Ezekiel 24:5

5 Take the choicest one of the flock; pile the logs[a] under it; boil it well; seethe also its bones in it.

Ezekiel 24:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 24:5

Take the choice of the flock
King, princes, nobles, magistrates, priests and rulers of the people: and burn also the bones under it:
or, "put a pile of bones under it" {u}; the bones of them that are slain in it; denoting the great slaughter of them; or the bones of the innocent that had been murdered in it; which were the cause of these judgments coming upon them; and caused the wrath of God to burn the more hotly against them; or the bones of the wicked: and make it boil well;
the pot; that the water may be very hot and boiling; denoting the severity of the judgments of God in the city, to the destruction of many by sword, famine, and pestilence: and let them seethe the bones of it therein;
that the strongest among them may be weakened and destroyed by the length and severity of the siege, and the judgments attending it. The Targum is,

``bring near the kings of the people, and even join auxiliaries with them; hasten the time of it yea, let her slain be cast in the midst of her.''

FOOTNOTES:

F21 (hytxt Mymueh rwd) "pyram ossium sub ipsa", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Starckius. (rwd) "rogus, strues materiae combustibililis rotunda", Stockius, p. 223.

Ezekiel 24:5 In-Context

3 And utter a parable 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 of meat, 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 it well; seethe also its bones in it.
6 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.
7 For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Compare verse 10; Hebrew the bones
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.