Ezekiel 24:5

5 Take the best of the flock, and pile wood under the pot. Boil the pieces of meat until even the bones are cooked.

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.''

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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 tell a story to the people who refuse to obey me. Say to them: 'This is what the Lord God says: Put on the pot; put it on and pour water in it.

4 Put in the pieces of meat, the best pieces -- the legs and the shoulders. Fill it with the best bones.

5 Take the best of the flock, and pile wood under the pot. Boil the pieces of meat until even the bones are cooked.

6 "'This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the city of murderers! How terrible it will be for the rusty pot whose rust will not come off! Take the meat out of it, piece by piece. Don't choose any special piece.

7 "'The blood from her killings is still in the city. She poured the blood on the bare rock. She did not pour it on the ground where dust would cover it.