Discovery BoxEzekiel 24:1--25:17
Context24:1 The word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month 1 : 24:2 “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege 2 to Jerusalem 3 this very day. 24:3 Recite a proverb to this rebellious house 4 and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘Set on the pot, 5 set it on,
pour water in it too;
24:4 add the pieces of meat to it,
every good piece,
the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
24:5 Take the choice bone of the flock,
heap up bones under it;
boil rapidly,
and boil its bones in it.
24:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the city of bloodshed,
the pot whose rot 6 is in it,
whose rot has not been removed 7 from it!
Empty it piece by piece.
No lot has fallen on it. 8
24:7 For her blood was in it;
she poured it on an exposed rock;
she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.
24:8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance,
I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.
24:9 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the city of bloodshed!
I will also make the pile high.
24:10 Pile up the bones, kindle the fire;
cook the meat well, mix in the spices,
let the bones be charred.
24:11 Set the empty pot on the coals, 9
until it becomes hot and its copper glows,
until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot 10 is consumed.
24:12 It has tried my patience; 11
yet its thick rot is not removed 12 from it.
Subject its rot to the fire! 13
24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. 14
I tried to cleanse you, 15 but you are not clean.
You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness 16
until I have exhausted my anger on you.
24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment 17 is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! 18 I will judge you 19 according to your conduct 20 and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
24:15 The word of Lord came to me: 24:16 “Son of man, realize that I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt, 21 but you must not mourn or weep or shed tears. 24:17 Groan in silence for the dead, 22 but do not perform mourning rites. 23 Bind on your turban 24 and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip 25 and do not eat food brought by others.” 26
24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. In the morning 27 I acted just as I was commanded. 24:19 Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?”
24:20 So I said to them: “The word of the Lord came to me: 24:21 Say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Realize I am about to desecrate my sanctuary – the source of your confident pride, 28 the object in which your eyes delight, 29 and your life’s passion. 30 Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die 31 by the sword. 24:22 Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lip or eat food brought by others. 32 24:23 Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot 33 for your iniquities 34 and groan among yourselves. 24:24 Ezekiel will be an object lesson for you; you will do all that he has done. When it happens, then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.’
24:25 “And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take 35 from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, 36 as well as their sons and daughters: 37 24:26 On that day a fugitive will come to you to report the news. 38 24:27 On that day you will be able to speak again; 39 you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”
25:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 25:2 “Son of man, turn toward 40 the Ammonites 41 and prophesy against them. 25:3 Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: You said “Aha!” about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile. 25:4 So take note, 42 I am about to make you slaves of 43 the tribes 44 of the east. They will make camps among you and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk. 25:5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon 45 a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 25:6 For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with intense scorn 46 over the land of Israel, 25:7 take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder 47 to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
25:8 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Moab 48 and Seir say, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations.” 25:9 So look, I am about to open up Moab’s flank, 49 eliminating the cities, 50 including its frontier cities, 51 the beauty of the land – Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim. 25:10 I will hand it over, 52 along with the Ammonites, 53 to the tribes 54 of the east, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations. 25:11 I will execute judgments against Moab. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
25:12 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom 55 has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable 56 by taking vengeance 57 on them. 58 25:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, 59 and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die 60 by the sword. 25:14 I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience 61 my vengeance, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
25:15 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines 62 have exacted merciless revenge, 63 showing intense scorn 64 in their effort to destroy Judah 65 with unrelenting hostility. 66 25:16 So this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note, I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines. I will kill 67 the Cherethites 68 and destroy those who remain on the seacoast. 25:17 I will exact great vengeance upon them with angry rebukes. 69 Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I exact my vengeance upon them.’”
[24:1] 1 tn The date of this oracle was January 15, 588
[24:2] 2 tn Heb “lean on, put pressure on.”
[24:2] 3 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[24:3] 4 sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).
[24:3] 5 sn See Ezek 11:3-12.
[24:6] 7 tn Heb “has not gone out.”
[24:6] 8 tn Here “lot” may refer to the decision made by casting lots; it is not chosen at all.
[24:11] 9 tn Heb “set it upon its coals, empty.”
[24:11] 10 tn Or “rust” (so also in v. 12).
[24:12] 11 tn Heb “(with) toil she has wearied.” The meaning of the statement is unclear in the Hebrew text; some follow the LXX and delete it. The first word in the statement (rendered “toil” in the literal translation above) occurs only here in the OT, and the verb “she has wearied” lacks a stated object. Elsewhere the Hiphil of the verb refers to wearying someone or trying someone’s patience. The feminine subject is apparently the symbolic pot.
[24:12] 12 tn Heb “does not go out.”
[24:12] 13 tn Heb “in fire its rust.” The meaning of the expression is unclear. The translation understands the statement as a command to burn the rust away. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:768.
[24:13] 14 tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”
[24:13] 15 tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.
[24:13] 16 tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”
[24:14] 17 tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:14] 18 tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”
[24:14] 19 tc Some medieval Hebrew
[24:17] 22 tn Or “Groan silently. As to the dead….” Cf. M. Greenberg’s suggestion that דֹּם מֵתִים (dom metim) be taken together and דֹּם be derived from ָדּמַם (damam, “to moan, murmur”). See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:508.
[24:17] 23 tn Heb “(For) the dead mourning you shall not conduct.” In the Hebrew text the word translated “dead” is plural, indicating that mourning rites are in view. Such rites would involve outward demonstrations of one’s sorrow, including wailing and weeping.
[24:17] 24 sn The turban would normally be removed for mourning (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12).
[24:17] 25 sn Mourning rites included covering the lower part of the face. See Lev 13:45.
[24:17] 26 tn Heb “the bread of men.” The translation follows the suggestion accepted by M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 2:509) that this refers to a meal brought by comforters to the one mourning. Some repoint the consonantal text to read “the bread of despair” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:56), while others, with support from the Targum and Vulgate, emend the consonantal text to read “the bread of mourners” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:784).
[24:18] 27 tn This may refer to the following morning. For a discussion of various interpretive options in understanding the chronology reflected in verse 18, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:790.
[24:21] 28 tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”
[24:21] 29 sn Heb “the delight of your eyes.” Just as Ezekiel was deprived of his beloved wife (v. 16, the “desire” of his “eyes”) so the Lord would be forced to remove the object of his devotion, the temple, which symbolized his close relationship to his covenant people.
[24:21] 30 tn Heb “the object of compassion of your soul.” The accentuation in the traditional Hebrew text indicates that the descriptive phrases (“the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life’s passion”) modify the preceding “my sanctuary.”
[24:23] 33 tn The same verb appears in 4:17 and 33:10.
[24:23] 34 tn Or “in your punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.
[24:25] 35 tn Heb “(Will) it not (be) in the day I take?”
[24:25] 36 tn Heb “the uplifting of their soul.” According to BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא 2, the term “uplifting” refers to “that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire.” However, this text is the only one listed for this use. It seems more likely that the term has its well-attested nuance of “burden, load,” here and refers to that which weighs them down emotionally and is a constant source of concern or worry.
[24:25] 37 tn In the Hebrew text there is no conjunction before “their sons and daughters.” For this reason one might assume that the preceding descriptive phrases refer to the sons and daughters, but verse 21 suggests otherwise. The descriptive phrases appear to refer to the “stronghold,” which parallels “my sanctuary” in verse 21. The children constitute a separate category.
[24:26] 38 tn Heb “to make the ears hear.”
[24:27] 39 tn Heb “your mouth will open.”
[25:2] 40 tn Heb “set your face toward.”
[25:2] 41 tn Heb “the sons of Ammon.” Ammon was located to the east of Israel.
[25:4] 42 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something and has been translated here with a verb (so also throughout the chapter).
[25:4] 43 tn Heb “Look I am about to give you for a possession to.”
[25:5] 45 tn Heb “the sons of Ammon.”
[25:6] 46 tn Heb “with all your scorn in (the) soul.”
[25:7] 47 tc The translation here follows the marginal reading (Qere) of the Hebrew text. The consonantal text (Kethib) is meaningless.
[25:8] 48 sn Moab was located immediately south of Ammon.
[25:9] 50 tn Heb “from the cities.” The verb “eliminating” has been added in the translation to reflect the privative use of the preposition (see BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b).
[25:9] 51 tn Heb “from its cities, from its end.”
[25:10] 52 tn Heb “I will give it for a possession.”
[25:10] 53 tn Heb “the sons of Ammon” (twice in this verse).
[25:12] 55 sn Edom was located south of Moab.
[25:12] 56 tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.
[25:12] 57 tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”
[25:12] 58 sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6
[25:13] 59 tn Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”
[25:15] 62 sn The Philistines inhabited the coastal plain by the Mediterranean Sea, west of Judah.
[25:15] 63 tn Heb “have acted with vengeance and taken vengeance with vengeance.” The repetition emphasizes the degree of vengeance which they exhibited, presumably toward Judah.
[25:15] 64 tn Heb “with scorn in (the) soul.”
[25:15] 65 tn The object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but has been clarified as “Judah” in the translation.
[25:15] 66 tn Heb “to destroy (with) perpetual hostility.” Joel 3:4-8 also speaks of the Philistines taking advantage of the fall of Judah.
[25:16] 67 tn In Hebrew the verb “and I will cut off” sounds like its object, “the Cherethites,” and draws attention to the statement.
[25:16] 68 sn This is a name for the Philistines, many of whom migrated to Palestine from Crete.
