Ezekiel 24:6

24:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Woe to the city of bloodshed,

the pot whose rot ¹  is in it,

whose rot has not been removed ²  from it!

Empty it piece by piece.

No lot has fallen on it. ³ 

Ezekiel 24:11-12

24:11 Set the empty pot on the coals, ⁴ 

until it becomes hot and its copper glows,

until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot ⁵  is consumed.

24:12 It has tried my patience; ⁶ 

yet its thick rot is not removed ⁷  from it.

Subject its rot to the fire! ⁸ 

[24:6]  ¹ tn Or “rust.”

[24:6]  ² tn Heb “has not gone out.”

[24:6]  ³ tn Here “lot” may refer to the decision made by casting lots; it is not chosen at all.

[24:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “set it upon its coals, empty.”

[24:11]  ⁵ tn Or “rust” (so also in v. 12).

[24:12]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “does not go out.”

[24:12]  ⁹ 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.