Ezekiel 12:13

13 But I will spread out my net and trap him in it. Then I will take him to the city of Babylon, where he will die without having seen it. ¹

Ezekiel 12:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 12:13

My net also will I spread upon him
Meaning the Chaldean army, which the Lord raised up, and brought against him, and gave success unto: and he shall be taken in my snare;
as a bird is taken in the snare of the fowler; or a wild beast by the hunter. The Jews have a tradition, which is mentioned both by Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abendana on the place, that there was a cave which reached from Zedekiah's house to the plains of Jericho, by the way of which he fled; and that God prepared a deer, which went upon the top of the cave; and the Chaldeans pursued it; and when it came to the mouth of the cave, Zedekiah was coming out, and they took him: and I will bring him to Babylon [to] the land of the Chaldeans;
yet shall he not see it; his eyes being put out at Riblah, ( Jeremiah 39:7 ) . The Prophet Jeremiah says that his eyes should behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, ( Jeremiah 34:3 ) ; and yet here Ezekiel says that he should not see the land of the Chaldeans. Josephus ^F21 observes, that Zedekiah thought these two prophecies contradicted each other, and therefore gave credit to neither; but they both proved true; he saw the king of Babylon at Riblah; but his eyes being there put out, he saw not Babylon, whither he was carried captive: though he shall die there;
as he did, ( Jeremiah 52:11 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Joseph. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 7. sect. 2. and c. 8. sect. 2.

Ezekiel 12:13 In-Context

11 Tell them that what you have done is a sign of what will happen to them - they will be refugees and captives.

12 The prince who is ruling them will shoulder his pack in the dark and escape through a hole that they dig for him in the wall. He will cover his eyes and not see where he is going.

13 But I will spread out my net and trap him in it. Then I will take him to the city of Babylon, where he will die without having seen it.

14 I will scatter in every direction all the members of his court and his advisers and bodyguards, and people will search for them to kill them.

15 "When I scatter them among the other nations and in foreign countries, they will know that I am the Lord.

Cross References

• 1. 12.13 2 K 25.7;Jeremiah 52.11.