Ezekiel 24:25

25 "As for you, human being, on the day when I take away from them their stronghold, their crowning joy, the delight of their eyes, their heart's desire, their sons and daughters -

Ezekiel 24:25 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 24:25

Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day
This question is to be answered in the affirmative: when I take from them their strength;
their king and kingdom, their princes and nobles, their soldiers and men of might and war, their wealth and substance, their city and the inhabitants of it; or rather their temple, in which they placed their strong confidence: so the Targum,

``in the day when I shall take from them the house of their sanctuary;''

and which is called "the joy of their glory"; what they rejoiced and gloried in: the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their mind, their
sons and their daughters;
for to these may those phrases be applied; as well as to the temple; they being desirable to them, to be spared and continued, and on whom the affections of their hearts were set, and for whose welfare they were very solicitous. So some render it "the burden or care of their souls" ^F16; though the Targum applies this, as the other to the temple, paraphrasing it,

``and the delight of their eyes shall be taken from them, and the beloved of their souls, which is better to them than their sons and their daughters.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

F16 (Mvpn avm ta) "onus animae eoram", Munster; "curam, [vel] solicitudinem"; so some in Vatablus.

Ezekiel 24:25 In-Context

23 put your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet, and neither observe mourning nor cry. Rather, because of your crimes you will pine away and groan to one another.

24 Thus Yechezk'el will be a sign for you; you will do just what he has done; and when this happens, you will know that I am Adonai ELOHIM.'

25 "As for you, human being, on the day when I take away from them their stronghold, their crowning joy, the delight of their eyes, their heart's desire, their sons and daughters -

26 on that day a fugitive will come and bring you the news;

27 and on that day your mouth will be opened for you to speak to the survivor and no longer be silent. In this way you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am ADONAI."