Ezechiel xxiv.
Notes & Commentary:
Ver. 1. Month; January 30, the year of the world 3414. (Usher) — Ezechiel was then in Mesopotamia, and when the news of the siege commencing on that very day, should arrive; it would make a great impression upon the people, so that they would have confidence in him, (Calmet) as the certainty of the prediction would appear, 4 Kings xxv. 1. (Worthington)
Ver. 2. Pot, to denote Jerusalem: the flesh boiled and consumed in the fire with the bones, would shew the future dismal condition of its chiefs and inhabitants. (Haydock) — The hardened Jews turned such things to ridicule, chap. xi. 3.
Ver. 4. Choice. Hebrew, “the choice of the bones,” or the finest pieces separated from the bones, as the Septuagint and the sequel seem to require. (Calmet) — The bones might serve to burn, ver. 5. (Haydock) See St. Jerome. (Vatable, &c.) (Calmet)
Ver. 5. The, &c. Literally, “its boiling has grown hot;” the citizens suffer terribly. — Bones. Hebrew hatsamim, (Haydock) may denote the more solid meat.
Ver. 6. Rust: the inveterate malice of the city, ver. 12. — Upon it. Hurl the pieces of meat out of the pot, without any choice. (Calmet) — All the people shall feel my indignation, the rich as well as the poor, ver. 13. (Haydock)
Ver. 7. She hath. Septuagint, “I have let it corrupt upon. I have not,” &c., (ver. 8.; Haydock) as if God spoke. The Jews had committed murder without fear. They had naturally a horror for blood, and the law ordered even that of beasts to be covered, Leviticus xvii. 13. Now innocent blood cries for vengeance, Genesis iv. 10. The punishment shall be as visible as the crime, ver. 8.
Ver. 10. And the. Hebrew, “put in the seasoning and the bones,” &c.
Ver. 13. Thy. Hebrew, “In thy crime there is design,” or malice. This rendered the Jews so hateful (Calmet) and irreclaimable. (Haydock) — God had given them abundant instructions (Calmet) and graces; but all was contemned. (Haydock) — When the fire of tribulation does not amend sinners, they are sentenced to hell fire. (Worthington)
Ver. 16. Stroke; pestilence, or sudden death. This would make the loss of a dear wife still more afflicting. Yet such distress will fall upon the whole nation, (Calmet) and misery shall increase so much, that a private loss will be almost forgotten. (Haydock) — Curę leves loquuntur, graviores silent. (Seneca, Troad.) — When a loss is foreseen, it is more easily borne. Private calamities sink in public ones. (Worthington)
Ver. 17. Silence, for such manifold calamities, if thou canst screen thyself from the enemy, who will otherwise take offence, as he has brought them on. (Haydock) — Dead. Priests were allowed to mourn only for father or mother, and their unmarried brothers and sisters, Leviticus xxi. 1. Ezechiel (xliv. 25.) adds, Son and daughter. Many think the wife must also be understood, as she is nearer than a brother. The reasons for these prohibitions did not then subsist, as no sacrifice could be offered in Chaldea; and therefore God here specifies what the prophet was not to do, (Calmet) though lawful on other occasions. (Sanctius) — Tire. Literally, “crown,” bandage, (Calmet) or parchment, on which parts of the law were written. Septuagint, “Let (Roman edition adds, not) the hair of thy head be curled (or ruffed; sumpeplegmenon) upon thee.” (Haydock) — It was usually cut in mourning. (St. Jerome) — Feet. They were bare, at funerals, and in times of sorrow, 2 Kings xv. 30. — Face, like David. Hebrew, “the upper lip,” which mourners and lepers covered, Leviticus xiii. 45. (Calmet) — Mourners. Feasts were prepared by the relations, (Josephus, Jewish Wars ii. 1.) and friends sent some food, but no delicacies, to those who mourned, Leviticus v. 9.
Ver. 21. Profane, or esteem it no more, (Haydock) but abandon it to the Gentiles. (Calmet) — Feareth to lose; or on which it rests, ver. 25. (Haydock)
Ver. 27. No more, if thou darest to speak before the Chaldeans, ver. 17. Reserve thy tears and lamentations for that time. (Calmet)
Bible Text & Cross-references:
Under the parable of a boiling pot, is shewn the utter destruction of Jerusalem: for which the Jews at Babylon shall not dare to mourn.
1 And *the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, saying:
2 Son of man, write thee the name of this day, on which the king of Babylon hath set himself against Jerusalem to-day.
3 And thou shalt speak by a figure, a parable, to the provoking house, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Set on a pot, set it on, I say; and put water into it.
4 Heap together into it the pieces thereof, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces and full of bones.
5 Take the fattest of the flock, and lay together piles of bones under it: the seething thereof is boiling hot, and the bones thereof are thoroughly sodden in the midst of it.
6 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Wo to the bloody city, to the pot whose rust is in it, and its rust is not gone out of it: cast it out piece by piece, there hath no lot fallen upon it.
7 For her blood is in the midst of her, she hath shed it upon the smooth rock: she hath not shed it upon the ground, that it might be covered with dust.
8 And that I might bring my indignation upon her, and take my vengeance: I have shed her blood upon the smooth rock, that it should not be covered.
9 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: *Wo to the bloody city, of which I will make a great bonfire.
10 Heap together the bones, which I will burn with fire: the flesh shall be consumed, and the whole composition shall be sodden, and the bones shall be consumed.
11 Then set it empty upon burning coals, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may be melted; and let the filth of it be melted, in the midst thereof, and let the rust of it be consumed.
12 Great pains have been taken, and the great rust thereof is not gone out, not even by fire.
13 Thy uncleanness is execrable: because I desired to cleanse thee, and thou art not cleansed from thy filthiness: neither shalt thou be cleansed, before I cause my indignation to rest in thee.
14 I, the Lord, have spoken: it shall come to pass, and I will do it: I will not pass by, nor spare, nor be pacified: I will judge thee according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, saith the Lord.
15 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
16 Son of man, behold I take from thee the desire of thy eyes with a stroke: and thou shalt not lament, nor weep: neither shall thy tears run down.
17 Sigh in silence; make no mourning for the dead: let the tire of thy head be upon thee, and thy shoes on thy feet, and cover not thy face, nor eat the meat of mourners.
18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening: and I did in the morning as he had commanded me.
19 And the people said to me: Why dost thou not tell us what these things mean that thou dost?
20 And I said to them: The word of the Lord came to me, saying:
21 Speak to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the glory of your realm, and the thing that your eyes desire, and for which your soul feareth: your sons and your daughters, whom you have left, shall fall by the sword.
22 And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your faces, nor shall you eat the meat of mourners.
23 You shall have crowns on your heads, and shoes on your feet; you shall not lament nor weep, but you shall pine away for your iniquities, and every one shall sigh with his brother.
24 And Ezechiel shall be unto you for a sign of things to come: according to all that he hath done, so shall you do, when this shall come to pass: and you shall know that I am the Lord God.
25 And thou, O son of man, behold in the day wherein I will take away from them their strength, and the joy of their glory, and the desire of their eyes, upon which their souls rest, their sons and their daughters.
26 In that day when he that escapeth shall come to thee, to tell thee;
27 In that day, I say, shall thy mouth be opened to him that hath escaped, and thou shalt speak, and shalt be silent no more: and thou shalt be unto them for a sign of things to come: and you shall know that I am the Lord.
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1: Year of the World 3414, Year before Christ 590.
9: Nahum iii. 1.; Habacuc ii. 12.