Ezekiel 24:5

5 Take the choicest one of the flock, pile the logs under it; boil its pieces, 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.''

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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 utter an allegory 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, 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 its pieces, seethe also its bones in it.

6 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, the pot whose rust is in it, whose rust has not gone out of it! Empty it piece by piece, making no choice at all.

7 For the blood she shed is inside it; she placed it on a bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground, to cover it with earth.

Footnotes

• [a]. Compare verse 10: Heb [the bones]
• [b]. Two Mss: Heb [its boilings]
• [c]. Cn: Heb [its bones seethe]