Ezekiel 12:13

13 But I'll make sure he gets caught and is taken to Babylon. Blinded, he'll never see that land in which he'll die.

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 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

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

Ezekiel 12:13 In-Context

11 "Also tell them, 'I am drawing a picture for you. As I am now doing, it will be done to all the people of Israel. They will go into exile as captives.'
12 "The prince will put his bundle on his shoulders in the dark and leave. He'll dig through the wall of the house, covering his face so he won't have to look at the land he'll never see again.
13 But I'll make sure he gets caught and is taken to Babylon. Blinded, he'll never see that land in which he'll die.
14 I'll scatter to the four winds those who helped him escape, along with his troops, and many will die in battle.
15 They'll realize that I am God when I scatter them among foreign countries.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.