Ezekiel 24:3

3 and use unto the rebellious house a simile, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: To set on the pot, to set [it] on, and also to pour into it water,

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 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, saying,

2 `Son of man, write for thee the name of the day -- this self-same day leaned hath the king of Babylon toward Jerusalem in this self-same day --

3 and use unto the rebellious house a simile, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: To set on the pot, to set [it] on, and also to pour into it water,

4 To gather its pieces unto it, every good piece, Thigh and shoulder, the choice of the bones to fill in.

5 The choice of the flock to take, And also to pile of the bones under it, Boil it thoroughly, yea, cook its bones in its midst.