Ezekiel 24:9

24:1-14 The pot on the fire represented Jerusalem besieged by the Chaldeans: all orders and ranks were within the walls, prepared as a prey for the enemy. They ought to have put away their transgressions, as the scum, which rises by the heat of the fire, is taken from the top of the pot. But they grew worse, and their miseries increased. Jerusalem was to be levelled with the ground. The time appointed for the punishment of wicked men may seem to come slowly, but it will come surely. It is sad to think how many there are, on whom ordinances and providences are all lost.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God, woe to the bloody city,.... See Gill on Ezekiel 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.''

Ezekiel 24:9-11 . Thus saith the Lord, &c. — In this and the two following verses is still more fully explained the meaning of the symbol of the boiling pot, and what the fire is that made it boil. By making the pile for the fire great, is signified the destruction being very great and general. And spice it well — Or, season it well, so as to make it desirable. The expression imports, that the Babylonians should be as much set on destroying the city and inhabitants, as hungry people are greedy of devouring meat well spiced and dressed. This was a very proper expression, considering that Jerusalem, in the foregoing part of this chapter, is represented as a boiling pot, and the inhabitants of it as pieces of flesh boiled in it. All the other expressions of this verse signify an entire destruction. Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, &c. — This expresses, that after a riddance was made of the inhabitants, either by slaughtering them with the sword, or carrying them away into captivity, the city itself, represented by the pot, should be burned with fire, that its impurity might be consumed, or purged away by the flames; that is to say, that their wickedness might be taken away with their persons and city; or that the remains of the inhabitants, who were made captives, should be reformed by this terrible destruction of Jerusalem.

If we understand it as spoken of the place of the city, the expression may allude to what was commanded in the ceremonial law, namely, that metal vessels, which water could not cleanse, should be purified by fire. Thus nothing short of burning Jerusalem down to the ground could purge it from its abominations: afterward it should be rebuilt, and become a holy city, free from the idolatries which had formerly defiled it.

9 . I will even ] I too will make. LXX. wants the clause “woe … city,” cf. Ezekiel 24:6 . 9–14 . Rising anew into tones of threatening the divine voice commands fuel to be heaped under the caldron, and to set it empty upon the coals, that its brass may glow in the fire and its rust be consumed.

Woe to the bloody city! see Ezekiel 24:6 . 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.

Parable of the Pot with the Boiling Pieces Ezekiel 24:3. And relate a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Set on the pot, set on and also pour water into it. Ezekiel 24:4. Gather its pieces of flesh into it, all the good pieces, haunch and shoulder, fill it with choice bones. Ezekiel 24:5. Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood underneath for the bones; make it boil well, also cook its bones therein. Ezekiel 24:6. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe! O city of murders! O pot in which is rust, and whose rust doth not depart from it; piece by piece fetch it out, the lot hath not fallen upon it. Ezekiel 24:7. For her blood is in the midst of her; she hath placed it upon the naked rock; she hath not poured it upon the ground, that they might cover it with dust. Ezekiel 24:8. To bring up fury, to take vengeance, I have made her blood come upon the naked rock, that it might not be covered. Ezekiel 24:9. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the city of murders! I also will make the pile of wood great. Ezekiel 24:10. Heap up the wood, stir the fire, do the flesh thoroughly, make the broth boil, that the bones may also be cooked away. Ezekiel 24:11. And set it empty upon the coals thereof, that its brass may become hot and glowing, that the uncleanness thereof may melt within it, its rust pass away. Ezekiel 24:12. He hath exhausted the pains, and her great rust doth not go from her; into the fire with her rust

! Ezekiel 24:13. In thine uncleanness is abomination; because I have cleansed thee, and thou hast not become clean, thou wilt no more become clean from thy uncleanness, till I quiet my fury upon thee. Ezekiel 24:14. I Jehovah have spoken it; it cometh, and I will do it; I will not cease, nor spare, nor let it repent me. According to thy ways, and according to thy deeds, shall they judge thee, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. The contents of these verses are called משׁל, 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. שׁפת is used, as in 2 Kings 4:38, to signify the setting of a pot by or upon the fire. 'אסף וגו: put in its pieces all together. נתחיה, its pieces of flesh, i.e., the pieces belonging to the cooking-pot.