Ezekiel 24:3

3 And utter an allegory to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Set on the pot, set it on, pour in water also;

Ezekiel 24:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 24:3

And utter a parable to the rebellious house
The people of the Jews so called, not so much on account of their rebellion against the king of Babylon, which caused him to come against them, as on account of their rebellion against God, and the breach of his laws; see ( Ezekiel 2:3 Ezekiel 2:5-8 ) . The prophet is bid to represent to them, in a figurative and emblematic way, the miseries that were coming upon them for their wickedness, namely, under the parable of a boiling pot: and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God;
speaking in his name, and as coming from him, and clothed with his authority; that the following parable might not be thought to be a fancy and chimera of his own: "set on a pot, set it on"; set a pot on the fire, and do it quickly. This "pot" is the city of Jerusalem, which was to be brought into great distress and ruin; not a cauldron of brass, wherein the inhabitants should be as safe as if they had walls of brass about them, as they vainly boasted, ( Ezekiel 11:3 ) , but a seething pot, such an one as Jeremiah saw, to which, it may be, reference is here had, ( Jeremiah 1:13 ) , in which the people should be destroyed: and also pour water into it;
which, as it is some time a boiling, may denote the length of the siege of the city, which held two years; and of the troubles and miseries attending it; and of the greatness of them, which were as intolerable as boiling water. The Targum is,

``prophesy that armies shall come against this city; and also there shall be given unto it length of time to receive the siege.''

Ezekiel 24:3 In-Context

1 In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:

2 Mortal, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.

3 And utter an allegory to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Set on the pot, set it on, pour in water also;

4 put in it the pieces, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones.

5 Take the choicest one of the flock, pile the logs under it; boil its pieces, seethe also its bones in it.