Ezekiel 24:25

24:15-27 Though mourning for the dead is a duty, yet it must be kept under by religion and right reason: we must not sorrow as men that have no hope. Believers must not copy the language and expressions of those who know not God. The people asked the meaning of the sign. God takes from them all that was dearest to them. And as Ezekiel wept not for his affliction, so neither should they weep for theirs. Blessed be God, we need not pine away under our afflictions; for should all comforts fail, and all sorrows be united, yet the broken heart and the mourner's prayer are always acceptable before God.

Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day,.... This question is to be answered in the affirmative: when I take from them their strength; their king and kingdom, their princes and nobles, their soldiers and men of might and war, their wealth and substance, their city and the inhabitants of it; or rather their temple, in which they placed their strong confidence: so the Targum, "in the day when I shall take from them the house of their sanctuary;'' and which is called "the joy of their glory"; what they rejoiced and gloried in: the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their mind, their sons and their daughters; for to these may those phrases be applied; as well as to the temple; they being desirable to them, to be spared and continued, and on whom the affections of their hearts were set, and for whose welfare they were very solicitous. So some render it "the burden or care of their souls" (p); though the Targum applies this, as the other to the temple, paraphrasing it, "and the delight of their eyes shall be taken from them, and the beloved of their souls, which is better to them than their sons and their daughters.'' (p) "onus animae eoram", Munster; "curam, vel solicitudinem"; so some in Vatablus.

Ezekiel 24:25-27 . Also thou son of man, shall it not be, &c. — This question is to be resolved affirmatively; it shall be: in the day when I take from them their strength — Their walls, fortifications, and defences, with all that is dear and valuable to them; the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes — Their kingdom, city, and temple, the emblem of my special presence among them, and protection over them, whose beauty and magnificence were their peculiar glory, and the most grateful object of their sight; together with their sons and daughters, whereon they placed their affections; he that escapeth in that day — Namely, when the city shall be taken, and both it and the temple burned; shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it, &c. — To acquaint thee, that what thou didst prophesy is come to pass. See the fulfilling of this recorded Ezekiel 33:21-22 . In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him that is escaped — This implied, that the prophet was to prophesy no more about the affairs of Jerusalem and Judah till after the destruction of the city and temple; when the fulfilling of this part of his predictions, so contrary to the expectations of those who despised his prophecies, would give him more credit with them, and make them pay a higher regard to what other things he should prophesy of. According to this we find, that the spirit of prophecy, in regard to the affairs of Judea, did not come on him again till the news of the taking of Jerusalem was brought to him

25 . their strength ] i.e. stronghold; the thing in which they placed confidence. joy of their glory ] the glorious (or beautiful) thing in which they delighted. Both expressions allude to the temple, &c. set their minds ] their hearts ,—that which is the object of their desire, Psalm 24:4 . 25–27 . When tidings come of the city’s fall, verifying the prophet’s predictions and giving confirmation to all the principles which he had long declared, his mouth will be opened, he will have confidence to speak and more willing listeners before him. Ezekiel 24:25

Shall it not be? the question is to be resolved affirmatively, it shall be. In the day; in the day of the taking the city of Jerusalem. When I take from them; though Nebuchadnezzar was the means or instrument, God did act by him, who did God’s work more than his own. Their strength, & c.; the kingdom dissolved, the king taken, city sacked, the temple burnt, which is by the following characters described, as the only thing they valued; though those particulars may be applied to soils and daughters in the close of the verse: however, it amounts to this, In that day, wherein all their public and private joys and hopes shall be destroyed in the destruction of the kingdom and their children, one that escapeth shall bring the news to the prophet.

25, 26. "The day" referred to in these verses is the day of the overthrow of the temple, when the fugitive "escapes." But "that day," in Eze 24:27, is the day on which the fugitive brings the sad news to Ezekiel, at the Chebar. In the interval the prophet suspended his prophecies as to the Jews, as was foretold. Afterwards his mouth was "opened," and no more "dumb" (Eze 3:26, 27; compare Eze 24:27; 33:21, 22).

Sequel of the Destruction of Jerusalem to the Prophet Himself Ezekiel 24:25. And thou, son of man, behold, in the day when I take from them their might, their glorious joy, the delight of their eyes and the desire of their soul, their sons and their daughters, Ezekiel 24:26. In that day will a fugitive come to thee, to tell it to thine ears. Ezekiel 24:27. In that day will thy mouth be opened with the fugitive, and thou wilt speak, and no longer be mute; and thus shalt thou be a sign to them that they may know that I am Jehovah. - As the destruction of Jerusalem would exert a powerful influence upon the future history of the exiles on the Chaboras, and be followed by most important results, so was it also to be a turning-point for the prophet himself in the execution of his calling. Hvernick has thus correctly explained the connection between these closing verses and what precedes, as indicated by ואתּה in Ezekiel 24:25. As Ezekiel up to this time was to speak to the people only when the Lord gave him a word for them, and at other times was to remain silent and dumb (Ezekiel 3:26 and Ezekiel 3:27); from the day on which a messenger should come to bring him the tidings of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, he was to open his mouth, and not continue dumb any longer. The execution of this word of God is related in Ezekiel 33:21-22. The words, "when I take from them their strength," etc., are to be understood in accordance with Ezekiel 24:21.

Consequently מעזּם is the sanctuary, which was taken from the Israelites through the destruction of Jerusalem. The predicates which follow down to משּׂא refer to the temple (cf. Ezekiel 24:21). משּׂא נפשׁ, an object toward which the soul lifts itself up (נשׂא), i.e., for which it cherishes a desire or longing; hence synonymous with מחמל נפשׁ htiw suomynon in Ezekiel 24:21. The sons and daughters are attached ἀσυνδετῶς. בּיּום (in that day), in Ezekiel 24:26, which resumes the words 'בּיום ק (in the day when I take, etc.) in Ezekiel 24:25, is not the day of the destruction of the temple, but generally the time of this event, or more precisely, the day on which the tidings would reach the prophet. הפּליט, with the generic article, a fugitive (vid., Genesis 14:13). להשׁמעוּת אזנים, to cause the ears to hear (it), i.e., to relate it, namely to the bodily ears of the prophet, whereas he had already heard it in spirit from God. השׁמעוּת, a verbal noun, used instead of the infinitive Hiphil. את־הפּליט, with the escaped one, i.e., at the same time "with the mouth of the fugitive" (Hitzig). את expresses association, or so far as the fact is concerned, simultaneousness.