when a pot of thick broth, “sleek and slab,” is
set over a fierce fire. Such was that here represented in which all the flesh, the fat and
the bones were to be boiled, and generally dissolved together.
GILL, "Take the choice of the flock,.... King, princes, nobles, magistrates, priests
and rulers of the people:
and burn also the bones under it: or, "put a pile of bones under it" (u); the bones of
them that are slain in it; denoting the great slaughter of them; or the bones of the
innocent that had been murdered in it; which were the cause of these judgments coming
upon them; and caused the wrath of God to burn the more hotly against them; or the
bones of the wicked:
and make it boil well; the pot; that the water may be very hot and boiling; denoting
the severity of the judgments of God in the city, to the destruction of many by sword,
famine, and pestilence:
and let them seethe the bones of it therein; that the strongest among them may be
weakened and destroyed by the length and severity of the siege, and the judgments
attending it. The Targum is,
"bring near the kings of the people, and even join auxiliaries with them; hasten the time
of it yea, let her slain be cast in the midst of her.''
JAMISON, "burn ... bones — rather, “pile the bones.” Literally, “Let there be a
round pile of the bones.”
21

therein — literally, “in the midst of it.”
ELLICOTT, "(5) Burn also the bones under it.—It is uncertain whether this is or is
not the exact sense. The word for “burn” means, as is shown in the margin, heap,
and is a noun. This is taken by many with a verb implied, in the sense of “make a
heap of wood to burn the bones.” On the other hand, the sense of the text is that
given in most of the ancient versions, and it is certain that bones, before the fat is
extracted, may be used for fuel. It is better, therefore, to translate quite literally,
heap the bones under it, leaving the same ambiguity as in the original as to whether
the bones are to be burned upon the fuel or themselves used for fuel. In either case,
the bones are those which are left after “the good pieces” have been put into the
cauldron. No part of the people shall escape; the refuse alike with the choice is
doomed to destruction.
TRAPP. "Ezekiel 24:5 Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under
it, [and] make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
Ver. 5. Take the choice of the flock.] The king and his peers.
And burn also the bones.] The dry bones, the common people, for these will burn
like wood.
And let him seethe the bones.] The choice bones. [Ezekiel 24:4]
POOLE, " Take the choice; pick out the very best in the flock, that is, the greatest,
richest, most powerful for authority and interest in the nation and city.
Burn; or, heap together in order to burn, to make a fire with.
The bones; not of the pieces to be boiled, but the bones of the many innocents
22

murdered in Jerusalem and in the land; for their blood crieth for vengeance, and
their bones, scattered on the face of the earth, will both make and maintain this fire.
Make it boil well; let the fire be so great, and the pot so long over, till all within it be
boiled thoroughly, till all the strength and marrow be wasted, and the very flesh
drop to pieces; so shall this people be wasted by this judgment. Seethe the bones: see
Ezekiel 24:4: this is doubled to assure us, however the meaner sort did, the more
considerable part of the Jews should not escape. In this allegory there may lie
couched an exact correspondence between the sins and punishments of this people;
their sin was the slaying the best, or by oppressing them broke their bones, boiled
out the marrow, sucked them dry; and now God will retaliate to these men.
WHEDON, " 5. Burn also the bones — R.V., “pile also the bones under it.” Great
critics, like Smend and Cornill, read “wood” instead of “bones,” but this is opposed
to all the versions. Bones were sometimes used as fuel in case of extremity. The
prophet has pictured the land as being desolated by fire and covered with the bones
of the slain. Did he mean to suggest that the bones of their own kinsmen slain in the
defense of the city should be fuel which would make the Jerusalem pot boil? At any
rate the use of bones vividly suggests a state of siege.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 24:5
Burn also the bones under it; better, with the Vulgate and Revised Version, pile the
bones. The bones of animals were often used as fuel. Currey quotes an interesting
passage from Livingstone's 'Last Journal,' 1. p. 347, narrating how, when the
supply of ordinary fuel failed, he made his steamer work with the bones of
elephants. See a like practice among the Scythians (Herod; 4.61).
6 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
23

“‘Woe to the city of bloodshed,
to the pot now encrusted,
whose deposit will not go away!
Take the meat out piece by piece
in whatever order it comes.
BARNES, "Scum - Better, rust (and in Eze_24:11-12).
Bring it out piece by piece - It, the city; bring out the inhabitants, one by one, clear
the city of them, whether by death, exile, or captivity.
Let no lot fall upon it - In the captivity of Jehoiakim and in that of Jehoiachin,
some were taken, others left. Now all shall be removed.
CLARKE, "Let no lot fall upon it - Pull out the flesh indiscriminately; let no piece
be chosen for king or priest; thus showing that all should be involved in one
indiscriminate ruin.
GILL, "Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, woe to the bloody city,.... Here the
parable begins to be explained; and shows that by the pot is meant the city of Jerusalem,
called the bloody city, because of the blood of the prophets, and of righteous persons,
and of innocent babes, that was shed in it; and which was the cause of the judgments of
God coming upon her, which would issue in her destruction, and therefore "woe unto
her"; see Mat_23:37,
to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it; when
a pot boils, a scum arises, and appears upon the top of the water, which the cook usually
takes off: this denotes the filthiness and wickedness of the people of the Jews, which
would work up and be seen by the judgments of God upon them; yet should not be
24

removed, but continue on them, unrepented of, and unpardoned. It signifies that they
would remain hardened in their sins; and that the judgments of God would have no
effect upon them to bring them to repentance; and that God would have no mercy on
them, or pardon their sins:
bring it out piece by piece: the people that were in Jerusalem, of every class and
rank, of every age and sex; suggesting that they should not be all destroyed at once, but
some at one time, and some at another; some in one way, and some in another; some by
famine, others by the pestilence, and others by the sword; some by sallying out upon the
enemy; others by endeavouring to make their escape privately, and fall into their hands:
let no lot fall upon it; to save some, and destroy others, as is often done in war;
signifying that all were destined to destruction, some way or another; and none should
be spared; they that escaped the pestilence should die by famine; and they that escaped
them both should die by the sword; and they that escaped all three should be carried
into captivity. The Targum is,
"captivity upon captivity shall go out with her, because repentance was not in her.''
HENRY, "He must give them a comment upon this sign. It is to be construed as a
woe to the bloody city, Eze_24:6. And again (Eze_24:9), being bloody, let it go to pot, to
be boiled; that is the fittest place for it. Let us here see,
(1.) What is the course God takes with it. Jerusalem, during the siege, is like a pot
boiling over the fire, all in a heat, all in a hurry. [1.] Care is taken to keep a good fire
under the pot, which signifies the closeness of the siege, and the many vigorous attacks
made upon the city by the besiegers, and especially the continued wrath of God burning
against them (Eze_24:9): I will make the pile for fire great. Commission is given to the
Chaldeans (Eze_24:10) to heap on wood, and kindle the fire, to make Jerusalem more
and more hot to the inhabitants. Note, The fire which God kindles for the consuming of
impenitent sinners shall never abate, much less go out, for want of fuel. Tophet has fire
and much wood, Isa_30:33. [2.] The meat, as it is boiled, is taken out, and given to the
Chaldeans for them to feast upon. “Consume the flesh; let it be thoroughly boiled, boiled
to rags. Spice it well, and make it savoury, for those that will fees sweetly upon it. Let the
bones be burnt.” either the bones under the pot (“let them be consumed with the other
fuel”) or, as some think, the bones in the pot - “let it boil so furiously that not only the
flesh may be sodden, but even the bones softened; let all the inhabitants of Jerusalem be
by sickness, sword, and famine, reduced to the extremity of misery.” And then (Eze_
24:6), “Bring it out piece by piece; let every man be delivered into the enemy's hand, to
be either put to the sword or made a prisoner. Let them be an easy prey to them, and let
the Chaldeans fall upon them as eagerly as a hungry man does upon a good dish of meat
when it is set before him. Let no lot fall upon it; every piece in the pot shall be fetched
out and devoured, first or last, and therefore it is no matter for casting lots which shall
be fetched out first.” It was a very severe military execution when David measured Joab
with two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive, 2Sa_8:2. But here is no
line, no lot of mercy, made use of; all goes one way, and that is to destruction. [3.] When
all the broth is boiled away the pot is set empty upon the coals, that it may burn too,
which signifies the setting of the city on fire, Eze_24:11. The scum of the meat, or (as
some translate it) the rust of the meat, has so got into the pot that there is no making it
25

clean by washing or scouring it, and therefore it must be done by fire; so let the filthiness
be burnt out of it, or, rather, melted in it and burnt with it. Let the vipers and their nest
be consumed together.
JAMISON, "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 (2Sa_8:2; Joe_3:3; Oba_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.
K&D 6-8, “In Eze_24:6-8 the interpretation of the parable is given, and that in two
trains of thought introduced by ‫ן‬ֵ‫כ‬ָ‫ל‬ (Eze_24:6 and Eze_24:9). The reason for
commencing with ‫ן‬ֵ‫כ‬ָ‫,ל‬ therefore, may be found in the fact that in the parable contained
in Eze_24:3., or more correctly in the blockade of Jerusalem, which furnished the
occasion for the parable, the judgment about to burst upon Jerusalem is plainly
indicated. The train of thought is the following: - Because the judgment upon Jerusalem
is now about to commence, therefore woe to her, for her blood-guiltiness is so great that
she must be destroyed. But the punishment answering to the magnitude of the guilt is so
distributed in the two strophes, Eze_24:6-8 and Eze_24:9-13, that the first strophe
treats of the punishment of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the second, of the punishment
of the city itself. To account for the latter feature, there is a circumstance introduced
which is not mentioned in the parable itself, namely, the rust upon the pot, and the
figure of the pot is thereby appropriately extended. Moreover, in the explanation of the
parable the figure and the fact pass repeatedly the one into the other. Because Jerusalem
is a city of murders, it resembles a pot on which there are spots of rust that cannot be
removed. Eze_24:6 is difficult, and has been expounded in various ways. The ‫ל‬ before
the twofold ָ‫יה‬ ֶ‫ח‬ ָ‫ת‬ְ‫נ‬ is, no doubt, to be taken distributively: according to its several pieces,
i.e., piece by piece, bring it out. But the suffix attached to ‫הּ‬ ָ‫יא‬ ִ‫צ‬ ‫ה‬ cannot be taken as
referring to ‫יר‬ ִ‫,ס‬ as Kliefoth proposes, for this does not yield a suitable meaning. One
would not say: bring out the pot by its pieces of flesh, when nothing more is meant than
the bringing of the pieces of flesh out of the pot. And this difficulty is not removed by
giving to ‫יא‬ ִ‫צ‬ ‫ה‬ the meaning to reach hither. For, apart from the fact that there is
nothing in the usage of the language to sustain the meaning, reach it hither for the
purpose of setting it upon the fire, one would not say: reach hither the pot according to
its several pieces of flesh, piece by piece, when all that was meant was, bring hither the
pot filled with pieces of flesh. The suffix to ‫הּ‬ ָ‫יא‬ ִ‫צ‬ ‫ה‬ refers to the city (‫יר‬ ִ‫,)ע‬ i.e., to its
population, “to which the blood-guiltiness really adhered, and not to its collection of
houses” (Hitzig). It is only in appearance also that the suffix to ָ‫יה‬ ֶ‫ח‬ ָ‫ת‬ְ‫נ‬ refers to the pot;
26

actually it refers to the city, i.e., to the whole of its population, the different individuals
in which are the separate pieces of flesh. The meaning of the instructions therefore is by
no means doubtful: the whole of the population to be found in Jerusalem is to be
brought out, and that without any exception, inasmuch as the lot, which would fall upon
one and not upon another, will not be cast upon her. There is no necessity to seek for any
causal connection between the reference to the rust upon the pot and the bringing out of
the pieces of flesh that are cooking within it, and to take the words as signifying that all
the pieces, which had been rendered useless by the rust upon the pot, were to be taken
out and thrown away (Hävernick); but through the allusion to the rust the interpretation
already passes beyond the limits of the figure. The pieces of the flesh are to be brought
out, after they have been thoroughly boiled, to empty the pot, that it may then be set
upon the fire again, to burn out the rust adhering to it (Eze_24:11). There is no force in
Kliefoth's objection, that this exposition does not agree with the context, inasmuch as,
“according to the last clause of Eze_24:5 and Eze_24:10 and Eze_24:11, the pieces of
flesh and even the bones are not to be taken out, but to be boiled away by a strong fire;
and the pot is to become empty not by the fact that the pieces of flesh are taken out and
thrown away, but by the pieces being thoroughly boiled away, first to broth and then to
nothing.” For “boiling away to nothing” is not found in the text, but simply that even the
bones are to be thoroughly done, so as to turn into the softness of jelly. - So far as the
fact is concerned, we cannot follow the majority of commentators, who suppose that the
reference is simply to the carrying away of the inhabitants into exile. Bringing the pieces
of flesh out of the pot, denotes the sweeping away of the inhabitants from the city,
whether by death (vid., Eze_11:7) or by their being carried away captive. The city is to be
emptied of men in consequence of its being blockaded by the king of Babylon. The
reason of this is given in Eze_24:7 and Eze_24:8, where the guilt of Jerusalem is
depicted. The city has shed blood, which is not covered with earth, but has been left
uncovered, like blood poured out upon a hard rock, which the stone cannot absorb, and
which cries to God for vengeance, because it is uncovered (cf. Gen_4:10; Job_16:18; and
Isa_26:21). The thought is this: she has sinned in an insolent and shameless manner,
and has done nothing to cover her sin, has shown no sign of repentance or atonement,
by which she might have got rid of her sin. This has all been ordered by God. He has
caused the blood that was shed to fall upon a bare rock, that it might lie uncovered, and
He might be able to execute vengeance for the crime.
COFFMAN, "Verse 6
"Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the bloody city, to the caldron
whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! take out of it piece after
piece; no lot is fallen upon it. For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the
bare rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust. That it may
cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood upon the bare rock,
that it should not be covered. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the
bloody city! I also will make the pile great. Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil
27

well the flesh, make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned."
"Woe to the bloody city ..." (Ezekiel 24:6). The implications of this epithet hurled
against Jerusalem by God Himself may be read in the terrible fate of Nineveh,
which city God addressed in the very same language (Nahum 3:1).
"Whose rust is not gone out of it ..." (Ezekiel 24:6) The "rust" here symbolizes the
blood-guiltiness of Jerusalem. In the parable, this meant that the ingredients of the
caldron were poisoned by the rust, and the mess within fit only to be destroyed.
"Take out of it piece after piece; no lot is fallen upon it ..." (Ezekiel 24:5).
Sometimes in antiquity, lots were cast to determine a definite portion of a city either
to be slaughtered, or to be made captives. "In the captivity of Jehoiachin and
Jehoiachim some were taken, others left."[8] But here, there would be none spared.
All were doomed. The indiscriminate destruction of the population is indicated.
"Her blood is in the midst of her ..." (Ezekiel 24:7). This refers to the shameless
murder of her victims. Jerusalem did not even bother to conceal or disguise the
murders. The thought in this passage takes account of the fact that the blood of
Abel, which the ground received, cried unto God for vengeance. Even the blood of
animals was supposed to be covered with dust; but Jerusalem's brazen murders of
men left the blood visible to all, thus constituting an aggravation of the sin of
murder.
"I also will make the pile great ..." (Ezekiel 24:9). This refers to the pile of fuel on
the fire, with the meaning that God will make the destruction of Jerusalem as
complete as possible.
"Let the bones be burned ..." (Ezekiel 24:10). This means that any residue of the
"choice bones" left in the caldron were also to be burned.
28

ELLICOTT, "(6) Scum.—This word, which occurs five times in these verses
(Ezekiel 24:6; Ezekiel 24:11-12), is found nowhere else. Interpreters are agreed in
the correctness of the old Greek version of it, rust. The thought is, that not only the
inhabitants of the city are wicked, but that this wickedness is so great that the city
itself (represented by the cauldron) is, as it were, corroded with rust. It is therefore
to be utterly destroyed, “brought out piece by piece” (see 2 Kings 25:10); no lot is to
fall upon it to make a discrimination, since nothing is to be spared. All previous
judgments had been partial; this is to be complete.
(6-14) These verses contain the application of the parable in two distinct parts
(Ezekiel 24:6-14), but in such wise that the literal and the figurative continually run
together. A new feature, that of the rust on the cauldron, is also introduced. A
somewhat similar figure may be found in Isaiah 4:4, but with the difference that
Ezekiel, as usual, goes much more into minute details.
TRAPP, "Verse 6
Ezekiel 24:6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD Woe to the bloody city, to the pot
whose scum [is] therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by
piece; let no lot fall upon it.
Ver. 6. Woe to the bloody city,] i.e., Blood guilty, and full of crimes capital that call
for blood.
To the pot whose scum is in it.] Who are hardened in their wickedness, which is
evident to all men, and are not amended by punishments.
Let no lot fall upon it,] i.e., Let none escape unpunished. In wars often they cast lots
to save some and slay some.
POOLE, " All this allegory contains woeful and heavy tidings, misery and
desolation to them that are represented by it.
29

The bloody city; see Ezekiel 22:2,3; Jerusalem, which is this pot.
Whose scum is therein; filthiness, her abominations, all her lewdness, are still
within. her; they have not been punished, restrained, or cast out by the execution of
just and good laws; but the citizens have with obstinacy, impenitence, and with
impudence continued in them.
Whose scum is not gone out of it; the same thing repeated for confirming what was
said.
Bring it out piece by piece; let them know it shall be a lingering destruction to them,
yet a total, one piece after another, till all be consumed.
Let no lot fall upon it; lots are for saving some, and determining who they shall be;
but here shall no such discrimination be made, no sparing any and slaying others by
lot, who do not die shall go into captivity.
WHEDON, " 6. Scum — Rather, rust (as also Ezekiel 24:11-12).
Therein — Rather, thereon. Usually the rust is removed from a pot before using it,
but here it is to remain as the symbol of Jerusalem’s iniquity (Qimchi).
Let no lot fall upon it — Qimchi explains that the pieces are so small that not a
single limb can be recognized, nor lots cast upon them to assign them any special
destination; or that the pot itself is corrupted and eaten with verdigris, and
therefore the meat is unclean and no part of it fit to be eaten; or that the inhabitants
are to be snatched out of the city indiscriminately; or no lot is to be taken (2 Samuel
8:2), for all alike must perish. Modern expositors select from these explanations
30

according to taste.
PETT, "Verse 6
‘Wherefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the blood-filled city, to the
cauldron whose rust is in it, and whose rust has not gone out of it. Bring it out piece
by piece. No lot has fallen on it.” ’
But the city was like a copper cauldron (Ezekiel 24:11) which was rusty. And its rust
had not been removed from it. It was not fit for its purpose, and the rusty scum
would form, the scum which represented the blood-guiltiness of Jerusalem with its
violence and its child sacrifices (Ezekiel 22:1-16). Thus the rust affected pieces of
flesh must be brought out piece by piece as the city was slowly taken. ‘No lot has
fallen on it’. The removal is to be indiscriminate and not by selection. Fate cannot be
manoeuvred, they can only helplessly submit to it.
PULPIT, "Scum. The word is not found elsewhere. The Authorized Version follows
the Vulgate. Keil and the Revised Version give "rust." As the cauldron was of brass
(Ezekiel 24:11), this must have been the verdigris which was eating into the metal,
and which even the blazing fire could not get rid of. The pieces that are to be
brought out are the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are to be carried into exile. There
was to be "no lot cast," as was often done with prisoners of war, taking every tenth
man (decimating) of the captives for death or exile. All alike were doomed (Joel 3:3).
7
“‘For the blood she shed is in her midst:
31

She poured it on the bare rock;
she did not pour it on the ground,
where the dust would cover it.
BARNES, "The top of a rock - The blood was poured upon a naked, dry, rock
where it could not be absorbed or unnoticed.
CLARKE, "For her blood is in the midst of her - She gloried in her idol
sacrifices; she offered them upon a rock, where the blood should remain evident; and
she poured none upon the ground to cover it with dust, in horror of that moral evil that
required the blood of an innocent creature to be shed, in order to the atonement of the
offender’s guilt. To “cover the blood of the victim,” was a command of the law, Lev_
17:13; Deu_12:24.
GILL, "For her blood is in the midst of her,.... The blood of innocent persons shed
in the midst of her, openly and publicly, cried for vengeance:
she set it upon the top of a rock; where it could not soak in, as when spilled upon
soft earth: this denotes her openness and impudence in shedding blood, as not being
ashamed of it, or afraid of punishment for it, but as rather glorying in it; perhaps there
may be some allusion to the tops of hills and mountains, where idolatry was committed,
attended with shedding human blood:
she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; she did not take any
methods to hide her sin; having no sense of the heinousness of it, nor any consciousness
of guilt, or any remorse or repentance; respect is had to a law which obliged to cover
blood shed with dust, Lev_17:13. The Targum of the whole is,
"because innocent blood which is shed in the midst of her; with pride and with a high
arm she shed it; she shed it not through ignorance, that she might repent of it.''
HENRY 7-14, "What is the quarrel God has with it. He would not take these severe
methods with Jerusalem but that he is provoked to it; she deserves to be thus dealt with,
32

for, [1.] It is a bloody city (Eze_24:7, Eze_24:8): Her blood is in the midst of her. Many a
barbarous murder has been committed in the very heart of the city; nay, and they have a
disposition to cruelty in their hearts; they inwardly delight in blood-shed, and so it is in
the midst of them. Nay, they commit their murders in the face of the sun, and openly and
impudently avow them, in defiance of the justice both of God and man. She did not pour
out the blood she shed upon the ground, to cover it with dust, as being ashamed of the
sin or afraid of the punishment. She did not look upon it as a filthy thing, proper to be
concealed (Deu_23:13), much less dangerous. Nay, she poured out the innocent blood
she shed upon a rock, where it would not soak in, upon the top of a rock, in despite of
divine views and vengeance. They shed innocent blood under colour of justice; so that
they gloried in it, as if they had done God and the country good service, so put it, as it
were, on the top of a rock. Or it may refer to the sacrificing of their children on their high
places, perhaps on the top of rocks. Now thus they caused fury to come up and take
vengeance, Eze_24:8. It could not be avoided but that God must in anger visit for these
things; his soul must be avenged on such a nation as this. It is absolutely necessary that
such a bloody city as this should have blood given her to drink, for she is worthy, for the
vindicating of the honour of divine justice. And, the crime having been public and
notorious, it is fit that the punishment should be so too: I have set her blood on the top
of a rock. Jerusalem was to be made an example, and therefore was made a spectacle, to
the world; God dealt with her according to the law of retaliation. It is fit that those who
sin before all should be rebuked before all; and that the reputation of those should not
be consulted by the concealment of their punishment who were so impudent as not to
desire the concealment of their sin. [2.] It is a filthy city. Great notice is taken, in this
explanation of the comparison, of the scum of this pot, which signifies the sin of
Jerusalem, working up and appearing when the judgments of God were upon her. It is
the pot whose scum is therein and has not gone out of it, Eze_24:6. The great scum that
went not forth out of her (Eze_24:12), that stuck to the pot when all was boiled away,
and was molten in it (Eze_24:11), some of this runs over into the fire (Eze_24:12),
inflames that, and makes it burn the more furiously, but it shall all be consumed at last,
Eze_24:11. When the hand of God had gone out against them, instead of humbling
themselves under it, repenting and reforming, and accepting the punishment of their
iniquity, they grew more impudent and outrageous in sin, quarrelled with God,
persecuted his prophets, were fierce to one another, enraged to the last degree against
the Chaldeans, snarled at the stone, gnawed their chain, and were like a wild bull in a
net. This as their scum; in their distress they trespassed yet more against the Lord, like
that king Ahaz, 2Ch_28:22. There is little hope of those who are made worse by that
which should make them better, whose corruptions are excited an exasperated by those
rebukes both of the word and of the providence of God which were designed for the
suppressing and subduing of them, or of those whose scum boiled up once in
convictions, and confessions of sin, as if it would be taken off by reformation, but
afterwards returned again, in a revolt from their good overtures; and the heart that
seemed softened is hardened again. This was Jerusalem's case: She has wearied with
lies, wearied her God with purposes and promises of amendment, which she never stood
to, wearied herself with her carnal confidences, which have all deceived her, Eze_24:12.
Note, Those that follow after lying vanities weary themselves with the pursuit. Now see
her doom, Eze_24:13, Eze_24:14. Because she is incurably wicked she is abandoned to
ruin, without remedy. First, Methods and means of reformation had been tried in vain
(Eze_24:13): “In thy filthiness is lewdness; thou hast become obstinate and impudent in
it; thou hast got a habit of it, which is confirmed by frequent acts. In thy filthiness thee is
33

a rooted lewdness; as appears by this, I have purged thee and thou wast not purged. I
have given thee medicine, but it has done thee no good. I have used the means of
cleansing thee, but they have been ineffectual; the intention of them has not been
answered.” Note, It is sad to think how many there are on whom ordinances and
providences are all lost. Secondly, It is therefore resolved that no more such methods
shall be sued: Thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more. The fire shall no
longer be a refining fire, but a consuming fire, and therefore shall not be mitigated and
shortened, as it has been, but shall be continued in extremity, till it has done its
destroying work. Note, Those that will not be healed are justly given up and their case
adjudged desperate. There is a day coming when it will be said, He that is filthy, let him
be filthy still. Thirdly, Nothing remains then but to bring them to utter ruin: I will cause
my fury to rest upon thee. This is the same with what is said of the later Jews, that
wrath has come upon them to the uttermost, 1Th_2:16. They deserve it: According to
thy doings they shall judge thee, Eze_24:14. And God will do it. The sentence is bound
on with repeated ratifications, that they might be awakened to see how certain their ruin
was: “I the Lord have spoken it, who am able to make good what I have spoken; it shall
come to pass, nothing shall prevent it, for I will do it myself, I will not go back upon any
entreaties; the decree has gone forth, and I will not spare in compassion to them,
neither will I repent.” He will neither change his mind nor his way. Hereby the prophet
was forbidden to interceded for them, and they were forbidden to flatter themselves with
hopes of an escape. God hath said it, and he will do it. Note, The declarations of God's
wrath against sinners are as inviolable as the assurances he has given of favour to his
people; and the case of such is sad indeed, who have brought it to this issue, that either
God must be false or they must be damned.
JAMISON, "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.
COKE, "Ezekiel 24:7. She poured it not upon the ground— The words allude to the
command of the law, that they should cover the blood of any beast or other living
creature with dust: a precept intended not only to prevent their eating blood, but
also to give them a kind of horror at seeing it shed. See Lowth.
ELLICOTT,"(7) Upon the top of a rock.—Crimes of violence are continually
charged upon Jerusalem (Ezekiel 22:12-13; Ezekiel 23:37, &c.), but here she is
further reproached with such indifference to these crimes that she did not even care
to cover them decently. It was required in the law that the blood even of the
sacrifices (Leviticus 4:7; Leviticus 16:15, &c.) and of animals slain for food
34

(Deuteronomy 12:16) should be poured upon the ground, that it might be absorbed
and covered out of sight; but Jerusalem had put the blood of her victims upon the
hard rock, and not even covered it with dust, thus glorying in her shame. (Comp.
Job 16:18; Isaiah 26:21.)
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 24:7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of
a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
Ver. 7. For her blood is in the midst of her.] She careth not who knows of her
murders and oppressions. He seemeth to allude to that law, that blood being let out
of a beast should be covered in the ground.
She set it upon the top of a rock.] Super limpidissimam petram, saith the Vulgate, as
glorying in it. So Abimelech slew all his brethren upon one stone; [ 9:5] the Jews
crucified our Saviour on Mount Calvary.
She poured it not.] Pudet et non esse impudentem. It is shameful not to be
shameless.
POOLE, " Her blood, innocent blood which she hath shed,
is in the midst of her; openly and publicly, without fear, or shame, or reluctance.
Set it upon the top of a rock, where it might be long seen, cared not to hide her
murders, as the next words clear it.
Poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust: with cruelty and inhumanity
they did murder, for when the law directed that the blood of beast or fowl killed
should be poured on the earth, and covered with dust, Leviticus 17:13, these
35

butchers of innocent ones leave their blood uncovered, whether in a boasting
manner, or for terror, I will not say, but this aggravates the sin.
PETT, "Verse 7-8
“For her blood is in the midst of her. She set it on the bare rock. She did not pour it
on the ground to cover it with dust. That it might cause fury to come up to take
vengeance I have set her blood on the bare rock that it should not be covered.”
The people of Jerusalem were totally unashamed of their sins. The blood they had
spilled was not hidden but displayed for all to see, both the blood of violence and the
blood of child sacrifice. Like the blood of Abel it cried to God for vengeance
(Genesis 4:10 compare Job 16:18). Had it been blood which was rightly shed they
would have covered it with dust (Leviticus 17:13), although in fact had they done so
it would not have remained covered, for it was unrighteously shed and would still
not have been hidden (Isaiah 26:21).
Ezekiel’s priestly way of thinking comes out here. The blood displayed on the rock
was against all the tenets of the Law, it was wrongly dealt with and therefore
brought further defilement, which brought out the guiltiness of those involved. It
doubly proved that they were not righteous men, but were men of blood.
With a sudden turn in thought we then learn that this was Yahweh’s doing. He
would not let the blood be covered up, for it was His purpose to exact vengeance for
it.
But it was not enough just to deal with the inhabitants, Jerusalem itself must be
destroyed, all the filth along with the flesh.
36

8
To stir up wrath and take revenge
I put her blood on the bare rock,
so that it would not be covered.
CLARKE, "That it might cause fury - This very blood shall be against them, as
the blood of Abel was against Cain.
GILL, "That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance,.... Into the heart
and mind of God, into his face, speaking after the manner of men; observing such gross
and open wickedness, he determined within himself to show his resentment, manifest
his wrath and displeasure, and take vengeance on such capital and impudent offenders:
I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it might not be covered; by
way of just retaliation; that as her sin was publicly committed, and no repentance shown
for it, so her punishment should be open and manifest to all the world, and no
forgiveness should be granted her. The Targum is,
"I have revealed their sins, because they have shed innocent blood openly, that it might
not be forgiven.''
JAMISON, "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 (Mat_7:2). She openly shed blood,
37

and her blood shall openly be she
ELLICOTT, "(8) I have set.—Here God Himself is said to do that which has just
been charged upon Jerusalem. There is no inconsistency between the statements;
Jerusalem gloried in her crimes, and God made those crimes conspicuous as the
cause of her punishment.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 24:8 That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I
have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.
Ver. 8. I have set her blood upon the top of a rock.] (a) Where it will be seen afar off
and for a long time. As her sin was in propatulo, in open view, so, to cry quittance
with her, shall her punishment likewise be; my visible vengeance shall follow her
close at heels as a bloodhound.
POOLE, " This provoked the anger of the Lord, and raised his fury against them.
To come up, into the face of God, (after the manner of man,) as Ezekiel 38:18.
To take vengeance; to God it appertains to take vengeance, to punish such sinners
according to the nature of their sin.
I have set her blood upon the top of a rock; God will openly punish, and in such
manner as shall not be soon forgotten; they set it on a rock when they shed it with
cruelty, God will set it on a rock when he punisheth it with severity.
That it should not be covered; that it be not forgotten, or go unpunished; nor yet
punished in a corner; all this inquisition and execution shall be public in the sight of
many nations.
38

9 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord
says:
“‘Woe to the city of bloodshed!
I, too, will pile the wood high.
GILL, "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, woe to the bloody city,.... See Gill
on Eze_24:6,
I will even make the pile for fire great; a large pile of wood, a great quantity of fuel
to maintain the fire, and keep the pot boiling; meaning the vast army of the Chaldeans,
which the Lord would bring against Jerusalem, which should closely besiege it, and
vigorously attack it, until it had executed the fury of the wrath of God, comparable to
fire, and of his judgments upon it. The Targum is,
"even I will multiply her destruction.''
JAMISON, "the pile for fire — the hostile materials for the city’s destruction.
K&D 9-11, “The second turn in the address (Eze_24:9) commences in just the same
manner as the first in Eze_24:6, and proceeds with a further picture of the execution of
punishment. To avenge the guilt, God will make the pile of wood large, and stir up a
fierce fire. The development of this thought is given in Eze_24:10 in the form of a
command addressed to the prophet, to put much wood underneath, and to kindle a fire,
so that both flesh and bones may boil away. ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ת‬ ָ‫,ה‬ from ‫ם‬ ַ‫מ‬ ָ‫,תּ‬ to finish, complete; with
‫ר‬ָ‫שׂ‬ ָ‫,בּ‬ to cook thoroughly. There are differences of opinion as to the true meaning of
‫ח‬ ַ‫ק‬ ְ‫ר‬ ָ‫ה‬ ; but the rendering sometimes given to ‫ח‬ ַ‫ק‬ ָ‫,ר‬ namely, to spice, is at all events
39

unsuitable, and cannot be sustained by the usage of the language. It is true that in Exo_
30:25. the verb ‫ח‬ ַ‫ק‬ ָ‫ר‬ is used for the preparation of the anointing oil, but it is not the
mixing of the different ingredients that is referred to, but in all probability the thorough
boiling of the spices, for the purpose of extracting their essence, so that “thorough
boiling” is no doubt the true meaning of the word. In Job_41:23 (31), ‫ה‬ ָ‫ח‬ ָ‫ק‬ ְ‫ר‬ ֶ‫מ‬ is the
boiling unguent-pot. ‫רוּ‬ ָ‫ֵח‬‫י‬ is a cohortative Hiphil, from ‫ר‬ ַ‫ר‬ ָ‫,ח‬ to become red-hot, to be
consumed. - Eze_24:11. When the flesh and bones have thus been thoroughly boiled, the
pot is to be placed upon the coals empty, that the rust upon it may be burned away by
the heat. The emptying of the pot or kettle by pouring out the flesh, which has been
boiled to broth, is passed over as self-evident. The uncleanness of the pot is the rust
upon it. ‫ם‬ ֻ‫תּ‬ ִ‫תּ‬ is an Aramaean form for ‫ם‬ֹ‫תּ‬ ִ‫תּ‬ = ‫ם‬ ַ‫תּ‬ ִ‫.תּ‬ Michaelis has given the true
explanation of the words: “civibus caesis etiam urbs consumetur” (when the inhabitants
are slain, the city itself will be destroyed).
(Note: Hitzig discovers a Hysteronproteron in this description, because the
cleaning of the pot ought to have preceded the cooking of the flesh in it, and not to
have come afterwards, and also because, so far as the actual fact is concerned, the
rust of sin adhered to the people of the city, and not to the city itself as a collection of
houses. But neither of these objections is sufficient to prove what Hitzig wants to
establish, namely, that the untenable character of the description shows that it is not
really a prophecy; nor is there any force in them. It is true that if one intended to boil
flesh in a pot for the purpose if eating, the first thing to be done would be to clean the
pot itself. But this is not the object in the present instance. The flesh was simply to be
thoroughly boiled, that it might be destroyed and thrown away, and there was no
necessity to clean the pot for this purpose. And so far as the second objection is
concerned, the defilement of sin does no doubt adhere to man, though not, as Hitzig
assumes, to man alone. According to the Old Testament view, it extends to things as
well (vid., Lev_18:25; Lev_27:28). Thus leprosy, for example, did not pollute men
only, but clothes and houses also. And for the same reason judgments were not
restricted to men, but also fell upon cities and lands.)
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 24:9 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD Woe to the bloody city! I
will even make the pile for fire great.
Ver. 9. Woe to the bloody city.] See Nahum 3:1, Habakkuk 2:12.
I will even make the pile for fire great.] They shall undergo a long and sore siege.
POOLE, " Woe to the bloody city! see Ezekiel 24:6.
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I will even make the pile for fire great; God’s hand shall be seen inflicting all those
sore afflictions on them. Judgments are a fire, the fuel whereof is to be great; for it
is a fire to consume the wicked, and God will make it sufficiently great to do this. I
will bring the mighty army of the Chaldeans, which, as a pile of wood set on fire,
shall burn them up.
PETT, "Verses 9-11
‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Woe to the blood-filled city. I will also
make the pile great. Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and
make the broth thick and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty on its coals,
that it may be red hot and its copper burn, and that its filthiness may be molten in
it, that its rust may be consumed.”
This cauldron, the blood-filled city, with its contents is doomed. God Himself will
make of it a great burnt up pile. So the command comes to heap on wood, blow on
the fire to make it burning hot, and then to overcook the flesh and the broth until it
is spoiled and to burn the bones. Then once the spoiled flesh and broth are removed
the cauldron is to remain on the fire as it grows hotter and hotter, until the copper is
red hot, the filth within it becomes molten, and its rust is consumed. It is a picture of
total destruction.
10
So heap on the wood
and kindle the fire.
41

Cook the meat well,
mixing in the spices;
and let the bones be charred.
BARNES, "Consume ... spice it well - i. e., “dress the flesh, and make it froth and
bubble, that the bones and the flesh may be all boiled up together.”
CLARKE, "Heap or wood - Let the siege be severe, the carnage great, and the ruin
and catastrophe complete.
GILL, "Heap on wood, kindle the fire,.... This is said either to the prophet, to do
this in an emblematic way; or to the Chaldean army, to prepare for the siege, encompass
the city, begin their attacks, and throw in their stones out of their slings and engines, and
arrows from their bows:
consume the flesh; not entirely, since it is afterwards to be spiced; but thoroughly boil
it; denoting the severe sufferings the inhabitants should undergo before their utter ruin:
spice it well; pepper them off; batter their walls, beat down their houses, distress them
by all manner of ways and means; signifying that this would be grateful to the Lord, as
his justice would be glorified in the destruction of this people; and as the plunder of
them would be like a spiced and sweet morsel to the enemy; whose appetites would
hereby be sharpened and become keen, and to whom the sacking and plundering the city
would be as agreeable as well seasoned meat to a hungry man:
and let the bones be burnt; either under it, or rather in it; even the strongest and
most powerful among the people destroyed, who should hold out the longest in the
siege. The Targum of the whole is,
"multiply kings; gather an army; order the auxiliaries, and prepare against her warriors,
and let her mighty ones be confounded.''
JAMISON, "spice it well — that the meat may be the more palatable, that is, I will
42

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.”
COKE, "Ezekiel 24:10. And spice it well, &c.— Dissolve its pieces. Houbigant. The
Chaldee, explaining the metaphor, renders it thus: Multiply kings, gather together
an army, join auxiliaries, and prepare against her the soldiers; and her brave men
shall grow mad.
ELLICOTT, "(10) Spice it well.—With Ezekiel 24:9 the second part of the
application of the parable begins, and is marked by great energy of description. In
this verse the sense of the word translated “spice” is doubtful. If this be its true
meaning, the idea must be, Go on thoroughly with the cooking; but the word is
always used in connection with the preparation of compound incense or spices, and
seems therefore to refer to the thoroughness of the work, and thus to mean, Boil
thoroughly. In Job 41:31 (Heb. 23) its derivative is used as a simile for the raging
sea. The process is to be continued until the water in the cauldron is all evaporated,
the flesh consumed, and even the bones burned.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 24:10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice
it well, and let the bones be burned.
Ver. 10. Heap on wood, &c.] See on Ezekiel 24:3.
And spice it well.] Vulgate, Coquatur tota compositio; let the whole composition be
boiled, till all the virtue be boiled out; a metaphor from apothecaries.
POOLE, " This is God’s word, either what he will do pursuant of the 8th verse; or
his word to the prophet, to typify to the people what should be done, or to the
Chaldean army, to hasten what they were to do in destroying the city. Heap on
wood; make full preparations.
Kindle the fire; begin the execution of judgment.
43

Compare the flesh: it is a fire, not gently to dress or prepare meat, but to destroy,
and burn up.
Spice it well; either to take away the noisome smell, or to express the pleasing
savour of this justice to God, and men whom he appointed to this work.
Let the bones be burned: in such fires the bones hold out longest, but this fire shall
at last consume these also, that the destruction may be universal the greatest,
strongest, and firmest of these Jews shall perish in this fiery indignation.
11
Then set the empty pot on the coals
till it becomes hot and its copper glows,
so that its impurities may be melted
and its deposit burned away.
GILL, "Then set it empty upon the coals thereof,.... The city, when emptied of its
inhabitants and substance, like a pot that is boiled over, and all in it boiled away, or
taken out; burn it with fire, as the city of Jerusalem when taken and plundered was:
that the brass of it may be hot, and burn; as brass will when set on coals: or, "the
bottom of it" (w); so Ben Melech observes, from the Misnah, that the lower part or
44

bottom of a pot, cauldron, or furnace, is called the brass of it; and so the sense is, make
the fire burn so fierce as to burn the bottom of the pot; or the canker and rust of it,
which the following words explain:
and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be
consumed; the abominable wickedness of this people; since they were not reformed
and brought to repentance for it by the admonitions and instructions given them, and by
the chastisements and corrections laid upon them, they with their sins should be
consumed in this terrible manner. The Targum is,
"I will leave the land desolate, that they may become desolate; and that the gates of her
city may be consumed; and that those that work uncleanness in the midst of her may
melt away, and her sins be consumed.''
JAMISON, "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_14:34-45).
COFFMAN, "Verse 11
"Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof
may burn, and that the filthiness thereof may be molten in it, that the rust of it may
be consumed. She hath wearied herself with toil; yet her great rust goeth not forth
out of her; her rust goeth not forth by fire. In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I
have cleansed thee, and thou wast not cleansed, thou shalt not be cleansed from thy
filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward thee to rest. I, Jehovah
have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I
spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings,
shall they judge thee, saith the Lord Jehovah."
What is indicated here is the utter uselessness of the rusted caldron; not even fire
could burn the corrupted copper enough to cleanse it. In the analogy, the caldron is
the city of Jerusalem, the destruction of which is already under way, as this was
written.
"In spite of the seemingly terrible hopelessness of the situation described here, a
45

gleam of hope appears in Ezekiel 24:13, even as there also did in Ezekiel 16:42.
When the punishment of Israel has done its full work, then Jehovah might cause his
fury toward Israel to rest."[9]
"These verses, Ezekiel 24:11-14, declare that the only recourse is to set the caldron
upside down on the fire and melt it away; Jerusalem must be destroyed in order to
be cleansed."[10] "The tragedy of national sins, which began as occasional lapses,
but which at last became part and parcel of Jerusalem's way of life, finally became a
tragedy that not even God could redeem."[11]
"She hath wearied herself with toil ..." (Ezekiel 24:12). Some versions read "lies"
instead of "toil" in this clause; but Bunn tells us that "The literal meaning here is
that `Yahweh has worn himself out attempting to purify the people.'"[12] Due to
uncertainties in the text, this verse is disputed as to its meaning. McFadyen
suggested that this clause should probably be omitted.[13] Whatever the exact
meaning of the verse may be, the thought is certainly the futility of any further
effort on the part of God to purge his rebellious people.
The many things God had done in order to preserve and save Israel included: the
giving of the Law of Moses, the sending of many prophets, severe punishments,
miraculous judgments in their marvelous deliverances, the ministrations of the
Levitical system with its priests and Levites, etc., etc.
However, as Henry pointed out, "It is sad to think how many there are, even today,
upon whom the death of Christ, the establishment of his spiritual body the Church,
the sacred New Testament, and all of the ordinances and blessings of Christianity,
are utterly lost in the indifference and lethargy of mankind."[14]
ELLICOTT, "Verse 11
(11) Set it empty upon the coals.—Keeping up the strong figure of the parable, after
all the inhabitants have passed under judgment the city itself is to be purged by fire.
46

It is unnecessary here to think of heat as removing the rust (scum) from the
cauldron; the prophet’s mind is not upon any physical effect, but upon the methods
of purifying defiled metallic vessels under the law (see Numbers 31:23). It was a
symbolical rather than a material purification, and in the present case involved the
actual destruction of the city itself. In Ezekiel 24:11-14, the obduracy of the people is
set forth in strong language, together with the completeness of the coming judgment
in contrast to the in-effectiveness of all former efforts for their reformation (Ezekiel
24:13); and, finally, the adaptation of the punishment to the sin (Ezekiel 24:14). The
word translated “lies” in Ezekiel 24:12 means pains or labour. Translate, The
labour is in vain; her rust does not go out of her, even her rust with fire. In Ezekiel
24:13 “lewdness” would be better rendered abomination.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 24:11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it
may be hot, and may burn, and [that] the filthiness of it may be molten in it, [that]
the scum of it may be consumed.
Ver. 11. That the brass of it may be hot, and may burn.] This Gregory (a) fitly
applieth to Rome, taken and wasted by the Lombards. This city, ever since it was
Papal - and then it first began to be so - was never besieged, but it was taken by the
enemy.
POOLE, " Set it, the hieroglyphic pot, empty; the water, flesh, bones, all consumed,
i.e. the citizens all wasted with sword, famine, or pestilence, the city left as an empty,
overboiled pot.
Upon the coals thereof; signifying the burning of the city itself, after the emptying of
its inhabitants.
That the brass of it; perhaps he alludes to the impudence of their sins, in that the
city is likened to a pot of brass.
May be hot; God’s judgments would increase upon them, as heat doth in a pot set
47

on coals.
And may burn; which is the highest degree; so should these miseries increase.
That the filthiness, type of the sinfulness, the unreformed sinfulness of the city, may
be molten in it; that their wickedness may be taken away with their persons and
city: they should have been purged by gentler meltings which God used; since they
were not, nor would be purified, now they shall be melted to the utter destruction of
them.
The scum: see Ezekiel 24:6.
PULPIT, "Then set it empty upon the coals, etc. The empty cauldron is, of course,
the city bereaved of its inhabitants. The fire must go on till the rust is consumed.
There is, however, in spite of the seemingly terrible hopelessness of the sentence, a
gleam of hope, as there had been in Ezekiel 16:42. When the punishment had done
its full work, then Jehovah might cause his fury to rest (Ezekiel 16:13). Till then he
declares, through the prophet, there will be no mitigation of the punishment. The
word has gone forth, and there will be no change of purpose.
12
It has frustrated all efforts;
its heavy deposit has not been removed,
not even by fire.
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